NRJT in the Tropics

Resurrecting our BlogSpot!

2010-11-23T13:12:00.004+08:00

Came across our web blog yesterday, and got motivated to resurrect our blog! So if anyone is reading, please add a comment, so I know you're out there.

My last posting was sometime in 2008! Gosh a lifetime ago it seems. So much has changed, so much has happened in the last 2 years. To put it down into a few words:

We bought a home in Singapore, and after painful renovations, finally moved in late 2009.
Our daughter, Tahlia was born in 2009, and baptised in front of our friends and family who came from Egypt, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and the US to witness the event.
Both Nader and I started new jobs in late 2008... at the same time....
Nader started, and has now almost come to the end of his eMBA program! Thank god!
I had 2 minor, but significant surgeries which changed my life...more on that soon....
2 high school reunions where life threw me curveball I wasn't expecting...more on that one soon too....
Julian started a new school in 2010. My little toddler is no longer... he is now a little kid! And I now have a toddler girl who grew out of babyhood waaay too quickly!

And through it all, through the frenetic pace of our life in the last 2 years, there are our friends. Friends who came, friends who went, friends who stood by us and supported us, laughed with us, and shared our frustrations. A small but heartfelt word of thanks for being there with us.

More pictures and stories coming up soon!

Watch Julian Scoot

2008-10-27T11:24:00.001+08:00

Watch Julian Scoot

2008-10-27T08:44:00.003+08:00

Julian reading his book :)

2008-07-26T11:32:00.001+08:00

So - finally he's able to read, kind of.

2008-06-22T16:00:00.002+08:00

So, recently Julian internalized the whole idea of Birthday Parties!! He patiently waited for a few months to have his - and finally - he had it. We decided to throw him 2 parties. one, early so he could celebrate with his best friends, and another on his actual birthday, in 2 weeks time, in Montreal!!

Julian Baking a Caka fo Oma's birthday

2008-05-19T11:43:00.000+08:00

Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes

2008-03-09T15:55:00.002+08:00

Cranky Julian

2007-08-20T18:30:00.000+08:00

Then it's off to Stuttgart where we stayed with our friends Linh and Martin, who unfortunately also had to bear with an extremely cranky and angry little Julian. He was so jetlagged, and just didn't know what hit him. EVERYTHING made him angry in those 3 days we were in Stuttgart. Needless to say, this part of the trip was a little hard on the nerves!

But it was great to catch up with all our friends. We even had time for a beergarten one evening. And another night, we were treated to another wonderful dinner at the home of our Dutch friend Jeroen and Nicole.

There was another "bun-in-the-oven" - our friends Julia (standing in the green dress) and Bern were expecting their first child. We were expecting little Emile Julius Weick to be delivered while we were there, but he didn't make his appearance until about a week later when we were already in Montreal.

It seems we chased the sun around the world. Because we seemed to bring on the 30+oC hot weather wherever we went! Having come from Singapore, that was not a good thing. We wanted cooler Summer days.

The vacation

2007-08-20T18:10:00.000+08:00

Our big holiday this year is to Montreal, with pit stops in Germany and New York. Travelling with a toddler on a 22hr flight was not easy, but suprisingly not as horrific as I imagined it to be. I would never do it alone, of course. One needs at least 2 adults per toddler for such a long flight!

The journey started with a mild panic when Julian started having a very high fever the night before we travelled. On the morning of our flight (thank god it was an afternoon flight!), we managed to rush him to the doctors who advised us to postpone our trip by a few days if we can afford it. Against the advice of the doctor, and after much debate, we decided to beeline it to the airport. Julian was feverish throughout the flight, but he managed to sleep through most of it for our first leg to Frankfurt.

My cousin Dini and Wolfgang, and their little "bun-in-the-oven", made a special trip from the northern part of Germany to see us in Frankfurt. We stayed with them for one night. They treated us to a wonderful Italian meal that first evening we arrived - fresh bread, antipasti, raviolis with different sauces made with truffles...and of course..... wine! It was amazingly fresh and simple, but just absolutely delicious and perfect.

The one and only picture

2007-08-20T17:57:00.000+08:00

I have of Julian's birthday party. Nader had recently bought a new videocam, and decidedly forgot to take any still shots of our son's party. And this shot was not even ours....it was taken by a friend. Anyway, we had a big do for Julian for his 2nd birthday. This year the theme was CARS - because he's so mad about them! We had about 25 adults and about 15 kids screaming and running amok! The party was one big blur of screaming kids!

I think Julian had fun.....

By the way, it's been 7 weeks since my last update (my bad...). So the next few updates will be retrospective.

Sharing birthday cake at Julian's daycare

2007-07-05T11:54:00.000+08:00

This is the cake I made for Julian's 2nd birthday. Nader says it's a marked improvement from the first cake I made.....

We brought the cake to Julian's daycare to share with all the other kids. It was about 200oC in his school....and we were all melting...including the cake......

Mama got a little emotional and started to tear when all the kids broke out in a birthday song.... My baby is 2!!

And finally, one picture with all his class mates.

Birthday morning

2007-07-05T11:45:00.000+08:00

It's Julian's 2nd birthday today, and we opened a gift that arrived aalll the way from New Zealand! A new shirt!

Then from Mama and Papa, the first of 3 gifts..... a play handphone.... in the hope that he will finally stop trashing ours!

The itinerary

2007-07-01T10:47:00.000+08:00

So our Summer is going to be spent with Nader's family in Montreal this year. We've never been on such a long haul flight with Julian, so it will be....an experience.......

Our first stop will be in Frankfurt to see my German cousin, followed by a 3-day layover in Stuttgart to see some friends. I'm making a beeline to our favourite bakery to get some fresh german pretzels!Then we head out to the Big Apple to spend a few days with my sister Ann and her husband Nate. Nader's dad will be joining us there. It's outlet shopping time! And try to fit in some time to see a very cool show called "La Guarda".

Then it's off to Montreal where we will be joined by our good friends Anne and Josh with baby Kourtenay. We're going deep into the countryside this time with a road trip to the Laurentians. We're expecting my brother-in-law's family to be joining us too. All of this will take 2 weeks, followed by a 1 week work from Montreal office stint.

Yippee....can't wait!

Julian's daycare

2007-06-29T07:42:00.000+08:00

It took many months, but I finally have more pictures of Julian at his daycare. He was making fruit salad one day, painting another day, and then the last is Mother's day celebrations in May with all the kids!!!

In case you don't see Julian and mama in the crowd, we're waaay at the back. :)

Julian celebrates Father's day

2007-06-22T07:48:00.000+08:00

I just realized that Father's day is on different dates all across the world. Singapore follows the American date....I think....

Anyway, Nader was invited to a little celebration to celebrate Father's day at Julian's daycare.

The kids put on a show with songs and a dance, and there was cake at the end.

Julian jumped right in front of the table, and was right there, waiting eagerly for the cake to be cut.... so he can EAT! That's my boy! :):)

The artist

2007-06-22T07:35:00.000+08:00

Canadian care packages

2007-06-02T07:50:00.000+08:00

When we were recently at the Canada Day Carnival, Nader picked up a magazine called the "Maple Leaf Times" published for the Canadian community here in Singapore. I noticed a funny ad for a company that sends care packages to Canadians living abroad.

I thought the name of the company was especially cute. They sell things like Kraft caramel bars, Tim Horton's coffee and of course Maple syrup. In case any of you Canadians have a really strong craving for any of these things..... feel free to log on.....

www.missyoucanada.ca

Julian's wink

2007-06-02T07:41:00.001+08:00

Well....at least he was trying......

Nader's first film

2007-06-02T07:28:00.000+08:00

In Nader's first film role, he was playing a cop who had to rescue a girl who had been kidnapped. He was a Don Johnson - Miami Vice - type of cop with the suit and all. The production took the entire afternoon to set up, and they finally started filming at 11pm. Here is Detective Nader on the film set.

And here he is with the "kidnapped" girl.

And finally, Nader with his gun. This is a REAL gun (yes.... a REAL gun). The bad guy and Detective Nader fired shots at each other with blank bullets. When my mom found that there was a gun involved in the production, she set about saying her silent prayer. She was worried about Nader's safety. She kind of freaked me out a little too!

When the shots were fired, it was like a lightning crack explosion! I've never seen a real gun this up close and personal. This is probably going to be the first and last time that Nader holds a gun like that in his hands......

Dragonfruit

2007-06-02T06:54:00.000+08:00

There is a fruit which goes by the name Dragonfruit. I think it's a tropical fruit because I haven't seen it outside this region. It's hard to describe, so here's a picture of it. The flesh inside can be white or bright pink. We discovered that Julian can wolf these puppies down. He gobbles and gobbles....and we let him.

