Edible Experiences

The Edible Jubilee - Edible Experiences Newsletter 17 May 2012

Hello lovely foodies! 

 

For those of you planning a London staycation for the upcoming Diamond Jubilee long weekend, we've got a lineup of delicious ideas to keep you entertained. 

First, a toast to all things English, literally! English wine specialist The Wine Panty is hosting an English Wine Festival at Borough Market. The £10 entry fee comes with a souvenir tasting glass at the door and 5 tasting tokens. In addition to a wide range of English wines, expect to see the best of English oysters, cucumber sandwiches, jellied eels, cheese, scones, asparagus, and of course strawberries and cream! - Sun 3 Jun, noon-6pm. £10 BOOK NOW

And what could be more English than a tea party? Two Hungry Girls supperclub and Platform 65 are teaming up again for A Novel Tea, where food will be paired with fables and folklore, performed by Platform 65's hungry storyteller. Watch out for "AranChinese" balls and their bliss inducing kopi tarts. - Tue 5 Jun, 3pm. £20 BOOK NOW

Other delicious ideas for your Edible Jubilee:

Thursday 31 May:

• If you're tired of the randomness and awkwardness of online dating, try Catalan Cooking's singles mixer cooking class in Bermondsey. Making delicious food together is a natural ice-breaker! £50 - BOOK NOW
  
  
• Learn how to decorate vintage-style cupcakes with Rock Bakehouse in West Hampstead. £41 - BOOK NOW
  

Friday 1 Jun:

• Feast on authentic homecooked Mauritian Creole cuisine at Yummy Choo Eats supperclub in Croydon. £25 - BOOK NOW

Sat 2 Jun:

• Learn how to decorate two-tier cakes with Craft Cakes in Hampstead. Great for crafty DIY brides! £115 - BOOK NOW
  
  
• Enjoy a feast with dishes from across India at Absolute Indian's supperclub in Hertfordshire. £35 - BOOK NOW

Feeling spontaneous? Last few spots available for these upcoming events: 

• Thu 17 May: Wine tasting by Bibendum at the newly restored art deco-style Ambar at the Odeon Swiss Cottage. £12 - BOOK NOW
• Sat 19 May: An African fusion feast at The Sharing Supperclub in South Woodford. £30 - BOOK NOW
• Sat 26 May: Lisa's Jamaican Kitchen's debut supper in Surrey Quays. £25 - BOOK NOW
• Sun 27 May: Yolanda at Wild Serai supperclub hosts a Nasi Lemak feast. £28. -BOOK NOW
  
  

What folks are saying about our partners' classes:

• London Unattached on Catalan Cooking's classes
• icarusfall on The Butchery Ltd's Knife Sharpening class
• [FEAST to the world] on Plusixfive supperclub

As always, we'd love to hear from you about how we can make this newsletter and our website for fun and useful for you. Drop us a note with your ideas and feedback and we'll do our best to make it happen! This week and next we'll be out and about at the following places below. If any of you are going, we'd love to say hi and chat!

• Fri 18 May - Bukhara Pop Up media lunch; The London Foodie's Japanese supperclub
• Sat 19 May - Maltby St market
• Tue 22 May - Yuki's Kitchen meat class
• Sat 26 May - Backdoor Kitchen's Sicilian supper

That's all from us this time around. Have a great weekend, all!

Wen & Amir

 

P.S. If you know of someone who you think might enjoy this newsletter, please forward this on to them. If someone forwarded you this email and you would like to join our mailing list, please emailwenlinsoh@edibleexperiences.com subject: SUBSCRIBE. If you would like to stop receiving this newsletter, please emailwenlinsoh@edibleexperiences.com subject: UNSUBSCRIBE 

Edible Experiences Newsletter - 4 May 2012

Happy Bank Holiday weekend folks!

One of the (many) side benefits of having started up this little foodie venture is to help a new supperclub get set up. It might have been that a couple of years ago going to a supperclub was more about getting dressed up and going somewhere novel and "underground", but what I'm really enjoying about the supperclub scene now is the emergence of a whole range of authentic ethnic cuisines, lovingly cooked and shared from London's home kitchens. We're becoming quite the edible Olympic village!

