Goodbye Luang Prabang

This is the view I've been waking up to all week. It's tranquil and so very beautiful. I've always had a soft spot for Luang Prabang. I fell in love with the little town then and am still in love with it now. Although I can't imagine how I survived those months without much internet access!

Service at the hotel might be a little lacking, but it's very earnest and sincere. We should relax a little and follow their way. I forgave every hiccup, even when they gave me the wrong keys to the 2 locks to my room. Be nice here even when complaining and they'll be more inclined to help. Especially when I need their kindness in dragging a bloody heavy yellow box to and fro the front porch without the aid of any trolleys.

At the end of the week, in spite of bruising the bum on a leap over the balcony, breaking my key in the lock to the door of my room; tripping rather badly over a random square pot which poked a hole in my foot and bled for an hour, I'm still feeling rather chirpy.

I found a very sweet isolated spot in the resort for my morning stretches. The cool and crispy morning air and lower temperatures meant a very conducive environment for longer and deeper stretches. This morning's session was just perfect. It's a Saturday and I've very little on my mind. This feels almost like a vacation. :)

Saturday Jaunt To Town

I really dunno how to appreciate Lao coffee. It's like, kopi-o which I don't fancy. Neither am I interested in the breakfast at the hotel. They don't really do it the way I like it. The hosts are too kind and reduced every meal to Chinese stir-fry style without many spices or chilli. As a result, the body had a terrible craving for chilli and a good cup of cappuccino.

My free morning of the week. There needn't be any work done for the day. Bright and early, I went out to town, climbed 300 steps up to Phousy Hill. Many locals were there too. I hopped into 2 temples just to take a look and see what had changed. Then I got hungry enough to eat brunch.

Off I went to Joma Bakery. It's my default eatery in Vientiane and Hanoi. So I'm thrilled to know it's in Luang Prabang too. The fruit and granola parfait of sorts was just lovely. I wanted just scrambled eggs. But they came with toast and bacon anyway. So I ignored the bacon and ate eggs on toast with butter and jam. I figured that lunch could be skipped. Airplane food would be eeky. So I stuffed a croissant down as well. Heh. I asked for a double-shot cappuccino. Oh man, that first mouthful of caffeine tasted like heaven!

I spent a good hour in solitude at the cafe with a coffee, iPod and a magazine. A perfect Saturday morning. I didn't stir till the driver came to remind me that it was time to go back to the hotel to sort out the check-out and head to the airport.

Huean Luang Prabang

Once the Meetings were done, there was one last Closing Dinner held at the Huean Luang Prabang. The grounds are expansive and the architecture is rather grand. Dining outdoors in the cool evening was such a refreshing change to all the indoor restaurants. The lower temperatures meant that there were almost no mozzies to hassle us.

I was deathly afraid that we would be made to go up and sing, like the last time in Vientiane. At least this time in Luang Prabang, they had a guitar and a keyboard. I could play something, like "My Way" or "Honesty", or that "half and half" 881 song. Heheheh. Luckily they ran out of time and had to scrap that idea. But they didn't let go of the dancing. There was PLENTY of dancing and they made all of us do it.

There were 3 kinds of traditional Lao dances! Of course I haven't done them before. Rather different from the ones I learnt in Vientiane. A variation and new ones. So I had to follow the young dancers whose steps weren't very precise or clear. That is the one annoying thing imbued in my dance education. I've always been told to execute precision, not blurred forms. But I picked out the clearest lines from a slightly older dancer and followed her. Tis was easy! I quite enjoyed it.

Since my colleague gleefully squirmed out of the dancing and cleverly took my camera to snap away, I got these fun shots. She also took a video of me doing this! Arrrrgh! Okay, I don't look too clumsy in these shots. Heh. You will excuse my dowdy clothes- I am on a work trip!

Seeing The Mekong Again

Strangely, I'm not particularly hungry or into the food by now. I've a serious craving for pasta, or sambal something. I've had quite enough of rice and chicken. Seeing both simply turns me off the food and I rather concentrate on the scenery, the conversation, the humans and all other interesting manner of stuff, and try to be very politically correct in viewpoints or opinions voiced aloud.

While the other colleagues can return home earlier or head out for some sightseeing, the Boss and I are stuck in meetings all day. The other night, the colleagues and I merrily abandoned him while he continued a lengthy discussion for an inexplicable 3 hours. Poor Boss has no stable wifi in his room. I almost considered offering him my room for a few hours just so he can get some proper time online. He's as fidgety as I am without internet access. Ha.

The meetings are punctuated by picturesque lunch breaks with tables overlooking the Mekong. These are definitely a good break to the monotony of negotiations, discussions and presentations. I was a little self-conscious about taking so many photos. But when the other members in the group were obviously using their cameras more, I also merrily followed suit.

So while my brain cells are dying from being under-utilized here on one level, they're fairly active on another level. Again, I remind Singaporeans to leave your friggin Singapore notions behind. As a group, we adhere to group wisdom, however unwise it might be. Once we can do that and stop comparing, then we can totally enjoy the now and learn the nuances of country-to-country relations that no protocol nor diplomacy classes could ever hope to impart. This is the wonderful facet of my job. This should be the final major work trip I undertake before I leave. There's no reason for me to go on another of these developmental trips again. I will miss this terribly.