One evening, he was on a Dragonfruit frenzy and we all thought it was all so cute. Well it wasn't so cute at 4am when he threw it all up in his bed. Julian had been running a high fever the day before, so he was on fever medication. I don't know what it was, maybe it was a combination of the medicine, plus the fact that he may have still been feeling a little unwell, and all that fruit just didn't sit well in him.

He came quietly into our bedroom in the middle of the night, and when Nader took him back into his room, he discovered a soggy pink mess everywhere! On the wall, all over his bed, and even in Julian's hair, and his body and legs! That stuff stained everything! Thankfully, I had the much easier job of putting Julian back to sleep in our bedroom, while Nader had the unenviable job of cleaning up the mess.........

I have a wonderful husband......

Aynur

2007-05-23T07:30:00.000+08:00

Also last weekend, Nader and I were invited by our friends to watch Aynur - a Kurdish singer. Her show was all part of a 2 month long festival called "Under the Crescent Moon" showcasing the cultural heritage of the Arab world and Turkey. She first debut in the US last year, and is seen as a pioneer, in that she's probably the first to bring Kurdish music, to the world stage.

Her music was wonderful, but it was her voice that was really inspiring. She had this incredibly powerful voice that took the high and low notes with incredible ease. She was accompanied by a 5 piece band, playing both Western and Kurdish instruments. It was a simple performance, but a truly, truly good and enjoyable one.

Victoria Day

2007-05-23T07:13:00.000+08:00

I'm the first one to admit that we've been terrible about toting our camera around these days to take pictures. So until we get our act together, I have to resort to keep stealing images from the Net for my blog. Anyway, last weekend the Canadian community in Singapore put on a great big carnival to celebrate Victoria Day. No clue what Victoria Day is... maybe some of you Canadians out there can enlighten me.....

Sponsored by the 4 large Canadian groups out here - the Canadian Association of Singapore, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian International School, and the Canadian Alumni of Singapore (which, technically, I should be a part of since I studied in Canada.... but I've never heard of this group until last weekend....), the carnival was held at East Coast Park - which is a recreational park by the sea.

The event held great promise. Unfortunately, it had poured - tropical downpour - the night before. So the grounds were wet - very wet. By the time we got there, and many feet stomping around on the ground later, it was like a mud bath. I almost lost my Birkenstocks slopping around in that mud. We had intented to take Julian that day, but he was feeling a little unwell. So while he took his nap at home, Nader and I nipped out to check it out. Thank god, the little one wasn't there. It would've been crazy trying to stop him from sinking into the mud!

Also unfortunately for me, I opted to wear a long, linen black skirt that day. I remember clearly deciding NOT to go for shorts, and wanted to go for something nicer instead. What a mistake! As I splattered mud around myself, I kept replaying that second of decision-making in my bedroom "shorts or skirt, shorts or skirt.....!!! Made the wrong choice!!!!......Aaarrgh!!!!" I even sat on a mud-covered chair, and had brown mud all up and down the back of my skirt. It looked like I couldn't control my diarrhea because I had brown streaks going all the day down to my legs!!! Lovely isn't it.

So the mud kinda overtook the entire event. I can't even really remember what was at that carnival. Oh, and it was crazy hot that day. 38 oCelcius and humid. It felt like we were being cooked! So that was the Canada Carnival... Happy Victoria Day to all our Canadian friends and family!

BCG

2007-05-23T06:34:00.000+08:00

Unlike in Germany, Asian children still get vaccinated against TB. The vaccination is called BCG, and it's a really painful shot which will leave a little scar on him. Normally this shot is administered when the baby is only a few months old. Because Julian is older, the doctor recommended that we give Julian a local anaesthetic. No question there. Let Julian feel the sting of the needle AND the scorching pain of the vaccine, or let him be comfortable.

When it came time for the awful deed, we had to lay Julian on his stomach and hold him steady. The shot was to be given on him bum. It was then that I realized, that unlike most shots, this one is to be given just right under the skin, so it was critical that the doctor goes in lightly and at just the right angle to keep the needle from going deep.

When the sharp needle went it, Julian clenched and jumped. I tried desperately to hold him still, but I couldn't manage it. So the doctor lost his hold, and had to pull the needle out. Poor Julian was crying hard by then, but he had to endure this twice more. It took 2 more insertions, in which the doctor, had to go in from the same entry point before he could finally give my son the right amount of vaccine dosage. The doctor said that if he hadn't received the anaesthetic, the ordeal would have been much worse..... shudder, horror, gasp!!

However, not one second after the job was finished before Julian got up, pointed to his bum and told us "wa wa" - which means pain in his baby talk. Then it was all forgotten after that. On the ride home in the car, he was happy and laughing, and pointing things out on the street like he normally does. Thank goodness little ones are so quick to bounce back. I think it was harder on the grown ups.

When Nader came home that night, he told me that he had been stressed about the shot the entire evening!

Mom's birthday

2007-05-22T23:31:00.000+08:00

My mom's new favourite restaurant is a hip restaurant called "Sun With Moon" which does a contemporary and almost Western fusion take on Japanese cuisine.

Nader and I are still undecided what to make of this restaurant. We love Japanese food, and we're not quite sure we like the twists and mixes they do with our beloved Japanese classics. Anyway, so this is where we went to celebrate my mom's birthday. Unfortunately both Nader and I forgot to take pictures that night, but I decided to steal a couple photos from the Web to make this blog more visually interesting.

The first one is of the restaurant (duh), and the second is one of their deserts. I must admit though, that I love being able to try interesting restaurants like this one. That is one the great, great benefits of living in Singapore. The variety of food :):)

My husband... the actor

2007-05-22T23:19:00.000+08:00

My husband has always wanted to be in the limelight. He's always wanted to act. Unlike me, who much, much prefers to stay hidden in the background, my husband thrives on being at the thick of it all. So to cut a long story short, Nader is listed on an Asian Actors website which is used by film/commercial producers when they are looking for talent. These are the pictures that are on the site - and he's had multiple calls and auditions from the website.

I like these photos, because they were taken totally impromptu. I remember that day.... we didn't plan on having shots done at all.

Anyway, Nader has got a small part in a small film which is being shot this coming Saturday. I'm going to be standing in the sidelines with my son cheering Papa's first acting role.

More on Seoul

2007-05-22T22:54:00.000+08:00

For once, an HP office is not stuck out in the middle of nowhere, small town, hicksville part of a city. The Seoul office is actually right smack in the middle of the financial district. Towering glass buildings surround us. I was very impressed!!

I guess this is probably why I enjoyed my short stay in Seoul so much. I was right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of an Asian metropolis. And to top it off, the weather was AMAZING!! Having now been in Singapore for 6 months, I was missing springtime weather. You know, when it's not too cold, and not too hot. It's wonderfully comfortable and dry, with the sun shining brightly against a clear blue sky. So it was in Seoul. I loved, loved, loved it.

This picture was taken outside the office. There was a band playing outside our building at lunchtime. I could've stayed outdoors all day. But work beckoned me inside.

Our Korean colleagues were such gracious hosts. They took us out for every meal, and I got to explore the wonderful, surprising tastes of Korean cuisine. I must say, that I've never encountered such polar opposites in flavours in one single cuisine. Normally a cuisine tend to have a similar taste, and can be simply categorized as bland (such as with English cuisine), heavy (such as with German cuisine), spicy (such as with Thai cuisine) etc etc... you get my drift. But with Korean cuisine, I tasted the blandest, together with the strongest and most spicy dishes in one meal. It was quite unique.

I was thankful though, that my colleagues didn't take me to the the Puffer Fish restaurant - which they did with Nader. Eating Puffer Fish is like playing Russian roulette. If it's not absolutely cooked in the right away, you can die from poisoning. Nader tried it.....but I don't think I could ever do that. Why take the risk...over fish???? I was also really, really, really relieved that they didn't order another one of their delicacies.... raw octupus tentacles which are still moving on the plate. The pleasure one gets when eating it, is to feel the tentacles move around and suck one's tongue and cheeks. I can't imagine a more frightful eating experience!! I used to be quite adventurous when it comes to food, but I've gotten really conservative in my old days......

Seoul

2007-05-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

As it normally goes with business trips, there is normally very little personal time to explore the city one visits. Even though it was my first time to visit Seoul, I had barely an hour of free time there. I could've extended my stay, but the guilt of not coming back to my family would be too much for me to bear. Besides, Nader told me that there was not much to see in Seoul....so I didn't feel too bad.

I was on the red eye flight to Seoul, arriving at 6.45am. It's a brutal journey because you arrive shagged, after 6 hours of tossing and turning on a cramped airplane seat, and then you have to attend meetings the rest of the day. And I knew the day would stretch into business dinner and drinks in the evening.

