The Georgetown Art Festival

We were all set to go for the Georgetown art festival today & so excited too! But we watched the PSI levels in Penang quite closely till yesterday & finally decided not to make the trip. As luck would have it, this morning the winds have changed course & the haze has cleared almost completely from Penang!!! Aargh!

The Haze in Singapore

This whole week has been a trying time for mothers in Singapore as we watched the pollution index in Singapore go well above the "hazardous" levels and were not sure what to do while our little ones coughed and wheezed. While we stopped short of doing the rain-dance (because its traditionally performed outdoors & weren't sure whether the rain gods have x-ray vision to witness a dance performed indoors), it was a whole week of kids being trapped indoors. It sounded terrible (kids are genetically predisposed to be whiney when kept indoors for extended periods of time) but then when the universe hands out lemons to you, you gotto make some lemonade right? We did more jigsaw puzzles, reading, art work and pretend-play this week than we would in a whole month :) 

Of course my Curious George wanted to go out and "check what the haze smells like" every now & then! 

Bintan Weekend

It's been very stressful & draining few weeks at work. And sometimes all it takes to unwind & put things in perspective is a little weekend with H, little K & a few friends. I have never found a massage to be so valuable before. Much. Needed. 

The Visa Queue

The brown & yellow queue snaked long & far;

Letters, bank statements, testimonials (in duplicates of course) firmly clutched;

A job. A scholarship. A holiday perhaps?

Waited at the end of that never ending snake.

Impatience & light perspiration, gosh!

They filled the part of the room where the wall clock ticked behind the rude clerk.

On the other side though in that same room, there was only beautiful promise & anxious hope;

Of an escape to that first world country where dreams came true.

The Storm Story

Little K loves listening to stories & I love making up stories for him. But today I prodded him to write one of his own. He did a pretty good job for a first time author & even provided illustrations :) These are his own thoughts & vocabulary (and religious beliefs about resurrection!); I only jotted them down. He starts off with a warning that this is going to be a very scary story!

Once upon a time there was an old village. There were big mountains in the village. Suddenly a volcano erupted from a mountain & lava fell. Then it started raining & there was loud thunder. A storm started & all the water from the storm fell in the river. Even the crocodiles in the river got scared.

People in the house were scared because there were cracks in the house & it was breaking. There was more rain & thunder. The hot lava got extinguished by the water. But the storm broke the house & all the people were dead.

Then God came alive. He took the people from under the soil & called an ambulance. Suddenly the storm stopped & the sun came out.

An ambulance came & took people to the hospital. The doctor checked them & helped them & they got better. They sat in a taxi & went to the village to build their home again. It was still drizzling in the village.

Ramen

My favourite Japanese Ramen restaurant has closed down leading to some acute ramen cravings this week. A few random google searches later I have this recipe which I intend to try out. The best part is that there's no seaweed in the ingredients - that's my least favourite taste in a ramen soup!

The Importance of being Earnest

We watched a local Singaporean production of this Oscar Wilde play & quite enjoyed it. The production had a twist - it worked with an all male cast, and quite cleverly made a point about the gay rights issue which doesn't get discussed as much as it should in Singapore. The lines are incredibly witty & hilarious, and the plot in all its silliness pokes fun at the pretensions society forces upon us. The performances were outstanding. We quite enjoyed this play & look forward to some more productions from Wild Rice!

Reality

The Italian film festival came to Singapore & we found ourselves at a movie named 'Reality' which apparently got some great reviews at the Cannes.

It was an interesting movie about a not-so-rich neither-too-poor fish seller in Naples who happens to audition for the "reality" show Big Brother. I've never watched Big Brother but I have seen enough reality tv to be able to imagine what it must be like. Our protagonist soon starts losing his grip over what's real & what's not. The movie makes you wonder whether selflessness could ever be a natural human trait, how would we behave as humans if we weren't so acutely aware of those watching & observing us, whether we do stage our lives (to varying degrees) based on who we think is watching us, and whether the real me is the person I am in my private thoughts or the one I am in things I say aloud or do. We do all put ourselves in the Big Brother house; seeing ourselves from other people's points of view, don't we.

