Yellow gold

One of the things that we still need to do for the wedding is buying the rings. It's a small detail but an important one.
We've browsed through the jewellery shops in the malls nearby and so far were not very lucky. We are looking for something simple and everything they have is designed to shine and sparkle as much as possible.
Little India is mentioned in several guides and expat websites as a good place to go when you want to buy jewellery. So we went and quickly we figured out that we won't find our wedding bands there.
First reason: the style, too much Indian for us.
Second reason: it's all yellow gold and we are more into white or rose gold. Not to mention it's 22 carats yellow gold vs. the 24 carats we are used to; and that makes the gold even more yellow.
Third reason: the style, the more you browse the more Bollywood it gets. It might be nice in India, but on a pale European skin, it's highly debatable.

Luckily for us Singapore is one giant shopping center. We will find our wedding rings, fingers crossed. It might take a bit of time and visits to many shopping malls.

Stolen

"Stolen.

Nearly 5 million kg of maple syrup, worth $30 million from Quebec; it was a quarter of the province's strategic reserve. Quebec produces 75% of the world's maple syrup."

I read this in Time magazine today and it made me laugh. Why would you have a strategic reserve of maple syrup?

I had to share this with you and will for sure ask my brother to check next time he goes to Quebec.

Searching for a new sofa

Now that we have an apartment - at least good hope that we get it - we need a sofa (and a TV....).
Today we explored several shopping malls dedicated to furniture: IMM, The Furniture Mall and Park Mall.
After three hours of scouting in many shops we found two sofas that could do the job with a reasonable price.
We did learn a lot over the time we spent in the shops:
- many of the sofas look the same
- some shops offer customization, i.e. when it's made in Asia (likely China). Some shops don't offer customization, i.e. when the sofas are imported.
- for leather, one should read the fine prints. There are sofas in Italian leather made in Italy that cost a fortune (up to 40 000 S$ !!!!) and there are sofas in Italian leather BUT made in China. The Italian leather is imported to China and then assembled. Like the iPhone: Designed in California, Made in China. Those are much cheaper (5-10 000 S$).
- majority of the sofas are soft which is killing my back and requires extra strength to get back on your feet.
- majority of the sofas have a low back which for the tall people that we are is a problem. I can't imagine buying a sofa with the back stopping half way through my back.

There are still a few other malls we haven't checked out, before we end up at Ikea out of despair :)
Let's see next weekend.

A few facts about Singapore

When moving to a new country, it's always good to learn a few facts about it. After almost one month in Singapore, here are a few facts that I've read or been told.

Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of just 683 square kilometers. Yes, each time I move to a new country it's a smaller one: France to Italy to Belgium to Singapore. Maybe next one will be Monaco or the Vatican.

Singapore's average daily temperature is 26.7 C. I can confirm that it's nice and warm no matter the time of the day. The only time when I'm cold is actually indoor because of the air conditioning. Somehow the it's a complete different mindset to be col inside and warm outside. In Belgium and most of northern Europe, it's usually the other way around.

Singapore has over 300 bird species. While so far I haven't seen many of them, I've heard them in the evening. It sounds like thousands of birds are sitting on the trees simging even if it's hard to see them. I guess a visit to the bird park will fix that.

The landlord signed

To get an apartment in Singapore, step one, once the apartment is found, is to write a letter of intent with all your requests and submit it to the landlord. Once the landlord signs, it means the property is off the market while the tenancy agreement is being prepared which can take 2-3 weeks.
We wrote ours last week and were a bit stressed during the weekend as we didn't have any answer.
But this morning, an short email from agent informed us that the landlord had signed the letter.
If everything works out fine from now, the apartment is ours.

Keep your fingers crossed that we go through the paperwork as smoothly as everything else so far in Singapore and that the container will arrive on time.

It feels good to know we have found our home. It doesn't matter how nice the serviced apartment is, it's not home.

