Steam Train

As a kid I was fascinated by trains. I even wanted to become a train driver. I still remember the day I took a steam train for the first (and last) time at the age of 8 between two local stations. Since then I never had the opportunity to ride a steam train again. Until today. Maldon, where we stayed overnight, is the starting station for the train to Castlemain. It is only running 3 times a week taking you through the dry bushlands. Even though it surely is now a touristy attraction it remains an amazing adventure I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone – train lover or not. A special mention to all those passionate people thanks to whom these incredible machines are maintained.

Pies

If you ask me what is typical French food I will not be able to answer. Travelling abroad, I have often been asked the question but I have never found a way to describe what it could be. May be it is too varied or too regional? When it comes to Australian food the problem is the same. It is influenced by so many other countries (England, Germany, Chinese, Vietnamese, Pacific, etc…) that it is difficult to pick something typical. That said, barbecued snags (sausages), sausage rolls or meat pies would probably what would be defining Australia best as a food nation. But of course, and thankfully, it is not all about this – delicious – junk food. Today, I had the pleasure to stop by a wonderful place simply called ‘the bakery’ at Malmsbury in the Goldfields and I had a wonderful beef and kidney pie (pictured above).

Swanston Street

I really like those cool autumn days. The sky was beautiful today and the temperature was chilly enough without being intolerable. It is such a relief from hot and humid Singapore. Melbourne seems to be pretty busy at the moment and the streets were reasonably crowded. Above is the city’s main and most famous streets, Swanston Street. It is particularly reknowned for its shopping. It is part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district, which was laid out in 1837 by Robert Hoddle. It is named after Captain Charles Swanston, a Tasmanian banker and prominent member of the Port Phillip Association. Swanston Street passes a number of Melbourne landmarks, including St Paul's Cathedral, Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and the Melbourne Town Hall. Both the University of Melbourne and RMIT University also are on Swanston Street.

Leo's

Many cities have a great place full of fresh meats and vegetables as well as exotic and imported products and most importantly a fabulous deli. Dean & Deluca in New York is one my favourite (but it must be everyone’s favourite, mustn’t it?). In Australia, I have the chance to live not far from Leo’s which is an amazing place. The fish is fresher than fresh, the cheese selection is to die for, the charcuterie section is well filled and products come from all around the world. Do not miss Leo’s if you find yourself in the Heidelberg area.

Welcome Home!

After a smooth ride back to Singapore and a couple of hours to pack my bags here I am in Australia.
‘Welcome Home!’. That’s how I was greeted by immigration officials when I landed at Melbourne Tullamarine airport. It’s always strange, especially when you consider I hardly spend more than three weeks a year in total in my ‘chosen country of immigration’. Australians are enjoying a long week-end as yesterday was Anzac celebration day. Beverley surely welcomed us in style today baking some beautiful Anzac slices which are made of the same ingredients as Anzac cookies topped with delicious chocolate.

Side streets

The traffic is a nightmare here. I just could not live in Jakarta because of the chaos. Coming out of the office, especially at peak time, there is no other choice that going through the maze of the tiny side streets. It is surely impossible to capture the atmosphere of these small arteries but most of them are not wider than a single vehicle. The asphalt not only has to be shared with the numerous ojeks (motorcycle taxis), food vendors and pedestrians but also with the incoming traffic! Some narrow passages are not even one-way!

Makam Perang Jakarta

Hello from Jakarta. I am here for 24 hours and I am staying at my usual hotel. As you might know there is no much to see in this city. Just to give you an example, this is the view from my bedroom's window and it is one of the local attractions (!). The Jakarta War Cemetery contains the graves of many who died in defence of Java and Sumatra during the swift Japanese advance in 1942 and many others who perished afterwards as prisoners of war. Among the dead were sailors who fought in the Battle of the Java Sea, soldiers and airmen who died in flying battle and airfield defence.

Music Hole

It looks like I am more and more into French music. Except that Camille's new album 'Music Hole' is mostly sung in... English. Bjork tried to use vocals as instruments some years back and I was not overwhelmed by the result (even though I remain a big fan of Bjork) so I was a bit weary when I heard a similar technique was used for Camille's album. But where Bjork's album was a bit artsy-farty bordering on boring, Camille's record is pure joy and happiness. Words are used in a such a clever and melodic way. Un pur bonheur!

A Tree Frog Pretending To Be A Warlord Frog

My two favourite artists are Japanese. Takashi Murakami and Hisashi Tenmyouya. The former has been showing a lot of his work around galleries in Europe and the States and it is pretty easy and affordable to get hold of some of his merchandising like badges or mini characters for people like me who cannot afford original artworks. The latter is more difficult to get by. The last time I saw something from him was in Berlin at the Berlin-Tokyo exhibition over two years ago. Since then... nothing. I did not even succeed in getting hold of his last Artbook nor the DVD from the 'artists at work' series that is also currently showing at Shibuya Rise cinema in Tokyo. Does it mean that I will have to travel all the way up there? I am seriously considering it...