I've had the opportunities to learn so many things, and through my interaction with counterparts, while I don't deny our little island's achievements, I try to play down the seeming arrogance. I leave no legacy, nor do I care to do so. But in these few years, I've tried to have show another side of Singaporeans and hope that they won't think too badly of us in general.

Banana Pancakes

The colleague was very enthusiastic about the street food. The weather was kind and cool. It made walking around and staring at hot plates and woks very fun. Many stalls were selling crepes and pancakes. She went off to buy a pancake banana thingy. Well, the sign said 'banana pancakes'. But one can never be sure that what it said would also be similar to our interpretation of it.

We watched the vendor make the 'pancake'. It's really like a roti prata with bananas drizzled with condensed milk and strange tasting honey (more like syrup). She made us try the snack too. As suspicious as we are about the hygiene of street food, we took 2 pieces each. It was so unhealthy I swear! But it was rather tasty.

It was kinda fun to munch something as we strolled along the streets. But naah, it didn't pave the way for more cravings for items from other stalls. We were contented to just stare and look like dumb tourists who didn't know anything. Heh.

Meal Times!

Food on this trip is slightly disappointing. I'm hoping to try more of Lao flavors. But so far, the food is distinctly not cooked in traditional Lao style. The food simply taste like Chinese stir-fry. Very little spices were put in it. I think the hosts are concerned about taste buds and kept the flavors lighter so as to suit everyone.

One evening, they served spaghetti with chicken sauce at the side. It boggled my mind. It was the last thing I expected to see on the dinner table! There's SO MUCH CHICKEN at meal times! It's the holiest of the politically correct meat. Every frigging dish is filled with chicken that would be either sliced, minced or done in a paste! UGH. At least there's one teeny plate of fish at dinner. So very little vegetarian options. :( Luckily the fresh raw vegetables and sticky rice remain a staple at meal times. That's nice. I've had the usual white, the brown and am waiting for the black to make its appearance.

There was wine at dinner tonight. It was a very young, tart and sharp dunno-what kind of wine. There was no obligation to drink it. So I ignored the glass and concentrated on chatting with my hosts and other counterparts.

At The Night Market

The colleagues wanted to go out to the night market at Sisavangvong Road. I was a little hesitant, but I went along anyway. Otherwise, I'd get serious cabin fever.

The stalls spilled out onto the streets. It's amazing how they can just close off the thoroughfare for the night market from 5.30 - 9.30pm. It was the thing to do at night in a sleepy town- buy some scarves, lanterns/lamps, trinkets and knick knacks.

I thought it'd be crazy crowded, but no, it was a surprisingly pleasant walk meandering through the stalls. It was certainly very colorful. I'd would term it bustling due to the sheer number of stalls, but the wares lacked variety. There wasn't a teeming mass of humans elbowing me. It's unlike the ridiculously crowded and hot markets in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. How very pleasant!

The silver jewelry was rather intriguing. But once I realized they were hollow, I wasn't interested in them anymore. I wanted solid silver. There were some very pretty necklaces and accessories made of semi-precious stones in some of the shops at the sides. Pricier, but of slightly better quality. But nope, I didn't fall in love with any.

The colleagues were serious shoppers. They bought so many items and made many stallowners very pleased with their lack of bargaining. Heh. There were 2 items that caught my eye- a traditional village knife and a Y-shaped slingshot. I loved that knife and its weight. It felt very good in my hands. But clearly, taking the knife home on board an aeroplane was out of the question. I considered buying the slingshot. Sadly, it was unbalanced and not very well-made. It wouldn't throw a stone very far. So I left that.

I wouldn't have minded picking out Lao silk tops and all, but this was the wrong area to look for those. There weren't any blouses! Only eeeky tacky tees. I was very happy to come away with a whole bunch of photos and not a single tangible purchase.

We Didn't Eat Like The Locals

There were a number of stalls lining the street peddling rice, noodles and whatnots. I went closer to peek at one. It was like an economical rice stall in Singapore which offered a selection of vegetables, meats and unknown brown thingies in gravy. One could have white rice or boiled white rice.

We passed by stalls which were quite full. The locals weren't exactly sitting down to eat. I suppose the prices at these stalls are not kind to them. But I knew for a fact that the locals were quoted one fair price and tourists were given a higher rate. Still, the stall owners were mainly the locals here, so most of them took packed meals. Looking at the number of non-locals and tourists squatting on tiny stools by the roadside and merrily eating, we were almost tempted to follow suit.

We retreated to some random expat-ish restaurant for an egg phad thai. I was kinda hoping to go to the Indian restaurant which was halal. I flipped through the menu and saw some good vegetarian options. But the colleagues and I guess are kinda strangers to one another, so we're still doing that dance of doing things where we can select fail-safe options. The colleague must had been really tempted by the street food, but seeing that the other two weren't interested, she didn't ask us. Heeeeee. Oh well. The egg phad thai was good, just not spicy enough. Got MSG in there for sure. Baaah.

Down The Mekong

We laughed and laughed, but we had to do it. No better place than in Luang Prabang. We took a cruise down a tiny part of the Mekong just to see the sunset. This portion of the Mekong is largely unspoilt and almost free of garbage afloat.