The Chinese and Japanese gardens

Since we've been in Singapore we've spent most of our time, when not in the office, in the center: Orchard road, the Botanic Garden, the Marina Bay area, etc. It was about time we started explore the rest of the island.
We decided for the combo of the Chinese and Japanese gardens on the west part of the island. It took 45 minutes or so to get to the entrance of the Chinese garden. While getting there was pretty simple thanks to the well developed subway system, it still took quite a bit of time. The subway speed reminded me more of the RER in Paris than anything else. From the subway it was a quick walk to the entrance so I cannot complain much.
What we had not anticipated is that with the Chinese Lantern festival going on, the access to the Chinese garden was not free today due to the festival that was supposed to take place later today. I can't help asking myself why people coming in the morning should pay 12S$ to enter a festival that will only start 8 hours later. There was not much we could do there. Still we came all this way and there was still the Japanese Garden, which we were told could be accessed for free today. Just need to get to the other entrance.
That was easier said than done. Why, you may ask. Because once the access to the Japanese garden from the Chinese garden is closed, the other access is located on the other side of the lake, some 3 km further away. That's not much as a distance but with the ambient heat it makes the walk harder.

Anyhow, we came all the way so we had to at least see one of the gardens.
The more we walked the more we anticipated there would not be much to see in the Japanese garden. And there were not much indeed. Still it's a nice peaceful garden. Whether it's really Japanese I couldn't judge but it had enough Japanese cues to give that feeling to someone who's never been to Japan.

While the garden didn't make a big impression on me, something else did: a HUGE lizard. When I say huge, I mean it. It was easily 1m long.
What happened? Wolfram insisted we would walk on the red bridges. As I made my way toward the first one, I passed close to a tree and something moved. I screamed and while my heart stopped for a second the beast for rushing to the water, with Wolfram chasing it to get a picture of it.
I could have been dying there by the tree and my beloved husband is running after the creature to take a picture.
It turned out I nearly stepped on a mummy lizard which was taking care of her eggs, buried under the tree.

A little later I spotted another lizard, a bit smaller. Might have been the daddy. Curious we stayed a bit longer hoping to see them coming out of the bush where the mother lizard had been hiding since our encounter. Eventually she would have to get back to her eggs.
And they did both get out of the bush quickly swimming back to the land. I managed to get a shot at the "beast" confirming how big it was.

It's just crazy to think I was so close to such a creature. But again, now we are living in a tropical country. That might be like seeing a fox or a deer in Europe.

Still it scared the hell out of me.

Some changes by the pool

For many years people were entertaining themselves by the pool by reading books, magazines or newspapers, chatting with friends, taking a nap, etc.
Since I've been in Singapore I've observed that the habits have changed a bit.
People still read but on their phone, tablet or laptop. Myself, I'm writing those lines nicely sitting by the pool with my laptop.
People still talk with friends but those may not be there with them. Thanks to Skype and Facetime, now I can sit by the pool and chat with my family and friends back in Europe or wherever they are.

One thing has not changed: people still take naps. It doesn't matter how much technology helps us staying connected, when someone is tired, he sleeps.

Quid?

During the site event on Friday, the new hires did a little dance to entertain the crowd.
While I had no idea what this was, the whole crowd cheered at them. Someone explained to me that it was from the video of a singer from Korea and that it had gone viral over the Internet. I was told that even Britney Spears wanted to learn the choreography. If Britney herself wants to learn it…

Back home a quick search on the Internet gave the below. I’m no music expert but it looks like a guy found some music with a decent bit, created a stupid choreography and posted on YouTube hoping it will be a hit. Sadly he was right. When I see this I wonder what’s happening to music and talent.

As they rightly raised the question on BBC news, one can be famous today simply by scoring a video with the highest number of hits, independently of having talent or not.

