saturday afternoon in singapore with javier

so javier finally came to visit, en route to mumbai where he is relocating to. i attribute our first meeting to serendipity in april this year, at a dear friend's birthday party at the nam hai in hoi ann. we were the handful of <30s and dutifully accompanying our respective mamas. or so the excuse went. but after the final birthday bash in this elaborate series of parties that spanned indochina (nonstop partying for a week as the group made its way through laos cambodia and vietnam...) javier talked alejandro into opening his villa for an after-party and we boogied the night away, much to my mama's chargrin.

but we became friends and when i was in valencia as part of the great grad trip this summer, javier was the most gracious host, extending his warm valencian hospitality to my friend yvonne and i. yvy and i have the fondest memories of beer on his terrace, lazy days that stretched into the night that never really fell for the sky remained the deepest clearest blue without ever becoming black. we whiled away our time over countless hours of peking express (javier was in the inaugural spanish run!) and tried to emulate coke and his irreverence for time. on a side note, we returned to javier's apartment after a late lunch one day and had coffee on the terrace. then at 4pm, coke invited us to stay for dinner and said he was, 'going out for an hour to do groceries.' we had a bit more to drink, vegged out and played with lao, javier's adorable sharpei, and before we knew it. it was 11pm and still no sign of coke! oh the luxury of one hour flowing into seven without us feeling it :) yvy and i realised that we had absolutely nothing to do which was pretty darn amazing for us steeped in the ways of singaporean efficiency ;) and when coke eventually reappeared, we did ask, "one hour???" to which he blithely replied, "oh. i don't believe in watches." we wish we didn't either ;) the spectacular home-cooked dinner was eventually served at 1am but yvy and i were only too happy to immerse ourselves in the spanish way of life. for as javier is constantly reminding me, spain is different.

but back to singapore.

have a bad habit of being super chops when friends visit, then again we're limited more by their time constraints than mine. javier's only in town for the weekend before going to hong kong for five days so i had to grab this brief window of opportunity before his disappeared.

in valencia, javier had told me that the two places he wanted to go to while in singapore were the raffles hotel and sentosa. having spent a few years here as a child before leaving for good in 1999, he was semi-familiar with the city but only vaguely so. so we began with a late lunch, spanish tapas style, at the empire cafe at the raffles.

here's javier looking slightly apprehensive at the potentially scalding xiao long bao but he was a trooper and gamely ate carrot cake, crab meat fried rice, prata with chicken curry, char siew bao and XLB, washing it down with tiger beer, but of course.

after lunch we took a slow stroll to chijmes before stopping for a singapore sling and ciggie - he tells me that's the best way to enjoy a smoke.

from chijmes, we made our way to the former parliament house and supreme court for the national art gallery open house. expected to catch a free art exhibition, without realising that the open house was for the public to have one last look at the buildings before they were converted to the art gallery. ohhhh. but we did get some fun photos inside with the president, first lady and singapore crest. need to get that photo from javier's camera - but watch this space!

after the open house, we were lazy and cabbed to marina bay sands to check out the skypark. pity about the haze but we did get some nice views. having only been to ku de ta on the opening night myself, it was a first to see singapore from the top of the sands by day!

i couldn't tell javier what this construction site was but twee tells me it's the 'olympic park', whatever that means :)

sigh.

sunset offset by the haze. boo :( is not liking them subsistence farmers in indonesia very much!

and because the skypark was underwhelming (sorry, just being honest here...) javier had to get his kicks elsewhere. what better way than the reverse bungee at clark quay, after some liquid courage? :)

as a reward for his bravery, we went for his first taste of turkish ice cream. here's javier trying to disguise his surprise at that mountain of ice cream mr. turkish ice cream man is dishing him.

whoops got you there! actual scoop size is much smaller :(

by this point the photo fatigue had started to set in. we people watched at clark quay and i made a point to show him clinic with its macabre sense of humour. it's a bar with a hospital theme and patrons sit in wheelchairs instead of chairs, drink from iv bags instead of glasses and the lights are the same as those in the operating theatre. quirky or just plain sick (haha) - you decide.

packed afternoon and then we took the bus down river valley to great world where javier was catching a movie. i went on to a korean bbq, but that's another story for another time.

good night :)

p/s if you'd like to read more about my time in valencia, here are the posts from the travelogue.
day 30 and day 31.