There were just 3 of us on the beautifully varnished wooden boat. I was thrilled about that. It felt all nice and exclusive. Work was not on the top of our minds. That could be left aside for a bit. We excitedly chatted about Discovery's 'River Monsters' and what might lurk beneath us today.

The weather is pleasant- not humid and not at all scorching. It'll turn cooler next month, but it's alright now. There were only sounds of nature and the engine of the boat on the river. At some points, they turned off the engine and drift gently, just so let us soak in the serenity. Unlike Vietnam's Halong Bay where like ten thousand boats are fighting for space, it was just us and a couple of fishing boats. Halong Bay looks so much better in photos than the actual experience of checking it out. Here in Luang Prabang, it's still so tranquil. Such a rarity to find a quiet spot like this.

We lingered for a good hour or so on the boat. We simply enjoyed absorbing the sights and sounds of the area. Somehow, today's sunset didn't seem mindblowingly magnificent. It was quietly dignified and elegant.

Out In Town Before Sunset!

I had spent a long 2 months in Luang Prabang some time back and well, basically roughed it out. It's a beautiful beautiful place, one of the few unspoilt travel destinations in Southeast Asia. It's such a lovely feeling to be striding along on the uncrowded streets again.

Getting around in English was a little difficult. Not that many speak the language, which isn't a bad thing. It simply means that they don't see that many obnoxious tourists. Heheh. Try speaking in French, you might have better luck. When I was here years ago, I didn't speak Thai fluently. I forgot if the people in Luang Prabang speak it, or use the Hmong dialects. I listened hard, and I realized that while I might not fully comprehend Laotian, they will understand me when I speak Thai. So I gave up speaking English and switched completely to Thai. We had ummm.....'chaperones' of sort who absolutely refused to let us out on our own and then take a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. To put it mildly, they were flabbergasted when we suggested that. I had to talk very fast to convince them to let us out on our own. :p

There's a thoroughfare in Luang Prabang- Sisavangvong Road. Everything is there- the eateries, restaurants, the night market, staircase to the vantage point up on the hill, access to the river, massage places, etc. It's become more bustling through the years. Luckily (for some of us), tourist arrivals haven't increased to an astronomical figure, yet.

We had a bit of time and stole away to town. We strolled by the grounds of the National Museum. Nothing much has changed since the last I visited. But I'd love to stroll through the buildings proper and look at its art collections again, perhaps on Saturday.

The colleagues have some time off to wander around tomorrow and the day after, but I'm kinda stuck in meetings all day. BOO. They're going to the Kuang Si Waterfall. I IS JEALOUS! I would love to tag along.

Hello Luang Prabang

Waking up at 4.30am and then hit Changi Airport by 6am for a flight out is one of the worst possible timings for work trips, next to flying the red-eye or to Africa and the other side of the world. I'm so not a morning person. But I suppose waking up at 6.30am daily in Brunei last week trained the body somewhat.

A double shot of caffeine from Starbucks before I got on the plane didn't help. The moment I slid into the seat, drowsiness overtook. Apparently, there was a toddler who did this high-pitch whine all the way when we landed in Bangkok. Yours truly had ear plugs and completely shut out all sounds and dozed. Hahahah. I slept all the way to Bangkok.

Delays were to be expected. I was muttering under my breath that if the connecting flight was delayed, it better be because they were checking to ensure all luggage had been loaded. The colleagues rolled their eyes at my obsession with the yellow box. Hey, for good reason okay. Those stuff aren't mine!

In spite of the noisy propellers, I conked out all the way from Bangkok to Luang Prabang. And realized I had missed all my meals. Hahaha. Oh well, there's dinner in a bit. Then I want to sleep early tonight. I feel more jetlagged than a London-SIN jaunt! I like this sleepy little town. It doesn't seem to have changed very much. But there're plenty of changes. Major additions, but nothing that has altered the essence of the place. Let's hope I've a chance to explore the surroundings.

This Is My Trolley

One would think that I'm off for a 2-week vacation in Europe and lugging a carton of goodies for the friends and family. No lor. I'm just going to Luang Prabang for meetings. And as far as work trips go, this is the sort where all of us lug like one thousand things in the luggage.

I still love yellow. It's such a happy color. But I'm beginning to dislike this yellow box. It's so cumbersome. It's 18.3kg by the way. I'm not sure exactly what came over the people who packed the gifts for me and think that I'll somehow teleport them over to the destination. Well, I somehow very cleverly teleported the box home. I can lift it quite easily, no issue. Just don't ask me to carry it and walk for like 1km. Anyway, it's all been sorted. Luckily, I won't have to carry the box or my suitcase upon arrival in Luang Prabang.

Such a scary thing to do transit flights. But it's only 1 transit. I must have faith in our national airline and Thailand's. My singular thought when I checked in the box and 1 suitcase- 'never mind if you're late, please arrive at some point in my room'. I think I might have said it out loud, much to the amusement of my colleagues. Contrary to their teasing, the contents in the suitcase and the box are not exactly expendable. :p Technicality, of course.

I'm not too thrilled at the idea of giving away the corporate gifts inside, because it also means that our counterparts will reciprocate. On the way home, I'll still get a yellow box tagging along after me. I hope that the attendees at the meetings won't be carrying this much weight. So please, for the love of sticky rice, don't give me porcelain or glassware as reciprocal items.