Maybe I’m simply getting old(er) and don’t understand what’s designed for the young people out there…

Site event

Today was organized a site event in Sentosa island.
Sentosa island is an island that has been transformed into a leisure area. There are hotels, amusement parks, a casino, etc. everything to keep you entertained.
My first impression was massive given the size of the underground parking. I couldn't see the end of it even after 5min driving in the taxi.
The resort were the event was organized gave me the impression of walking in Las Vegas, minus the sound of the slot machines.
The agenda was typical of a company event with business update and envisioning in the morning, team building and fun in the afternoon.
I froze the whole morning in the hall as the air conditioning was set too low, as usual. I was very glad I had brought a scarf with me.
Lunch was okay, no more which is a pity knowing the great food available in Singapore.
The afternoon part was probably what made the day. An external team took over to make us different team building activities including the well known marshmallow challenge and building a car for a corporate Grand Prix.
Somehow the team spirit was not there in my team and it never really kicked. Our biggest achieviement of the day was to be the only team who couldn't assemble the car in time nor even race one lap without having it breaking apart. I know it's all about participating and not winning, but I can't help thinking that next time the guys in the team send the girls to decoration while they build the car, I will push back.  It was a classical example of men rushing into making without reading the instructions. And that led us to a car with wheels that were not screwed...
In the end it was a good day especially as I got to meet a lot of people, but that's easy because I don't know anybody here... Yet :)

A walk in the Orchid Garden

Or just a good excuse to walk surrounded by beautiful orchids.

Some I had never seen before.

Incredible colors and shapes

And even some carnivorous flowers (keep your fingers away!)

Doesn't it look like a 12?

New life, new rythm

Since I've moved to Singapore, I'm discovering the joy of working on global projects from Asia. This translates in very long days because:
- early mornings are used to deal with the late workers in the US (12 hours behind)
- mid-mornings to mid-afternoons are for Asia business (same time zone)
- afternoons and evenings are for dealing with Europe and the early birds in the US. (respectively 6 and 12 hours behind)

Before you know it, you end up working from 8am until 11pm like today.
I'm glad I managed to escape one hour to go to the gym.

The question is how to manage this on the long term. I'd like to have a life after work... I feel like I will never get to work on the pictures I took at the Orchids Garden.

Girl's time

Today I left Wolfram alone to unpack the Nespresso machine and the rest of his boxes to take care of an important matter: my feet. They were in need of a pedicure. The question was were to go?
Since we arrived I've been checking out places in the different shopping centers and they were all very expensive. True they were located in fancy shopping malls and looked more like exclusive spas than a standard nails salon.
One evening after dinner in a small street nearby I noticed a nails salon that could be in my price range. Today I stopped by and was welcome by five girls waiting there for someone to come in. After a quick discussion I sat down for a classic pedicure. I spent there a good hour and a half but got tea, a little toblerone and Friends playing on the TV to keep me busy. The only thing missing was company to chat with. The English of the girls was limited. It reminded me of China.
Once I was done, the girl at the counter mentioned they have package deals. Of course they have package deals. So let's have a look at them.
It took a good 10 min for her to take me through the full list and answer all my questions. Picky as I am I wanted to understand all the details. After all if I buy a package and spend so much money I want to make sure it's worth it.
In the end I agreed on the package for classic pedicure. Sadly I have to give up my gel nails on the feet as it's not common in Singapore so better go with what they know how to do. With my package I get 10$ off vs. full price and a free add on like special scrub or cream or nail art. I can also use it with one of my friends. Who knows this can be handy when I have visitors.
I also made an appointment for next week. My hands will be due and I'm curious to see what their gelish nail polish is and how long it will last. They say three weeks which is one week shorter than what I do usually but if gel nails as I know them don't exist over here, I'll have to change.
They also have a fidelity app, which I'll get once I have a local phone.