It seems that it's part of the Korean culture to entertain after work. Typically a work day will end at about 7pm, and it's not uncommon to have dinner with colleagues or business partners followed by extremely heavy drinking. And we're multiple talking mutiple shots of hard liqour and beer. For the men, at least, it's almost mandatory to drink, or it would be deemed impolite. Imagine a frequent routine of coming home in the wee hours of the morning, drunk as a skunk, and then be expected to be at work the next day. Eeek. Korean men have it rough. And the families - when do they see each other???

As for the women, I observed a really great habit they all have. They love to brush their teeth!Whenever I've had to make a bathroom stop during my 2 days at the HP Korean office, I would always see a group of women brushing their teeth. It's true, at any time of day. I'm not sure if this also what the men do in their bathroom, but the women all bring their toothbrush into the office bathroom. I thought it was quite cute!

I just want to add a little side note here. Korean bathrooms are amongst the cleanest in the world..... just like German bathrooms. Anyhow, just a little side observation.

2 weeks in a nutshell

2007-05-22T22:17:00.000+08:00

I can't believe how easily time escapes me. It's been 2 weeks since the last update, and I still can't quite believe how these 2 weeks flew!!

In a nutshell, over these last 2 weeks, I went to Korea (for the first time, I might add) for a few days on business, we celebrated my mom's birthday, Nader got a part in a small local film, and our son Julian finally got his BCG vaccination (which, in Singapore, I was told is normally done when the baby is only a few months old). More on each coming up.

Surprise!

2007-05-06T15:34:00.000+08:00

On Friday evening, I came home to a dark house, and about 20 friends jumping out of the nowhere to surprise me for my birthday! Nader did an excellent pulling it all together secretly because I had NO idea!! I was taken completely by surprise. I must admit that I was really touched!

My mom had prepared Indonesian food that night. So here's a picture of me opening the dinner table and getting ready to tuck into the food!!

I wasn't the only one to celebrate my birthday that evening. There were 2 other Taureans that had birthdays coming up. So we shared the spotlight for the cake and song. We must have gone through about 6 different renditions of the Happy Birthday song that evening - in different languages.

It was a fantastic evening - thanks to my lovely husband who planned it all.

First love

2007-05-06T08:19:00.000+08:00

Julian met Chloe, a cute 22-mther, this weekend over brunch at a friend's house.

After ignoring her for a good part of the morning, they suddenly bonded over a shared water bottle.... And then the giggling started. Then imitating each other, and chasing each other. Looking at each other lovingly and then more giggling. Then playing hide and seek behind a transparent day curtain, and more laughing.

Aaah..... to be that young, when life is innocent and simple.

A Taurean

2007-05-04T06:36:00.000+08:00

Nader, my mom and I went out for a nice meal to celebrate my birthday. And at the end, I had a little tiramisu birthday dessert which was brought out by all the wait staff who sang me (very loudly, I might add) their rendition of a Birthday song together with very loud clapping. It was nice but pretty embarrassing....

Here I am blowing out my birthday candle, and fervently making a wish.....

Noooo, if I tell you what I wish for, it wouldn't come true! :)

The Chinese side of Julian

2007-05-04T06:27:00.000+08:00

is coming through....

He LOVES noodles, and likes it SPICY!! And he's also figured out how to eat them with chopsticks! That bowl of noodles was actually mine.... to start....., but I should've known not to bring food to Julian's attention. As soon as he saw it, he pounced on it. And then, I was so amazed to see him eat with chopsticks that I let him finish off the whole thing..... which he did in record time! Good baby!!

The 2nd haircut

2007-05-04T06:11:00.000+08:00

BEFORE....

AFTER......

Piece of art

2007-04-30T22:40:00.000+08:00

Nader and I bought our first piece of art! It's by a famous Chinese painter named Wu GuanZhong. Titled "Village of Bridges" - it's a lithograph done on rice paper. We bought it at an art auction, which in itself was a real thrill to experience! We had the bidder's paddle, and were sitting there anxiously for the piece we wanted, to be auctioned.

We thought for our first piece, we would err on the side of caution and go with a well-known artist. Wu GuanZhong is one of the leading masters of 20th Chinese painting, and has done numerous solo exhibitions in major galleries and museums all over the world. So, we weren't very confident that we would be able to secure this piece. But we did!! And for the budget that we gave ourselves!! What a hoot! I'm so very excited!!! Can't wait to bring this baby home!

In case you're interested to see other Asian artwork auctioned, log on to: www.larasati.com.

Birthday celebrations

2007-04-30T08:04:00.000+08:00

Some people might think it's bad luck, but I had a slice of birthday cake early this year. I was out with some old university friends - it was a bit of a reunion of sorts - and was pleasantly surprised when the wait staff brought out cake with a candle and sang a Birthday ditty! There were 4 of us on the table that will celebrate our birthdays soon. Besides the cake, it was a fantastic evening with old chums. It felt like yesterday since we were in university, when in fact it has been over 10 years now!! Crikey!

Fisirkh

2007-04-24T06:46:00.000+08:00

...is an Egyptian dish that is eaten only at Easter time. It's a delicacy and one of the most talked about dishes in their cuisine because I heard about it for five years before I actually got to try it. They explained it as fish that's been preserved in salt.

Now that doesn't sound too bad, especially since we Asians have our own version of salted fish, and I eat it ALL the time! I'm even a fan of century egg - which is egg that's been buried in lime, ashes and salt for 100 days making it look green and black. See the picture below. I can HANDLE strange smelling....unusual food!!

But this fisirkh dish made me want to gag. The fish still had a raw texture, like sashimi, but it came with a smell like so pungent, and a taste like rotten meat. You should see the Eyptians at the dinner table devouring this thing!! I was amazed. If they eat this...I don't know why they complain about durians or century egg...for that matter.

I have to say fisirkh probably ranks up there on my list of "Most Yuccky food I've tried this year" together with smelly rotten tofu - which is a Taiwanese favourite!!

Boat Asia

2007-04-23T23:16:00.000+08:00

Nader and I received invitations to attend a boat show last weekend, complete with a VIP invite to a reception of one of the boat exhibitors (you know the kind with free flow of champagne all night long... and a trip out of the harbour on a luxury yacht!) Yeah, we were incredibly impressed that we scored the invites....BUT..... we couldn't go to the reception.... and that's another story....

Anyway, we did manage to go the following day to check out the yachts. We checked out a luxury house boat which was super cool! It was like a fancy apartment with all the luxury fittings, on a boat. For one split second, both Nader and I entertained the thought of owning one of these house boats..... but only for a second before reality came crashing back!! We also managed to check out a "Grand Banks" boat - which is supposedly the Rolls-Royce of boats. For a cool 3.5 million dollars, you can drive away one of these boats....and man I tell you.... that boat was something Fancy...with a capital F!

Organic BABY!!

2007-04-23T22:51:00.000+08:00

This cheerful carton contains organic milk. Organic milk.....which Nader and I truly believe is the reason that Julian (our little toddler) finally stopped coughing and having a faucet for a nose...after having been sick for over a month.

During the time that he was ill, Julian went through 4 different doctors, a round of antibiotics, six different kinds of cough and cold medication, but he just couldn't get better. Then a friend told us that we should try organic milk. Because we were sad to see Julian unwell and so mad at having to pump him daily with medication, we gave it a go. And LO AND BEHOLD.....it worked!!! Miraculously, after only 2 days of trying the milk, Julian started to get better. A week later, he was completely recovered. Now, I don't know if it was coincidence BUT we never went back to his old milk. It's only organic from now on....baby! Yeah for organic!

Bananas will be extinct in 10 years

2007-04-16T23:39:00.000+08:00

I was having an interesting conversation with someone over dinner who claimed that bananas will be extinct in the next 10 years. Intrigued but unconvinced, I did googled it....of course. And it's TRUE!! The BBC ran a story on it. The first couple of paragraphs read:

"Edible bananas may disappear within a decade if urgent action is not taken to develop new varieties resistant to blight.

A Belgian scientist leading research into the fruit loved by millions, and a staple for much of the world's poor, has warned that diseases and pests are steadily encroaching upon crops."

If you're curious to read more, just follow the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2664373.stm

I can't imagine a world without bananas.

Special Birthday party

2007-04-15T14:46:00.000+08:00

Yesterday Julian was invited to Rohan's 2nd birthday party. Now this couple and us shared almost parallel lives for a couple of years. They were re-located from Singapore to Stuttgart, and lived there at around the same time we were there. Camille and I shared the same frustrations about living in Germany, not being able to find work, and then we got pregnant at almost the same time, and both of us had boys. Now they're back in Singapore, and we FINALLY caught up with them at their son's party. It's insane that we haven't actually seen them since we got back, but it was great to have finally seen them again.... around the world and back at home!

Easter Egg Hunt!!

