Siloso Beach

Here's a very different place from the two previous posts. You can understand that I am back in Singapore. As incredible as it may sound I have just visited Sentosa Island for the first time. And I admit I quite liked it. Nothing is natural, everything is 'fake'. Even the sand is imported from somewhere else. And the hundreds of cargo vessels you can easily sight at sea remind you that you are not on an exotic and lost island. But the Gaudi-ish fountains are fun, the atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful compared to Singapore 'mainland', and apart from the few island buses you are finally far away from the city traffic. It made me feel like being on holidays for a couple of hours!

Happy Children

Children are always so happy. Wherever you go, whatever conditions they are living in, they always welcome you with a smile and they always are happy to pose for a picture. I was quite saddened though, after talking to these kids, to understand that only one out of the four boys were going to school. The others will probably never have the opportunity to even learn how to write and read.

Fishermen Village

I am in Indonesia for a couple of days. Back on the surrounding islands. It always amazes me how different things are just a short hop from Singapore. If you take the exemple of the Pangke village pictured above, it is a real and typical indonesian fishermen village that is so far in its customs and habits to the life experienced by millions on the other side of the channel in the big city state that is Singapore. And it is also a lesson in fate as it is believed that Stamford Raffles had considered Karimun island instead of Singapore island when looking for a settlement. It is quite disturbing to think that things could have been the other way around with Singapore remaining a fishing village and Karimun being developped as a big manufacturing, engineering and industry crossroad.

CBD

Today's an overview of the Central Business District. Nothing too captivating about the place. It is a bit like walking around Wall Street without the buzz and history. Nevertheless, it is still a nice City view from either the Merlion or even better if you happen to take a small tourist-oriented bumboat for a cruise around the harbour and up the river. It is also what could be considered as the 'south center' of the city.

Holy Jeanne!

She's such a funny thing this Jeanne Cherhal! I just love the idea... She woke up with these lyrics popping up in her head after being overexposed like any other French people to the alleged sms Nicolas Sarkozy sent to his former wife before marrying Carla Bruni.

Si tu reviens, j'annule tout! (If you come back, I cancel everything). You could not wish for catchier lyrics and her song has just been on repeat in my head ever since. The only way to hear it for the moment is to log on her myspace webpage at http://www.myspace.com/jeannecherhal. Nico, si tu te casses on oublie tout!

Love is in the air!

The sky is currently quite hazy over Singapore due to some fires on the nearby Indonesian Riau Islands but it was all cleared up by the time the RSAF Black Knights flew their Lockheed Martin F-16s through the Changi airspace. Their closing signature was this heart shaped display. The other star during this last day of the Singapore Airshow 2008 was of course the Airbus A380 that brought a quiet and gracious relief compared to the thunderous roar of the fighterjets.

Legend of the Monkey King - 孙悟空

This is one of the rare Singaporean appearances of the China Beijing Opera Theatre. Four shows from the 21st to the 24th of February at the Victoria Theatre. It was very good for all kind of public and was very entertaining. We were treated with three plays. the first one being from The Legend of Madam White Snake and the second one from A Chinese Ghost Story. After the intermission came this amazing cast performing Eighteen Guardians of Buddha from the Legend of the Monkey King. Somewhere between circus, theatre, dance, acrobatics and mime all wrapped in an incredible performance. The costumes and make-up all added to a night to remember.

The Never Ending Story

I thought the new year festivities might be over by now but it seems to still be dragging on as you can continue to witness lanterns and decorations. And as a reminder that the rats took over the year you can still see some specimens all around the city.

Charles De Gaulle - Changi

Back on the other way. I left cold and grey Paris in a bit of a messy situation. It took ages to go through the immigration, there was a strike of the cleaning personnel who were demonstrating while banging drums, the travellator going to the boarding satellite was out of order, the toilets were blocked... Quite the usual stuff. It is somehow a sharp contrast with the way things are organised here in Singapore. It took me less than 5 minutes from the moment I deboarded the plane until the time I caught a taxi out of the airport.

Village

When the sun is rising that's the kind of view I can get over my native village from my bedroom's balcony. I believe it is very representative of any French village since what dominates the whole skyline surely is the church. It dates back from the 15th century and is classified as an historical monument.

Changi - Charles De Gaulle

I landed in Paris a couple of hours ago after spending the usual 14 hours in good care of SQ. It is beautifully sunny and very cold (1˚C). I am only here for 48 hours. Not really enough time to try and get over the jetlag.

The original Mr Bean

Mr Bean is a franchise specialised in Soya bean products in Singapore. I have always enjoyed soya bean and even though I try to stand clear from all the nice local sweets – not to everybody’s tastes but definitely right in my range – I could not resist to try those nice Mr Bean pancakes after seeing them – and smelling them – on a daily basis. Pictured here you have my four choices which have been peanut, kaya, cheese and blueberry. This photo is now just a memory as they all have long been digested. And I don’t feel bad about it as the carrying bag proclaims: ‘Increases bone density, no cholesterol, low fat, reduces risk of cancer, improves complexion and aids digestion’. Should I really believe it?