break-neck speed singapore

met these two dutch beauties for a whirlwind six hours in singapore. am mega impressed by their stamina and speed! after a month backpacking in indonesia, i'd the privilege of showing them singapore as they transit-ed on their way home. 

we started with the hugest burgers they'd ever seen at the seah street deli, and the obligatory raffles hotel tour.

bellies full, we hopped across the street to chijmes for them to see the former convent and 'baby dumping gate'. of special interest was the explanation that 'tiger girls' were often abandoned by superstitious parents, because that's their year and they are as far from the stereotypical unlikeable tiger women as possible.

they were tickled by the huge havais on display outside raffles city and we took the train to somerset after touring raffles hotel and chijmes.

of course, i had to show them one of my favourite streets in singapore. not only because i used to school just up the road but also because it's such a hidden jem right in the hustle bustle of the city. it had also started to drizzle by now so we sought refuge from the storm at no. 5 :)

by far one of the most charming bars i've ever been to!

even though the raised sitting area at the back looks a bit like a comfortable prison with the peeling paint on the walls. not like floor's complaining!

when the rain finally stopped, and after a lychee martini and singapore sling each, i brought them for a peek inside our house.

don't they look beautiful by the pond?

peek-a-boo

and another heritage shot for good measure

the 11-storey outdoor escalator was such a novelty that we rode it all the way up not once but twice.

 

and i think they liked the roof garden too!

escalator round 2. it was such fun!

by the time they tore themselves away from orchard, it was already night and the roundest, brightest moon of the year was out in full force. we ambled along to little india, picking up the tempo just a wee bit to grab some mango lassi from komala's to go.

there were so many sweets on display at komala's, and here are our happy campers finally reunited with the yoghurt they so missed in indonesia.

that's not it! they had the good fortune of passing through singapore on mid-autumn festival itself so no trip to singapore is complete without a visit to chinatown. we wandered around the food streets and night markets before i very reluctantly packed them back onto the mrt at city hall and bid them bon voyage :(

given the very limited time, i'm glad we got to cover as much as we did. it didn't feel as hectic as it sounds when recounted but time really flew. it was great to see roos again (not seen her since stockholm in may!) and to meet floor for the very first time. they're fraternal twins and share a bond closer than most sisters i know. excited for them as they return to the netherlands and enter a brand new phase. so...

good luck my lovelies and we will meet again :)

reverse travel blog

it's that time of the year when we stuff ourselves with mooncake and battle the crowds at the chinatown mid-autumn markets :) always found it hilarious that we don't have four seasons but celebrate mid-autumn nevertheless.

am really lucky to have many friends passing through town this week - which also means i've my hands full with hosting duty, not that i'm complaining!

meeting roos and her sister floor tomorrow and they only have seven hours in the city! so we're going to get down to business. there's little india for henna, threading and lassi, a trip to emerald hill for peranakan houses and a drink at no. 5, boat quay for more drinks, clark quay for dinner and ending with a venture into the madness that is chinatown on mid-autumn night itself. sadly at 10pm i'll have to pack them into their taxi and have them vroom away to the airport.

after that it's hosting part two with the newly-minted mr. and mrs. randall who hail from auckland. i'll be showing them capella and specifically bob's bar (after all, they're both 22 and which 22 year old doesn't like an al fresco bar?) also hoping that will be good comparison for ku de ta at marina bay sands because mama is gifting them with a stay there!

does not help that there are 1001 deadlines this week and next...

day 37

monday 14 june 2010 salon-de-provence

mama M took a sick day to bring us to the next town :) it was semi-ironic because she's a senior nurse in the school health department and she went to see a doctor with a headache to be excused from work. then J drove like the wind and got us to st remy in record time for our lunch reservation at la place (the square). mama M is a bona fide foodie who takes food very seriously and a professional chef friend of hers had recommended this little gem tucked away in the countryside, near the road the revolutionaries marched. the food did not disappoint! constantly amazed how the french can take something as simple as fresh fish and safron and whip it into a magical creation.

and the desserts were so good i wish i'd three servings, one of each! i'd chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream,

J had mango sorbet with rice in cream

and mama M had raspeberry macarons that looked too pretty to eat!

after lunch we ambled over to "the box", a disused stone quarry that has been converted into an indoor theatre. this year's exhibition was on australia and with projectors and clever lighting, the light show transported us to the aboriginal dream time.