The movie layers within itself a lot of the movie makers thoughts on religion, the seduction of instant fame & celebritydom, and a social commentary on working class Italy. A great watch.

Melancholy

We picked up this piece of art in Pune around 2 years ago. The art collector we got this from showed us a number of pieces made by the same person (a Calcutta based artist named Dilip Kundu who struggled to make ends meet most of his adult life, wasn't very well appreciated, and one ominous day, while still a young man, he simply left home never to return. To this day, Kundu is still reported missing & presumed dead by some, perhaps also by the family he left behind...but today 3 of his works of art are displayed at the National Museum of Modern Art in Delhi. As the unfortunate cliche goes, his art & genius were appreciated after he was gone.) The story of the artist says a lot. Its evident he was a depressed soul. And while most of his work is beautifully imaginative in the most curious way, it reflects a brooding unhappiness of the artists soul. We fell in love with all his works the moment we saw them - most of them were very intricate; in varying shades of black; quirky & outlandish; and they were invariably melancholy & disturbing. That made us apprehensive about putting one on the walls of our home. But we eventually had to get this one. It's relatively less - um, how do I say this - its relatively less 'disturbing' than some of the others, but this portrait of a man weighed down by all the stuff he has been carrying on his shoulders resonates with everyone who has ever carried any baggage. I love the simplicity of this monochromatic man, he makes me shed a tear, he makes me want to reach out & share some of the weight he carries with him. He has my pity because he seems to have lost hope & he makes me wonder how he could've created art without hope...because surely, this must be a self portrait.

Cooking NANTA

Here's one thing I haven't written about yet from our Korea trip, but I really should: the NANTA show. Its a high energy dance/ martial arts/ juggling/ drums/ comedy show based on a story of a bunch of cooks preparing for a wedding party. It's very Korean in its comedy & it's style. There's no talking, so no language issues, but theres music made out of kimchi pots & onions being diced in mid air. Gotta love the originality & creativity of the concept. And it was pretty hilarious :)

K's Fireman Birthday

On his 4th birthday, K lived his lifelong dream of being a fireman :)

K's Taekwando lessons

It started off just like the movie 'The Karate Kid'. K used to press his nose against the glass window of the Taekwondo studio & watch with wonderstruck eyes the kids inside practicing their martial arts. He learnt a few moves on his own, by just observing them practice. Before long, he was pestering us to sign him up & we finally did. And just like the movie, he's pretty awful at it & hopefully will improve until he turns into a little Bruce Lee by the end of the movie :) For now, he's nowhere close to catching flies with chopsticks!

Which reminds me - have you watched this video on YouTube on the most intesnse taekwondo fight? :)

Where we stayed

I don't think I've written about a hotel before on my blog; but that's because I don't get easily wowed by hotels. They're usually just places you stay at when you travel. Today though, I'm going to blog about one in Seoul. 12 6 Mansion is a small B&B in the most beautiful & artsy part of Seoul. Its run by 3 sisters - one is an artist, another an aspiring screenplay writer for korean movies - both very interesting girls we quickly made friends with. They live with their mother, who makes delicious Korean breakfast & a cute dog named Shiru. There was something very personal about the experience of staying here. Hyun Chung was our friend, guide, translator & introducer-to-great-Korean-wine; and Su caught little K's fascination*. The place is designed with a lot of Su's own artwork & some great kitch design. We loved it!

*Btw, K was considered very exotic in Korea - people came up to us all the time to click pictures (sometimes without our consent) of K - and while most often we had no clue what they were saying, their gestures suggested that they were taken in by K's eyes or eyelashes. Maybe he has a future in K-Pop!

