Bombay and Burns

Just returned from four days in Bombay.  Interestingly, most of the people I met called it Bombay rather than Mumbai, which relates to the history of the place.  Apparently "Bombay" is the Portuguese for "good bay", the very bay that I was looking out on from my hotel window.  

The last time I was there was in 2008, before the terrorist attack, which had a profound effect on the city.  One of the lasting effects is the focus on security.  All hotel entrances have set up security details - cars and taxis are stopped and searched at the entrance from the road and bags are scanned and tagged on the way in. The same happened in the cinema I went to and seems to be true of the shopping malls also.  A sad reflection on an amazing city. 

I had the best time this trip.  People say that it's important to approach India with an open mind, and I saw the wisdom of that advice last week.  Of course there are things that shock the western eye, but there is so much that is glorious, colourful, ancient, modern and exciting about Bombay that it would be foolish to judge everything we see by the standards of what we are used to.  OK, sermon over.

One of the reasons I had such a great time was because of staying over to participate in the Bombay marathon.  Now don't fall off your chair, those of you who know me, I didn't run the marathon marathon, but what they call the "Dream Run", more of a dream walk, fortunately for me, since so many people participate in this 6km event, that running is well high impossible.  The weather was beautiful, the streets were a sea of blue and green (the race is sponsored by Standard Chartered and those are our company colours) and we were served Indian food for breakfast - truly one of my favourite things.  In fact, I was introduced to a new street food item at the marathon, something called a Frankie.  Frankies are the quintessential Bombay street food - a sort of Indian version of the wrap - and the finished article is sprinkled with a masala powder that is sort of hot and bitter and absolutely delicious. If you find yourself faced with a Frankie opportunity, grab it, I say. 

The Dream Run started at the main railway station, known pretty much universally as "VT",  for Victoria Terminus.  It was named after Queen Victoria and opened in 1887, her Golden Jubilee Year.  Its name now is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, usually shortened to CST, but whenever I heard its name mentioned, it was always called VT.  Here is a picture of VT by night - the epitome of Victorian public architecture.

Before I went to India, Chris and I had planned our Burns Supper.  The Scots among my readers (and Steve, who has a Scottish soul) will know all about this, but for those of you who were not born with that advantage in life, let me explain.  Scots around celebrate the birth of our most famous poet on or around his birthday, January 25th.  That celebration takes the form of a fairly ritualised dinner, with prescribed food, speeches and readings.  The food include haggis, of course, with a vegetarian version of my national dish for me.  Having spent the morning on a nature trek in Pulau Ubin (more of which in subsequent post), I dashed home to spend the afternoon in the kitchen, cooking up neeps and tatties to go with the haggis, cullen skink (a rather yummy fish soup) and tipsy laird (a version of trifle, featuring raspberries and, of course, whisky).

We had a great evening, and the haggis proved a great hit with our guests (I never touch the stuff myself).  The poetry readings proved a teensy bit challenging for everyone whose first language was not 18th century Scots.  I wonder why?  Here's a taste for you to get your tongue round, from the address to the haggis:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm

What could be easier?

On the rocks

As my regular readers will know, I seek to provide entertaining titles for my posts, and this one is no exception.  It relates to our recent trip to the Banyan Tree at Bintan, for Chris's birthday.  I have always thought it was very inconsiderate of him to be born in the middle of December, too close to Christmas to enable imaginative gift giving, and also too cold to do really interesting things in the middle of a northern hemisphere winter.  The first point still applies, but living this close to the equator means that the weather is not a deterrent to fun stuff at this time of year.  In fact, I now tend to try to give experiences as birthday presents, rather than "things" and this year, I think I really cracked it.  I took him off to the Banyan Tree resort on the Indonesian island of Bintan, in the South China Sea, and is just an hour away from Singapore by sea.  Have a wee look here:

http://www.banyantree.com/bintan/


The highlight of the trip was dinner on the rocks - literally.  If you log on to the website and look at section 13 of the brochure, you will see what it looks like.  We did take some photos on the evening, but they are close-ups and so don't really give a sense of the experience.  It was fairly breezy the evening we were there, and by the time dessert arrived the waves were starting to lick at our ankles - a nice extra frisson at the end of the evening.