day 36

sunday 13 june 2010

nothing made me feel more welcomed than being included in the family fold. mama M had all her children back that weekend (J's brother and his family were visiting from munich) and she went to great lengths to ensure that everyone was well fed. she spent hours preparing the feast and by early afternoon, we were nicely settled in the pool house sipping chilled rose and tucking into the armenian skewers she served. mhmmm! just thinking about the (not) shish kebabs makes my mouth water...

happy campers in the pool house - mama M commented that she had an international family, and she really did! i try not to play the nationality card but i must admit i find people from unusual backgrounds extremely exotic so bear with me in my ignorance. papa M's armenian, mama M's was born in algeria and her parents were from a country that no longer exists. J and her brothers are french. big brother's married to a beautiful spanish lady and they live in munich with their son. middle brother's going out with a lebanese lady. also at lunch, were J's aunt and cousin and his +1. so J's aunt (mama M's sister-in-law) was the only one who was 100% french at lunch. her son's +1, incidentally, is sardinian and a (james) bond girl. teehee. 

isn't their home beautiful?

i could see the cezanne mountain from my room!

oh and after the very satisfying lunch, J and i went to watch sex and the city 2! had a brief flashback to summer 08 when i'd wanted so desperately to watch SATC the movie in lyon but it was dubbed in french. that was actually what sparked my desire to learn the language. fast forward 2 years, i was very blessed to be back in france, staying with a french family, immersed in french (although they very graciously spoke anglais to include me) and watching SATC 2. life has a funny way of turning out :)

day 35

saturday 12 june 2010 aix-en-provence

left madrid bright and early and was in southern france in no time. my inner francophile almost imploded with glee. france is beautiful, and i personally am a huge fan of the south, having spent two glorious weeks along the riveria in summer 2008. we began in nice, day tripped to monte carlo for F1, cannes for the film festival then took an overnight ferry to corsica. in corsica, we drove all around (and across!) the island and fell in love with bonifacio. after our island getaway, it was back to the mainland and we made our way from toulon to avignon, marseilles and lyon. but i digress!

aix-en-provence welcomed me in all her summer glory and i was thrilled to finally be in the 'heartbreakingly beautiful' city that i'd heard so much about. J often mentioned her home town while we were in stockholm, and to finally put faces to the names i'd begun to recognise was nothing short of sentimental. provence is so charming it hurts, and aix was no exception. P had once described aix to me as, "a small town trying to be a big city" and he's right, in the kindest sense of the phrase. aix had every modern amenity imaginable (hello? hermes, anyone?) and yet maintained an old world air of majestic nostalgia about it.

spent the afternoon touring the city with J and we visited her friend for pre-dinner drinks that lasted past midnight. the elasticity of time in summer is one of my favourite things about the season. we sat on C's terrace, somehow made our way through 4 bottles of rose, ate a little too much tapenade (so cliche but so good!) and  played silly drinking games as evening turned to night and finally to dusk. long daylight hours. woot!

aix was a dream, and staying with J and being the beneficiary of incredibly warm armenian-french hospitality was a bonus. i was spoilt rotten, and i'm so so grateful :)

day 34

friday 11 june 2010 madrid

finally hit zara after admirable restraint the past week. had recced while in barca but it didn't make sense to lug all my shopping with me as i bus-ed across spain. my patience was rewarded and i shopped till i dropped. thank goodness i was able to detax! and, even without sales (they're at the end of the year), the EUR40 blazers i bought retail for S$130 back home. teeeheehee :)

met friends for lunch at el tigre tapas bar. amazing atmosphere, everyone crammed into this tiny hole in the wall and with orders of sangria, we were plied with plates of complimentary tapas. tapas is great by itself, but free tapas with an order of EUR4 sangria is even better. so for EUR4 (yes, i can't get over it) i'd an entire meal.

after lunch and slightly inebriated, i went in search of iberico to bring as gifts for when i visited J in aix and the Bs whom i was staying with in Paris on my last night.

when i was done, i bought a stack of postcards, sat in the park and wrote to my heart's content. 

day 31

tuesday 8 june 2010 valencia

Y and i wore the customised shirts that J gave us (they said "we love bofis" and had his handsome face on them!) and attracted more stares than desirable around the city. incidentally, J, a finalist in the pilot season of the spanish version of peking express, is a reality tv star in his own right. we found EUR3 paella outside the market and aimlessly moseyed around, walking to the edge of the city in search of meringues :) when Y left in the evening, i made my way to J's and he horrified me with gaga's alejandro video. one of the catchiest tunes this summer, by far, but the video was repulsive on so many levels. interestingly, despite my personal apprehension, i think it's a great video nonetheless. visionary, even. hah. so take that! 