2007-04-15T14:29:00.000+08:00

It's crazy, but I actually remember vividly my last Easter egg hunt as a child. I was 6 years old, and the hunt was organised by my school in Jakarta....my Christian school. I had such a blast! So it was with much anticipation and excitement that we accepted an invitation to an Easter Egg Hunt organised by our friend, Lisa Morizono, at her home.

I don't think Julian understood exactly WHAT was going on, but he loved it!! He ran with the other kids, he screamed his lungs out, he looked for eggs and dumped them in his little basket.

Crystal Mirror

2007-04-03T07:20:00.000+08:00

With my first pay check, I took Nader out on a date. A special date. I took him to a circus.

Called "Crystal Mirror" it was a dinner and show extravaganza. Set inside an antique “Mirror Tent” from the 1920s, we had a 4-course gourmet dinner designed by World class Michelin Star chefs served to us, while acrobats, singers, comedians, and musicians performed around us.

Mirror tents were constructed, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium, around the end of the 19th century. Decorated in brocade and silk, the art nouveau interior brought us back to a a time of extravagance, elegance and glamour. Sadly, after the Second World War, the tents were forgotten. Here is a picture of what it looks like inside.

As for the dinner... we started with a truffled trilogy of scallops, then had seared loupe de mer on a bed of Riesling seafood risotto served with a lobster and crab cappuccino. The main course was French supreme quail stuffed with duck fois gras set on mango-kraut strudel served with creamed purple potatoes, and tomato marmalade on spinach flan. Finally the dessert, was a selection of traditional Viennese specialities. Yummy....

Even the show was great. My personal favourite (and I think Nader's also) was this American hippie who blew soap bubbles for a living. He created the most amazing bubbles, and even created a SQUARE bubble. You have to see it to believe it!!

You know, I have to say that apart from London and New York, I've never been to any other city that offers the most unique and amazing shows and entertainment, like the ones that I've enjoyed in Singapore. Two thumbs up for Singapore & Crystal Mirror! And.... NO, I don't secretly work for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board....

Sashimi

2007-03-29T07:15:00.000+08:00

Nader and I were treated to a platter of shashimi that we will probably not have again for a long, long time. It was an exquisite platter with many raw delicacies. In fact, so raw... that when Nader went to pick up a prawn - it moved!! And the prawn had been beheaded and de-shelled!!! I've always had trouble eating raw prawns, and naturally this particular one did NOT touch my plate!

I think I tried every imaginable raw seafood you can imagine. There were clams that looked like white noodles, soaked in a vinegar sauce. We had scallops, sea urchin (which I understand the French also like to eat raw) - this one was actually very delicious, raw baby squid, raw milk fish (very sweet!), raw tuna and salmon (of course - this is a staple!). I wish I took a photo of our special plate. Although I must admit that while I like my Japanese food, too much raw seafood can be a bit off-putting. Thank goodness that meal was balanced off with some hot cooked food. My favourite; shabu-shabu - which is a mix of thinly sliced beef and vegetables cooked in a hot pot. The beef I tried is called "Wagyu" and it's very similar to Kobe beef - it practically melts in your mouth! Hmmmm.. yummmmm.

Mao the Cat

2007-03-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

This is Mao, the cat in our local SPCA, that we are considering to adopt. He's ginger-coloured, and is 1 year old. He's a quiet sort, who's a little nervous with new people but he seems to have a gentle way about him. We were told that because we live on the 12th floor and have an open patio, that we would have to mesh up our windows, and be extra careful not to let him outside because he might just jump out. That kinda put a huge brake on our plans, because we never thought our apartment would be a safety issue for the cat. Plus, we're renting, and our sofas and curtains belong to the landlord. Not sure if the cat will have a clawing heyday with them.....

We have a few days to mull it over..... but isn't he just gorgeous???

Cat lovers!

2007-03-25T23:16:00.000+08:00

Nader and I have been in serious discussion about adopting a cat from our local SPCA, as a pet for Julian. I just feel that Julian would greatly benefit from having a pet about the house, and a cat is about as low maintenance of a pet as you can find, they're intuitive animals, and clean. But Nader is hesitant, VERY hesitant. So.... one evening at a party, when I told my cat-lover friends, Bill and Farhana, about Nader's hesitance, they promised that they would do what they can to convince him to give a home to one orphaned and homeless cat. As you can see, Bill ended up wearing lipstick for the evening if Nader would agree to the cat. :):) Thanks Bill.... what a sport!

We still haven't got the cat yet....... though.......

Parent rite of passage

2007-03-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

Every parent has at least one photo of their munchkin with his/her face covered in food. It seems to be a rite of passage of every parent to take such a photo. And only the parent of this child thinks that it's cute, everyone else is probably thinking how disgusting it all looks.

Well, here's my parenthood badge, my rite of passage. Julian, after he devoured a bar of chocolates...... Aaawww, isn't he cute????

Mean mama

2007-03-25T23:05:00.000+08:00

I'm going to use this picture to black-mail my son one day when he's misbehaving, or embarass him immensely on his wedding day....

Julian has a penchant for slipping into his parents' shoes, and walking around the house with them. Here he is with my black heels, with his shorts which are way too big gathering around his butt, and his diapers in full view. He probably thought he looked pretty cool :) :)

Our patio

2007-03-25T22:58:00.000+08:00

One of the big reasons we took the apartment we have now, is for the big roof-top patio that it has - a very rare luxury here in Singapore. We thought we would be out there every weekend with the BBQ going, but as it turns out, we've only ever eaten there twice since we moved in 6 mths ago. Here is a picture of the 2nd time that we were out there, and that was about a week ago when our friend Vadim was visiting from Germany.

He's the guy in the picture. The girl is our neighbour/friend - Peggy who's from Taiwan. All I remember about that night was how good the food turned out (with very little preparation done), and how sick I was feeling. That was the beginning of my week of hell with the flu.

Steffen

2007-03-23T16:24:00.000+08:00

We had another visitor from Germany. This time it's my good friend's husband - Steffen - who was en route from Germany to NZ to be back with his family. We were really touched that he made a special effort to spend one night with us, even though he hadn't seen his baby daughter and wife for a month and a half. Thanks Steffen. It's soo, soo nice to see you and host you at our home.

Steffen is one of these guys that has a special talent with cameras. So I thought I'd put up the only pictures he took of Singapore while he was here, because I really like them. Here is one of the colonial buildings that was built when the British owned Singapore. There are very few buildings left with European architecture, but the goverment has done a great job in restoring and maintaining them. Shows the contrast between old and new with the steel high-rise at the back.

This is the somewhat new Singapore Theatre (that looks like a Durian). Singapore has been heavily investing in the art scene here, which means great concerts and performances come our way...often. Even the Stuttgart Ballet was performing here last month!

And this is a great picture of the Financial District.

Julian's first photos

2007-03-23T16:03:00.000+08:00

Julian, like his father, likes to take photos. Thank God for digital cameras! As a budding young photographer, Julian still has to learn the finer art of composition, zoom and perspective. Here are 3 photos that my son enthusiastically took with my camera:

1) It's a picture of our floor, capturing about a third of his cute foot at the corner of the picture, and a strange snake looking object (which I'm still not sure what it is exactly), and a shadow of of that same strange object.....

2) Here is a close up of Julian's thumb and forefinger.

3) And here, Julian decided to take a picture of mama.... or at least mama's legs (which is I guess the only thing he sees from his perspective).

And this picture I thought I'd share. It's Julian running madly at me, and clamoring to have the camera as SOON as he saw me with it!

Mama needs help!!!

2007-03-20T22:14:00.000+08:00

Up until 2 weeks ago, I thought Julian's tantrums got pretty bad. But 2 weeks ago, Julian learned to take his tantrums to a whole new playing field! I tell you hell hath no fury like a very active, very stubborn and very expressive 20 mth old who doesn't get his way!!! I don't know what happened really. He has been ill for the last 2 weeks, so unfortunately has been cooped up at home most of the day. He must have gotten bored silly during this time, because he learned new manipulative ways to get attention!!! Now that he's learned it, he throws a temper tantrum so often, and for the slightest of things that Nader and I feel so completely taken aback and at a loss for what to do!! He screams, throws things, hits and slaps, bangs his head hard on the floor or the wall, and throws his body back on the floor while kicking the ground and crying at the top of this lungs. It's as if, someone switched Julians on us, and we have this strange, crazy baby who I barely recognise.

So I've been scouring the Net desperately in search of how to deal with tantrums in very young children. All the sites tell me that Time-Outs are effective. I tried that with Julian, but he's too young to understand, and the more I try to hold him down to sit in a corner, the worse the screaming gets!!! Help!! We need help!!!

Funny fauna

2007-03-20T08:32:00.000+08:00

Some of the things to see while in the tropics is its lush fauna. So we took Vadim to the Botannical Gardens. While walking around, we came across a funny flower that grew out of a tree. It looks a red fur ball. This little thing caught all of us in our tracks. It's so unassuming, yet captivating.