Chinese Art

Asian Art is the flavour of the moment with many interesting artists emerging with fresh ideas seducing the western curiosity of collectors who have seen it all. It was all affordable a few years back but some pieces are now fetching record prices in auctions. China - is it the Olympic effect or is it just the fact they have entered a very creative and interesting Movida-like phase? - tops the list and people in the know are not only turning into neighbouring countries like Vietnam or Cambodia but it is mostly Indonesia attracting the crowds right now. I cannot fathom from here which artists are really hot on the European market but from the ones emerging as long lasting values, sculptor Chen WenLing seems to be hot property. The Ode to Art gallery in Singapore is housing quite a few interesting pieces from his red boys series. One particularly striking sculpture from this Artist is entitled 'Cold' (picture above).

วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลาราม ราชวรมหาวิหาร

Bangkok offers quite a few places of interest but if you are limited in time, as we were, there really are two or three things not to be missed. The Royal Palace, the Market, and the reclining buddha temple (Wat Pho or วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลาราม ราชวรมหาวิหาร in Thai). Wat Pho is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, as well as the largest Reclining Buddha in the world which is forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and the soles of his feet.

Wat Phra Kaew

Bangkok truly is a good surprise. I was strangely not expecting much from this city but some of the sights I visited today just took my breath away!

We first started by a ride on the Skytrain and continued on a ferry up the Chao Praya River to Tha Chang. The cruise itself was interesting but the view of the temples on each sides of the bank only was an appetizer for what was to come once at the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). The buildings themselves are enough to amaze you. Every corner offers a new sight. After taking the general view of golden stuppas, chedis and colourful and decorative rooftops you start deciphering smaller details. And it goes on and on. What about those extensive galleries? This sight really has to be seen to be believed.

The other mindblowing experience is the Chatuchak market. That has to be the most amazing market I have seen in my life so far. I am sure we did not even cover a 10th of its surface. We concentrated on the antiques, pets and clothing sections. But there are so many more articles and food items on display. A feast for all the senses.

Low Cost Airlines

If I would not fly a low cost airline on long distances it does not really bother me when it comes to short 2 or 3 hours flights maximum. But I will still be pickish. I already scared myself flying some weird airlines in Africa or in Indonesia. I have recently been flying on SilkAir which is not really a low cost but more like a regional subsidy of Singapore Airlines and I flew Tiger Airways to places like Phuket in the past. A few weeks ago when I saw free flights advertised in my morning paper I could not resist and immediately booked a couple of seats for us. Free surely never really means 'entirely free' as you still have to pay the taxes but it is always interesting to be flying to places like Bangkok for a fraction of what it would cost on the national carrier.

The Long March

I like to take the opportunity of living in the area to try and learn a bit about the Asian history. When I saw advertised the screening of a movie about the Red Army long march I did not hesitate and immediately booked my tickets. I did not regret it. The Long March was a huge military retreat undertaken by the Red Armies of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. It helped Mao Zedong rise to power. It was very emotional to be hearing all these women recounting their personal stories and souvenirs about that event. It is also very important to record / capture those memories before it is too late. Touching.

The movie was screened at the Picturehouse in the Cathay Cineplex. Interestingly, The Cathay was Singapore first skyscraper when it opened in 1939 and the tallest in Southeast Asia for a while but also the first airconditioned cinema. It has now been entirely redone in 2003 and reopened in 2006. While most of the building is now a modern construction the facade remains and is protected under Singapore's heritage decree.

Risotto agli Asparagi

I went to an Italian friend's place to have a wonderful Asparagus Risotto. The real thing! The dinner started with some excellent salumi di cinghiale which is like a french saucisson made out of wild boar. And the succulent risotto arrived on the table once perfectly cooked. It is always nice to go out to some friend's places for dinner. A very relaxing and nice evening after another hard day at work :-)

Yixing clay teapots (宜興紫砂壺)

When I arrived in Asia I was quite interested in trying the different teas on offer. Oolong, red, yellow, white, flower, etc… I was looking everywhere for a big tea pot to brew my English tea but could only see tiny things that looked like kids toys. I only understood after some months why these pots were so small after I participated to a local tea ceremony. Nevertheless, all those Chinese teapots are nice and some can fetch up whopping prices (above 10,000 Eur) depending on their history that can be very rich as the tradition dates back to the Song dynasty (960 – 1279 CE). The real ones can only come from one place called Yixing in the Jiangsu province of China. Its clay is very unique and does not exist anywhere else in the world.