J had a surprise up his sleeve and he booked us for dinner at valencia's best restaurant for paella. i say it's a surprise because i knew we'd be doing a paella dinner, and real paella, but i didn't expect it to be at the granny-sanctioned best restaurant in valencia! entrusted the ordering to J and was so so pleased with dinner. by far one of my best meals on the trip and truly 'the best or nothing'. we began with iberico ham (i'm drooling at the memory) and calamari, and then came the paella.

BEST. PAELLA. EVER. 

CANNOT. EAT. ANY. OTHER. PAELLA. EVER. AGAIN.

yep - that was for 2 people! and J eats less than i do!

(but we still licked the platter clean)

after dinner and quite a few digestifs, we visited C at the bar he works at and he gave me a G&T with the best gin i've ever had. hendricks ftw. C was busy working so we hung with his beautiful girlfriend and a former colleague before heading back to J's to watch the french version of the peking express. 

crossing the bridge on the way home

day 30

monday 7 june 2010 valencia

because we were so wiped out the day before, J and his incredible hospitality had to wait till valencia day 2. we arranged to meet for lunch near the hostel and J brought us to this cute curbside cafe where we'd all the local delicacies we'd space for. one of the drawbacks of being well fed is that i've not enjoyed the sensation of a brand new taste in awhile. you know that feeling, like when you try something for the very first time and it's like nothing you've ever had before. the best thing i can think of is my first taste of uni (sea urchin).  it's become a bit of a personal quest for me to experience a new taste at every opportunity, which has been harder than anticipated. at lunch with J, however, i tried tomato jam for the first time. the consistency was familiar, after all, who hasn't had preserve of some sort or other before. but tomato, sweet as it may be off the vine, gave the dish a whole new element. combined with some local goat cheese and i was in gastronomical heaven. good stuff! and a great sensory memory.

after lunch, J invited us back to his terrace for coffee and, um, we accidentally stayed for 12hours, only leaving at 3am. such was his legendary hospitality, and the lure of his housemate, C's fanstastic cooking. 

meet lao! J has the cutest sharpei :)

coffee turned into dinner as C insisted that we stayed for a home-cooked meal. we whiled the afternoon away soaking up the summer sun on the terrace and i was very proud of Y, my crabby patty friend, for being at her amiable best ;) C is an excellent chef and we made believe it was restaurant night, all fancy schmancy on their terrace. this was by far one of my best days this summer - just sitting on the terrace, hanging loose with Y and our new friends. nobody had anything more pressing to do, which was very much part of the pleasure. Y and i were done with exams, C was on holiday and anticipating going to lisboa on erasmus, and J was enjoying his last few weeks in valencia before moving to mumbai alone and indefinitely. pretty awesome, huh.

and after dinner, the gents had some friends over and we got to meet even more friendly locals. really interesting characters and such fun to get to know. when we reluctantly left at 3, their dentist friend offered to walk us back but we were too macho to accept his chivalrous offer. bad idea.

and ladies and gents, i present the only lowlight my entire holiday. 

as Y and i were walking back at 3am, a burly man passed us and called out, "japan japan?". we ignored him. he tried again, "korea korea?" and we looked away. "china china?" this time we picked up speed and hurried towards the hostel. the man then took a left and was soon out of sight. whew, we sighed in relief.

suddenly, out of one of the side streets, we saw an oddly shaped shadow. as we got closer, we saw that said man had dropped his pants and was PLAYING WITH HIMSELF. this time, no amount of flasher 101 so deliberately indoctrinated in us over years of being in an all girls' school* could prepare us for an actual flasher. too scared to run (you know how you're not supposed to run away from a mad dog because he'll chase...) we walked as fast as we could and none too soon, arrived unscathed but shaken at our hostel.

thankfully he was a harmless perv with an asian fetish (or so we inferred) but that was definitely too close for comfort. 

and i still say today was one of the best the whole trip, flashing incident notwithstanding. that's just how much we enjoyed J and C's company and hospitality, they even made up for the loco local.

*whack it with a brolly / laugh and exclaim, 'so small!' / take photo and lodge police report