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.

Another Weekend, Another Train


Was in Bangkok Thursday and Kuala Lumpur Friday.

Here's a globalised, mobile workforce for you. When I was at my meeting in Bangkok my sister was at her meeting in Pattaya. Different ends of the same country. Photo's from the hotel in Bangkok.

A couple of years ago, when I was still living in NY, my brother came over on a business trip and I had to meet him at La Guardia Airport or not see him at all. I was flying back to NY after a vacation in Santa Fe and he was flying back home to Singapore after a meeting in NY. (Actually, it sounded more like lots of golf in Jersey on an expense account.) My plane was coming in a couple of hours before his was due to leave - so we grabbed a quick dinner at some chain restaurant.

So...last Saturday, I was taking a train in from my hotel in Sentral to the KL Airport, and if I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was on a Metro North going from Westchester to the city. It was 3pm on a Saturday, I had my iPod in its pink case (except it's now a nano), and I had Jay McInerney's latest book, The Good Life, on my lap. It could have been a typical NY weekend commute into Manhattan, waiting to get off at 125 St or Grand Central. Except that when I looked up from listening to SiSe while reading about discontented upper middle class New Yorkers, I saw ... coconut trees and the thick, unrelenting equatorial rain.

My favourite line from the book is a description of a couple with two kids who live in loft in Tribeca. The male protagonist works in publishing - as opposed to finance. "They felt like paupers living in a town of zillionaires."

Oh yeah - that's NY.

Running East

It’s been four months since I’ve been back. Unbelieveable huh?

Of course I miss New York – but not in the ways I expected. Most days I’m working so much I don’t have time to think about anything else anyway. (EVERYONE works like mad here…my friend Khor Peng says he’d like to cut down his hours – to 12. Carrie goes back into her office practically every weekend.)

So, a couple of nights ago, I’m lying in bed, about to fall asleep, when this image of NY Route 134 – my drive home from Somers to Ossining – just slams into me. And there’s this sudden, intense longing inside my gut. For what, I don’t really know.

I’m trying to get back into some of the routine I had in NY – the running, the tennis, …oh jeez it’s humid here. I barely do 3km and I’m drenched. DRENCHED. I do 5km and it feels like a major accomplishment. Don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do another half marathon. At least this close to the equator.

And – I found a running group that meets every Saturday on East Coast Park. But they run pretty late. 8am. It gets hot. My ideal is right before 7. And I run along the beach listening to Leonard Lopate podcasts on my new nano (my old iPod isn't working so well). It’s not quite the same as running in Central Park (see photo), but still…

Of course, I’m trying to replicate one of my favourite NY staples here – FOOD! Cool restaurants but without the attitude. And there are more and more good restaurants sprouting up here. Now if the wait staff were as good as the chefs…

So, last night I organized a dinner party at one of the hottest new restaurants in town – PS Café. (For review, check out Chubby Hubby’s blog at http://www.chubbyhubby.net/2005/12/new-it-restaurant-in-town.html) It was tough enough getting a reservation. But the REAL tough part was trying to get some kind of a gender balance. Also wanted to make sure I didn’t put together a table where everyone already knew everyone else. Anyway, the place, the food, and company, turned out to be great. So, all the agro was worth it.

Plus my friend Carolyn brought along her friend Charles, who’s a PASTRY chef. SCORE! Can’t wait to try out the stuff in his shop.

The weirdest thing is, you know what I really, really, miss? The weekend Metro North train rides along the Hudson into the City, with the Sunday NY Times and especially the Sunday Times mag for company. 

Schmoozing in Sydney

Spent Australia Day in Sydney a couple of weeks ago (Jan 26th).

Food was great, guys were cute, and running in 20something degrees celcius and very very low humidity around Darling Harbour was terrific.

Oh - and a waiter tried to convince me to have Lambingtons for breakfast in honour of Australia Day, but I settled for toast, jam and cappucino instead. I'm not quite into having coconut-covered chocolatey cake for breakfast yet. Plus, I think it was Australian humour.

Sydney's always had great restaurants: innovative chefs incorporating cooking styles and ingredients from the many ethnicities living there, fresh ingredients, cool restaurant design and terrific service.

NY Times late last year had a feature on how the best food in the world is now in Sydney. It's also gotten a lot more expensive in the time I've been away - can't have it both ways I guess. Sydney's now one of the costliest places in the world to buy property.

Ate at:
Est - http://www.miettas.com/Australia/New_South_Wales/Sydney/Est.html
Consistently listed as one of Sydney's top restaurants.

Sugarroom - dinner was good, but dessert was even better. We had actually finished dinner and was on the way out the door when a Japanese co-worker reminded us that we hadn't had dessert yet so we went back in.

Ripples - right under the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a great view of the Sydney Opera House.

Wi fi's a Piece of Cake In Singapore...

OK - fair disclosure - the terrific fruit pie and pot of earl grey in the photo wasn't shot in Singapore. It was in Tokyo - of course. In a terrific patisserie called Qu'il Fait Bien.

The fruits were fresh, juicy and substantial, the custard was light, and the crust...buttery and crisp. One thing though, get there before 3pm or you'll be queuing like mad.

Am in Singapore now. Just finished a tennis game (it was sooooo humid by 8 30am) and now I'm at a cafe at the beach wi-fi-ing and watching the terribly toned roller bladers go by while I'm having an Ok Earl Grey. (oooh, cute french guy with motorcycle helmet just walked by. No, Lauree and Michelle, I didn't have guts to chat him up.)

And of course, this being Saturday, I HAVE to read the NY Times. Even if it's only online. And I thought this little segment from the arts pages might amuse you. (Richard Serra sculptures were one of the first things I saw in Chelsea when I first got to NY.) Well, here it is:

Lost: 76,000-Pound Sculpture
Say, has anyone noticed a homeless 38-ton steel sculpture lately? If so, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid would like to know about it. The sculpture happens to be the work of the American artist Richard Serra, and the museum paid about $220,000 for it in 1987. Now it seems to be missing, The Associated Press reported. The four stark steel slabs were exhibited and then sent to a warehouse run by a company specializing in large art. The company was dissolved in 1998, the daily newspaper ABC said, and when the museum's director, Ana Martínez de Aguilar, decided a few months ago to display the sculpture again, it could not be found.