Chopsticks

In Europe we have shops specialised in cutlery with some brands fetching vertiginous prices. In the Asian world the equivalent exists for the chopsticks. They come in all sort of material (bamboo, plastic, wood, bone, metal, jade, silver and ivory) and length. My favourite sticks are Japanese and the main difference with Chinese ones comes in the way they are shaped with pointed ends. This shape supposedly takes its origin in the fact that Japanese eat bony fish in their daily diet. They are traditionally made of wood and are lacquered. Some sets even include two lengths, shorter for women and longer for men. Sexist? The etiquette also surely is extensive and interesting and varies depending on the countries. Last and interesting fact I remember reading somewhere is that the use of chopsticks relieves the pain in the hand after holding a computer mouse or a TV remote control for a prolonged period of time.

My own personal chopsticks come with silver dogs engraved on the tip (my zodiacal sign).

Brillante Mendoza

Philippine film director Brillante Mendoza is currently being talked about in France thanks to his interesting documentary called ‘John John’. In the same vein the film we saw today, showed as part of the Singapore Film Festival and entitled Tirador (Slingshot), deals with the hard reality of the daily lives of a Manila slum. It is more like a documentary than a fiction movie including in the way the whole thing is filmed in DV. Actually there is no better way to describe it than in his own words. He calls it ‘real-time.’ It is in the pace of real life. He shoots where is, as is. The border between documentary and fiction in this style is very thin. The only thing that divides the audience from real life is the screen, because we are watching life already. A very bleak but amazing movie.

Singapore Weather

If it were Jakarta the whole city would have been flooded by now and it would be another emergency situation. This Saturday morning started all fine but the skies became darker and darker until it began to pour shortly before midday. It lasted for an hour or so. This is typical equatorial weather. Unpredictable. Flash floods. Thunderstorms. Fortunately, the drainage system is quite good in Singapore except in a few places like the road at the level of the bus stop just below my apartment (above picture). You know how exciting it always is to see Mother Nature going wild when you're watching from a distance. People crossing the flooded streets with water at high knee levels. Motorbikes getting stranded in the middle of that paddle. Buses dropping passengers at the center of this mess. Hardly 30 minutes after and everything is back to normal and the water already has receded.

The Cellar Door

Because of the many international schools in the area, Bukit Timah is the place of choice for expats. I am very happy not to be living in such a place but I sometimes appreciate the choice of non-Asian restaurants for a change. The Cellar Door is divided into two distinctive places. On one side you have a deli that sells mainly New zealand products like the famous Kapiti Cheeses, fresh baked breads, wines condiments and an ice-cream parlour. The other building houses a charming restaurant. It is not Haute Cuisine as such but some nice dishes and interesting combinations compose the menu. Tonight we had some crab cakes as well as some tasty scallops as a starter. For the main I settled for a very interesting lamb burger which was a first for me. And I could not resist the Vanilla Bean and Ginger ice-cream. They also have a wide choice of interesting Kiwi and Aussie wines which I am sure wine lovers can appreciate. Expect to pay expat prices for all this though.

सनातन धर्म

Next to my place there is this wonderful temple I previously depicted called the Sri Sivan temple. It is completely out of any tourist itinerary despite the fact it probably is the most interesting temple in Singapore. I am trying to gradually understand the complex hierachy of Hinduism which is not only a religion but also a philosophical and cultural system. Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one god; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion of creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.

The deities above appear to me as being Lord Siva and Lordess Parvati but correct me if I'm wrong.

Laughing Buddha

I often see this laughing Buddha in temples, restaurants or amulets and I have always wondered why he is so different from the other depictions of Buddha. In fact, it appears that he was in reality an eccentric Chinese Monk called Hotei or Pu-Tai who lived over 1000 years ago. Because of his benevolent nature, jolly smile and protruding stomach he came to be regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva who will be Maitreya (the Future Buddha). I have also always been told that rubbing his belly was bringing luck and prosperity.

The image of Hotei is almost always seen carrying a cloth or linen sack (that never empties) which is filled with many precious items, including rice plants (indicating wealth), candy for children, food, etc. He is patron of the weak, poor and children. Religious facts apart, on my side any depiction of this monk never fail to attract my attention.

Kurdish Mountains

How can such an uncomfortable subject be turned into such an exquisite movie? The Singapore Film Festival is still on until next week-end and it is a shame I do not have more time to enjoy what’s on offer. Today’s choice ‘Dol – The Valley of Tambourines’ just took me by surprise. It explores the lives, culture and circumstances of the Kurdish people (post-Saddam) in that no man’s land that is at the crossroad of Turkey, Iran and Iraq. It is a good reminder of how people get attached to these hostile and barren lands. It reminded me of the tribal Khyber pass areas (encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan regions) I had the opportunity to experience some years back. People who have been told to belong to a country they have nothing in common with.