Jeju Island

We knew Jeju was going to be pretty. That was a given. But there were a few surprises about Jeju. Firstly, it wasn't the cosy tiny island we'd imagined it would be - its almost 3 times the size of Singapore (but less than half the population as Singapore). Secondly, the weather forecasts in Jeju were deceptive. They said Jeju would be warmer than Seoul - and it was - but the wind straight from the South China sea - that wind was underestimated by us! We now know what all those woolen neck warmers & ear warmers are for :)

Jeju is a volcanic island created by an eruption some 25000 years ago & has some interesting looking seaside landscape (including pillar shaped rocks, rocks that come out of nowhere in the middle of the sea, and of course the very Asian rocks-with-folk-legend-stories-attached-to-them). We did little hiking trails (as much as we could do with our lazy 3 yr old). The most famous trail in Jeju is the climb atop the massive volcanic crater; we managed to go only half way up there. But the highlight for us was our first glimpse of the cherry blossoms :)

Seoul

Seoul was unexpectedly romantic & charming - and though this sounds corny I'll go ahead & say it- soulful. We came here expecting a bustling Asian city - the likes of HK or Bangkok; but Seoul turned out to have a quaint charm about it steeped in culture, with a great art scene & the friendliest unpretentious people. It probably had to do with the fact that we stayed in the old part of the city away from the shopping & residential areas. We stayed between the two gorgeous palaces in Seoul & spent our days walking aimlessly past the little cafes & hanoks; the antiques & artifacts market in Insa-dong; the heritage homes of Bukchon & the tiniest of coffee shops which surprised us with design & aesthetic charm beyond their street-side norm. The food was amazing & the calories consumed far outweighed the calories burnt by walking.

We are in Jeju now & will write more about our days here (cherry blossoms!!!)

K wrote his first word

....and it had to be "dad" :)

Argo

Finally watched the movie & enjoyed it heaps....but what the hell is an 'exfiltration expert'? Could that really be someone's real job?

Soul set on Seoul

We are going to Korea in 2 weeks time & its been fun planning this holiday! Our first stop is going to be in Seoul & we've been checking online for places to stay. That's how we came across the traditional hanok inns of Korea- I haven't seen one yet, but just from the photos I'm in love with their earthy, minimalistic & oriental look & feel. H isn't much of a fan of the idea of sleeping on the floor though. So maybe we'll book ourselves in one just for a night or two. Also, thought the traditional ondol floor was an interesting concept!

Life through the eyes of the unfortunate

Some of these pieces of art on display at the National Library are interesting & almost all of them send a chill down your spine. They tell stories of atrocities in or by the developed world.

The Lego exhibit by Nathan Sawaya

I was awestruck by the patience; the sheer patience of this artist. I usually give up after the first 10 blocks!

Shobana's Krishna

Shobana performed her dance musical Krishna at Singapore's Esplanade theatre yesterday & I quite enjoyed the show. It's not easy to make an age-old dance form like Bharatnatyam current & also accessible to the man-on-the-street. I cringed at times at the classical dance to Bollywood tunes; it felt wrong. But I get the idea & I get what she was trying to do. Having said that, the most beautiful & captivating part of the musical, for me at least, was the traditionally choreographed dance of Krishna & the gopikas. It was exuberant & full of soul & a joy to watch. There were no translated English dialogues or dhinkchak beats - it's just dance the way it's supposed to be.

Shobana has an amazing stage presence. My eyes were on her the whole time she was on stage. She did have to give up on her feminine charm as she played the male character of Krishna, and while I missed her feminine grace in her dance I won't hold that against her. I was still watching her :)

I can't say I'm a fan of the format - the bastardisation of a classical dance form. But I didn't hate it either. The Bhagwad-Gita retold in 5 mins was much too rushed though for a play that meant to explain Krishna's philosophy. But then again, most traditional dance forms love Krishna more as a poster-boy for the gopikas than as the advisor & philosopher to Arjun. That's how he's remembered best in Bharatnatyam.

SEA aquarium

K was super excited about going to the aquarium today. He had decided beforehand that sharks are going to be his favourite. He was slightly overwhelmed though by the scale & variety of marine life when he finally entered the place. He hadn't imagined that so many creatures could've existed in water. At the end, he asked me if I thought the ocean was prettier than the earth :)

Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

I didn't know what to make of the movie title but it made us curious enough to go watch it. And I quite enjoyed it. I can see why some people didn't though - its a whimsically made movie, bordering on the insane; but thankfully I was in a mood to lap up all the quirkiness that Vishal Bharadwaj could throw at me.