This global flavour continues amid our growing range of cooking classes. Anna of Culinary Anthropologist is teaming up with Copenhagen-based CPH Good Food to host a Summertime New Nordic home cooking class (any noma fans in the house who want to learn how to create easy Nordic dishes at home?) And Rachel of Catalan Cooking -- at the behest of her visiting Spanish friends -- is hosting a class on classic Valencian rice dishes, made the proper way.

Rachel is also hosting a singles mixer cooking class, a novel new way to mingle in a relaxed setting for those sick to death of the randomness and awkwardness of internet dating. At worst there's going to be beer and amazing food. And in the best case scenario, you can say you met at a cooking class instead of a singles event!

On the side, we're working on a London must-eat list for a whole parade of friends and family visiting us this summer. Let me know if you would like a copy of this list when I'm done putting it together. Better yet, given all you foodies on this mailing list, get involved! Where's the one foodie experience or eatery you would recommend to a London visitor? We'll compile your suggestions on our blog with a credit to you!

UPCOMING BOOKABLE EVENTS

Supperclubs

• Table for 10 Vietnamese Supperclub
  Damon draws from his Vietnamese and Australian upbringing to bring you delectable Southeast Asian suppers. This weekend's treats include smoked trout salad on betel leaf, grilled pork and rice noodles, and lemongrass jelly with pandan and coconut ice-cream
  Sat 5 May, 7.30pm in Whitechapel E1. £30 BYOB - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• African Fusion at The Sharing Supperclub
  Jen and Ben dish up a tantalising African menu that aims to tease rather than tase Western palates. Jellof rice balls, Nigerian mixed meat stew, Suya chicken and African chocolate cake, anyone?
  Sat 19 May, 7.30pm, in South Woodford E18. £30 BYOB - BOOK NOW 
  
  
  
• Thai Street Fare at Momo'wich
  Lunchtime Southeast Asian Cafe Momowich is starting an after-hours supperclub to showcase hard-to-find-in-London Asian cuisines. First up, his homesick Thai chefs are cooking up a Thai street food feast. Look out for mackeral chilli dip, seafood curry, papaya salad and pumpkin custard among other staples from the boulevards of Bangkok.
  Sat 19 May, 7.30pm, close to Liverpool St E1. £29 BYOB - BOOK NOW 
  
  
  
• Lisa's Jamaican Kitchen 
  Quite possibly the first Jamaican supperlub in London, Lisa is looking forward to hosting folks who miss proper homecooked Jamaican cooking as well as those curious enough to explore beyond generic jerk chicken. Lisa's debut menu include salt fish and ackee, curried goat, oxtail stew, fried plantains, Jamaican rum cake and Jamaican style hot chocolate. Come hungry!
  Sat 26 May, 5.30pm in Surrey Quays SE16. £25 BYOB - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• A Feast Across India by Absolute Indian
  Hertfordshire-based Indian cookery instructor Sheba Promod opens her home to share the bounty of her native Indian cuisine, with choice dishes from across the subcontinent including lentil fritters from Kerala, yoghurt chicken from Tamil Nadu, slow cooked lamb from Kashmir and coconut rice from Andra Pradesh. 
  Sat 2 Jun, 7.30pm, Hertfordshire AL4. £35, BYOB - BOOK NOW
  

Wine Tastings

• A Grape Afternoon for London
  The London International Wine Fair comes to town later this month. But amid the global noses and bouquets, Laura and Kiki of A Grape Night In maintain that they are London girls at heart. To celebrate their favourite city, they are putting together a tour of London via 5 wines and nibbles. Intrigued? So are we.
  Sun 13 May, 2pm. Brixton SW9. £19 - BOOK NOW 
  
  
  
• Bibendum at Ambar / ODEON Swiss Cottage
  This is the first in a series of wine evenings at the newly restored Ambar bar ODEON. The wines will be selected from Ambar's extensive list of 25 wines by glass, perfectly served using its impressive verre de vin system. This evening of tutored and blind tasting will put your nose and palate to the test. Taste some surprises! 
  Thu 17 May, 7pm. Swiss Cottage NW3. £12 - BOOK NOW