We might have found our new home

Yesterday we were informed that the condo we visited last during our day of house hunting earlier this month had some free 3-bedroom apartment available within our budget AND the landlord would be willing to wait for us to move in only end of October.
Of course we had to schedule a visit as soon as possible because "those units will go fast", as the agent said.
Tonight we went to the Tresalveo condo and indeed visited there two 3-bedroom apartments. The first one on the 4th floor, the second one on the 13th floor.
Both apartments are more or less the same except for the lay-out. That's the magic of new condos.
But the most importantly both are big: 155sqm and 158sqm. The biggest we've seen so far. The living room is big enough to have fit our previous sofa and the dinning table. Seems that with a good agent and pretty clear criteria, you can actually find an apartment big enough within our budget (well the top of it) well connected with a direct subway line to work and to downtown.
They are brand new, i.e. we would be the first ones to live in it, a bit like in our previous apartment in Meise.
Next step is to prepare a letter of intent asking the landlord whether he/she would take us as tenants, also mentioning the few requirements we have.

We'll sleep over it tonight and will make a decision tomorrow morning.

N.B.: for a second I even wondered whether we should have brought the cats. But let's face it they are having much more fun at my parents'.

The Haze

Since we've arrived in Singapore the weather has been so so. While temperature was always warm, the sky was pretty grey. Today over lunch a colleague of mine told me that we are in that time of the year called "the haze".
Quid?
Every year in the first half of September, people are burning lands in Sumatra.This creates some smoke that travels around. If the wind blows towards Singapore, then the island ends up with a smoky cloudy sky.
Based on a quick Internet research I found out that the air pollution from Indonesian forest fires has become a recurring problem in the region, especially during this time of year.
There is nothing one can do about it, except wait that it passes and limit outdoor activities the days when the pollution is the worst.

Let's hope the blue sky will be back soon.

Delhaize products in Singapore

In the supermarket next to Pan Pacific, Finest Fair Price, I spotted some Delhaize products here and there.
I was pleasantly surprised thinking should we feel homesick we can buy some of the products that we were buying in Belgium.
I was less pleasantly surprised when I saw the prices. What is a retailer branded product in Belgium is an exclusive imported product in Singapore. It's even marketed as "Premium European Quality Products". In other words the same product that is among the cheapest in Belgium is now among the most expensive.

This got even crazier when in the Mediterranean garden of the Gardens by the Bay, to showcase olive oil they used a bottle of Delhaize olive oil. So much for the world famous olive oils out there.

Where are the garbage bins?

In took 10 days to figure out that something was missing (on top of the sun as previously mentioned): garbage bin.
In Singapore you can get fined for littering so obviously we make sure that our garbage ends up in a bin.
The only issue is the following: where are the garbage bins?
In most cities I've been so far, there were bins regularly on the street, in shopping malls, in subway stations, etc. Anywhere were people are passing by and a likely to have something to throw away, there are bins.
Not in Singapore.
It's not allowed to eat or drink in the subway and consequently (?) there are no garbage bins in the station or the platform. Trust me we looked and we've become very sensitive to the topic given the number of times we ended up walking quite a while with our empty bottles, cups, bags, or tissues.
The lady at the reception of Pan Pacific confirmed that indeed there are no bins in the subway stations.
What a paradox?
On the one hand littering is not allowed.
On the other hand there are no bins.
What are we supposed to do with the things we need to trash?... walk with it until we find a garbage bin, which might at home or in the office. And nobody complains :(

Where is the sun?

It's been hazy for several days now.
Yesterday and today there were thunderstorms and when it rains over here, it rains hard.
It's been quite windy as well keeping me away from the pool because it gets too cold. Yep, I've learned that wherever we decide to live, the pool should be in the sun, not in the shade as in Pan Pacific, and preferably not in a gust of wind. Otherwise, the water is cold.
If it wasn't for the temperature I could think that I am in Belgium.

Food Republic

On the top floor of the mall nearby which we live (313 @ Somerset), one can find Food Republic. Quid?
It's a premium or fancier version of the traditional hawker centers that are famous in Singapore. On top of being one of the largest with more than 20 food stalls, it's also very clean and organized. In a nutshell, a good way to introduce the concept of hawker center to a foreigner without having him or her stressing about hygiene.
The other advantage of such a place is that there is a very broad range of food available and each one can find what he feels like.
Today I settle on some noodles stall and tried the Prawn fried noodles.