There aren't that many Indian movie makers who are brave enough to attempt a satire that so smugly refuses to put a boundary on imagination. Like Salman Rushdie's writing or Picasso's paintings, Vishal Bharadwaj's movies are gutsy in their quirkiness. That I love. I loved Pankaj Kapur's portrayal of the divided face of the Indian upper class. How tough is that character to pull off, to balance comedy with evil & tomfoolery with graveness. I loved Shabana Azmi's witches-of-Macbeth portrayal, especially in some of her monologues. For a restrained actor like her, it couldn't have been easy to be so overtly over the top. And I loved Vishal Bharadwaj's unhindered style. Its not easy at all to layer a satire under the bizzarre silliness of pink bulls & zulu dance troupes. It could easily be mistaken for just silliness.

Perhaps the movie could've been shorter, snappier; but I didn't get bored. I did wonder where it was going for a while, but that didn't last long. Its not a movie I loved, but I liked it a good deal.

OH Open House Art Walkabout

We went for the art walkabout 2 years ago. It was a strange experience then...going through people's homes looking at the art in their very 'heartland Singapore' setting. This year, the walk was in a more familiar setting. It was set in the financial district. And went through my office! :)

The coolest part of the tour this year, for me, was an installation in the Google office. How fun is that office! Not only is it yellow & green, it has a swing in its reception & a wrought iron spiral staircase running in the middle of the office space. The installation in that office, was very cheekily called 'search for happiness' .

Personally, I liked the setting of the tour more than the art itself. Singapore's business district has its own unique character. The old(ish) law firms from the 80s, the swanky trading floors of the new banking giants, the evergreen appetite of the construction sector, the reclaimed earth & the ever receding seashore. The tour takes you through all of these. It is pretty awe-inspiring, intimidating, glittery & ruthless all at once. The theme was 'Happiness Index' though & that isn't easy to forecast in this part of the city.

What's reality anyway!

K celebrated Christmas with his little friends at home this year. A friend of ours dressed up as Santa (a very good one too!) & put in an appearance with some gifts. And although K found the Santa completely believable, a slightly older friend of his raised some very pertinent questions about why this Santa couldn't have been real.

I dread having to deal with questions on "is this real?" when it comes to K. We did have a conversation about "Is Spiderman real?" & while he didn't seem heart-broken to have found out that his beloved Spidey is make-belief; I certainly felt like I've destroyed something precious in his imaginative world.

While in India, we picked up a children's book on the Ramayan & K loves reading it. Of course the question had to come "Is Ram a real person?" My reply was, "Some people believe him to be real, some don't". He mulled over it for a while & finally said, "I think he's not real because this is just a story. Monkeys can't really fly". We just left it at that.

The Delhi Protests

Sitting here in Singapore, its quite scary reading online news in India these days. The barbarianism of the perpetrators of the heinous rape case in Delhi frightens me, yes. But what frightens me as much (or more) is the public reaction to the news. My facebook pages & the internet in general is full of people asking for these men to be castrated or tortured or publicly stoned or at the very least, killed.

I don't have sympathy for the men; god no! But why has the news of a savage act turned so many online readers into savages? Why do we suddenly start demanding eye-for-an-eye even so many centuries after the caveman died? It's as barbaric & reflects as badly on a culture that should know better. Maybe its anger. Or frustration. Or the nature of the internet - anonymity always brings out the worst bullies in us.

The Newsroom

We've started following this show called "The Newsroom". Perhaps a little too idealistic in its approach;  too right-winged in its philosophy; too smug in its high ground & too one-sided on economic issues; but I still like the premise of the show - a media team with a moral backbone - the world needs those!

2012 in retrospect

2012 seems like an incredibly long year in retrospect. Maybe because it was the year of making amends & getting things right. But now that we're close to the end of this year, it feels great to have turned things around; knowing priorities & seeing things in a clearer light (I still regret not having seen them sooner).

As a mother, the new year is making me nervous. K is going to start his 4th year of life & is already showing signs of independence (the kind I dreamed of when he was younger; but now that its looming so close I'm craving for his clinginess-to-mom again!)

