Cool Running

Have been running quite a bit in the past few weeks, starting with Italy in August.

Air France had lost my luggage for an ENTIRE week - running gear and all - and finally delivered it the day before I was about to leave Rome. Scott, who had been running every morning in Rome, mapped out a path for me that went from our hotel, to Via Nationale, to the Forum and Colisseum, and finally Circus Maximus where the chariot races used to be.

It was the COOLEST run - going past the Fendi and Stefanel and the other designer stores, past the art museums and to ancient, ancient Rome. The best part was doing a lap around the Circus Maximus. Felt great to run after all that eating, and eating, and eating - tried to do some healthy shopping so one morning I went to Campo Di Fiori (photo) and bought some fruit back for breakfast with Terry, Scott and Hedy. The figs there were sooooo gooooood.

Back in Singapore, I did a 10k at the Sheares Bridge run with 65000 of my closest friends. It was the longest distance I had run in this humidity. And I was actually glad when it started drizzling halfway through. It was probably good practice - cuz when I did the 9k Terry Fox run it was drizzling the ENTIRE way.

In Tokyo now. Been doing my running on the treadmill in the gym before work. Amazing. At 7 am when I get there, it's already crowded with other business travellers.

The food here is pretty incredible too. Went to Gonpachi earlier in the week - George Bush had gone there when he was in Tokyo. Went to Cafe Bape in Aoyama (it was in a book on Design) and I swear my friend Cynthia and I brought up the average age by a good ten years. Then we walked around Harajuku. 

UMBRIAN WEDDING

My friends Jim and Francesca got married in Todi in Italy a couple of weeks ago. Todi's in Umbria, next to Tuscany. Several of the New York gang went. It was great seeing everyone again.

I thought Chinese weddings were food-filled. But man!! I hadn't been to an Italian wedding before.

After the church service - fantastic choir - sermon in Italian...bilingual readings...really nice old church... all old, grey, stone...we went to the Relais Todini - a hotel up on a hill, and ate from 1 in the afternoon till 6 30.

To be fair, Jim warned us not to eat too much of the antipasto and keep room for the main courses...all uh...five of them. But hey - bruschetta with truffles, lots and lots and LOTS of Procesco, fantastic cheeses, prosciutto e melone...come on! Then we went indoors for our mains. Three hours later, they had to rolled us out for the dessert buffet. I had the best panacotta I've ever had. Wish I had had room for the other stuff.

Better Than Chocolate?

Was running along the beach and listening to a podcast of NPR's Leonard Lopate interview Anthony Bourdain a few days ago. Lopate asked Bourdain (who often raves about Singapore being one of the best food places on the planet) if there might be a link between Singapore's reputation for being authoritarian and the great food.

To hear what Bourdain said, check out the interview: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/06/21

(OK - if you want a preview, the answer was "no")

But, it was kinda trippy listening to the very New York-sounding interview when I was running past the Singapore Seafood Centre.

And - here's a message for my friend Lisa, who is always trying to tell me to "slow down" - and gave me a "Slow Down Kit" a few years ago. Today I discovered that the tunnel outside my condo that leads to the beach aka my jogging track also leads to something comPLETEly different. Utter calm and quiet.

Instead of hurtling from appointment to appointment this weekend I decided to walk over to the beach to watch the last of the Singapore International Triathletes finishing up their races.

After that, me, my ipod, the weekend edition of the Asian Wall Street Journal and Monica Ali's new book - Alentejo Blue- went and lay on a park bench under the shade and hung out. I ended up not even turning my ipod on - having the waves in the background was really, really cool. I had never quite understood why Central Park was always crowded with people sitting still on weekends when there's so much to do all around in Manhattan, but now, I'm startin' to get it. Almost - better than chocolate.

Food, Friends, and Music

Spent the whole of last Saturday grocery shopping and cooking. Had people over for dinner. No, the chocolate on this page isn't mine - it's Charles'. He's a REAL pastry chef - as in - he makes his living from it. And he was nice enough to let me photograph him at work.

My Dinner Party Menu:
Watercress/Mango salad (from epicurious.com)
Braised Spare Ribs - from Simple to Spectacular
Carrots Simmered in Orange Juice and cumin
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Ming Ruey brought roast duck, Wolf and M brought dessert and Tom was the bartender/ ipod jog-dial jockey.

The best part of the afternoon - being in the kitchen chopping, cutting, browning, and listening to Daniel Barenboim, this year's Reith lecturer, speak about the connection between life and music.

There are five lectures, each done in a city that has figured heavily in his life: Chicago, London, Berlin, Ramallah (that was later switched for security reasons) and Jerusalem. How better to spend a Saturday than listening to a very intellectual, very thought-provoking conversation in anticipation for an evening with some really good friends.