Display of freaky feet

2007-03-20T08:25:00.000+08:00

I can't take credit for this photo. It was taken by Vadim, who was here visiting us. He took this shot while we were walking and shopping around a marketplace. There were so many colourful things in the market to attract your eyes that day, that I didn't even register the freaky feet display. It was only when we were looking back on the photos, did I realize how funny this looks.

Our latest visitor

2007-03-20T07:34:00.000+08:00

..... is our good friend Vadim who's joined us from Germany. He was in town for 9 days, out of which 3 days were for work. Vadim is one of those people, who both Nader and I could so see being in Asia, loving it, and getting a really great experience out of it. So I must admit, that I did a number on Vadim in an attempt to try to convince him to consider moving out here to Singapore. Everyday - I was like a broken record: "Singapore is great! Singapore is great! Singapore is great! Singapore is great!" He must have thought that I secretly worked for the Singapore government.....:):)

Anyway, we still have hopes that he'll make it out here to stay. It was great having you with us Vadim, always a pleasure to have your company! And thanks for the German sausages and Maultaschen! :) We love it!

Beach life

2007-03-20T07:26:00.000+08:00

So we have been telling ALL our visitors that there is no decent beach in Singapore. But when we recently went to Sentosa, I was amazed and surprised to find long stretches of beautiful sandy beaches set against new bars and restaurants. Ok, so it's all man-made beaches, but who cares, and who would know the difference?

There it was. The Beach!! That's the amazing thing with Singapore, the city nevers stops still for a moment, something new is always cropping up. After being away for 4 years, I'm really re-discovering my city all over again!

Jelle ter Laak

2007-03-20T06:56:00.000+08:00

I went to school with a Dutch guy named Jelle ter Laak. With his bright orange hair, tall frame and that name, he was hard to miss - and he was noisy to boot! I haven't seen Jelle for years.... (he lives in Amsterdam with his family) so it was so, so great to have been able to catch up with him and his wife on their trip here to Singapore... take a little trip down memory lane and catch up on the present. Nader thought they were the quintessential Dutch couple. Here they are - Jelle is in the middle, and the lady on the right is Katherine - his wife.

We met them at the new Cafe del Mar on Sentosa Island. What a cool place that was! Soothing lounge music against the backdrop of a pool with a bar, and the beach right behind it. I didn't even know it existed, but I was really impressed!

So ill

2007-03-14T08:02:00.000+08:00

It's impossible not to get sick when your toddler is ill.

Julian started out by having a throat infection, which moved down to his lungs and became borderline bronchitis. As doctors do here, they spared no second thought and put him on antibiotics straight away. But, the little guy was drooling on me, he coughed and sneezed in my face, he insisted on sharing his half eaten sandwhich with me....so it wasn't suprising a week later while Julian is on his path to recovery, Mama got sick. Sooo sick!

I haven't felt this bad in a long time. My throat is on fire, my chest is congested, and sinuses kill me, and I'm running a high fever. Nader is in the middle of his busiest week of work, he's got work visitors from Europe and the US visiting, and he's out almost every evening to entertain. It's on an occasion like this that I can't thank God enough that I'm back in Singapore!!! I'm NOT alone!!!! I've got my mom to help me look after Julian, and house help to help me with the cooking and cleaning, and I can just sit on my sorry ass and try to get better. Boo-hoo me.

1 day old

2007-03-04T18:09:00.000+08:00

I was looking at some older pictures, and saw pictures of Julian taken one day after his delivery. Isn't it amazing how much babies change in just 1 year??? He was such a wrinkled little thing! So little that even the newborn hospital togs were too big for him. When I look at these pictures, I feel like time has moved so quickly!!!

Can I take any more Celine Dion?

2007-03-04T17:55:00.000+08:00

I've started taking piano lessons again - but this time I've opted to take modern, improvisational piano instead of the classical route I learned as a girl. It's totally different - so it's almost like learning from scratch again. But I love it. It's exactly what I was looking for - something that will allow me to play more with my ear, than reading off a music sheet.

The only glitch is... they've given me a song I abhor.... to practice....over and over again!!! Aaargh. It's the one song I truly detest - you know that one by Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On" - that was used in the move "Titanic". I cringe everytime I'm playing, and vivid images of bad karaoke barges forcefully through my mind. I'm exposing my son's virgin ears to this.....

Ok, but I DARE anyone to get me on the piano. Because, for now at least..... I'm going to be pumping out Celine Dion with all my might!!

Yoda?

2007-03-04T17:48:00.000+08:00

No, it's JULIAN in his brand new RED swim robe from his great aunt in Montreal!

The Baclava that never made it out

2007-03-04T17:35:00.000+08:00

Egyptian food is not a common cuisine here in Singapore, so when Nader invited his colleagues (well mine too now...) over for dinner at our place a couple of weeks ago, he promised them an Arabic treat. Since I have no clue how to cook Eyptian, I played the role of sous-chef, while Nader was the head chef. Poor Nader, he really really was a slave to the kitchen that day! But it paid off - the food was absolutely amazing!

The one thing that Nader really wanted to try making was Baclava, but he never had the time that evening to do it. So he made it the next day instead, so since this dish never made it out, I thought I'd share a photo of it here. The amazing thing about baklava is how easy it actually is to make!! But soooo sinful!!

Neighbours

2007-03-04T17:23:00.000+08:00

We invited our neighbours for Sunday brunch a couple of weeks ago. Now this sort of thing is just typically not done here in Singapore. But they seemed really nice and it's always good to be on friendly terms with one's neighbours.

It turned out to be a really great Sunday afternoon with such a lovely family. They are from India, and have been in Singapore just 8 months. The wife has an unusual name for a South Indian - Sandra Dawson (yeah, I swear), and the husband's name can't get any more Indian or long..... it's Abhrajit Bhattacharjee. Their sons Farhan (4) and Arman (22 mths) are great playmates for Julian, and lots of fun to have at home. Here's a picture of the 2 littlest ones playing that Sunday at our place.

Googling my sister and Nader

2007-03-04T17:11:00.000+08:00

So, I couldn't resist...and googled my sister Ann Syauta and Nader too - oh what the heck?

Unlike me, my sister's name came up in several listings...very important..... UN work related stuff - one was for the Advancement of Women in Development, and the other for her current work with the United Nations' Human Rights Council. Way to go Ann...making your mark in the world!

As for Nader - nothing on my husband came up, but this dude's website appeared. Here is the other Nader Tadros.

OK, maybe I've got too much time on my hands....

Googling oneself

2007-03-04T17:00:00.000+08:00

Have you ever tried googling yourself to see what comes up? I did, and my name came up as a contributor to a community website "Things Asian - Experience Asia through the Eyes of Travellers".

It's a pretty cool website, but for the life of me I don't ever remember ever contributing any articles or photos on this site. In fact, I've never even heard of this site until I googled myself. So then I thought it must the only other Rina Syauta in this world....but when I tried sending an email to this person, the email was directed to ASMARA.... which has always been my chosen internet name...... It doesn't get any stranger.....

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2007-02-25T19:34:00.000+08:00

The Chinese Lunar New Year fell on the 17th Feb this year and the celebrations will last for the next 15 days. Usually the celebrations take place over the first 2 days, where the first day families gather to have dinner together, and the second day is reserved for visiting friends. Some of the traditions usually involves the exchange of 2 oranges when visiting family or friends which signifies prosperity and wealth, giving children or unmarried folks an "ang pao" or red packet containing money - in even numbers for good luck, and only in Singapore tossing the Yu Sheng - which is a dish filled with raw salmon and shredded vegetables. The higher the toss, the greater the luck!

On Chinese New Year's eve, Nader, Julian and I went over to my mom's place. Following to traditions, we all wore red, and we even managed to get Julian to give 2 oranges to his Oma. I wasn't sure he would do it, but he did it with delight! My mom was visibly touched.

Nyshe

2007-02-25T18:29:00.000+08:00

Julian probaby has a vocabulary of about 70 words by now, and he picks up about 2 -3 more every couple of days. It's amazing hearing him blurt out words. One of the words he's picked up is "nice" or in Julian-speak "nyshe". He would do this when he has new clothes, he would put the clothes against him and say "nyshe. nyshe". Here he is showing Auntie Linh his new school uniform, and telling her how "nyshe...." he thought it is.

Linh comes bearing a special gift

2007-02-25T18:03:00.000+08:00

Our friend Linh was in town a couple of weeks ago. She was here on business from Germany, and we managed to snatch her away for one evening to our place. We had just started to recover from the delight and surprise of the NO LIMIT street sign from Bernd, when Linh popped out another truly special gift from all our friends in Stuttgart.