The magic of the silver screen

Unusually, I am going to start this post with a movie review - of Avatar - which we went to see at the weekend.  My sister is visiting from Australia, and she and Chris were keen to see it.  Personally, I was a bit ho-hum at the prospect, but I am now a complete convert and will be buying the DVD as soon as it becomes available. 

So, Haiku first (composed by sis and self in the back of a taxi on the way to one of our (many) shopping expeditions over the last few days):

Epic tail of man's
short-sightedness.  Out of love,
balance is restored.

And no, that's not a spelling mistake in the first line.

So what did we love about this movie?  The list is long.  First off, it's really beautiful to look at.  Not the parts where the gunships set off on their mission of destruction (definite homage to Apocalypse Now, with shades of Robert Duvall launching an attack on the Viet Cong to the tune of Ride of the Valkyrie), but the scenes in the forest, the colours, the Navi people - especially the lovely Neytiri -  and of course, the special effects.  The story struck a chord too, and  the director managed to stay just on the right side of didactic, so it's a big thumbs up from us. 

Jingle those bells once more

Dear readers



I can say "readers" with confidence because I know that some nasty person in the blogosphere (or possibly some nasty automated machine) just posted a spam comment on my Jingle Bells blog. I have allowed free access to those who wish to comment (thank you, Steve) but the downside of choosing not to moderate comments is what just happened. The only way I could find to get rid of the comment was to get rid of the post, so here it is again for your seasonal delectation and delight.

The Christmas season has officially begun. We have just got back from seeing Aladdin at the Tanglin Club, and we are most definitely in the Christmas spirit. There's something about 100 children screaming "He's behind you" that somehow just gets you in the mood. We are spending Christmas in Singapore this year, a novelty for us, and we're off to Hong Kong for Hogmanay. Chris got back from the UK today, and is busily planning the festivities - he is clearly a man in need of a project.


While he was away I saw the new film version of A Christmas Carol, which I really loved. One of the best things was sitting in the dark in an (over) air conditioned cinema, so that it really was possible to feel that it was Christmas Eve in the northern hemisphere. I think I have seen and pretty much loved every film about Christmas ever made,and I could cheerfully fill the time between now and December 25th watching them all over again.


Although there were a fair number of littlies at the showing of A Christmas Carol that I went to, they were all incredibly quiet, unlike the teens that I shared the cinema with when I went to see New Moon, the second film of the Twilight series. As soon as the vamp and the werewolf got their kit off (in human form, of course) the screaming started. I could understand it for the werewolf (seriously hot, with abs you could bounce off), but not for Edward the vampire (what sort of name is that for a vampire, anyway?) who used to be Cedric Diggory in one of the Harry Potter movies and who looked like he had abs of custard, rather than steel. If I were writing a haiku review of this film I'd say:


Disappointing pap
Save your money to go and
See a real movie.

Yum yum (cha)

Just got back from dim sum lunch at the Fullerton Hotel.  I've written about the Fullerton before, as it is one of my favourite places in the whole of Singapore - a really classy hotel, with several fantastic restaurants, in a beautiful building, in a beautiful location right by the Singapore river.  Sunday brunch at the Fullerton is a treat we save for when we have visitors (so I hope someone will come and visit us soon), but they also do a special dim sum lunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine which involves all sorts of small dishes, many of them little filled dumplings, steamed or fried - a sort of Chinese tapas if you will.  They are usually served with Chinese tea, and the expression yum cha (literally "drinking tea") is the term used to describe the entire dining experience. 

I've tried many dim sum eateries, as my sister can attest, not just in Singapore, but in the UK, Australia and in Hong Kong (the last was a really disappointing experience, interestingly) and I can honestly say that the Jade restaurant at the Fullerton represents the apotheosis of the dim sum chef's art.  The room itself is beautiful, the service immaculate and if anyone ever really was prepared to die for the sake of a foodstuff, this would be it for me.  