Daniel Baremboim is the Musical Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also started the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, made up of equal numbers of Arab and Israeli young musicians. The CSO contributed hugely to my classical music life, and by extension, my social life, when I was in grad school in Chicago - thanks to five-dollar student tickets to the performances. So, it made the lectures, streamed in my pre-dinner party kitchen, all the more relevant. I highly recommend the taking a listen. My faves were lectures 1 and 4.

Check them out and let me know what you think. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2006/lecture1.shtml

Hello from Hanoi

Went to Hanoi over the weekend with Carrie, Michael and Tom.

Hanoi was really different from Saigon. Where Saigon felt fast, practical, commercial, Hanoi felt more rooted, with a stronger sense of place.

Tom wanted to go see Ho Chi Minh in the Mausoleum so off we trekked Saturday morning, in torrential rain. When we got there, I found out I wasn't dressed correctly (I was in a sleeveless tank and shorts. The rest of the crew was in jeans and Ts.)

"Miss cannot go in," the guard said gruffly. So, Miss had to buy a sarong (USD5) and borrow a T shirt that's left there for ...well, people like me who don't read guidebooks carefully. So, the four of us queued up for 30 minutes in the long, snaking line, with some protection from the storm by our $3 Hello Kitty umbrellas from the store next to the hotel.

We eventually into the building - and were herded in and out in about three minutes.

Spent the rest of our time at art galleries and in search of great pho. Found a really, really REALLY cool gallery that showcases new Vietnamese artists. (Art Vietnam 30, Hang Than); went to a show by art school students, complete with cheap wine and New York-like conversation, and some really promising art.

Had pho at three places. And the last place was the best - according to pho expert Carrie. Unfortunately we can't tell you the name - cuz we never found out what it was called. We saw this looooong queue outside this pho stall on our way to a cafe called La Place for breakfast. (Had decent crepes and very good coffee, great service and a good view of St Peter's Church). And being dutiful foodies, Carrie, Tom and Michael trooped back there for their second breakfast while I wondered around with my camera. So, all we can say is - this really cool pho place is around the corner from St Peter's someplace.

Best restaurant that weekend: Green Tangerine, for contemporary french at really reasonable prices
Best drinking place: Bobby Chinn's for atmosphere and for drinks that are uh...truly lethal.

Pigging Out in Cambodia

Last minute decision to go to Cambodia over the long weekend with a couple of friends.

We stayed at really basic places - backpacker hotels at US$15 a nght.

OK...so it had a homey B&B feel to it. And there was that massive brownout l

It's been five years since I last went gto Angkor Wat and I can't believe how many hotels there are paving the road from the Aiport.

Once you get past those cookie cutter guest houses, the temples are magnificent, the food is cheap, and (I don't think we paid more than $5 each for any meal). so that we could eat lots
, and the nightlife is really revving up.

I wish I could go there just for weekends / evenings and the come back in time for work after . 

All Moved In

It's SO nice to
*wake up in my own space - even if the apartment's mostly empty
*have my own stuff around me again
*be able to have friends over
*wake up to the sound of birds chirping (man are they loud)
*be a five-minute run away from the beach

I'm all moved in! Albeit sans furniture. The photo's the view from my room at around midnight.

The past few weeks have been a mad rush of work and dealing with the apartment. I think I've seen every furniture store on this island. And then some.

Unfortunately most of them seemed to stock the same stuff as everyone else, but I managed to find a few places that design and build their own stuff. So I'm happy to say that, apart from a couple of pieces (including a red, peanut-shaped desk from Ikea), the rest are Singapore designed and constructed.

Found interesting furniture at Evov on East Coast Rd, Air Division in Changi, and Urban Foundry at Purvis Street. Always interested to hear about others if anyone has suggestions.

Saturday was a frenzy of apartment-related activity:

The storage guys came at 9; the air-con guy at 10 30, sometime in between, the contractors came to finish the cabinets in the kitchen, then my mother came with the cleaning lady at 1. Then there was Ikea at 4 30. For less than $10US, Ikea assembled my stuff in minutes (must have been the power drills)

Most of my furniture's not all in yet, so when a few of my friends came over Saturday after dinner, we used my sister's huge beanbag, and what little furniture I brought back from NY. (A West Elm chair and a Thai cushion.)

My friend Charles, a pastry chef, brought over Black Forest Cake, Mango Cheesecake, Marble Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake. I meant to serve ice cream as well, but it got all melted because I uh...put it in the wrong compartment in the fridge. What can I say - new, unfamiliar fridge...it turned out the freezer was on the bottom-most compartment!

But man, it felt good to go grocery shopping and get my own stuff this afternoon. At least now I know where everything goes in the fridge.