This time, our friends had collated all their photos of our shared times in Europe, and put them all together in a beautiful photo album. Here is Tante Linh showing Julian the beautiful photos and memories encaptured in that book. Thank you soo much, Nicole, Jeroen, Vadim, Bernd, Julia, Martin and Linh!! We LOVE the gift!!!

Dehli

2007-02-25T17:39:00.000+08:00

So I'm back home. Dehli was.....Well, I can tell you that I've forgotten what it's like to be in a 3rd world city that is caught in the crossroads of hot economic growth and social poverty. Dehli is a mixture of opulence and in-your-face wealth intermingled with dust-ridden roads which serves human, vehicle and animal traffic, horrific pollution, and unimaginable poverty. Most of the sightseeing I did of Dehli was done from inside a car, while going from one meeting to another and back and forth from the hotel....which usually involves a 45-minute ride in dreadfully slow traffi with cows and horses as common a sight as cars - which honked and tooted every chance it got. I had very little free time, and had extremely long hours at work. I was sooo sleep deprived when I got back home.....

BUT, I did manage to get a little bit of shopping done while I was there...from an aptly named store called "FabIndia"(www.fabindia.com)! They had fabulous things and for fabulous prices! I bought home colourful kurtas for the family which was a HIT!

Don't have any photos to show from the trip...unfortunately.....because my camera has gone walkies! I can't find it anywhere!!!! What a DISASTER!!!

Anyway, caught some movies on the flight in lieu of sleep....which in hindsight was a big mistake. Even caught a Japanese movie called "Udon" only because Nader said that he had watched it...so I was curious to know why he picked it.... The entire flight home - all 5 and half hours of it....I was missing Julian something bad!! I just couldn't wait to see him!

Off to India

2007-02-18T18:02:00.000+08:00

So on the 2nd day of starting my new job at HP, I was told that I needed to be in India...for a week! There I was still getting to grips with the fact that I am officially back at work and bam they ship me off. So off I go to Dehli. Photos to follow....

So far work has been good. Met lots of interesting people, and have even attended a few meetings with Nader. It felt a little strange, but I quite like it now. Everyone knows we're married. Since Nader has "warmed" the crowd, I felt that it's worked to my advantage in terms of getting some face time with people.

So...Rina the working woman is back. Aaah, how lovely to finally have an income again! :)

2 more days!

2007-02-06T10:12:00.000+08:00

I've accepted a job at HP and will be starting work on the 8th Feb. I'm looking forward to getting back on the job bandwagon, but I STILL hate walking away from Julian at daycare. Today he cried pretty hard.

No limit

2007-02-04T18:35:00.000+08:00

Nader received an amazing gift recently from a good friend, Bernd, in Germany. I remember that we were opening this huge package that had arrived, and while I had a hard time figuring out what it is, Nader knew right away. He was sooo sooo touched, it actually brought tears to his eyes.

The gift is a street sign that is common in and unique to Germany - it's the "No speed limit" sign that dot many stretches of the Autobahn. When drivers see this sign, they know that they can go as fast as they want - and usually, they do...without reservation.

Nader had been driving back from a business meeting with Bernd one evening when they saw this sign. Nader had casually remarked "I would do anything to have this sign in my house - because it would be like a constant reminder that the sky is the limit, and what you do is all up to you."

Months later, Bernd has not only remembered that remark, but found someone (with much difficulty we heard) to make this sign for him, and then had the sign sent to Singapore!! It's so authentic, that it lights up if you shine a light on it. Now, THAT is special and so incredibly generous and thoughtful. These grand gestures are what makes our memories of our time in Germany, and the friends we made there, so so special.

Thank you so much Bernd and Julia for your wonderful gift! We miss you both!

Julian's 1st HAIRCUT!!!

2007-02-04T09:03:00.000+08:00

Alright, I know that I said we would keep his hair long, but Nader and I got so curious to see what he would look like with shorter hair, and to test the theory that just about everyone here has been telling us.... that his hair would grow more quickly and be fuller if we cut it often.....

So we took him for his 1st haircut. It was a big moment. Nader brought his son to the barber that he's been going to for years here.

Julian was nervous and confused. He didn't know WHAT was going on. We thought it would be difficult to keep him sitting still long enough for the stylist to finish the haircut. As it turned out, the little bub was soo nervous, that we stayed VERY, VERY still throughout most of the it.

Actually, it's a Chinese tradition to get a haircut before the Chinese New Year (which falls on Feb 18th this year). Cutting off your hair symbolises saying goodbye to the old, and greeting the new year with a fresh, new you. So... in a way.... inadvertently... we are following Chinese tradition.....

And here is the stylist cutting off his crowning glory.... his gorgeous curls..... Sob, sob.

I kept a curly lock for myself as a memento.

I'll put more pictures up of the new and shorn Julian soon.

More Bali pictures

2007-02-04T08:43:00.000+08:00

My brother in law sent me these yesterday, and the pictures were so beautiful that I'd thought I'd put them up. I didn't share any pictures of the Bali scenery yet, so these are it.

You know, it's funny because I only appreciated how beautiful the countryside is when I look at these pictures. We were driving through it everyday, but I was always trying to calm either a very excited or angry Julian who was trying to either climb on top of my head, do a swan dive over to the other car passengers, screech at the top of his lungs his version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", or bang his head against the car window...and other similar antics.

So I never really saw the beautiful scenery we were driving through....

Durian - the king of fruit

2007-01-30T08:38:00.000+08:00

Durian season has come and gone, and our out-of-town visitors got all got a taste of this magnificent fruit.

Having grown up in South East Asia, I actually like this fruit. Imagine the best, most delicious, and sensuous banana pudding you can imagine, add just a touch of butterscotch, vanilla, peach, pineapple, strawberry, and almond flavors, and a surprising twist of — garlic??!! Like many of life’s greatest experiences, eating durian cannot be adequately described with words. Durian has a characteristic delicious flavor, creamy texture, and tantalizing fragrance that is just... durian! — the king of fruit.

In Asia, durians are loved by millions of people with a passion and reverence quite unusual for mere food. Unfortunately, for a lot of people not accustomed to the strong smell, it's been described as "unbearable stench," "rotten onions with limburger cheese and low-tide seaweed," "French custard passed through a sewer pipe," or "like sitting on the toilet eating your favorite ice cream."

The fruit is an oval mass of cream-colored pulp, embedded in which are seeds about the size of chestnuts. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavor are indescribable. A rich butter-like custard highly flavored with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavor that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown sherry, and other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy.

There are many varieties of durians. Like experienced winetasters, experienced durian eaters can often accurately tell what is the variety, in what region it was grown, and what is the approximate age of the tree it came from, just by inhaling a durian’s fragrance.

Recently Nader was watching a TV show on "Taboo foods", and we were laughing to see that the durian was featured as one of the taboo foods along with barbequed hamsters and raw worms.

Herbs

2007-01-29T15:07:00.000+08:00

It's always been a little dream of mine to have a fresh herb garden. I love the idea of picking out a few fresh herbs and throwing it into your cooking. Something romantic and deliciously simple about the whole thing.

I used to look at my friend's Christine's garden, which she grew out of her apartment balcony in Stuttgart, with envy. It was covered with beautiful looking tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, rucola, mint, and other herbs. Unlike my friend, however, I am not known to have a green thumb. Every plant I kept at home died on me. But...this never stopped me from always wanting to have my own little herb garden.

So last Sunday, out of the blue, Nader drove us to a nursery and bought me a few herb plants. I was touched. So....now, in our little balcony, I have my first collection of herbs - Thai basil, chilli padi, mint and chives. I'm so tickled pink about these plants, I just HAD to share a picture of them.

If anyone has any useful tips on taking care of these herbs, please do post your comments....

Treetop walk

2007-01-28T19:58:00.000+08:00

Today we walked on top of trees.

This was the magnificent view from our vantage point above the tree canopies.

Actually, what it was - was a walk across a long suspension bridge high up above the trees. The breeze up there was amazing - so rare in humid Singapore.... but it also made the bridge sway a little.... which made me a little nervous.

To get to that suspension bridge, we trekked through 5.5 kilometers of rough jungle terrain. Okay - maybe I'm exaggerating... I'm sure to the normal person, it wasn't such a rough walk. BUT to me, and I hate to admit it, I have not exercised since Julian was born, so it was pretty intense!

This is us walking across the bridge.

After that bridge, there were still about 500 steps to tackle and another 6 kilometers walk to get back to where we started from.

Painful, it was but boy did I ever feel good about having done it!

We were with our Canadian friends Farhana and Anne. The three Canadians bonded over the things they truly miss most about being in Canada - Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Kraft Caramel....

Studio shots

2007-01-27T16:28:00.000+08:00

Over the holidays, we went to a friend's photo studio to get some family shots done. I am actually quite amazed that our friend managed to get a few pictures where Julian was not a great big blur because he just wouldn't STOP moving!!