Strolling Around BSB

It’s absolutely refreshing that there’s a dearth of shopping choices in BSB. It’s awesome man. You don’t even have to think about shopping. The brain cells are freed up to consider other entertainment options. We place so much emphasis on tangible material acquisition which is sometimes unnecessary.

I'm so not used to cars stopping to allow me to illegally cross the road in Asia. The first few times cars stopped, I was pleasantly surprised, after which I decided to be law-abiding and used all the pedestrian crossings. While there're flipsides to an unhurried pace of life, at least in BSB, it seems less stressful in terms of lifestyle and deadlines at work. There's something attractive about the quality of life here.

Of course my perception of the country is largely enhanced by the hospitality shown by my personal friends, away and outside of work. I’m so grateful that the friends have shown me generosity when I tire of dealing with inept hotel staff who said they can't do anything about the icy water from the shower and suggested that I scoop water in a small glass from the sink (which has hot water) to bathe, and also insisted on a ridiculous policy when they disallowed a change of room or an upgrade paid out of my own pocket. Murphy really loves me this way. Luckily my friends love me too. They fed me, provided a warm bed, broadband internet access, comfortable air-conditioning and hot showers. *happy sigh

To me, Brunei has so much to offer. Well, I'm a girl who doesn't have to do National Service and therefore have never stepped foot into the jungles of Temburong. I’m rather disappointed that I’m not able to stay the weekend to explore the nature trails and treks further north/south. I’d love for a chance to dive in Brunei's waters too.

It Is A Shark

(Photo courtesy of AT)

Too bad I didn't have time to explore the wet market with the guys. The wet market was still open at 5pm and would only close about 3 hours later. There were also food stalls selling food. We zipped by it in the van a couple of times but we didn't get down. There was time today and it promised to be a fascinating walk. I was busy clearing emails and sneaking out to the friends' house before meeting up with the rest of the people for dinner. I had to pass.

The guys came back with such colorful photos depicting the vibes and a sense of place. AT passed me the camera to scroll through. He took alot of good shots of the market wares, the people and the raw seafood on sale. He offered his SD card for me to upload any photo desired. So sweet! But it was okay; nice to be able to look through.

I just wanted this one of the baby shark. I couldn't take my eyes off it. I knew it was dead. But it didn't look so dead! So with his permission, I lifted the shot off his camera. It looked like a tiger shark. My heart twitched. :(

Ambuyat

At dinner, I went straight to the counter that carried the plaque 'Ambuyat'. It's a Brunei dish whom many say we have to try it once. Locals eat it mostly at lunch. But at dinner, I guess it can be an appetizer. I hadn't tried it before. So I wanted a taste of it. There was a confusing array of sauces and dips. How to mix all of them up to eat ah? The chef patiently explained the ingredients and showed us how we should eat it.

That starchy gluey thingy is made from adding hot water to the powder of palm sago. One is supposed to mix all the sauces, twirl a small ball of starch and dip it in the sour mix called 'cacah'.

I skipped the shrimp and stuff, but accepted the cencaluk. Then the chef merrily scooped in something suspicious before I could stop him. It was fermented durians. ARRRRRGH. There was mango and lime stuff, cucumbers and all. An oily looking fish soup was drizzled over it as well. The entire dish was rather sour.

Chewing isn't encouraged. But I did it anyway and didn't see why one couldn't chew. Swallowing it whole might actually choke me. It makes for an interesting experience. I ummm.....am not fond of it. It's too starchy. While I don't mind the stink of the fish soup or sauce, I don't like the rest of the taste that defines the sour-ness of the ambuyat, the same way I'm not fond of sour stuff like preserved plums, Thai som tam and salads.

Yummy Thai Food At Bann Nucha

There is only so much of the food at the hotel’s café we can swallow. We walked out for a breath of fresh air and looked for a dinner venue. There are only so many easy-to-get-to places in Gadong. We ended up at The Mall again, and decided to try Thai food at the restaurant which looked rather authentic.

What a surprise to find out that it’s owned by a friendly Thai lady who says her food is good. In the end, we agreed that her kitchen churns out rather delicious homey Thai food. I was secretly overjoyed. It was quite unexpected to have a good Thai meal on this trip.

We didn’t over order at all, but just took a sufficient dose of spices and textures to tantalize our tastebuds. In fact I thought we under ordered! I skipped the rice and had to try the phad thai. That's how I judge the standard of a Thai restaurant. The phad thai has to be of a certain standard. It was good. Not too sweet and just right in terms of saltiness. From the tom yum soup, it was clear that they toned down the spices for the Bruneian palate, but retained the flavors of all the ingredients. Nice. The rest of the food was most satisfying. From the faces of the colleagues chowing down the meal, the food definitely hit a very sweet spot.

I was really full. You know I’m not much of a dessert person. But I couldn’t resist that red ruby. This version contained jackfruit. Awesome. The rest shared tiny bites from a plate of very sweet mango with the traditional sticky rice. What full stomachs. Nonsense. They even had space for some peanut butter and chocolate mini waffle thingy from another stall! Doh.

Bann Nucha
Unit 2.3.1, The Mall, Level 2, Abdul Razak Complex
Gadong BSB, Brunei Darussalam
T: +673 2456122 Mobile: +673 8903437

Kueh

The kuehs served at refreshments are mainly these 3 items. It's either the kitchen only knows how to make these well, or they think the taste of these couple of items will go down most easily with us. There was a day when cute little round begedils were served. I loved those. Yummm.