When I saw my plate I wasn't so sure. It DID look better on the picture (which is probably why there is a disclaimer below it).
Luckily it tasted much better than it looked. I was positively surprised and relieved.
I also learned that I could have done with a small portion (the above is a medium one which I couldn't finish) and save some money. Small portion was S$4.8 while medium was S$6.80. Anyhow food in hawker centers is very cheap so nothing to complain about.

I also discovered later in the afternoon that their nutritional power must be low. I was hungry fours hours later, really hungry.

Gardens by the Bay

Today we went to pick up our Employment Pass card. In no time since we dropped the application was the card ready. It took a few minutes of queue until we each hold THE card. We can now work in Singapore but as well travel in and out the country without the need of a visa. We can now also apply for cell phone, credit card, apartment, etc. Without this card we couldn't do much.

Given we were nearby the Marina Bay, we decided to take the opportunity to visit the brand new Gardens by the Bay.
How to describe the place?
Imagine a piece of land with nothing on it right behind (or at the front depending from where you look) one of the most extra-ordinary hotels in the world. What could you do with it? Why not a park?
Apparently Singapore has decided to invest in more gardens to make the city more green and therefore improve the quality of life. Not that it's particularly bad from what I've seen so far.
The Gardens by the Bay have been inaugurated end if June.

The Gardens cover a large area and at 1pm it is difficult to walk around because it's hot (I know, what were we doing outside at that time of the day?). Despite the cloudy weather, temperature is still high. Conclusion we walked from one part to the other jumping from one shadow area to the other.

First stop: the Supertrees.
The Supertrees are giant structures on which ultimately plants will grow on. For the moment they only reach the foot of each supertree but I can imagine that with a bit of time they will cover the whole surface. It does look artificial (read man made) and futuristic at the same time. It's actually crazy to think that someone (or some team) came up with this crazy idea and that it was built.
We didn't go on the skywalk, keeping this for another day with better weather so we have a better view on the Marina Bay Sands.

 Second stop: the Flower Dome
There are two conservatories in the Gardens, both of them nicely cooled for the flowers to grow in an ideal environment.
After a quick assessment of the ticket price to access the conservatories (the rest of the Gardens are for free), we decided to get an annual pass. The chances we will come back are very high and more than two visits in one year are making the pass worth it.

We entered the Flower Dome. The collection of plants and trees is nice but I think what impressed me the most was the architecture of the dome and how they managed to fit in so many garden areas representing the different gardens of the world. There is clearly an intent to educate the visitors with many signs and explanations. I'm not sure there is much value in it if you are older than 12 but it's better than just a name tag.

I'm glad we took the annual pass as I see a lot of potential for pictures. But for that we will have to come in the morning, before the crowd shows up. And with all the lenses, flash, etc. at least for you know who.

Third stop: the Cloud Forest
The second conservatory was even more impressive. They've simply built a waterfall and a whole tropical environment.

It's even more crazy as the structure is actually built to be visited. There is a path that takes you from the top to the bottom, in and out the structure. Really impressive. I can't wait to do this during the night.

From the outside, all green. From the inside, all concrete. That's the magic of the place.

Note: overall it felt like the gardens needed some more time for many of the plants to grow. I can imagine that in 1-3 years all the metallic structures we can see today will be covered by plants. But for now, I can only imagine what it will be. I guess I'll have to come back (which will be easy now that I have an annual pass).

Bicycle

To answer a question from my Mom, yes my pink Chinese bicycle is coming to Singapore.

It's somewhere in the container.