Singles Mixers

• Catalan Cooking Singles Mixer
  Sick to death of random online dating and speed dating events? How about meeting some fellow singles at a cooking class instead? Having an activity to do together is a natural ice-breaker, and provides lots of opportunities to mingle with everyone in the room. Worst case scenario? You'll have enjoyed a delicious supper and picked up some Catalan culinary skills to show off on your next date! (Plus Rachel's providing beer!)
  Thu 31 May 7pm. Bermondsey SE1. £50 - BOOK NOW

Baking & Desserts Classes

We're seeing more DIY brides (and even grooms!) who are interested in learning how to make their own wedding cakes, parents keen to make a very special birthday cake for their child, and regular folks like you and me exploring the craft of cupcakes so that they can create beautiful customised gifts from the heart. You never know what kind of edible art might emerge from within, with a little guidance from Leigh of Craft Cakes and Nathalie of Rock Bakehouse!

• Craft Cakes
  Learn how to decorate celebration and 2-tier cakes, and master once and for all the baking of cupcakes and those finicky but fabulous French macarons with Leigh in her Hampstead NW3 teaching kitchen. 
  Various dates in May and June. - FIND OUT MORE
  
  
• Rock Bakehouse
  Learn about the basics of baking and cake decorating, as well as vintage and floral cupcakes with Nathalie in West Hampstead NW6. 
  Various dates in May. - FIND OUT MORE

Cooking Classes

• Paella and Other Spanish Rice Dishes by Catalan Cooking
  When Spanish friends of Catalan Cooking's Rachel visited her in London, they were appalled at the tourist-trap quality paella here, and tasked Rachel to set things right by teaching a class on the proper techniques of cooking Spanish rice dishes. They even handed over their mother's paella recipe for use in the class! So come learn all about traditional Valencian rice recipes and techniques, and sit down and sup on the results together afterwards.
  Mon 11 Jun, 7pm, £70. Bermondsey SE1 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• Culinary Anthropologist's Cooking Club
  Every so often someone will ask me if I can recommend a cooking instructor who can teach a foundational series of cooking skills and techniques, without having to sign up for a culinary school diploma. After much research, I reckon Culinary Anthropologist's monthly cooking club might just be your best value for money option. Using stellar produce from Riverford, Anna takes her class through a new suite of recipes each time, so that over several classes a student will get a range of techniques under their belt. Classes end with a hearty supper and recipes to take home.
  Tue 12 Jun + Wed 13 Jun, 7pm. £40. Highbury N5 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• Summertime New Nordic Home Cuisine by Culinary Anthropologist and CPH Good Food
  Another year, another top ranking for Copenhagen-based noma at the Pellegrino World 50 Best Restaurant awards. Incredibly intricate plating aside, how does one translate and adapt noma and the New Nordic food philosophy for one's home kitchen? Step in Mia from Copenhagen-based CPH Good Food, who will show you that the Nordic and British bounty is perhaps not so different after all, but using quintessentially Nordic techniques can bring forth a whole new palate of flavours. After attending their Spring class, I can't wait to see what Mia and Anna have up their sleeve for summer.
  Fri 29 Jun + Sat 30 Jun, 10am, £85, Highbury N5 - BOOK NOW

That's all from us this time around. Have a great weekend everyone, speak soon and eat well in the meantime!

Wen & Amir

 

Edible Experiences Newsletter - 20 April 2012

For new members of this list, welcome! And for earlier adopters, thank you for all your feedback on our inaugural newsletter. Quite a few of you asked that it be sent out more regularly, so for now we'll give a fortnightly arrangement a try and see how we go based on your feedback. Do continue to let us know what you'd like us to include (or ditch!) for these mailings.

We've been really encouraged over the last few weeks by new hosts signing up to make their events bookable through Edible Experiences. In addition to supper clubs, we now have baking classes, butchery courses, cake decoration workshops, knife skills training and wine tasting experiences listed and ready for you to book instantly on the site. We've also been encouraged by all of you out there making bookings through us! As a new and growing venture we're absolutely delighted at the opportunity to be of service to you hosts and guests alike, and we hope to make more and more delicious connections among you as we go.