Very welcome after the overly-sweet desserts in Indonesia, the kueh-kueh in Brunei definitely doesn’t contain as much sugar. Less sugar brought out the flavors or flavorings and made it quite tasty. I've attempted a couple of pieces and didn’t mind them at all. Then there're always the egg sandwiches which are my default food really. Mashed eggs and butter go so well together. One cannot go wrong with an egg sandwich.

If the topics of discussion for the work portions are kinda dry, we look forward to meal breaks where we always hope to see something different from our usual food at home. I understand Indian food in Brunei is good. But our hosts haven't served that at all. Strangely, we've been having rather Chinese zi-char style meals. The best item so far is a fish curry at one lunch. I ate the most portions of rice that day. Rice drizzled with curry is just so tasty! That is the spiciest of many dishes by far.

At The Gallery

A number of colleagues and I signed up for a walk through the Sultan’s Islamic Exhibition Gallery. I stared at a Moroccan Qur'an in total fascination. It’s supposedly 1000 years old. The pages are brittle and torn at the edges. But the black ink used to pen the verses in Naskhi script stayed true and dark.

There were walking sticks displayed in the glass cases. The body, grips and tops are beautifully crafted in all sorts of material. I like the ones made of a single piece of ivory and banded agate. There’s also one made of a single shark bone which looks rather menacing and powerful. A colleague and I oohed and ahhed over all the exquisite craftsmanship till we suddenly realized that we were the last and the group had gone on ahead. Heh.

Other members of the group moved so fast through the portion on prayer beads that I had no time to linger and look at the various stones used for the beads. I saw so many pretty colors! Hmmmmpf. I do not like to rush through galleries. UGH.

Outside, a fossilized tree trunk lies horizontal on display. We were told that it’s been dated as 130 million years old. Some parts literally looked like stone. We were allowed to touch it. Rather fascinating. I enjoyed this brief interlude away from the technical topics of structures and systems.

Excapade Sushi

Okay, I didn’t mind eating out with the colleagues, but to have Japanese food at an eatery that is similar to a fast food outlet is just not something I can stomach. I’m particularly finicky about Japanese food. I said I was picky and didn't want to go for dinner. But they dragged me out anyway. So we went to this Japanese eatery called ‘Excapade’.

It was a little strange that all the grilled food arrived before the platter of sashimi and sushi. It made for rather strange taste. But the grilled stuff wasn’t too salty. Nothing complicated or mind-blowing; simply edible. The 2 dishes of fish were decent.

What horrified me was the platter of sashimi and sushi. It wasn’t about being impressed by such a generous serving for $40. It was how much rice they rolled in with the sushi. It was not unlike the size of an onigiri. I couldn’t do this platter. Just by looking at the slices of fish, I shuddered. I wasn’t at all interested to chow down on any of those. The cut and the quality of the fish just didn’t do it for me. If I can’t do Akashi at home, there is no way I can do Excapade here.

The sashimi of scallops was the surprise of the evening. Again, this portion was large and the pieces of scallops were thick. It was rather fresh. Not as sweet as the usual ones I prefer, but fairly good. The restaurant imports seafood directly under the label SnoFood which has the store right below its restaurant. That definitely helps to lower overheads for its ingredients.

For some reason, the table had only fish and seafood. There wasn't any meat even though the colleagues are omnivores. Nice. I didn't have to do subtle avoiding of dishes. Dinner was filling and not too unsatisfying.

The Economics Of McDonald's

I've not been to Brunei for a long while. It's rather refreshing to be in BSB again. It's a pity I've no time to go trekking or explore the seas- that would have been very enjoyable.

It was quite odd that I had a craving for McDonald's at BSB. I was curious to check out The Big Mac Index on all fronts. Ummm....I profess to reasonably conclude that the economy and culture of the country can be more or less summed up in the 1.5 hours at the only McDonald's in the country.

It was CRAZY man. The 2 levels of the fast food outlet were packed out. People were ordering McD's like there's no tomorrow. There was a giant children's party upstairs which probably had like 100 Happy Meals sent up. The trolley that headed upstairs came in and out of the kitchen 5 times, fully stocked. I stood in a queue that had 8 persons ahead of me for a good 35min. WTF! I was more amazed than miffed at the long waiting time. Granted, I was there at 1pm, smack in the middle of lunch, but still, the degree of slowness in the counter service was incredible, along with the onslaught of orders people made. Each person didn't just buy 1 or 2 meals. They bought 5, 8 and 10 sets! There was a couple of orders for 15 and 20!

I spent most of that 35 minutes observing humans, listening to their conversation topics, preferred language used among family and friends, looking at their accessories, shoes, watches and whatnots. It was most enlightening. In very stark contrast, the adjacent Jollibee outlet was near empty.

When I finally got to the counter to place my order, I saw that the kitchen was churning out food really fast. The bottleneck was at the counter. It wasn't really a matter of insufficient humans. It was just the staggering amount of orders that landed in their hands. Also, the staff painstakingly wrote the orders on paper in longhand, calculated it and then punched it out on the ancient cash register.