He was on fire that evening - yelling, running, dancing and refusing to be picked up and carried. Julian had a blast, while his parents were sweating and exhausted after the half hour session!

Here's a candid shot taken while we were just chilling out at the studio.

Well there it is....

2007-01-26T19:44:00.000+08:00

...Julian started daycare. While I know that Julian is in good hands, and that he will be just fine and probably even benefit from being in the daycare with all the other kids around him.... I STILL feel terribly tormented and guilty leaving him there. Here are a couple of pictures of him in his new daycare...

Julian is the youngest child in the daycare. In his group, the kids range from 19mths - 3yrs. The girl below, Dana, is his first friend! She held his hand on the first day of school.

I was with him for the first 3 days. On the third day, I left the room after a couple of hours, and watched him from where he couldn't see me. He looked for me, and seemed a little scared, but he didn't cry. On the fourth day, he was in the daycare all by himself all day, and his teachers said that he was FANTASTIC throughout the day. I was relieved.

Snack time - Julian was given a thin slice of apple that day. I felt sorry for him... at home, he normally devours double the amount of food he gets in daycare. I worry if he's getting enough food?!? I'm worrying about EVERYTHING!

My gosh.... my son.... in school.....

2007-01-21T08:46:00.000+08:00

Thought I'd share a few pictures of the little bub. Here he is by the pool - sunscreen and all.

Poor Julian, if he wasn't covered in sunscreen, then his mama would be enthusiastically covering him up in insect repellant lotion. The mosquitos there were vicious!

Every night, I would cover his crib with anti-mosquito patches, I would plug the electric insect repellant into a wall near his bed, and I would cover him with insect repellant lotion before he goes to bed, and yes, he STILL got bitten!!

He's at the age now when he wants to do exatly like the adults, so... sit on a big chair like the adults, take the cutleries and feed himself. Of course, most of the food ends up being either on his shirt or pants, the floor, or the table, and if we're really lucky... all over his hair.

But thankfully, he has a great appetite. He will ALWAYS eat what you give him (although he may not finish it)... and then ask for whatever is on your plate too...even if it's covered in chillies! Then look at his other neighbour and ask for food there. He NEVER says no to food :)

Although Julian wasn't a fan of the sea, he LOVED the beach. I guess all babies do. This particular beach had a lot of crabs that would suddenly dart out of their holes, scurry sideways over the sand, and dart back into another sand hole just as quickly. That would FREAK Julian (and his papa) out!

Better to not think about it

2007-01-17T23:58:00.000+08:00

It's a wonder that none of us got REALLY ill on our trip, although my sis did get a mild case of the "Bali Belly".

As is typical in our family, we were not shy to eat. And the food was absolutely amazing, just delicious! But the environment in which the food is prepared in, leaves us feeling weak in the knees if we think about it too much. The kitchens are some of the grottiest I've seen in a while, but that's still okay by me. What was not okay was seeing maggots crawling out the filter pipes in the fish tanks that we were ordering our seafood from. When we asked the restaurant staff why there were maggots in and around the tank, they casually told us that it's what they serve as food to the fish. They were lying, of course, but it amazes me that they didn't miss a beat! It was so gross!!

Then a couple of nights later, we were paying for another seafood meal which we had devoured, when we spotted one rat, two rats, three rats just happily scurrying and sniffing around the back areas. It seems they are regular companions of the restaurant because we didn't get any reaction from the restaurant staff. It was like "ho-hum", "what the hell are you staring at Mister", "why haven't you seen a rat before"? We couldn't believe it!!

We tried to talk about these things later amongst us, but we just couldn't do it. None of us even want to get near the topic and creating a picture of it all again in our minds. I don't know what's actually more disgusting - maggots or rats??

Aren't you glad I DON'T have a picture for this post?!?

Nate a.k.a Bub Marli

2007-01-17T23:44:00.000+08:00

It seems that Bali has a love affair with Bob Marley because everywhere we went... and I mean everywhere, some random person on the street would call out to Nate (my brother-in-law) "Hey Bub Marli!" or they would break out in a rendition of Bob Marley tunes. It was endemic, that it soon became a joke between us.

So on our last night in Bali, after Nate has had yet another "episode".... we hopped into a cab to take us back to the villa. It was late, we've all had a lot of sun, and some alcohol, we've had a very pleasant evening, and we just wanted to end the night quietly enjoying the cool evening breeze. When out of nowhere, the taxi driver pops in his 'Best of Bob Marley' tape for our listening pleasure. You can imagine the stifled snickers and giggling going on in the backseat of that taxi, with Nader encouraging Nate to "sing along". These memories - priceless! I sound like that Mastercard ad.....

Jimbaran beach

2007-01-17T23:23:00.000+08:00

Jimbaran beach was only a 2 minute drive from our villa. It's a decently nice beach, and not too many people around. My sis and Nate loved it, but Nader and I didn't really care for it.

Nader and I are always a little nervous in the sea because we've both been caught in a riptide before, with me tumbling around underwater for a long time before I found myself thankfully pushed out to the shore gasping for air. While Nader's experience was more frightening because he was getting sucked under and getting pushed further OUT to sea. Thankfully, his friend was there to help him out.

I think Julian can sense our fear and nervousness because he didn't like the sea AT ALL. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. So when I took him out to wash the sand off him, he clung to me fearfully. I could feel a pulling on my legs as the waves came and went, and I was also getting a little anxious. So when a big wave came rushing towards us, and I had to hold him above me to keep him from going under the water.... I thought enough is enough!

I hastily made a quick exit to the shore, with Julian slumped close against me. His head on my shoulders - which is when I know that he was feeling really scared.

Julian and his hair

2007-01-17T23:01:00.000+08:00

We're growing out his hair.

For whatever reason, Nader and I had come to an agreement even BEFORE Julian was born, that we will keep our baby's hair long, wild and unruly - like the mad scientist. It's strange, I know... but we both seem to think this is really cool. He's got beautiful soft wispy baby hair, and lots of curls at the back. My mom has been on our case about cutting his hair and has even threatened to do it while we're not around. And not a few people have mistaken him for a girl. And still, we stand our ground!!

Which sister?

2007-01-17T22:55:00.000+08:00

It's pretty obvious we're sisters because we look so much alike that people often mistake us for twins.

Not only do we look alike, but we also sound exactly alike that our husbands get confused as to who's actually talking. And I've had my mom carry on a conversation with me on the phone with her thinking that she was talking to my sis...

Man, did we have fun with that when we were younger!!!

Barong

2007-01-17T16:24:00.000+08:00

The Barong dance is the Balinese version of a Chinese lion dance. It is a battle of good versus evil and the lion character (Barong) represents good and is up against the widow witch (Rangda).

There are two guys who work the lion character and get very animated.

The Barong dances in tightly wound around Balinese superstition and culture and it be performed during religious ceremonies as well as for tourists. Central to its theme is the fight between the king of the forest and the forces of evil.

The musicial accompaniment is a gamelan orchestra with metal xylophones creating a jangly, rhythmic effect.

The Balinese have a respect for the sacred associations of the characters in the Barong dance and at the end of a performance the heads of the characters are taken to a special storage place , acknowledging that the battle of good versus evil is over...for the moment. Here they were (on the right of the picture) - we found them when we were walking around the Royal Palace. The head on the left is Barong (the good spirit), and the head on the left is Rangda (the evil spirit).

Royal Palace and Gamelan

2007-01-17T16:13:00.000+08:00

The Gamelan is the central instrument in Balinese music and traditional orchestras are called 'Gamelan orchestras' which are pretty much percussion based. You'll hear this music in the arrivals hall at the airport and at first it sounds rather uncoordinated with a 'glong glong glong' type of sound. This is a picture of a gamelan troupe practicing during the day for the daily evening performances. This troupe was practising in the courtyard of the Royal Palace which today still houses the royal family. The front section of the palace is open for public viewing. This is a section of the it. There are no enclosed rooms like in Western houses, only open sections. This was probably one of the many guests rooms here.

One of the many statues and stone carvings there

My sis and Nate at the entrance of the palace

Kechak

2007-01-17T15:52:00.000+08:00

One of the things we did get out for was to watch a Kechak (Fire) Dance at Uluwatu - a beautiful cliff-top temple that has the most amazing views of the sunset over the sea. There are no barriers to the edge of the cliff - so NOT good if you have a fear of heights and falling. The surrouding grounds outside the sacred inner temple is a safe-haven for monkeys, and different species of monkeys roam about freely there.

The Kechak dance expresses mythological aspects local traditions and the Hindu Ramayana poem. The dance tells the story of how King Rama was persecuted by the ogre king, Rahwana forms an alliance with the monkey people of the forest to overcome his enemy. A male choir, chanting to a fast rythmic and mesmerizing beat, provides the accompanyment to the Kechak dance. It was performed just as the sun was setting providing a magnificent backdrop of pink, crimson then purple and blue.