While some yum cha restuarants use carts to transport the various offerings from table to table and you can have a look see before you buy (thus making sure you do not choose the steamed chicken's feet by mistake),  at the Fullerton you can order anything you like, as many times as you like,  from an extensive menu, at the bargain price of 33 Singapore dollars per person.   If it is possible to OD on seafood, I probably came perilously close with their wasabi prawns, a signature dish of the restaurant.

Perhaps this is the moment to say a word or two about the Fullerton,(http://www.fullertonhotel.com/) which is one of Singapore's institutions, and a much finer hotel in my view than the more famous Raffles.  The hotel is beautifully situated, close to the mouth of the Singapore River, and even closer to my office - literally, a two minute walk away.  The Fullerton building was constructed in the 1920s, and the name comes from Robert Fullerton, the first Governor of the Straits Settlements.  It was originally an office building, was home to the General Post Office, as well as the very posh Singapore Club, was used as a hospital during WW2, before becoming the headquarters of the Japanese Military Administration in Singapore following the surrender by the British.  Its conversion to a hotel was completed in late 2000.  This is the only guise in which we have experienced the Fullerton, and in my view they made a damn fine job of it.  Most of the original features have been retained or restored, and it is truly a special place.  It would feel extremely decadent to spend the night there, given that we live in Singapore, but I think I might just magic up a special enough occasion to warrant it.

Little India, doggie 69 and must see movies

Chris is away at the moment, so the weekends are entirely my own.  This means more wandering around places and going to movies than I normally indulge in when the lovely C is around, so last Saturday, I hopped on the MRT and went off to explore Little India, and also took in 3 movies over the course of 2 days.  I almost managed to fit in another one, but then I would probably have missed the doggie 69 moment, more of which later.

Little India is just that, a microcosm of the subcontinent, full of the sights, sounds and smells of Bombay - sari shops, restaurants, henna tattooists and home to the Tekka market.  The ground floor of Tekka is a "wet market", with food stalls, and on the first floor there there are all sorts of stalls selling clothes, jewellery and shoes, and tailors who will make you up a sari blouse in a jiffy, or possibly a few jiffies.  There are a number of wet markets in Singapore, so-called, I think, because the floor is wet, as a result of the fresh fish on sale.  A wet market sells all mannner of foodstuffs, not just fish and seafood.  You will also find fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and meat (there is a fine looking goat meat stall at Tekka) all at much cheaper prices than the supermarkets.  Wet markets are, of course, rather wetter than a supermarket, and a darn sight smellier, but if you can get over those two things, they are a great place to shop.


Little India is also home to the Mustafa Centre, which I think I have probably written about before, but it's such an unusual place that it bears repeating.  The Mustafa Centre is a shopping centre in Little India which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  It sells pretty much everything (think of it as the Harrods of Singapore, sort of, but with much lower prices, far more customers and infinitely less style) and attracts pretty much everyone.  Whenever my Indian colleagues come across to Singapore for a business trip, the first of the Singapore sights they hit is Mustafa. Bizarre, really.


But not as bizarre as doggie 69, you may be thinking.  Of course this segment features Lola, who has a new best friend, a 4 month old Golden Retriever puppy called Jack.  Jack lives in the same building and, doggie bladders being what they are, many of the dogs tend to go out for a pee at about the same time of day.  Lola and I ran into Jack in the afternoon and they were all over each other, sniffing and canoodling away and finally ending up in the aforementioned poistion.  I just hope he still respects her in the morning.....

And now, my movie going chums, if you have not seen the following films, then you have a missed a treat.  First up is "UP", a lovely story and a love story to boot.  Its the story of Carl, a grumpy old man, who decides to follow his dream.  Doing so involves tying thousands of balloons to his house and flying off to the wilds of South America, where he Ellie,  the love of his life, had always planned to visit. A slight spanner is thrown in the works when he discovers he has a stowaway in the (rather chubby) shape of Russell, an 8 year old boy scout.  Look out for Doug, the dog.  My favourite character.

