Does it remind you of someone you know?

Birthday celebration

Over the years Wolfram and I have kept our birthday celebration to something simple with family or a few friends. Who wants to be reminded that's he's aging?

For Oskar's first birthday we had a small family celebration in the d day. Today we have invited our friends and colleagues in Singapore to celebrate with us. It's probably the only time where there will be more adults than kids. 

A bit before 3pm, the room was ready and the birthday boy was getting his energy boost.

Note that the giraffe looked much better in a warmer room. In the presence of strong airco the air inside is contracting making it look like it has a broken neck. We did not kill the giraffe!

A bit over 30 people came in the end. There were a few people who called sick in the morning. Not all people came at once so we could interact with all of them. Kids were running all over the place. It was so noisy sometimes we could not have a conversation. And someone mentioned that I should get used to it. That's pretty standard for a kid's birthday. Apparently for the following birthdays we will need to plan for activities and animations to entertain the kids. 

Wolfram took all the photos so I don't have anything to show but I can say this: Oskar was incredible. He really looked like he was enjoying himself walking around almost the whole time. The plastic plate and cups did help to entertain him. He interacted with almost everybody and gave plenty of smiles. He posed in many selfies meaning he's going to be all over Facebook. Although we said no gift almost everyone came with something. People were incredibly generous and Oskar received books, his first set of crayola, a dolphin for the pool, construction blocks, helicopter, train, water guns, a car wheel simulator and many more. Enough toys for us to bring a new one every month for the rest of year. Until next birthday I guess :)

This was a great day for all of us which we celebrated with a well deserved glass of champagne afterwards. 

Now we have 12 months to think and plan the next birthday party. What could we do for two year old?

Where do I push to get the music?

Nowhere it's MY phone!!!!

Seems Oskar will know how to operate an iPhone before writing or even talking.

In case there was any doubt on who his father is, this clarifies completely.

Now I have two boys crying at home when the battery of their phone is empty :)

38.5

That could have been the temperature of Oskar but no.

Well he did get fever again on Wednesday and we survived another round of high temperatures.

38.5 is the probability adjusted number of people who will come tomorrow to celebrate Oskar's first birthday. We invited our friends and colleagues and our little boy is very popular.

Today I baked for six hours and now when I look at the result of it I cannot help wonder whether this will be enough.

There will fruits on top but I fear the thought of not having enough food will haunt me tonight.

Tyrannosaurus

Wolfram has started to build the nanoblock gift I brought back from Japan. 

Please do not disturb a man at work :)

Rain check

22:30 sharp the concert started. It's Singapore after all. Robbie Williams was on stage singing his first song.

22:30 sharp that's also when the first drops of rain came down. We seeked protection under a tree but quickly the rain became heavier and heavier. So bad we had to leave by the second song.

Many powered through the rain. Robbie Williams did perform for the full 90minutes also under the rain. We were not that brave.

It was a massive mess to get back to the mrt because everybody was trying to escape the rain but we eventually made it. 

No concert and wet to the bones in freezing cold mrt. Last time I was so wet, it was Mulu park.

It's very likely we will be sick tomorrow.

Qualifying run

It's the event of the year in Singapore: the formula 1 Grand Prix. The only one at night time and they are pretty proud of it. I mentioned that this year we are going. I ordered the three-day passes (we needed two days but you either get one day or three) and a few weeks back we picked them up.

A vos marques!

Oskar had fever the past 24 hours (courtesy of the one year vaccination shot) and consequently we were exhausted. Who would not after an interrupted night and a whole day of cranky baby? Yet fever luckily went down in the afternoon and once he was asleep, we left the house.

Prêts!

A short mrt ride later, we were there! It took a bit of time to figure out the set up but by the time the qualifying run started we were nicely in one of the viewing stand.

Partez!

Those were packed with people because let's face it unless you are higher up there is not much to see. The cars are very low and the fences are blocking the view at ground level. It took some trying until we had a good position to see for me and for Wolfram to take pictures. I was traveling light with only my phone. Still I shot a couple of videos just for the memory.

The thing with Formula 1 is that there is not much to see. Basically you position yourself somewhere and you wait for the cars to pass in front of you. Given the speed at which they go, it's only in a curve that you have chances to really see the cars when they slow down. Otherwise, you see a car for a fraction of a second and rely on the big screens to tell you which one it was.

Not before 10

That's what Wolfram declared this morning. Oskar will not get an iPhone before he is 10 years old.

I have my doubts.

Tess-terminator

This morning, like every morning, I got out of bed, poured myself a glass of juice and was drinking it reading the news. Not that I care much about what's happening in the world lately but still I try to maintain a minimum awareness. So I'm reading and I see something moving in the background.

I though. Here is our geiko.

Except the geiko is usually on the wall not the floor.

I looked a second time and realized it could not be the geiko because it was too dark and moving to fast. As I got closer, it hit me. It was a cockroach. A huge one. One as big as the one in Wall-E except in real life it's not cute, it's scary / discusting / horrifying.

I tried to be brave and walked to the kitchen to get a Tupperware under which I could isolate the beast. One failed attempt later, the best was on the move towards me and my bravery was replaced by panic. I'm pretty sure I was close to a panic attack with the biggest cockroach ever free in my living room.

I rushed to the bedroom to get my husband to the rescue. Once he had made sense of what I was saying he took the Tupperware and trapped the monster.

We left it there while we finished getting dressed. 

I brushed my teeth and checked that the beast was still trapped.

I showered and checked that the beast was still trapped.

I got dressed and checked that the beast was still trapped.

Of course with all the commotion, Oskar woke up and our morning routine was messed up.

When Tess asked what happened I told her about the cockroach.