I've never been prouder of H. This has been a hard year for us & he has been my pillar of strength. I still wish he would quit smoking though....If only I could make resolutions on his behalf!

My first resolution for the new year is to focus on my health. This really shouldn't be a resolution; should be a way of routine life; but every good habit needs to start somewhere I suppose. And my other resolution is to focus on a dream project of mine that I've been ruminating over for a while now - its time to roll up the sleeves & get working on it.

The India trip

We've spent the past few weeks in India & like every year, this trip too felt much too short & chaotic.

We spent some time in Delhi this year for a friend's wedding. Delhi was cold, had lip smacking food, a lot of family and overall did good for little K's Hindi language skills. It was peak wedding season & there were as many ghodis on the roads as people. Delhi weddings are of course great for people watching - they know how to bring on the bling!

From Delhi we took a short family holiday at the Jim Corbett National Park. We stayed in lovely cottages by the Kosi river & were brave enough to venture a sunrise safari in an open jeep when the temperature hovered around 5-6 degrees. Our bravery was rewarded by a rare sighting of a tiger in the wild! K and his cousin however felt rather underwhelmed by the tiger sighting & pronounced that tigers had been seen more clearly on tv before. The boys had great fun in the forest though. The elephants & their toilet habits fascinated them immensely.

I love watching my parents interact with K. Their relationship with grand kids is nothing like their relationship with me or my brother. They are so much more patient as grand parents & care so little about discipline & other such mundane things! I'm not quite sure when this change happened & why me or my brother failed to draw this side of their personality to the fore when we were younger. In any case, there's something very heart warming about watching your young one bond with your parents.

Disney Hong Kong

We went to Disneyland over the weekend and it was such a special experience for K. He can't stop talking about the space rides and the 3D show and the bumping cars! Its like he's seen a magical land and there's no wonder left in the rest of the world now :)

Italy after-effects

Walked into K's room & saw him standing on his bed. With a brush in his hand & trying to reach the ceiling. "I think I want to make a fresco. Like the one in the Pope's home".

Switzerland-Italy in a nutshell

I've been away from my blog for a while now. Among many things that have transpired, the most exciting has been the trip to Europe. We visited some old friends in Switzerland & absolutely loved the Swiss countryside. Little K didn't do too well in the snow, but loved it anyway. This was then followed by a crazy road trip to Italy - starting from a very hot & sultry Rome; going to peaceful middle-of-a-vineyard Tuscany & ending with the Grand Canal in Venice. This was the most chaotic holiday we've ever had - with 5 families involving 7 kids. It was great fun catching up with our old friends & their new off-springs. Priceless! :)

Wolfgang Puck's CUT

We don't do very-fine-dining very often, but we did it recently for a special occassion. We went to Michelin star chef Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Marina Bay Sands called 'Cut'. Now I don't think I can review a steak restaurant with any sort of authority given that I eat my meat 'well done' & like it with a lot of greens. But having said that, I do love my meat & even though I can't tell whether it was a good cut & whether it was cooked to perfection, it was pretty darn good. I ordered Japanese Wagyu Filet Mignon with an Argentinian chimichurri sauce, which came in an unpretentious portion & with 4 kinds of mustard dips. Satisfaction followed! :)

BBC's Sherlock

We've been following 'Sherlock' these days & at the end of Season 2, here's what I'm convinced of: Sherlock knew all along what Moriarty's plan was - hence the mannequin hanging from the ceiling in the first (or was it second?) episode; and Sherlock suggesting the high-rise as the place for their final meeting. I'm also convinced that the twist has something to do with the (garbage?) truck parked below the building when Sherlock jumped & Molly's job in the morgue (or is she in forensics? - either way, she has access to corpses).

Just an instinct.

"The Explosion of the Radiator Hose" by Jean Rolin

I thought this was an interesting part-fiction/ part-factual English translation of a French book written by journalist Jean Rolin. Its a travelogue by Rolin about transporting a used Audi car from Paris to Kinshasa (Congo) for use as a taxi and everything he sees, experiences & hears on the way.