FOR THE SPONTANEOUS - LAST MINUTE BOOKABLE EVENTS:

• East Five Supperclub Spring Supper
  Dan and Martha are serving up homemade crabcakes, tagiatelle, chicken, bacon and leek pie, and their signature ice-creams and sorbets. Tomorrow evening features kiwi sorbet and rhubarb and vanilla sorbet with brown bread ice-cream.
  Sat 21 Apr, 7.30pm in Hackney E5, £25 BYOB - BOOK NOW
  
  
• Wine Pantry Wine Tasting in partnership with Elliots Cafe
  To celebrate St Georges Day, specialist purveyor of English wines Wine Pantry teams up with Elliots Cafe to showcase 8 English wines for tasting, along with 8 paired dishes that show off the best of British spring produce. As you sip / spit / swallow and scarf, you'll also get to soak in the view from the penthouse suite at the NEO Bankside residential development. We're hard pressed to think of a better way to kick off the week!
  Mon 23 Apr, 7pm in Bankside SE1. £55 for 1 person; £100 for 2 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• A Grape Night In Raises a Glass to Holidays!
  Laura and Kiki met while working at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, and while they have both moved on to separate pastures new, they stayed close due to their love for wine and their shared mission to bring fun wine tasting events to South London (and soon the world they tell me!). Next Thursday they'll be showcasing 5 wines from our favourite European holiday destinations, paired with pintxos and a welcome cocktail. Get a headstart on the weekend!
  Thu 26 Apr, 7.30pm, Seven at Brixton Bar SW9. £29 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  

COMING UP IN MAY:

• Seventeen: Wine Matching Szechuan Dinner
  What tipple goes best with the hot and numbing peppers of China's Szechuan province? New Szechuan restaurant Seventeen puts the task to French educated Portuguese wine consultant Victor Ribero. For 1 night only, 5 courses including punchy cumin lamb and Szechuan-style fish will be paired with 5 wines which can take the heat for a bargainous £25.
  Tue 1 May, 7pm, 17 Notting Hill, W11. £25 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• Sausage Wrangling with The Butchery Ltd
  If you're meatheads like us, you have from time to time nursed secret (or not so secret) dreams of one day making your own signature blend sausages, if only you knew how. Well, that's exactly what veteran butcher Nathan Mills is going to show you in this hands-on workshop. We've spent time in Nathan's classroom / aging room before and I can tell you, this is not going to be a spectator sport. The price of the class includes supper, and you taking home about 3.5kg of your own sausages. Fire up the BBQ!
  Wed 2 May, 6pm, in Bermondsey SE16. £77.50 - Last few spots BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• Get your Edge Back with The Butchery Ltd
  If you enjoy cooking, you know that the sharpness of your knife can either boost or kill your mood in the kitchen. But did you know that how your knife gets sharpened can and should differ depending on the purpose of that knife? Bring your knives from home, and veteran butcher Nathan Mills will take you through all the whys and hows of sharpening them so that you can always stay on the cutting edge afterwards.
  Mon 14 May, 6.30pm, in Bermondsey SE16. £27.50 - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• African Fusion at Sharing Supperclub
  Jen and Ben dish up a tantalising African menu that aims to tease rather than tase Western palates. Jellof rice balls, Nigerian mixed meat stew, Suya chicken and African chocolate cake, anyone?
  Sat 19 May, 7.30pm, in South Woodford E18. £30 BYOB - BOOK NOW
  
  
  
• Cake and Cupcake Classes by Craft Cakes
  The lovely and talented Leigh Koh-Peart of Craft Cakes has just released her May and June calendar of classes. Whether you just want to get your feet wet and get a taste for decorating cupcakes, or want to take on the challenge of decorating celebration or 2 tier cakes (great for DIY weddings) or baking your own cupcakes from scratch, Leigh will take you through the process step by step, with the patience of a saint (we know because she's always plenty patient when working with us!)
  Various May and June dates in Hampstead N3 - FIND OUT MORE
  

GET THE JUMP ON JUNE

• Absolute Indian's Feast Across India Supperclub
  Hertfordshire-based Indian cookery instructor Sheba Promod opens her home to share the bounty of her native Keralan cuisine, along with choice dishes from across the subcontinnent.
  Sat 2 Jun, 7.30pm, Hertfordshire AL4. £35, BYOB - BOOK NOW
  
  

WRAPUP OF FOODIE ADVENTURES

We love hearing about your foodie adventures in and around London! Here are a few recent posts we particularly enjoyed:

• Hollow Legs, Dolce Dini and [FEAST to the world] on Wild Serai Malaysian supperclub
• The Long Way Home on Platform 65's Suppertime Stories featuring Two Hungry Girls supperclub
• Mondomulia and jadorais on Backdoor Kitchen supperclub
• The Skinny Bib on Leluu supperclub
• Feed the Tang on Tonkotsu London's ramen popup
  

That's all from us this time around. Have a great weekend everyone, speak soon and eat well in the meantime!

