The case of the invisible photos

Everyone wants to see photos... I'm sorry to say that I haven't quite got 'round to installing the software from my camera to upload them... Watch this space though, I may become organised overnight and treat you all to a colourful slideshow!

Things I've Eaten over Chinese New Year

(Knowingly or unknowingly, not sure which is better):

Fish heads
Sea cucumber
Liver (raw)
Chicken feet
Dried oysters
Black moss
Insects (though later realised they actually weren't supposed to be in the dish)
Abalone (anyone who can tell me what it is wins a prize)
Pigs' insides (didn't ask which bit)
Some glutunous stuff wrapped in peanuts

Oh for a ham sandwich....

Meatballs

The other day it was one of my new work colleague's birthdays. I only found out on the day itself and was immediately concerned about my lack of card/present/bunch of flowers for the birthday girl. But no need to fear, it soon transpired that no one else had anything to give her either... perhaps they're not that into presents, or maybe it's too near to Chinese New Year for anyone to bother. Time went on and someone did suggest that we take her out for lunch, and a discussion started about where we should go. I was only half-listening, I've been involved in many of these discussions with my London workmates, and know how boring they can get. Also, since being here I often can't quite tune my ear into the place names and the conversation is often half conducted in Mandarin. So 1pm comes, my stomach is saying 'I'm hungry but please no more carbs!' and we clamber into a taxi. Ten minutes later we arrive at our destination... it can't be, no. Someone's joking! No, really this is it, we're here. Where did we go for lunch guys? You'll never guess... Ikea! Yes, the Swedish furniture shop! It seems that meatballs and salmon hollandaise are the height of trendiness in these parts, maybe the equivalent of Itsu at Brompton Cross...

So when I'm back and offer to take you for a birthday lunch, just watch out, we may be buying a kitchen on the way out.

Everything and nothing

So, ten or so days since leaving the UK, what has changed? Well, everything and nothing. I'm here in the office with a decaf soya latte from Starbucks. Earlier, I chatted to the girl at the coffee counter about the weather in London (everyone asks how cold it is... but how can you describe what four degrees and wind chill feels like to people who live so near the equator?), and then stepped out into the (warm) rain to go back the office. I'm here at my computer and as I look up I can see photos of people I know, books I've worked on, resources I've helped produce. At lunch today I ate dried chilli chicken and rice, which came with a rather nice fried egg on top... a bit of a change from Pret A Manger. I'm craving carrot sticks and houmous, and wholemeal bread with seeds in it. I'm sure I can buy all those things but it's not really the authentic Asian experience.

What'ya gonna be?

A new country offers constant scope for comparison with the familiar. Things I've accepted as 'normal' are up for questioning, and other things are just plain weird.

Every bank in Singapore seems to be running some kind of ad campaign along the lines of: 'What if your child exceeds your expectations? Plan now for a great education.' One shows a photo of heavily pregnant woman with the caption, 'Doctor? Engineer? Start saving now to release your child's potential.' Something in me revolts at the sentiment behind all of this - that people are valued because of what they do or achieve, rather than who they are. Why doesn't the ad say 'Great friend? Caring teacher? Start loving now to protect your child's mental health'? The implication is that you wouldn't be proud of producing kids who don't make it to the top of some career structure. I've heard that deaf people here are given a really raw deal - some only get primary education because there's a feeling that someone who can't hear is never going to achieve anything anyway, so it's best just get them out to work as fast as you possibly can. Maybe I've got it wrong and I'm sure (well hoping) that the ad man has more to do with this than the general sentiment, but I'm not so sure.

King Bean

If you want to be hip, be a soya bean! Everyone loves the humble bean in Asia. I love soy and I'm in Asia , so I guess that's a good thing... At home people react with a mixture of horror, disdain or annoyance when I order soya milk in a coffee shop. I'm sure they suspect I'm only doing it to be cool, or different, it's so trendy to be intolerant to something nowadays. But here, soya is so cool! Everyone loves it! Soya drinks come in cans and are proudly chilled next to the coca-cola and green tea in restaurant fridges. I must admit, I still haven't got to the stage of drinking it straight, but stranger things have happened... Downtown there's a whole shop/cafe that only sells stuff made from soya... fake ice cream, bread with soy in it, cakes, a zillion flavours of soya drinks. I can't imagine it catching on in London as most people I know wretch at the thought of the lack of animal fat in their white stuff.