She came with paper kitchen towel but then changed her mind for the newspaper. Seems the beast was too big to be handled with paper towel.

She carefully lifted the Tupperware and smashed twice.

The beast was dead.

I've never seen this. By the time I had recovered, she had cleared the scene and was ready to resume with her normal morning activities. 

I'm telling you there is no messing with her, especially if you are a cockroach.

Now, we all hope it was a flying cockroach but deeply inside me I will only have my peace of mind once I check the whole place. We will have a busy weekend. 

1 year old

And ready for another fantastic year full of  adventures!

Souvenir from Japan

I couldn't bring back Kobe beef sadly so I bought another Japanese specialty: whisky.

We are ready for the long winter nights in December :)

Japanese fast food

There used to be (there are still even) small restaurants where workers would go for lunch. Those were places where women and families would not go as they were dirty and sometimes questionable on hygiene. That's what I was told.

One day someone got the idea to keep the concept but make it a clean place attractive to families.

That's how this chain of fast food was born.

Food is traditional Japanese. It's a sort of buffet where you get to chose what you want to eat and pay at the end. 

I took a broad selection. More than I could it but I wanted to try.

Everything was good although the omelette was missing a bit if something. I could not finish but it was worth trying out especially the Tonkatsu pork that I have been using in the lab for testing.

Miniature

It might just be an impression but I keep having the feeling that houses are smaller in Japan.

Lunch in Japanese food court

Today I had lunch in a Japanese food court which is basically like any other food court in Asia with maybe a bit more Japanese stalls vs. the rest.
I was advised to try the Japanese big noodles and have some tempura on the side.

Not my favourite (especially compared to Kobe beef) but ok. It was too much. Those noodles really fill you up in  no time. I could only manage half of them.

Unexpected

I mentioned already that I have noticed that there are a lot of elderly people around and many still working. It's even more obvious compared to Singapore where the population is rather young overall.
Population in Japan is aging and it is even more obvious if you check the diaper aisles.

Baby diapers

Elderly diapers

The aisle for elderly diapers is twice longer than the one for baby diapers.
It says it all...

Kobe beef

I had heard of it.
I had even thought about trying it in Singapore but the price stopped me.
Now that I am in Kobe there was no more excuse.
With the excuse of a team dinner, we all went to have Kobe beef.

Menu:
- beef shashimi (yep that's raw beef)
- sirloin and filet Kobe beef
- salad with tofu sesame sauce
- Japanese omelet
- mix of rice and noodles with the legendary Kobe sauce (apparently it is well known)

(we had two servings of those)

I will only say one thing. Kobe beef is unbelievable. It melts in your mouth like beef should do. Several hours later I can still taste it :)

Cup noodles

It's not a legend, they love cup noodles!
We stopped in a convenience store today and in one aisle half of the shelves were cup noodles. More sorts that you can even imagine.

All you need now is hot water.

Resuming with old habits

McDonald's for lunch during consumer research.
This time I tried the "Mid-Autumn festival" chicken egg burger. Not my favorite I'm afraid.

After Russia and India, that's one more country :)

Traveling with style

Taxi in Kobe have drivers who open the door for you and wear white gloves. Car seats are nicely decorated. It does give a certain style to your ride.

 Very different from Singapore. At the same time, taxis are super expensive in Kobe. Traveling in style has a cost.

Room with sea view

Sea is a bit further away than I expected for a sea view room but I cannot deny that I can see it.

Good morning everyone from Kobe!

Perplex

I was perplex when facing the instructions for the locker at the gym.

I never managed to lock it despite such complete instructions. 

I was even more perplex in front of the toilet and its set if instructions. 

I know everybody already talked about those and I've seen them before. Still they make quite an impression in situ.

Welcome to Japan!

Japan is very organized

That's my very first impression. That and that there are lots of elderly working.

An airport is an airport. Once you have travel a bit around the world you can pretty much navigate your way in any airport even if you don't speak the language. Now when people do speak a bit of English or even French like it was my case at the immigration it makes things easier but also more welcoming.

Kimiko had given me clear directions and in 45 minutes I was done with immigration, had found the bus stop and had someone buying me the ticket at the vending machine, and even got a Starbucks. I struggled a bit with my hot chocolate preferred combination but somehow we managed. Like when I was in China: lots of signs, showing pictures and smiles get you what you want. Or something close to it :)

Things are neatly organized in Japan, at least at the airport.

The other thing that stroke me was the number of elderly people still working. They look easily 60+ and are still cleaning, moving luggage, guiding people, cashiers, etc. I cannot help but thinking that they should be enjoying retirement and not work hard anymore. Yet Japan has an aging population so it might have to do with that. 

I'm now in the bus to Kobe, with my seatbelt on because it's mandatory.

Let's see what Kobe has to offer.

Big in Japan

Two years that I have been working for Asia including Japan. In my previous role I spent a lot if time in India. This time my key country is Japan and I finally get to go there.

After two years of learning about the consumers there and working with Japanese, I finally get to visit their country.

I'm very excited even more because it's my first business trip after maternity leave. Yes, it's time I go back out there although my heart is broken to leave Oskar. It's also the first time we will be separated. I won't be there when he wakes up tomorrow for the first time. Well this was bound to happen one day so I just need to get going. Tomorrow once I'm busy it will be easier.

And for motivation the radio in the taxi played "big in Japan"! This can only predict good things.

Japan, here I come!

23

Our little boy has already outgrown his first pair of shoes. We manage to make them last four months which from what I heard is not bad. 

I hope those will last until we fly to Europe where he will need boots for sure.

Somebody's birthday is coming soon

The grandparents have made sure that Oskar would have gifts. Just in case his tired busy parents might forget.

Pity that we have to wait 12 days to find out what's in the boxes.

Count down has started.