Wen & Amir

P.S. If you know of someone who you think might enjoy this newsletter, please forward this on to them. If someone forwarded you this email and you would like to join our mailing list, please email wenlinsoh@edibleexperiences.com subject: SUBSCRIBE. If you would like to stop receiving this newsletter, please email wenlinsoh@edibleexperiences.com subject: UNSUBSCRIBE

Edible Experiences Newsletter - March 2012

Hello London foodies,

 

As you might know, my husband Amir and I started Edible Experiences to be a hub exclusively for food and drink activities. Thanks to you all, we're making great progress on having the most comprehensive collection of host and event listings as well as reviews here in our London HQ. 

And after many long days and late nights, we're delighted to tell you that our booking engine is finally up and running! Some of you have already used it, so thank you for that! We hope that our booking engine will help foodie hosts and customers find each other and do business more seamlessly, so that everyone has more time to focus on the food!

Below are our first few bookable events. We hope to see you at some of them! Also, if you know of a host whom you think could benefit from working with us, tell us. Better yet, tell them!

UPCOMING BOOKABLE EVENTS:

Wild Serai Malaysian supperclub's Malay Nyonya Feast

Chef Yolanda draws from her family's extensive arsenal of Malay / Nyonya / Eurasian recipes. This Saturday's highlights: king prawn sambal, chicken rendang, lamb kurma, and, to celebrate the London sunshine, ice kacang or chendol. Yolanda's still quite new to the supperclub scene. Come find out why she already has a loyal core of diners that keep going back!

• Sat 31 Mar, 12.30pm, £25. New Malden. Last few seats left. BOOK NOW 
• Sat 31 Mar, 7.30pm -- SOLD OUT

 

Two Hungry Girls Supperclub Debut

Chefs Leigh and Shu are two hungry girls are on a mission to bring creative Chinese and South East Asian cuisine to London foodies. Our top tip? Leigh is a professional pastry chef by day, so however much they feed you, be sure to save room for dessert.

• Sun 1 Apr, 7pm, £29. Hampstead. 1 seat left. BOOK NOW

Platform 65's Suppertime Stories, Featuring Two Hungry Girls Supperclub

Platform 65 is a London based arts performance group focused on Asian themes. This is the first in a series of literary supperclubs, where carefully curated short story and poetry readings are matched with the day's dining menu. This first evening features a wise fish, a poem-writing farmer and sweets from Siberia.

• Sat 14 Apr, 7pm, £29. Hampstead. BOOK NOW
  
  

WRAPUP OF FOODIE ADVENTURES

We love hearing about your foodie adventures in and around London! Here are a few recent posts we particularly enjoyed:

• Kitchen Conversations on Love Leluu's Vietnamese Cooking Class
• Eat Noodles Love Noodles on Yuki's Kitchen's Ramen Class
• Pasta Bites on Sabrina's Kitchen's Arabesque Supper
• Mondomulia on Yummy Choo's Mauritian Supper Club

 

And we've been having some serious fun as well (via Wen's personal food blog Going With My Gut). We...

• Learned all about Allioli and Romesco with Rachel of Catalan Cooking
• Made Healthy Breads with Maria of Bake with Maria
• Took apart a whole lamb under the guidance of Nathan of The Butchery Ltd
• Got a great introduction to Nordic Home Cooking thanks to Anna of Culinary Anthropologist and Mia of CPH Good Food

 

That's all for this round of updates. We'd love to hear from you about hosts we should get in touch with, how we can improve Edible Experiences for you, and what you would like to see in future newsletters. Drop us a note, ask us out for coffee, and keep the conversation going on Twitter and Facebook! 

Speak soon! 

