More Running Around

Did a Half Marathon last Sunday. YAY!! Was slower than when I did one in NY...but ...uh...I'll blame the humidity...

Got back from Vietnam on Friday and the run was on Sunday. So had to do a few runs in Hue and Hoi An.

NO ONE runs in Hue and Hoi An, I swear. People were totally staring - wondering who that crazy, sweaty tourist was.

Unlike in Hanoi, where I could do a few laps around the lake across from the Zephyr Hotel (and across from Bobby Chinn's from those who would find it easier to have a BAR as a landmark), I pretty much had to run along the main roads this time around. So, in Hoi An, I ran from the old quarter...past 18th century houses, padi fields, rickety shophouses, uniformed schoolkids on bikes...towards a bunch of newly-built resorts beside a beach.

Hue was very, VERY cool. I ran across a bridge to the ancient Citadel and Imperial Palace and ran around the palace. Something about running around a really, really old pile of stones.

So this year, I've run under the Sydney Harbour bridge, across from the Opera House in Sydney; I've run along the designer stores on Via Nationale to the Roman Forum and a lap around Circus Maximus; and around the Imperial Palace in Hue. Way cool.

And oh - Vietnam photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/geri.wanjun/HoiAnAndHueVietnam

Goooood Morning Vietnam

Went back to Vietnam again for a vacation with my NY friends Adam and Lauree. This time I went to Hue and Hoi An, in central Vietnam.We were walking by the river in Hue one night and saw this girl, reading, by herself, under a bridge. She looked like an Edward Hopper painting.

Hue's the old capital of Vietnam. The main draw's a citadel and a huge palace that's survived a number of wars. Walking into the palace was like walking into the set of a Chinese Kung Fu movie.

I was half expecting mandarins and swordfighters. Didn't see them, but did visit a temple in the palace that was a memorial to the emporers - thirteen of them including a couple who were exiled to French colonies in Africa by the French after Vietnam was colonised.

One Year On...

This time last year I'd just landed in Singapore. Spent my birthday in a plane in between timezones.

It's been a year. Wow.

Had a really good birthday party last night. Really good caterer, two great birthday cakes. yep - TWO cakes. One chocolate and one mille crepe.



Cool new things in the past 12 months:

• I'm working with some really cool, really, really smart people. It's crazy, hectic and sometimes scarey - everything's kinda new. But it's never, ever, dull. Plus we have a pool table at work.
• Asia's totally buzzing. I don't feel like I've moved to another country as much as I've moved continents. Everything's so intertwined. I work with colleagues from 5 or 6 countries at any one time. Walk down my aisle at work and you'll hear English, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Behasa.
  
• Plus Singapore's so centrally located - fly a couple of hours in any direction and it's a whole different world..
• The Esplanade in Singapore: a really, really terrific concert venue. The Arts Fest and Dance Fest brought in some really good arts groups. I keep telling my friend Carolyn who used to be the program director there that the Esplanade's saved my life. OK - slight hyperbole - but it's a great place.
  
• People! New people...people I used to know before I left... This place has become a lot more mixed in the past five years. It's never been a big deal to hear say...French or German being spoken here. But I've started to hear a bunch of Eastern European languages too - which is kinda cool and new.
  

So, yeah - it's been a pretty terrific year. And yes, I still miss Manhattan. And I miss people.

Oh - and here's a nerdy post-script. The photo on the post is Tsutaya - a bookstore in Tokyo that's open till like, 3am. Lots of coffee and cake and art books, mags and CDs. My favourite last night spot in the city. Yeah yeah...I'm such the party animal.

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