Yah, I sound damn suaku. But hey, it's quite mindboggling to equate such a rich nation with a complete dichotomy when it comes to its people and culture; pace of urban development and aspirations of its citizens. Don't ask me to check out the not-the-only Restoran KFC at The Mall next door. I is no like chicken.

Oh, and my upsized meal of fish fillet burger costs $4.45. It costs $6.10 at home. Tasted the same though.

Bowmore Trilogy Dinner Singapore

This was a social and we knew it. But the Bowmore Trilogy Dinner at Au Jardin Les Amis was not to be missed. It was a good chance to sample the 1964 Black, White and Gold. The dinner menu was the usual, done by Chef Galvin Lim. The table enjoyed the food. However, the dishes featured, although matched the single malts perfectly, weren't items I fancied. I was not really bothered about it though. I could just eat a little. I was mostly there for the whisky!

I understand that proceeds from the Bowmore Trilogy Dinner in New York City's Aureole contributed to National Geographic Mission Programmes. If my schedule had allowed it, I'd have flown into NYC for that. A pity this one in Singapore didn't do anything similar. It's a wasted opportunity, really. There was ALOT of money in the room tonight and I was really tempted to pursue some of my personal causes, but had to bite my tongue. I'll leave that to another occasion. I'm not sure I want the publicity. Heh.

There was champagne earlier that I identified as a Dom Perignon youngish- it was a 2000. It was always nice to begin an event with good champagne. In fact, I wanted to keep the palate clean for the Black, White and Gold. I'm fond of the various Bowmore expressions and am familiar with most bottlings already. There were cigars. But it was too hot and eeky to stand outdoors in the humidity to smoke those. The evening started properly with Alaskan crab with urchin, aquitaine caviar in chilled bonito broth was unusual, but nothing to scream about. It did match the Bowmore 12 y.o fairly well.

Then we moved on to the cod tongue wrapped in iberian ham to sit in an olive oil emulsion to match the Bowmore 15 y.o. I scrapped off the ham and prodded the tongue. Interesting. The main was the roasted US prime short-rib in seasonal vegetables to go with the Bowmore 18 y.o. I jabbed at it and sat that out. They didn't give diners a choice of mains and I forgot to mention it to the organizers about my food preferences. I had quite alot of bread to make up for it though. The roll of butter was quite tasty.

Dessert was a warm chocolate moelleux with goat's milk ice cream and the Bowmore 25 y.o. I loved this pairing. The dessert was not overly sweet and went beautifully with the one of my perennial Bowmore favorites.

Between the appetizers, main and dessert, we sampled a dram each for the Black, White and Gold. Ahhh....the familiar fruitiness and peat. Mango, guava, creamy goodness, tart and lingering aftertaste rolled in one after the other. Beautiful. The Black's sweet flavors are deceptively simple because its afternotes are long and complex. The White's afternotes linger clean and hint at more peat. The Gold, my favorite of all, is as multi-layered as they come in terms of an intriguing nose and swirl. I'm not going to expound on its individual flavors. Google them and you'll get a flood of information. Otherwise, my previous posts here, here and here, contain more information on the respective flavors and character of the Trilogy.

Ever since I was told to block the date for the Bowmore Trilogy Dinner in Singapore, I was fervently hoping it wouldn't clash with any of my work trips. This is one social event that I want to attend. It didn't clash with anything. Yay! I'm a very happy imp. Thanks Joyce and Khoon, it has been a very delightful night.

Goodbye Jakarta

All in all, it’s been a good trip. The week concluded an exciting project that my team has seen through from inception to implementation and almost joyous completion.

When my counterparts asked me about future projects, I crafted the answers carefully because all that matters is the continuity of institution to institution ties, and the trust in our brand name and our quality of work that will remain excellent in spite of the different humans.

Yet, so much of our work and warmth with our counterparts are built upon the interpersonal relationships. Is it not clear then, why we won’t be able to go beyond a certain level in terms of establishing strong linkages. It's more than the language. There're certain actions that can always transcend language barriers. We always underestimate face-to-face contact. I’ll miss this.

With the work wrapped up, it was time to go home. Rain sent us off on the journey to the airport. With the traffic jam, a 40-minute journey turned into a 2-hour crawl on the roads. Not surprisingly. We had allocated 3 hours to get to the airport, so there was no panic, just a quiet acceptance of the wait as part of the travel experience.

As the car passed street vendors huddled under umbrellas and make-shift shelters, we really couldn't complain very much about our situation. At least we were dry and comfortable. The rain meant that they would sell fewer items and earn little for the day. What is mere annoyance to us will have a greater impact on the street vendors.

There's always a queer mix of wistfulness at the end of each work trip. I'm glad to be heading home, of course. But I'm not desperate to be home. To me, being in Singapore clearing work in the office is the same as working out of anywhere else. But hell, I'm damn happy to not be bound to clearing the work emails at night. Pulling double shifts can be a tad tiring.

Some Luck In The Shopping

We were supposed to get a birthday present for the man’s Dad way earlier than this. But the boutiques in Singapore don’t stock the item. We hopped into a couple of shops and didn’t find it at all. It was clear that we had to pick another present.

So I decided to try searching for it in the malls of Jakarta. I thought I’d have better luck, as exemplified by all other items I had wanted but not stocked in the boutiques at home, and I found them here on the last trip. Shopping with a purpose is much easier as I simply run through the shops very quickly rather than lingering to waste time.

