Please indulge me for the next few paragraphs as I show off my latest toy. The Porthole, the sexiest infusion vessel known to man, is one of those products that you absolutely have to get for no other reason than its general gorgeousness. I’m an absolute sucker for great design, and this piece of kitchen porn I got off Kickstarter was well worth the one year wait.
One of the actors in Singapore who I admire most, both for his talent and for who he is as a person is Adrian Pang. Last night, I had the sheer pleasure of attending the opening night performance of Next to Normal, staged by Pangdemonium!, the theatre company run by Adrian and his wife Tracie (who directed the show). I had been looking forward to this partially because one of my college classmates wrote the score. But I was also excited to see what Adrian and the amazing cast he put together would do with this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical.
I have been traveling to China for ten years and living here for three. I hear a lot of visitors and / or newcomers talk about how “bad manners” are among the Chinese people. Well, I would posit that these are not “bad” but instead, just different rules of etiquette.
When I was younger, I loved active vacations, the kind in which you’re jaunting all over a city 24-7 in order to squeeze as much action and eating into a day as possible. A weekend away was akin to a scavenger hunt in which I’d rack up imaginary points based on the number of cool shops and great meals I could pack into a 24 or 48 hour window. But these days, now that I’m older, married and have a kid, the perfect weekend away consists of doing as little as possible, in ideally one location.
Of course, greedy guy that I am, that one location has to serve up sensational food. One such spot that I recommend highly is the Metropolitan Bangkok. Bangkok is easy and fast to get to; every single discount airline flies there. While the Met oozes cool, understated luxury, it’s considered by most travelers to be a business hotel, which means that weekend rates are affordable and rooms are relatively easy to book. The spa is wonderful. And the restaurants, Glow, known for healthy food, and Nahm, David Thompson‘s world famous Thai eatery, are simply fabulous. Perfect for a quick 36 hour jaunt to BKK with the tired wife desperately in need of a little pampering.
For the last three Sunday mornings in a row, if you’ve wanted to find me, and my wife and son (and occasionally our golden retriever), all you would have had to do was visit the new Kith cafe on Quayside Isle, on Sentosa. This newest branch of Jane Hia’s successful cafe chain is by far my family’s favorite brekkie spot in Singapore, for several reasons (that’s Jane in the picture, by the way).
Last year, to celebrate my first full year in the working world, I got myself a Hario Cold Water Dripper. It reminded me that it’s okay to take it slow once in a while and make time for inconsequential delight, such as cold drip coffee. This year, to mark my second year of employment, I typed emails past midnight, was behind schedule on all my posts for this website, and had to give up Pilates for three whole weeks. It was around then – approximately the first week of July – that I decided I needed an Aeropress, because while the Hario is a most excellent office companion, sometimes, ain’t nobody got time for that.
I have never been able to make jumping onto the treadmill, hitting a ball across the court or doing laps part of my weekly routine. I hate exercise. Which is terrible given that I eat and drink far more than my body can metabolise in its natural state. Then, I discovered Pilates. And I was hooked. Until our son, T arrived. I simply haven’t made the time to take classes since becoming a mother. So, I was thrilled to be invited to try out a class at the newly launched COMO Shambhala Urban Escape Singapore. It was a well-timed impetus for me to get a workout.
I love ice-cream, you love ice-cream, she loves ice-cream, he loves ice-cream. Who doesn’t love ice-cream? That was the thought and inspiration behind the new series of photography from Greg Cohen, who set out to photograph 150 people enjoying their favourite flavour. I was much taken by the alive-ness of the images and how each one beautifully depicts a distinct personality to the subject.
Do you have a house cocktail? You know, that one drink that you both love making for friends and also happen to be able to put together exceedingly brilliantly? That one drink that you almost always start a dinner party off with or hand to guests as they walk in the door when dropping by?
Macarons – the gorgeous gorgeous little things. I’ve been a fan of these delicate yet intensely flavoured, colourful and dainty to behold sweeties for a while now. And actually, come to think of it, they’re not even toooo fattening, relatively speaking (no butter in macarons!). Whenever I was in Paris, I would invariably hand-carry back at least two or three boxes of the precious little biscuits from the better-known patisseries – Ladurée, La Maison du Chocolat and Pierre Hermé.