Lion Head

Lion Head for a Lion Dance in the Lion City.

I missed nealry all of the Chingay festival ceremonies as they were from 8 to 10 in the evening and during the grand parade yesterday I was at the A-yue concert but when I came out I had the chance to see the tail of the parade with lots of beautifully decorated trailers and thousands of brilliantly dressed participants. I will try not to miss it next year and I will book my tickets early. I believe it definitely is the highlight of all the Chinese New Year ceremonies.

A-Yue OK (张震岳)

Could be a play on words but it is also the name of the artist (Chang Chen Yueh or A-Yue in short) and his new album (OK). It was part of the Huayi Chinese festival of Arts and thought I should give it a try. As a result I had first bought a ticket some weeks back and the album only recently. It is very... pop. Also I surely do not understand the words as it is in Mandarin (he's from Taiwan) but it was an interesting experience. His voice is not fantastic, there were quite a few too many soapy ballads but I admit a few songs got stuck in my head mainly思念是一種病 (Missing you is a Kind of Illness), 小星星 (Little Star) and the title track (OK). The picture above is one of the highlights of the show when he was joined by 姚中仁 (MC HotDog). It also has to be noted that I might have been the only European at this gig as I did not notice any other.

Lion Dance

If in Brazil you have the Samba schools training all year for the Carnival, here you have tons of Lion Dance schools. You can see them moving in their trucks all around the city. But these past weeks you really feel their presence drastically intensified. There are also a few preview parades and everyone is getting ready for the BIG one starting tonight for the Chingay festival dubbed Asia's grandest street & floats parade, officially the biggest New Year's event celebrated to welcome the arrival of Spring. Spring? What is spring in Singapore? Is there really any such season as spring?

Bamboo Shoots Laksa Stir Fry

Oh my! I was alone for dinner so I could take the risk but as I did not feel like popping down to the supermarket I used the ingredients I had in my fridge to create tonight’s meal from scratch. I used my bamboo shoots and cooked them with black mushrooms, some ground meat and tomatoes and spiced the whole thing up with laksa leaves, coconut, ginger, coriander, garlic and it rocked! If I’m not sick tomorrow I will have to remember that recipe and treat my friends with this very unique creation!

Singapore News

A bag is stolen with the equivalent of 70 Euros in cash and it is in the news. I happen to see very often this kind of news in the papers here. A stolen mobile phone for a value of 100 Euros, a purse with 50 Euros, sometimes you even have a gold chain for a whopping value of 300 Euros stolen! I always find it quite amazing as if we had to report the stolen mobile phones or purses in France it would take 80 pages in the newspaper each day! That is also a sign of how low the crime rate is here. And as the Government avertises it in the tube or on street posters 'Low crime does not mean no crime'.

The Singapore Flyer

I am yet to test this new attraction. I really enjoyed my ride on the London Eye at sunset on a beautiful spring day some years back as the views were truly fantastic. Today, the Singapore flyer is all over the news here as it started to 'fly' for a few private functions last night. Nevertheless, I am not sure the immediate surroundings have as much to offer as the London skyline except the opportunity to be able to see three countries at once (Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia). I am sure I will find myself in one of those capsules at one point or the other anyway...

Happy Monday

Now that everything has gone digital, kids probably do not know and understand the thrill that Mondays used to be. It has always been the day of new record releases in the UK and I remember queuing in front of the shops before they opened to grab those magical new and beautiful records. I still continue to buy my dose of vinyls through Piccadilly Records and it is always a pleasure to coincidentally receive my record boxes on Mondays. I am also double happy today as I also received the limited American Music Club tour CD 'Atwater Afternoon'. I am now off the computer as I have quite a few things to listen to and keep me busy!

881

I have been a big follower of Royston Tan who is a Singaporean film Director and enjoyed his past short movies as well as his full lengths long before moving to singapore but I did not have the opportunity to see his acclaimed 2007 flick called 881 yet. It is now out on DVD so I grabbed my copy from the local HMV and loved every minute. This guy is a real genius and his creativity is simply amazing. I am gobsmacked by all the inventions and humour he can bring in an otherwise poignant tragedy. And it has also such a strong Singaporean identity. If you have not seen it I can only recommend you track down a copy anywhere you can.

TV Trailer here.

Aji Tei at Takashimaya

As you know we are spoilt for choice when it comes to food in Singapore. Today I felt like Japanese and it is everywhere so it is always difficult to settle on a particular restaurant. As even the shopping district was closed for the past two days because of the Chinese New Year (the only time of the year when shops actually close down!) it was only natural to go to the Takashimaya emporium as it was back to business (and surely very busy). There is a nice food court in the basement and some great restaurants on the top floor. Aji Tei is one of those restaurants that remain very popular and I could not resist the strange looking Tonpeiyaki (picture above). It is actually made out of pork, cabbage and egg omelette. Very tasty. The Pork and Asparagus rolls were equally fantastic and I promised myself to go back to taste more delicacies as many items looked appetizing both on the menu and on the surrounding tables.