Bali villa

2007-01-17T14:35:00.000+08:00

Over 9 - 14 Jan, Nader and I with Julian, my sister and her husband, and my mom took a trip down to Bali in Indonesia.

We rented a 3-bedroom villa for the week with it's own private pool, kitchen and lounge area. Yes, we decided to splash out in style - after all, for only the equivalent of 80 Euros per room per night, we all thought it was an amazing deal, just too good to pass up!! The picture above is our private pool with the fountain that Julian loved to play with! The picture below shows one of the bedroom villas behind the pool.

And AMAZING it was! We had the convenience of a hotel, with room and housekeeping services and breakfast cooked in our villa every morning for us, but we had the privacy of the villa! This was our private entranceway to our villa.

Our eyes bogged out of our heads when we first saw our pad. Now, I've got to add, that villas like this are not unique or even hard to find in Bali - they are a dime a dozen. When I was doing my search on the Internet and typed up "Bali Villas" - I got such a dizzying list of villas to choose from, it made my head spin.

Our particular villa called Pat Mase (http://www.pat-mase.com/) is located in Jimbaran. We were a 2 minute drive from the beach. I thought it was an excellent location because it was far enough away from the crowds of Kuta, Ubud and Seminyak, but only a 20 - 30 mins drive to get to any of these places.

HIGHLY recommend this villa if you're intending to visit Bali.

King of the pool

2007-01-17T14:21:00.000+08:00

Because we fell in love with our villa, we spent a good part of our time in Bali just savouring each delicious moment just being IN the villa - we couldn't tear ourselves away. And a good part of our days in the villa was spent half naked in the water.

When we introduced Julian to the pool he was a little apprehensive in the beginning. But it took about 10 minutes, before he got comfortable with it. He can't get enough of the water!

HK and Madam Tussaud

2007-01-17T08:39:00.000+08:00

I've always liked going to wax museums and seeing creepy life-like wax imitations of dead or famous people. I don't know why...but I do. So I was a little bit bummed to learn that Nader, his dad, uncle and cousin Monique had all gone to one in Hong Kong....without me!!

I opted out of going to HK because I thought that Julian and I might slow them down and make it a little more challenging to cover as much of HK in the 3 days they had there. HK is a fun city, and a shopping paradise!

They recently opened HK Disneyland. You know, we're so THERE! With Julian, when he's a little older and able to appreciate where he is!

Local food

2007-01-17T08:33:00.000+08:00

One of the main attractions to Singapore is the FOOD. And sampling the local fare is a MUST. This is our gorgeous cousin Monique trying a little bit of noodles at a local food court.

Julian was absolutely in love with her! He would go looking for her the moment he wakes up in the morning.

Monique, it was great that you were able to come all that way. We miss having you around!

3 generations

2007-01-17T08:19:00.000+08:00

This was taken at the Singapore Zoo, an excellent one by any standards if you can stand walking around in the heat and humidity. Notice how only Julian looks drenched... that's because he had apparently been allowed to play in some pool of muddy water which he must have thought would make good shampoo and splashed some onto his head!

Xmas Eve

2007-01-17T07:55:00.000+08:00

We hosted this evening at our home this year. We had about 15 people over that evening, with my sister Ann & her husband Nate having literally just stepped off the plane from Geneva. Here they were, extremely jet-lagged, with Nate's mother Mary.

Nader and I had our usual argument about whether there would be enough food for everyone. As usual, Nader thought there was too little food and got very nervous. And I, as usual, would tell him that what we had was more than enough. We made a bet. For the record, I won the bet!

Gedo

2007-01-17T07:46:00.000+08:00

Julian calls Nader's dad Gedo (or rather "Dadoe" in Julian-speak) which means Grandpa for Egyptians. I love seeing Julian play with his Gedo and the smile it brings - it's priceless. Here is Julian in mock horror about something. He would do this until he gets a laugh out of the other person.

Then he would laugh right along with you. He LOVES putting on a show, our little one.

Chinese therapy

2007-01-16T23:52:00.000+08:00

The Chinese believe that for a body to be healthy - it must be in balance - yin and yang. I don't know what the hell it means.... but many, many Singaporeans prefer to go to a Chinese physician instead of a Western one for common complaints and pains. So, we took Nader's dad and uncle to one while they were here, because his uncle had some bad neck and head pains, while Nader's dad was suffering from rheumatism on his elbows due to the humidity here. And Nader went along for the ride. Each one received almost exactly the same treatment. A little bit of acupuncture and a little bit of suction cupping which is supposed to increase blood circulation to the parts of the body which are sluggish....whatever the hell that means....

Nader is probably going to kill me for putting this picture up, but I thought the marks left behind by the suction cups looked freaky and worth sharing! These marks stayed on their backs for days! BUT for all that it's worth, the next day both Nader's uncle and dad said that the pain was 80% gone! So there is some merit to this traditional chinese medicine mumbo jumbo after all! And I can say that because I AM Chinese :)

More scenes of Singapore

2007-01-16T23:37:00.000+08:00

I thought these pictures were cool, so thought I'd share some of the more distinctive sights and landmarks of Singapore. I don't know anyone who hasn't heard of the Raffles Hotel when they come here. It's a very old prestigious hotel that was used primarily by the elite British colonialists when Singapore was owned by Britain. This is also the birthplace of the "Singapore Sling" - a really sweet tropical cocktail that I don't particulary enjoy.... but it's famous.

This is a picture of the Singapore River where much of the trading used to take place when Singapore was just a sleepy port on the Straits of Malacca. In the background is the financial district which was the engine of growth of Singapore about 20 years ago.

And of course Orchard Road - the heart of Singapore's downtown and shopping district. Giant malls compete with each other in this strip. And every year for Christmas, the entire road is decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, and all the malls compete with one another for the "Best Christmas Decoration" award, so you can imagine how elaborate some of the decorations can get. Here is a picture of Nader's dad on that busy street.

Little India

2007-01-16T23:16:00.000+08:00

A definite stop on the tourist trail is Little India. South Indians make up the 3rd largest community in Singapore, and Tamil is one of the 4 national languages spoken here. You really do feel like you're walking through a slice of India when you come to this area, with the smells of Indian spices, flower garlands, Indian music blaring from the shops, the colourful sari and gold shops along the street. I took this picture of Nader leaving an interesting shop selling colourful Indian art.

On any given Sunday, Little India is jammed packed with all the foreign workers that have come to Singapore to work as labourers. These men are typically from Bangladesh and South India, and they come during their off day here to meet friends and just hang out. One of the things that still surprises me every time I see it, is that South Indian men hold hands as a sign of friendship. So you'll see them casually walking down the street together holding hands and hugging each other often. My Westernized brain has programmed me to think of this type of behaviour as something only gay men would do. But not so....

Singapore through the eyes of our visitors

2007-01-15T22:50:00.000+08:00

I thought I'd share some pictures that were taken by our guests while they were sightseeing here.

The picture below shows the typical HDBs (or public housing) in which about 80% of Singaporeans live in. For some reason, the government likes to splash them in bright colours. They look like lego blocks. Anyway, these public housing highrises were first built by the government as a means to get people off the streets, and provide them with affordable housing. To keep it affordable, the developers had to keep the building costs to the barest minimum....for example, the elevators don't stop on every floor. So if you happen to live on a floor that is not served by the elevators, you will have to climb up a few stories up or down to get to your flat.

And if you look closely, you will see that people still hang their clothes out to dry like flags. Almost noone owns a dryer in this country...

Tekka market

2007-01-15T22:36:00.000+08:00

One of the first places we took our guests to, was Tekka market in Little India. It's called a wet market - aptly named because the floors of the market always seem to be wet with dirty sludge, blood and animal bits.

If you don't mind the putrid smells, the heat, the bloody feast of carcass before your eyes, then these are the places to go to for the freshest meats, seafood, vegetables and fruit - and very, very cheap!

I think they were selling baby sharks!! Or are my eyes deceiving me?

Why the hiatus

2007-01-15T22:17:00.000+08:00

It's been exactly one month and 3 days since my last post. It's been hectic...to say the least. With Christmas shopping, hosting several parties at home, New Year celebrations, families visiting, sightseeing, entertaining and dining out with our guests, then the Coptic Christmas (which was on 7 Jan), a new business, and a family trip to Bali - I barely had time to breathe. HWAAAHHHH - finally though, the dust is settling back down.

This was our family on Christmas Day opening gifts at my mom's place. We had family visiting from the U.S (Mary, my brother-in-law's mother), from Canada (Nader's dad, uncle and cousin), Indonesia (my nanny who took care of me when I was a wee girl), and Europe (my sis and husband).