I knew very little about the Republic of Congo (hell, I didn't even know that Zaire has been renamed as Congo!) except that it was a French colony once & has a horrifying political history stained by coups, blood-curdling assasinations & brutal rebels. This is your typical 'white man in Africa' account - its mainly about the author's unease & sense of danger/ adventure - starting in the immigrant-ghettos of Paris and ending in "the heart of darkness" (a reference to a novel written by Conrad in the previous century).

Perhaps Jean Rolin rambles a bit every now & then but he has a habit of jotting down quirky details of the places & people he sees; and that's what makes this travelogue interesting.

The Melting Wok Warung, Bali

We were in Bali last weekend & it wasn't a well researched/ planned trip. We skipped the beach this time & decided to explore Ubud. We made friends with an American family at our resort who raved about this restaurant, and we thought we should try it too. That's how we walked into "The Melting Wok Warung". Without knowing what a delight it is.

The cafe really is a warung (a local term for street-side small-time cafes). It has 6 tables. It also really is a 'Melting Wok' of sorts. The owner is a lovely & warm french lady, Geraldine, who along with her Asian husband decided to experiment with western & Indonesian flavours in one wok. The menu is not extensive at all. There only one curry and you get a choice of meat. Its a festival of flavours in your mouth! And then there are the desserts. Oh, the desserts. They don't sound as great as they really are. A caramel pudding with coconut milk, for example, sounds like an overkill on fusion, doesn't it? I'm so glad we ordered it anyway!

Hell's Kitchen

I've promised myself I will never eat at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant; no matter how delightful the food looks - I'm convinced its poisonous.

Pearls of uncomplicated wisdom

K found a solution to power struggles all over the globe after watching 'The Lion King': "I think lions should just take turns at being kings....it's not nice to push a king off a mountain, is it". He thought the movie was pointless.

Shanghai

We watched the movie 'Shanghai' this week & I thought it was a pretty good movie. It started off like a political thriller, but towards the middle, one realises that its not edge of the seat stuff that has you guessing what will happen next. You sort of know, having lived in India, that the decadence of the political system starts & permeates from the highest level of the government. The human stories in the movie are far more interesting.

There's an intelligent IAS-type working inside the government but not part of the political system; there's a young activist working against the system; there's a unsophisticated 'man on the street' who is largely unconcerned with whats happening with the system; there's a political-insider state secretary who is very much embedded in the system. This is a story of all these characters coping with this political system; in its brutal corrupt form that India has learnt to accept. The pessimism with which the movie ends is disheartening, but very well put.

I never thought I would say this, but how great an actor is Imran Hashmi!

Yes, real mature!

I am excited that boy bands are making a comeback! There's this wholesome fun in watching boys in coloured denims & gelled hair dancing in synchronised moves. There are many edgy rockstars with dark eye make-up & intense songs....I love many of them; but what's wrong with a little bit of fluff, I say!

Confession: I'm also a Glee fan **cringing**

Sunday afternoons

I love watching K jump on the bed as if it were a trampoline. The recklessness & unhindered abandon of the jump; the 'thud' of the landing; and the spontaneous giggle-fest after. Maturity is so over-rated.

The Artist

So we finally watched "The Artist". H was never keen on watching it. Its silent, its black & white, and its French; he argued. But thanks to his persistent wife, we finally watched the movie & loved it! It wasn't depressing or brooding.

It was all about angst & insecurity that is brilliantly depcited by the protagonist (without ever uttering a word; except at the end to explain the root of his angst); but there were also elements of comedy, drama, charm & romance. Never got boring for even a second.

Absolutely loved the actor - he looked & acted his part like he actually belonged to the era.

The Avengers

Its probably me getting older; action movies packed with as much action as The Avengers give me a headache. Thank God, I didn't watch it in 3-D.

Not a fan; but if they release a sequel, I'd probably still watch it.

Russell Peters in Singapore

I had no idea the guy was so huge in Singapore. The Singapore Indoor Stadium was packed to its capacity of 10,000 & he did two of these shows in Singapore; both completely sold out! What was even more surprising was how many of the audience were Singaporeans & other non-South-Asians. Maybe there is a mass appeal to being politically incorrect :)

What a laugh riot it was though....our jaws are still hurting from having laughed non-stop for an hour!