True enough. A jaunt to Plaza Indonesia and Grand Indonesia got me what I wanted, and more! This boutique didn’t just stock the item. They carried the exact specifications we wanted. And they presented a selection of tea and served the chosen earl grey piping hot while I was waiting to sign the bill. Such considerate service. Yay. It’s now a belated present, but well, I’m just happy that we got the birthday boy something he needs than to substitute it for something else, or worse, buy yet another camera or lens to add to his growing collection.

Then there were random other things at the rest of the boutiques that were worth checking out- like a shade of a pouch in a color I haven't seen in Singapore or at DFS. Not for myself! The other stuff are procured for the girlfriends who asked me to take a look!

Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta

Do not even ask how I ended up at Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta. By golly, I haven't stepped into any HRC for eons. Hey, it was just dinner, okay. It's not uncool as a dinner venue....umm...right? A light beer Bintang was my choice of drink for the night. Too much alcohol from the previous nights already. Without good strong shots of caffeine to last me through these few days that began at 7am, I'm only relying on adrenalin from the intense pilates stretches in the mornings to get me through.

Service was so bloody prompt that I was a little bowled over. Drinks appeared within 3 minutes of our order. That huge plate of nachos arrived in 4 minutes; the rest of the food came in 10 minutes. I didn't mean to count, but the speed was amazing.

I loved the nachos. Awesome stuff. Couldn't say the same about the fish and chips. Decent oil and flour used for the deep fryer. But that fish held a strong muddy taste that couldn't be ignored in spite of the thick dabs of mayo and chilli sauce. I dumped the fish, ate the chips and cleaned the plate of nachos.

The house 'DJ' played MTVs on the projector and plasma screens. I forgave the uncool factor of HRC when they put on John Mayer and Kings of Leon. There was Audioslave, The Police, The Killers, and oh dear, they also had Jason Mraz. Eiooowwww. Anyway, the company definitely didn't know rock music and I didn't see it fit to add on to their random comments. I was busy stuffing nachos in my mouth just so I wouldn't be able to make bitchy remarks. It was all I could do not to die laughing from the mere fact that I was sitting in Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta.

The resident band comes on at 10pm. I was a tad curious about it. But after Prost Beer House and Rossi, I decided that it would be better should stay in for the night and watch telly. Shark Week beckoned on Discovery at 9pm. So I scooted back to the room really quickly.

One Final Meal Together In Jakarta

On this final work day of the week, we were hosted to an epic lunch at Grand Duck King. I was damn glad that I didn't eat breakfast beyond fruits and juice. Ditched the coffee at the hotel because it really sucked.

The photos here don't even show half the dishes we had. There were plenty of dishes at lunch. Prawns, soups, dim sum baskets and MORE! Quite standard Hong Kong style Chinese food, but I love the additional spices that mark it uniquely Indonesian. The food is rather good!

The duck and the chicken looked lean and nicely roasted. They were soaked in oil. Looking really tasty. But I gave it a pass and concentrated all my stomach space on the fish, broccoli and cumi!!! I like cumi when it's well done. This one was lightly grilled and still juicy. The sambal that came along with it was da bomb. Washed it all down with 2 thick glasses of jus alpukat. Glorious.

None of us wanted dessert. But of course the colleagues were most interested in the durian goreng. They decided to eat it like a main savory dim sum thingy. Some like it hot and some like it cold. But whichever way, it's quite yummy, they said. I no like durian, so my portions were given to the colleagues who ate up every last bit!

Browsing At The Bookstore

A jaunt to the bookshop also saw a somewhat work-related sort of book come home with me. It’s not a topic that usually interests me. But I was in a strange sort of mood which saw me eat 2 scoops of gelato from Gelatissimo for dessert. So why not books on these ‘strange’ topics.

The content in this book isn’t anything new. Mind-mapping, facilitation of meetings and all. I don’t know, but I expect a lot of people our age in the industry to have undergone various forms of general training on these ‘competencies’. But this book has got a structure that makes the chapters come across in a rather appealing fashion. The writing is fairly concise and the author has put across the not-new ideas very well, reinforcing certain concepts and inspiring others. Quite interesting.

I’m not the type of learner who would sit still in a classroom and download, not even if the content is interactive. I dislike that sort of ra-ra training because it takes a lot out of me. I’m NOT enthusiastic like that. It’s very very annoying to be drafted to be join a class that emphasizes on an ‘interactive’ session. I DON’T like interacting with classmates nor do I enjoy group discussions. I find it intrusive. In university, I opted out of group projects, preferring to do individual assignments. That way, I can control my scores. Teachers, I’m your nightmare. I behave best in a lecture with minimal participation required and keeping up with the readings after, or with a book and internet resources which will include youtube tutorials.

A Wet Jakarta

The weather is of course as ridiculous as what we have at home. It can be bright and sizzling, then by mid-afternoon, it turns dark and wet. I’m told that it’s been like this for the past 3 weeks. It has been so for the past couple of days. At lunch today, I wanted to head out at lunch to the local bookstore across the road, but I didn’t dare to, in case the rain came to flood the streets.