My second recommendation is Julie and Julia.  Of course, being someone who loves to cook, it's in my DNA to love this movie, but I have to comment on particularly Meryl Streep's performance.  She always did have the ability to immerse herself  in the character -  to become them, almost - and she does it again in this film.  Look out for her most extraordinary way of speaking (English, not French) , and Bon Appetit!

In fact, I think this movie deserves a haiku, so here goes:

France awakens her
lust for life.  US houswives
reap the benefits.

Au revoir till the next post.

Isabelle

Seoul food

Another trip to Seoul this week. I wrote about my last trip in May, under the pithy title of "Seoul mates"; definitely worth a read  if you haven't yet seen this post.  This time, I had the pleasure of making kimchi - pretty much the Korean national dish.  Kimchi is basically pickled vegetables, the most common form of which is cabbage kimchi (see picture).  Kimchi is also used as an ingredient in other Korean dishes, like kimchi stew and kimchi fried rice.  Koreans love their kimchi, and so did I before I learned how to make it!

Kimchi is everywhwere - so much so that the Korean Aerospace Research Institute developed a space kimchi to accompany the first Korean astronaut to the Soyuz space ship. Kimchi is served at almost every meal, and few Koreans can last more than a few days without a fix.

On the subject of national dishes, I came across this website the other day and I'd like to share it with you.  The website is devoted to stuff about Aberdeen, where I lived for many years before moving to London, but the Whack The Haggis game cracked me up.  I'm not much of a gamer, which probably explains my pathetically low score, but if you've a few minutes to spare on a rainy afternoon, give it a go.

http://www.aboutaberdeen.com/whackthehaggisgame.php

Moon cakes

Autumn: season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, according to Keats, who obviously never lived in Singapore.

Here, Autumn brings increasing humidity and the mid-Autumn festival, celebrated - of course - with food.  In this case, the moon cake. The mid-Autumn festival, also known as the moon festival, falls on October 3rd this year - the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is brighter than at any other point in the year.  As with most Chinese festivals, there is a special food associated with the event - in this case the moon cake, currently being heavily marketed in all its many forms.  The round moon cakes eaten on this festival are symbolic of family unity and closeness and come in all sorts of guises.  "Traditional " moon cakes are enclosed in a sweet(ish) pastry and contain lotus paste and whole egg yolk.  They are very heavy, and ususally served cut into tiny wedges.


The modern moon cake is encased in "snowskin" (much nicer than it sounds, basically a paste of baked white flour combined with icing sugar) and features all manner of fillings, like lavender, chocolate truffle, wheatgrass and melon seeds, hazelnut and coconut, green tea and of course, durian, to mention just a tiny number of the varieties on offer.  Singapore's hotels seek to outdo each other with their inventiveness every year.  How about "Almond Snow Skin with Premium Bird's Nest and Custard Paste" or "Almond Snow Skin with Advocaat Egg Liqueur Truffle and Black Sesame Paste" at the St Regis Hotel, or "Snow-Skin Apricot Mooncake with Popping Candy" from Raffles, pictured top left and described thus:  "luminous snow-skin encasing a velvety filling that yields apricot fragrance and a popping surprise! " 

My regular readers will know my feelings about durian - that most exotic and smelliest of tropical fruits - but nonetheless I decided to give the durian mooncake a try. Mistake.  I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth (or the smell out of my nose) until I had downed half a bag of spicy curry snacks and two cups of tea.  Just thinking about it brings back the smell.........

That said, I also have a very pleasant mooncake memory from this week, which centres around spending time with our new group of HR graduates, who have just joined the Bank.  I spent time with them as part of their training programme and took along some mooncakes to share.  The lavender snowskin went down particularly well, hence the colour of this post's text, as a tribute.