Naked Truth

Can you believe it? A man got arrested here recently for walking around naked. Hmmm. Ok, a bit harsh I thought, but then it's not really great to be scaring small children is it? He might not have been very attractive either... Hang on, the story continues.... he was arrested for walking around naked where? No, you can't be serious? IN HIS OWN HOME!! Imagine. He's now been sent for psychological testing and will be fined or sent to prison for this indescretion. I'm now getting worried... it's so flipping hot here, what if I inadvertently let the towel slip as I'm stepping into my room after a shower? Eeekkk! Better buy a bath robe...

The Kindness of Strangers

I remember thinking before I came out to Singapore that for the first time in ages, possibly in my whole life, I was going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers. When you come to a country knowing not a soul there's little else to do. I can honestly say that I think it's going to be good for me. In some ways my life in London was very much set – not in stone, but in routine, and in the cold country there's always a plethora of people to call up and go out for coffee with. This Sunday I was forced to swallow my 'everyone knows me' identity and start again… I met up with a couple who are friends of friends from home, (in fact, they're famous, every time I'd mentioned Singapore their names came up.) They don't know me, nor I them, yet they were awesome! They completely looked after me and didn't seem to mind as I tagged onto their day out with an ex-pat family. In a few hours we were drinking red wine and playing mah jong on the porch in the last of the balmy evening's light. Ahhhh. The grey London sky is a million miles away.

Arrival

Well, here I am in Asia! I arrived at Changi Airport, jet lagged, hot and slightly apprehensive, to a wall of pink and white orchids and people vacuuming the already-clean carpet vigorously. Coming to a new country there’s a mixture of emotions – a constant battle between nervousness and excitement. Every new experience is evaluated again and again as I try to answer the question 'Am I going to like it here?' A few days on, rested and acclimatised I can safely say that I think I'm gonna love it… more later.

Visa

There's nothing like a trip to the Indian Embassy to increase your heart rate on a Friday morning. I've just spent the best part of four hours sitting in a crowded room with about two hundred others, all shoving and getting stressy, all for an A6 greenish sticker in a passport that will allow me to enter the Dairylea shaped country as many times as I wish for the duration of half a year. I knew it was going to be a laborious task and as such had been putting it off for days until the realisation dawned that my passport wasn't going to walk to The Strand on its own.

At one point, a man in a black beanie hat, a bomber jacket and slightly-too-tight jeans that show his fat thighs to be, err, fat, strides confidently up to the counter. I watch him suspiciously. Now, I know that he was behind me in the queue and that there were at least 300 other poor souls before us, and my calculation tells me that I'm not going to get to the counter for at least another two hours. I'm trying not to get cross when the very stressed lady behind the counter realises what he's up to and sends him to "Please sit down sir and wait your turn like everybody else! What makes you so important?" Ahhh... peace and love and harmony.

Leaving

Is it easier to leave knowing that I'm coming back?
I'm not sure...
I want to change, grow, live a new life
I'm slightly scared that I might change beyond recognition
And outgrow my old life, here.

Packing chaos

Well, here we are in January 2006! Every year I'm astounded by how shocked I get that another year has passed and we're on the cusp of another twelve months. This year feels quite different from other new years though - I'm on the verge of a huge change, moving to Asia and seeing my entire physical, social, personal and work life transform before my eyes. I'm slightly scared, but also hungry for newness. I can't wait to have a new view from my window, a different feel to the sheets on my bed, new voices to hear, food to eat. I'm gonna miss London, my incredible friends, Green & Blacks Maya Gold chocolate, Earl Grey tea and the feel of my wooly coat around my shoulders. I'm sure those things will be replaced by others though... and I'll be back before you know it!

Waste

Have you ever spent a whole lot of energy on something only to realise it was all a complete waste of time?