First dinner "at home"

Until today we enjoyed free meals as they were covered by our company as part of the move. That was really nice and we tried several restaurants.
Like every good thing, it couldn't last forever... sadly today we had to pay for our food and naturally decided for pasta and pesto to renew with our "home" food.
Step one was to go to the store to get supply. That was reasonably easy as we food Barilla spaghetti, same as in Belgium. For the pesto they didn't have our brand but two different ones:
- one made in Australia at S$6.60
- one made in Italy at S$5.50
We decided for the Italian one as after all Italians should know better how to make pesto than Australians, no?
Step two was the preparation which turned out more challenging.
I used our one pot to boil water, but only once I found the switch that gives power to the hot plate. Singapore is like in the UK. They have a switch for everything: the water heater, the fridge, the hood, the plugs, you name it. Conclusion when you plug something you need to make sure the switch is on, or you could wait hours for your water to boil. While I was finding my way around the kitchen, Wolfram went on a quest for salt. In our smart shopping we forgot to buy salt and oil. Wolfram suggested to get it from the lounge where we have breakfast. Unfortunately at night, this area is empty and he had to kindly ask the reception for a bit of salt. 5 minutes later, someone was ringing at the door with the equivalent of two tablespoons of salt. We probably now have enough for the whole duration of our stay.
Once pasta was ready I carefully used the small sieve to get the water away and then mixed the pesto in with one of our four tablespoons.
Step three was not as good as we hoped. Despite we had nice plates (two of course), the pesto sauce was not as good as we wished. Maybe the Italians got it wrong. Maybe it's the travel time to Singapore. Maybe next time we eat Asian.

As I prepared dinner tonight I couldn't help noticing that it looked like the dishes and pot had never been used. The kitchen towels still had starch on them. I'm sure that tomorrow there will be discussion within the group of maids cleaning the apartments. Discussion about this weird people who needed salt and cooked in their apartment...

Ergonomics

As per Asian standards we are tall. Yes, even me.
Conclusion the desks in the office are too low.
Fair enough it's a temporary building until the new site, BUT is this a reason not to have desks with adjustable height? Apparently yes because 90% of the population measure less than 1m60. For the the other 10%, it seems we have to be creative and flexible to minimize the impact on our neck and back.
Work from home has never been so attractive. Well, just need to get a home :)

Employment Pass application

Today we had our appointments for applying for the Employment Pass scheduled. The Employment Pass is a sort of work permit / resident card combined that foreigners need to have to live and work in Singapore.
We arrived there in advance as we were told to do so and also because we needed ID pictures. Based on my experience in China I didn't bother making ID pictures in Belgium before leaving because they are usually for a reason or another not suited for other countries when it comes to documents.
It took S$6 and 3 minutes to get 4 pictures.
After that we scanned our application bar code at the entrance of the office, waited 5 minutes, and proceeded to a counter where an officer took care of each of us.
The "toughest" part was the scanning of the fingerprint of each thumb. For some reason, my fingers were too dry and Wolfram's too wet. It took several scans until the quality of the fingerprints was judged acceptable.
In total it took us less than 15 minutes to complete the whole process and be on our way out. The card will be ready on Saturday (yes they are open on Saturdays).
If that's not the dream administration, I don't know what it is.

I feel like a new hire

Today was my first day at work.
It started by successfully getting there by bus. We found out that there is a direct bus from the serviced apartment. In 40min or so we reached the reception. Not bad for a first day and without optimization of the trip yet.
First half of the day was dedicated to an onboarding organized by HR to get us clear on the policies and benefits of this country. This session was extremely useful especially as we could ask all the questions we wanted (and many questions we had), but somehow it made me feel like a new hire. You know, this peculiar feeling of excitement to start a new job mixed with practicalities (finding the water fountain, the toilets, the printer, etc.)
The afternoon was more tailored to my needs as I picked up my new laptop, new phone and met the people of my group. That's where the challenge began as I was introduced to 20 different people, each with a name I could not always understand and I'm afraid that I have forgotten already. I've always been bad with names, even more when I don't see them in writing.
After completing all the requested paperwork, at least I hope, we left the office for a well deserved dinner.

Like every first day, I'm exhausted. I think I'll go to bed early today.