A Sabyasachi someday...

I don't own a lot of designer labels, especially when it comes to traditional Indian wear; but if there was no such thing as frugality, I would've loved to own a Sabyasachi saree. To me, his designs define the classical earthy Indian asthetic. I love how the simplicity of the designs complement their elegance; especially in a time & market where its easy to go overboard with embroidery & sequin-work. However, the fact that the Sabyasachi price tags hover in the range of Rs. 12 lacs & thereabouts, make them a no-deal for me!

The Long Distance Mother

Almost all the nannies/ domestic helpers in Singapore are Filipino women; who in most cases have families & little children of their own back home, but live in Singapore staying in strangers' homes taking care of strangers' babies as if they were their own.

Ana moved into our home & family around 4 years ago, when we found out we were expecting K. Her own kids were already grown up by then, but I've often wondered how she saw our lives. Watching a pampered single-child in Singapore with over a 100 toys in his room, must seem so wasteful, excessive & unfair to her. And yet, she seems simple-mindedly happy & content in his company; takes pride in his milestones; fusses over and worries for him when he's sick; and sulks when she drops him off at school. Meanwhile, her own 20-year-old son has come to Singapore this week & is staying with us. She can't get over the fact that her two separate worlds are finally piecing together!

Hush, hush, sweet child,
Here, let me sing you a song,
Let me rock you gently,
And hold your tiny hand.

There once was a little prince,
Who lived in a castle of gold,
He floated on clouds,
Knew no care in the world,

His smile makes a rainbow,
In a sky grey and dark,
His hand reaches hearts,
And unties its knots,

He laughs & gurgles,
Like the gushing Davao River,
Bordered by the coconut trees,
And a tiny brick house,

That land which I left,
You, a prince from another land,
You take me back there,
How do you do that?

The Water Puppet Show in Hanoi

On our way to Halong Bay, we spent a day in Hanoi and found ourselves in the middle of its crazy Old Quarters. Its a city thats thousands of years old, and looks it. If you've been to Pune, its very much like the Laxmi Road/ Peth area, but older. There are no traffic rules, there are no pedestrian footpaths & building maintenance is not a priority for people. There is however always a buzz of activity; you can't ever fault the city for being boring! Saw the Indian-style two-wheeler commute (families of four or five on one scooter) after ages & loved it :)

In the evening, we walked into the Water Puppet Show. Because TripAdvisor recommended us to do so. I thought it would be a tourist-trap, but quite liked it eventually. The themes of the puppetery was Vietnamese folk-lore; the rice harvests, the fishermen, the rural festivals, the red dragons, the children climbing trees....it kept us engaged & entertained; even had us laughing aloud on occassions. Well recommended, TripAdvisor.

The Cruise along the beautiful Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam is one of its kind. It comprises of almost 2000 little limestone islands emerging out of a green-blue ocean. They say the limestone hills are a result of millions of years of evolution & erosion by the waves & climatic conditions. Its beautiful. We took a short 2-day cruise through the bay & were mesmerised by how gorgeous and spooky an effect the cliff-n-caves landscape can create. I can honestly say, I've never seen anything like it before!

Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

I had never been on a real safari before. So it was exciting to hop into an open pick-up van driven by a wildlife ranger, equipped with nothing but a 18-year old Thai girl carrying a spotlight, setting out to explore the forests of Khao Yai. The safari started around 6 pm and as it got darker, we started realising that if a herd of wild elephants had to attack us, we could probably do nothing about it. We stuck to our narrow road running through the jungle on either sides; and passed by spooky signs like "Beware! Cobra crossing here"; with the spotlight moving through the trees while pairs of nocturnal animal eyes glittered back at us. We didn't spot any of the carnivorous wild animals though (I would've probably panicked if we did!), but got pretty darn close to some exotic variety of deer & monkeys. Adventurous enough for me :)

Weekend in Bangkok

So this is how the most bizzare day in K's life so far went:

- He started the day by making a road trip to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo near Bangkok where he held a baby tiger in his lap & bottle-fed him with tiger-mommy-milk. Although he was slightly disappointed that the cub mewed rather than roared, he did eventually say that tigers are his new favourite animals :)

- Next, he held a baby croc & agreed for the first time with his parents (that crocodiles are not cute at all.)