What's The Story?

The guy went missing while asking to go to the toilets on the 27th of February of this year. He was detained at a high security prison under the ISA (Internal Security Act) without trial and just mysteriously vanished. It made the news and a huge manhunt was initiated with every member of the public concerned and 40 days later what's the status? Nothing... The Government has still not released any information on how such a thing could have happened. Nobody has been blamed for neglicences. No new information have been released. And the commuters are so used to see the posters all around town that even if they were seeing the guy for real his face is now so familiar that they would not even make the link with that Jamah Islamiya supposed terrorist. Not that I am concerned but I can't help smelling something fishy somewhere along the lines...

East Coast Park

Today we were back to the East Coast Park. It was another lovely day out on our pushbikes along the tracks and the stop at the hawker center was more than welcome. This Park definitely has more of a seaside resort feel than Sentosa Island.

We always stop to look at the water skiing and we always promise ourselves we will try it one day. I suppose we should do this during the week when it is a bit less crowded.

Lady Chatterley

This movie is not new in the sense that it was out in France nearly a couple of years ago but it is definitely something of an event for a place like Singapore. It surely was rated 21 so the audiences should have known but I believe it is difficult for many Singaporeans to bear some of the frontal nudity that was on display in this otherwise excellent rendition of the Lady Chatterley book. The way Pascale ferran has succeeded in filming all the sexual and love emotions that slowly build up in a relationship is stunning. You could nearly feel all the sexual tension surrounding us. It was definitely very far from the usual American blockbusters the theatre goers are used to in this city state and I believe some of the few people who left before the end did so not really because they felt offended by the sexual content but more because of the art house filming technics bare of any hollywood special effects.

No Signboard Restaurant

Food again? Well, this evening we went to the Esplanade for a concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra entitled 'In The Shadow of Beethoven'. Three pieces by Wagner, Bruch and Brahms. The Bruch piece was particularly enchanting and the 45 minutes long Brahms work was simply divine. As usual, there is no way to take pictures in this kind of venue (and I do not feel like it anyway), this is the reason why the only event worth mentioning is the dinner at this No Signboard Seafood restaurant. Back in the 70s the restaurant started to operate in a hawker center without a name and it quickly became famous with the customers as the 'no name' or 'no signboard' restaurant. The original specialty was crabs and they started selling around 3 crabs a day. It has now evolved into a chain with different styles according to the location. The one in Geylang is pretty much an outdoor hawker-ish affair while the one we went to at Esplanade is much more grand and expensive. There are also lots of local and strange specialties like bird nests or shark fins soup, bullfrogs and seacucumber. My mum got a beautiful wok fried with garlic and butter crab while we settled on succulent Saute Scallop with Peppered Black Bean Sauce and Saute Scallop with Superior XO Sauce.

Singapore Zoo

The colours on the picture above are not faded. These are the real colours of the White Tigers! The Singapore Zoo is supposed to be the most beautiful zoo in the world. I am not a zoo fanatic as I always feel sad for the poor things trapped behind glasses or turning around in a tiny cage. But nothing like that in this zoo. The animals surely are not in their natural environment but so much natural space is given to them you easily imagine they are not feeling that bad. More impressive is the Night Safari where you can see all the nocturnal animals during their most active time. At night. Moving around the rain forest at night is very impressive and you get to see animals that you would not see otherwise. Then again, you can only be impressed by the huge space allocated to each and every species.

Food.. Do we not like it?

Sometimes I wonder if I should not turn these pages into an all food blog or create a separate one. After all, if there is an inexhaustible subject, something that is - hopefully - different every single day of your life, something that your body is physically asking for, it is FOOD. After yesterday's incredible Japanese experience it would have been a challenge to even try to get close to the oral pleasure experienced. Crystal Jade was a safe bet. Even though it is a chain of restaurants, they all are different. Chinese food can never be as delicate and subtil as Japanese food but it knows how to be tasty. The pan fried Shanghai Pork buns and the Radish Pastries photographed above remained a nice treat.

Kuriya Restaurant

Tonight’s dinner was a revelation! It touched many of my senses and nearly made me cry. I was simply blown away by the quality and the freshness of the ingredients in that Kuriya restaurant. I was so disturbed by the whole experience that I entirely forgot to take any pictures of that incredible food (only brought that coaster home as a souvenir). It all started with a new taste in the form of an exquisite Soba Cha (buckwheat tea). I never had it before and I was hooked at the first sip! We then went on tasting the freshest and most savoury Salmon Belly, Tuna & Yellow Fish Sushis ever. The tempuras were simply perfect. The mushrooms also brought an incredible and unknown taste. And I did not regret to have forked out so many dollars for such a small portion of grilled Wagyu Beef. Heavenly!