Shanghai Blues - The Musical

When I am in Europe I am usually not really attracted by the idea of attending a musical as they tend to be soapy bordering on daggy. Maybe it is the title that reminded me of Wong Kar Wai or is it the curiosity of attending a play in Chinese but I admit I was quite excited to be watching Shanghai Blues -The Musical. The stage set was quite clever and the singing exotic. I enjoyed the experience even though I was not overwhelmed by the script (it was subtitled in English in case you wonder...).

Ang Ku Kuih!

I saw those at the market this morning and I could not resist. Red is the colour of celebration and good fortune isn't it? And today being the Chinese New Year public holiday I just had to taste those Ang Ku Kuih. It is exactly the kind of asian delicacy I am fond of. Extremely sticky glutinous rice cakes hiding a delicate and sweet green bean filling. They are part of the traditional family of Malaysian desserts called Kueh Keuh (or Kuih Kuih in some translations). Unfortunately, it seems I am the only one in this house to enjoy this kind of dessert :-(

よしもと ばなな

I always had a soft spot for Japanese artists and writers. With Banana it all started some years back when I read 'Goodbye Tsugumi'. Since then I have never been disappointed. 'Kitchen' (her biggest success), 'Hardboiled & Hardluck', 'Asleep' and now 'Lizard', I just love all the universal short stories she describes, the way she brings the sentiments forward. Universal yet very Japanese. I know little about her but she seems to be a very down-to-earth person trying to avoid being overexposed despite her success. She has a few entries in English on her on-line journal (even though the last one dates back from the end of October 2007).

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

In a couple of days time we will celebrate the biggest event in the area. The Christmas decorations were set up as early as October in Singapore and lasted until the end of December but they were swiftly replaced by the Chinese New Year decorations which means that the city will have been adorned with fancy garlands and decorum for over 5 months! The colour red is everywhere which is kind of... bright. The low point though is that we are entering the year of the rat and Disney surely took this opportunity for a big sponsoring with Mickey hijacking the whole event! I believe it should indeed be renamed the year of the mouse. Anyway, tomorrow I am ready for a long 4 days and a half weekend. That's so sweet!

The 'Guess what this is?' game returns!

I am in Indonesia for two days on one of the nearby Riau Islands and out of my hotel window I have a nice view over the sea on my right but on my left I see this strange wall dotted with holes. As you might know, in Chinese culture, Bird's nests are considered a delicacy when prepared as a soup. All the holes pierced in this wall are simply there to accomodate the numerous birds that come to build their nest inside and the Indonesians are too happy to sell them a fortune over in Singapore. It must be quite a success as those concrete buildings are everywhere on all the surrounding islands.

Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address

Since I arrived in Singapore I have been enjoying quite a few local bands like The Observatory or The Great Spy Experiment but this one beats them all. The Bani (hence the name) family band B-Quartet was celebrating the release of its new CD ('Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address') by a sold-out concert at the Arts House's Playden. Clever lyrics, tortured singer, excellent instrumentations, funny interludes, amazing visuals, they have it all! I will drop an easy reference but the singer's voice is not dissimilar to Thom Yorke and they confirmed it by doing a cover of Radiohead's Paranoid Android during the gig. It is just sad that Singapore's market is too small for such a good band to reach bigger audiences.

Krampoueshour

A Krampoueshour is a crepe fanatic in Breiz (Breton / Brittany language). So much for prosperity! After my prosperity burger a couple of days ago I am back to another prosperity tradition today being 40 days after Christmas. This day is called La Chandeleur in France (the day of the candles) and as per custom you have to make the crepes jump from the pan holding a coin in your hand in order to get prosperous during the coming year. Being a kid I remember we used to do this at home holding a Louis d'Or as it was the most valuable coin in the house. Unfortunately all my Louis d'Ors are in France and I can only do it with tiny unvaluable Singapore Dollars!

Bande Dessinée

I just finished this great little graphic novel from Rutu Modan and I felt like sharing my enthusiasm. The story is very fresh and captivating complemented by simple, precise and elegant drawings (or is it the reverse?). I believe it was the first international issue for this Israeli cartoonist. The story revolves around the main character, a taxi driver, in 'search' of his estranged father who may have been a victim of a suicide bombing... It is published by the ever consistent and quality Canadian editor Drawn and Quaterly. From the same house I also recommend the amazing works from Kevin Huizenga featuring his Bill Ganges creation and David B. who also happens to be one of the founders of the equally excellent French publisher L'Association (who first published Marjane Satrapi).