Wen & Amir

 

 

Channel 5's Invitation to Eat on TV

This just in, folks. Thought some of you might be interested, so am helping to spread the word.

 

Channel 5 is making a new series with Marco Pierre White who is currently on the hunt for the UK’s best independent restaurateurs.

 

The couples to make it through the auditions will go on to compete against each other in our Wembley studio where Channel 5 has created three restaurants to run simultaneously, each seating 25 diners. The chefs will prepare a three course meal while front of house run the restaurant. Marco will choose a couple to go through to our grand finale from each of the four heats.

 

Channel 5 is looking for diners to come along, enjoy a three course meal and perhaps offer their opinion on camera. Channel 5 is keen for diners to be informed foodies so they have something to compare their experience to.

 

Each diner would need to be available for one of the dates below at Fountain Studios, Wembley from 6 – 10pm.  

29^th March

2^nd April

5^th April

8^th April

13^th April

 

If interested, please email Charlie.Moore@five.tv and tell him that you heard about this via Edible Experiences.

Enjoy!

The Cultural Expose: Plusixfive 1 of the 5 Most Offbeat Supperclubs in London

 

Screenshot from The Cultural Expose, London

 

We're absolutely delighted that Singapore supperclub Plusixfive, with whom we've been working closely since their genesis as well as ours, recently got hailed by The Cultural Expose in London as one of the 5 most offbeat supperclubs in this vibrant foodie city.

We count Burger Monday and ferdiesfoodlab as great neighbours and highly esteemed company on this list, and are now plenty curious about The Cornish Grill and Niko B's Chocolates!

To more makan and mayhem in the new year Gozzers! And many thanks to The Cultural Expose team.

 

Keep track of Plusixfive's upcoming supperclub dates here.

 

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Edible Experiences Mentioned in POSKOD.SG

 

POSKOD.SG screenshot

 

We're absolutely delighted that our mate and first client, Goz of Singapore-supperclub-in-London Plusixfive, got a lovely feature in hip Singapore e-zine POSKOD.SG.

Edible Experiences and one of Wen's photos (the black & white one) get some real estate as well!

Read the article to find out Goz's quintessential Singapore menu (maaaan making those picks must've been hard!)

Big ups for Goz and many thanks to the POSKOD.SG team!

 

Keep track of Plusixfive's upcoming supperclub dates here.

 

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Welcome to Edible Experiences!

Back to the Edible Experiences Homepage

 

Above:  Waiting to exhale

Hi there, and thanks for stopping by Edible Experiences!

We hope you'll take a few minutes to have a look and click around, maybe find something you're interested in, write a review for some of the experiences you've already attended, and let us know what you like and what you think needs adding, fixing and improving! It's more important for us that this website is useful and fun for you, rather than us just hearing nice things about it, so be tough on us! We've got thick skins, and will make improvements as best we can.

 

And we could always do with an excuse to snack under stress...

.....

The idea for building a hub for finding, comparing and booking foodie experiences in London first came to us on a bus between Lithuania and Latvia, when Babs and I went backpacking around the world for a year.

I scribbled foodie frustrations such as "why do people take hours just to find one cooking class", "Can I really believe a testimonial on a cooking class teacher's own website" and "Why does it take at least 4 emails to make a booking at any of these classes?!"

The notebook got put away (I get awful motion sickness!), but the idea didn't. The madness kept growing, sprouting little legs, zipping back and forth in my head. Babs has no qualms about laughing about my business ideas when they're downright silly (and many of them are!) but this time, he didn't.

Across oceans, deserts and jungles, we waited to see if our enthusiasm would fade. But it didn't. By the time we came back to London, we knew we had to give Edible Experiences a real shot. At the expense of returning to permanent corporate jobs.

What followed was 6 months of designing. Testing ideas with people who run foodie experiences and the foodies who go to them. Debating and digesting their feedback. And building building building, late into the night and all through weekends if we were working contracts to pay the rent in the meantime. Thanks so much to all of you who listened to our idea with such open minds and thoughtful feedback. Edible Experiences would definitely look quite different (and worse) without you!

And to our family and friend whom we haven't managed to see as much as we'd like, thanks for being so patient with us! We'll eat together soon. Promise!

Wen

 

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