- After the Tiger Zoo, he went for a meal at the Robot Restaurant in Bangkok; where he punched orders into a touch-screen interface at the table and a robot (a real one too!) picked up the right sushi platters from the counter & brought them to our table. How cool was that! :)

It was like a day out of Alice in Wonderland for little K! :):)

The next day we went to Khao Yai National Park outside of Bangkok, will write a longer post about that later!

Baby's World

Kabeer is getting more inquisitive every day. He asks logical questions ("Mama, is pizza a kind of bread?"); he asks illogical questions ("Why can't tomorrow come today?"); and he asks questions for the heck of it ("Why do you say you don't know the answer to that Mama?"). But the questions mostly give us an insight into his mind & it sure is a fascinating place. Of course, its filled with race cars, airplanes & buses for now, but there's so much more in there that I can't begin to describe. Incidentally, I read this beautiful verse by Tagore & it sums up my thoughts on why having a baby is a life-changing experience - its the only way to get a glimpse of this magical world! :)

I wish I could take a quiet corner in the heart of my baby's very own world.
I know it has stars that talk to him, and a sky that stoops down to his face to amuse him with its silly clouds and rainbows.
Those who make believe to be dumb, and look as if they never could move, come creeping to his window with their stories and with trays crowded with bright toys.
I wish I could travel by the road that crosses baby's mind, and out beyond all bounds;
Where messengers run errands for no cause between the kingdoms of kings of no history;
Where Reason makes kites of her laws and flies them, the Truth sets Fact free from its fetters.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Krishnan's Dairy

Jacob Rajan is a Kiwi-Indian actor who does single-performer plays. We had watched 'The Guru of Chai' last year & were blown away by his talent. This year, we went back to watch 'Krishnan's Dairy' and were as impressed. Its far from being a monologue. To single-handedly perform 4 to 5 characters in an hour long play is far from easy; and to do so while maintaining the humour, energy & subtelty of physical traits & body language of each person he portrays; is an incredible talent. I'm a fan.

Phuket

We spent the long weekend in Phuket & celebrated H's birthday by the beach this year. Thai food, Thai sand, Thai sun, Thai massage & Thai service; all make for a great holiday.

De Vrais Mensonges (Beautiful Lies)

We caught this French romantic-comedy at the Alliance Francaise theatre in Singapore, and I'm tempted to make a few broad generalisations: Do all romantic French movies star Audrey Tautou?... and how does any sentence spoken in French or any story set in France become this romantic?

A good fun movie that's gotten me thinking all over again about how great it would be to get Audrey's pixie hair-cut. Or to live in South of France. Or both.

The Week in Taipei

I spent most of last week in Taipei on a business trip and loved the spring weather there; it was a refreshing change from the always-hot-&-humid Singapore. The people are warm, friendly & easily fascinated by Indians. The language barrier didn't come in the way of making some lovely new friends.

As with Singaporeans, the Taiwanese love bonding over food & conversations about food. So every conversation goes, "Let me take you to my favourite place for traditional dimsums/ traditional tea/ traditional Taiwanese barbeque....". I ate. A lot. And loved most of the food; lived through some of the food; and flatly refused to try some foods (like chicken testicles, duck heads & smelly tofus).

The Taipei 101 is, well, a very tall building. It's in the heart of the swanky new financial district of Taipei; which looks as uninteresting as Singapore's CBD. The old financial district on the other hand, has older office buildings, interspersed with old residences with balconies protected by iron grills; charming cafes; parked scooters; and has a lot more character. There's the odd Starbucks around the corner, but it serves a local menu of fragrant teas along with its regular menu.

The night markets of Taipei are quite fun. They sell absolutely everything under the sun (as long as its inexpensive) and are busy till almost 2 am in the morning. Of course, staying away from the smelly tofu stalls is recommended if you have a sense of smell & aren't chinese.