I must say, it was a real pleasure to spend time with such a great group of talented youngsters.  It's easy to become too focused on the day-to day issues of a job and forget about what it was like when everything was still in front of you.  What's in front of us this weekend is the Hari Raya holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.  We're hosting a Sunday roast lunch in celebration, the first ever since we've been here, but the invitation seems to have struck a chord with our guests, so this may be the beginning of a new tradition on the Kiddy household.  I'll keep you posted! 

Back home

It's good to be back! 
We returned to Singapore last night, to a rapturous welcome from Lola and an equally excited one from the heavens in the form of a gigantic thunderstorm.  Thank you, Thor - a nice touch. 

As always on returning from holiday we were met by a gigantic mound of post.  My first reaction is to ignore it for as long as possible, whereas Chris likes to dive straight in.  Much of the mail is made up of publicity material of one sort or another, and it's clear (to me at least) that Singpapore is well on the way to economic recovery, judging from the number of flyers about new property developments that have arrived in the course of just a few weeks. I've mentioned peoperty in the blog before, but let me share with you today how new property is sold.  Most new property comes in the form of high rise condominiums, many of them with exotic names like Amaryllis Ville, Aspen Heights and Palm Beach Garden, to quote just a few.  When a new condo is being developed, it is pre-sold long before it is completed.  This is done through the construction of a show apartment on the site of the development, which potential customers (and people who just fancy a nosey round) can visit in order to see what the finished article will look like.  If you'd like a virtual wander round, have a look at http://www.ascentia-sky.com.sg/.  I swear you'll want to buy one after reading this, so compelling is the "lifestyle" sell!

If property (owning and investing in) is a key component of the Singaporean psyche, so too is a fierce national pride.  Singapore has been through a lot in the last half century, and some of this is reflected a new exhibition, which we're planning to go to this week, hosted by the National Archives of Singapore.  The exhibition is called “Coping with Vulnerability: The First 50 Years. Posters from our Past” and traces Singapore's trials and tribulations on its journey to nationhood through posters, news clippings and other visual media.

One of the focus areas is water, which has been a big problem for Singapore over the years.  It's strange to think of water shortages in a country that gets so much rain, but the issue is catchment.  The solution to the catchment problem is reservoirs, and there are several on the island, the latest of which is the Marina Barrage - a wonderful piece of engineering and construction - have a look at it on wikepedia at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Barrage.  We haven't been, but reading about it really makes me want to visit.

French Leave

If I have any faithful readers left, they must be wondering what on earth is going on and why I haven't been blogging recently. If any of you can work it out, please get in touch, becasue I'm darned if I know.

Perhaps it's to do with having completed two years in Singapore, so there are fewer new expeiences to write about. Anyhow, I've signed up for another year, so I'll just have to get busy on the research front and make sure I have plenty of stories to amuse and delight you. Let's start with an update on Lola dog, for those of you who are fans of our Miniature Schnauzer puppy. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that that she had been unwell; it was very sad to see her so throughly de-perked by her illness, so we were delighted when she returned to her customary bouncy form. Since then, however, she has been sick several times with the same symptoms, but the vets (we've moved to a new practice) have never been able to find anything to explain what is wrong. It was with some foreboding, therefore, that we set off for our annual leave in Southern France, especially as Lola had been ill just before we left and was only just on the mend. The good news is that, according to the daily Lola bulletins from Ding, our live-in helper, all seems to be well. That said, I'm a bit worried about Chris, who is currently on the phone to Singapore, making "whoo-whoo" sounds in an attempt to have a conversation with Lola. Barking....

With that weight off our mind, we are free to enjoy our French leave to the full. The weather here is unseasonably hot - hotter even than Singapore, but mercifully much less humid. Our days are spent relaxing by the pool (and in my case, perfecting my handstands in the pool), reading, cooking lunch on the plancha (Chris's new toy) and doing bits and pieces on the house. I am feeling immensely pleased with myself as I write this, having just cleaned and lined all the kitchen drawers; clearly I'm wasted in HR and should be pursuing a career as a French maid (which would have the benefit of allowing me to dress up in the odd saucy uniform). All comments welcome.