Seen on one of the large screens on Orchard road

My only comment... this song could compete in the Eurovision :)

Cordyceps sinensis

Quid?
During the flight I watch some documentary programs on travel and people around the world. One of them was about Cordyceps Sinensis. It was so weird I had to check further.
It's a caterpillar fungus. A caterpillar that lives underground eats fungi and at some point of time the fungus develops in the caterpillar (which dies by the way) giving Cordyceps Sinensis.
Who cares?
Well a lot of people actually as this particular cordyceps is used in traditional Chinese medicine and believe it or not, its price on the market is higher than gold!
Some people make a whole living by pick-up the fungus and selling it. The whole story left me puzzled.

Samy's Curry

I promise this blog will not turn into a culinary review blog but as part of settling in a new country, there will be some trying out of restaurants involved. When worth it (good or bad), I will share.
Tonight we felt like going to a simple place, i.e. not having to dress up.
After searching the Internet for the restaurants nearby and pondering on what we wanted to eat, our choice ended up on Indian food. A quick search on Google gave us the top 10 Indian restaurants in Singapore. #10 was Samy's Curry in Dempsey Hill area with the following review:

"Samy's is something of an institution in Singapore, having been dishing up cheap Indian cuisine in informal surroundings since the 1950s, making it one of Singapore's oldest Indian restaurants. The large mess-like brightly-lit hall sees groups of friends tucking into Signature dishes such as Masala Chicken, Mysore Mutton, Fish Cutlet and Masala Prawns. Whichever dish you choose, it will be unceremoniously sploshed onto your banana leaf along with as much rice, dahl and vegetable curry as you can manage. Don't expect any airs and graces, but do expect plenty of good curry and good times."

A quick taxi ride took us there (yep, no more car so we have to learn our ways without) and in no time we were sited and a waiter was asking what we wanted to drink.
As for food, no menu. You are invited to go to the counter to see what's there and make your selection on the spot. For tonight we picked some classics and some new just to try out:
- Masala chicken
- Butter chicken (my favourite)
- Curry mutton
- Tandoori prawns
- Mysore mutton
and of course plenty of Naans. One can never have enough Naans.
While the place looked pretty basic and the plates were replaced by banana leaves, the food was simply delicious. Indian food just the way it should be. Indian like in India which might make sense in a country where 9% of the population is Indian. No need to adapt the flavour of the dishes to the locals: they can call take the spices.

Only regret is that Alice was not there. She would have loved it. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm sure Joy and Yann would have loved it as well. And probably my parents too. Let's say it's a place I'll take visitors to.



Two forks, two spoons and now two iPads

When we left Belgium, we had to return our iPads from work. Yep, that was another shadow on our lives.
As a consequence one of the first thing we did in Singapore was to buy new ones, as they are cheaper than in Europe.
Today after visiting three retailers we found one that had some iPads in stock and even better then ones we wanted. Interestingly the shop where we bought them was heavily advertised in the local newspaper "The Straits Times" (don't expect much of this newspaper. Like USA today, there is not much inside). After seeing six pages in a row of advertisement I memorized the name of the shop, Courts, bitching like hell that it was a waste of my time and paper. Apparently not because we ended up going there. Well not only because of the advertisement, maybe also because it was just across the street.

Now I can resume my games, but more importantly get easily in touch with my family across continents. Just need to get Facetime and Skype running.

PS: Wolfram, as per his habit, took pictures of every step of the opening and setting up of his new iPad. I just opened the box and got it out :)

Welcome fruit basket

When we arrived on Thursday night we found a fruit basket on the kitchen table as a welcome gift.
I couldn't help smiling when I saw the apples and pears. It reminded me of the fruit basket Alice and I received a couple of years ago in Malaysia. The fruits that are exotic over here are the every day fruits of Europe. While I would have loved to get mangoes and pineapples, those every day fruits over here are not worth being part of a fruit basket.
I guess I have to find a local market to buy mangoes. Did I mention I love mangoes?

Nora, one and a half month

Already on her way to accomplish great things.

Obviously I'm very proud of my niece :)