One year in.......

Dear readers (I can say readers with confidence, because a number of you have taken me to task for not posting anything recently), I am back at the keyboard and brimful of reflections, so sit back and get reading.

It has been just over a year since we first came to Singapore - the end of July, 2007 - and what a year it has been. There was little notion of the impending turmoil in the financial markets, Bear Sterns was alive and kicking and my friends at Lehman Brothers were hard at work for one of Wall Street's most prestigious firms. I feel immensely fortunate to be working in the Asian markets at this time, in a growing business, but, as my CEO is wont to observe, there is no room for complacency.

We returned to Singapore from a holiday at our house in France last week. It was a delicious break, and some friends came over to join us in surprise (early) birthday celebration, which began with dinner at the Domaine d'Auriac (pictured, - no, that's not a picture of our house) - and ended with a firework display on the hill behind our house. We had been to the restaurant before with a group of some of the same friends for my 40th, which just seems like yesterday but appears, in reality, to have been xxxxxxx years ago! How did that happen? At moments like this I am tempted to quote T.S Eliot's lines from The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock:

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

if only I knew what he meant. Re-reading the poem just now brings back memories of secondary school - probably in 4th or 5th year - and studying that particular piece. I don't think I got what he was talking about at all, but 30 something years on, it strikes a chord. In case you're feeling poetic, here's some more:

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

Talking of poetry, I am sure you have been missing my haiku film reviews. That said, I do not think that I could convey the necessary level of enthusiasm for my latest two recommendations in a mere 17 syllables. We have just returned from seeing Wall-E (recommended by my friend Steve, who has great taste in movies, food and friends) and it was a complete delight. A robot love story - strangely touching - and possibly a political commentary on our disposable society (less sure about this) but one of my must see recommendations. At the gritty end of the scale is In Bruges, which I saw on the flight back from London. It's the story of two hit men - one played by Colin Farrell - who have to spend some time in Bruges after a hit goes wrong. It is by turns very funny, dramatic and sad, and absolutely made me want to visit Bruges at Christmas time.

So what does it feel like to be in our second year as expats in Singapore? Well, some things have become completely familiar, yet we are still discovering the new also. Singapore is full of traditions, as I have said before, and this is the season of the mooncake festival.

Mooncakes are Chinese pastries traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They are typically round or rectangular and measure about 10 cm in diameter and are quite thick. The filling is thick too - and very rich. There are modern versions, but the traditional mooncake filling is made from lotus seed paste and contains whole egg yolks. They are rich, heavy, and very dense compared with most Western cakes and pastries and are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. An acquired taste for the Western palate, I think.