Yesterday afternoon’s storm must be one of the worst. The sky turned an ominous deep grey and rain fell in unrelenting sheets from mid-afternoon. The city’s roads were locked in a massive jam on the roads in the evening. Many of the major roads and streets were apparently flooded with nearly 50cm of water. Very few people got to anywhere. I bet there were plenty of cancelled dates last night. The work associates and I were lucky to be located on the right side of the road in the right direction from the office to the hotel and got back without too much pain. So note to self here, pee before you get into a car to go anywhere; do not even think it’s okay to pee when you get to the destination.

The friends and I didn’t plan to meet last night, but agreed to play it by ear. I was a little tired and wouldn’t mind just pottering about in a spacious hotel room. The rain caused the friends’ various dinner plans to be cancelled. The chock-a-full roads meant that they couldn’t quite go home till much later. Their offices and apartments were located in the buildings around my hotel, so 4 humans came to BUG me. We had dinner at one of the many restaurants in the adjoining mall, then returned to my room to chill out.

I finally kicked them out close to 11pm when the roads were finally clear. They did nothing but had dessert from room service, sipped from a bottle of champagne and the very nice Bowmore 21 y.o (DFS Changi rocks!), shrieked in horror to Shark Week features on Discovery, put various iPods into the dock, checked out Ben Folds and Nick Hornby’s recent collaboration and lounged around. Very chill right? Yet when they left, the room looked like a tornado tore through it. AIYOH.

Two Whys and A Yellow Box

The cheerful yellow of this box bellies the pain in getting it in front of me to be photographed. This is the box that gave me a minor headache in its journey to its ultimate destination within the central business district of Jakarta.

The box reached Jakarta and was processed on Sunday. It was supposed to have been delivered to the intended venue on Monday. But it was held up for no good reason (to me) at the logistics centre and didn’t get here till today. DHL Jakarta was being really bureaucratic about it. They should have given us information beforehand, but I guess nobody saw it necessary to tell us so. GRRrrrrrRRR. I hate new arbitrary regulations that just merrily pop up without prior notification when they weren’t in place 6 months ago.

If this box hasn't gotten delivered by noon today, I would have had to do a merry dance to roll out Plan B and C, which wouldn't be ideal. Even when it reached this address, it took me, a non-staff to retrieve. I couldn't believe that the DHL delivery guy just stood there. It was unbelievable that the staff simply noted the presence of the DHL delivery guy and didn't do anything about it till spidey senses alerted me to go check it out. TAMADE. In that one instant I laid eyes on the entire situation, I totally understood why the box didn't get delivered on Monday.

If I hadn't gone there to check out the situation, trust me, the box would have been returned to the logistics centre and I would have to pay double to get it out. *facepalm Why do I have to bother about logistics and sort this out? Seriously. I want to scream very loud about efficiency in this country. But you know what, screw that. It's not as if I haven't expected this. I did. As long as my box is here. I'll just work around the obstacles and deal with what I can.

Curry Puff

One of the plausible reasons why I never get hungry till 11am on a day when I don’t do manual labor is probably because I always over-eat at dinner the previous evening. On work trips however, I try to eat a little bit in the morning because I don't know what's happening and the only predictable sort of food I quite like can be found at breakfast. Very few things can go wrong with bread, eggs, cereal or porridge.

These few mornings at breakfast, I have absolutely no interest in the hotel’s rather extensive and appetizing buffet spread. The time spent eating and lingering over the food can be spent sleeping. Heh. So all I need is 10 minutes at the table for a chocolate roll, a glass of orange juice and strong black coffee. Then I head off for my 8am pick-up.

At today's meetings, I gleefully ate 2 curry puffs with the chilli padi. VERY NICE! It was a little embarassing, but hey, the snacks were tasty! I love curry puffs done well. There was also this green blob in a tiny cup. I was told it was kaya. I didn’t know what to do with that and I don’t like kaya, so I left it alone.

I managed to skip lunch altogether. WHEW. Lunch was all chicken, beef and rice. Never mind then, I rather not eat and sort out the stomach at dinner. So I spent lunch reading newspapers and all other matters of papers.

Giving Louboutins Another Chance

Since the patent Louboutins which I loved, bit my feet, crunched them hard and induced blisters to flare each time I wore them, I've thrown all of them away in exasperation. The shoe cabinet has resolutely steered clear of Louboutins.

Today, I stepped into the boutique and was quite tempted by the non-patent leather ones. The front on a couple of pairs look wider than say those designs 2 years ago. "New and improved styles", the sales rep proclaimed. I was like, whatever. It was the girlfriend who wanted to buy a pair of bling bling heels. She took a really long time in selecting, shortlisting, trying and posing.

With all that waiting, I was bored, so I also tried on a few pairs of not-too-fancy shoes with heels of a reasonable height. Hmmmm. The label has definitely done something to the mould of these shoes. Strangely, they now fit quite alright. It can't be just the weight loss. I've bunions and wide feet. The overall weight loss can't have made the feet lose the blubber too right?! Then the girlfriend reminded me that in a matter of 10 months, I've dropped 2 ring sizes, so why not a better fit for Louboutins. In response, I glared at her.

I put on the patent ones again, just to see if they feel alright now. They felt odd. They were still hard and unfriendly. As the saying goes, if it doesn't fit now, it ain't gonna fit ever. All the sales pitch about leather expanding after some wearing is bullshit. So I decided to give the softer matte leather ones a shot. 2 pairs- 1 peep-toe and 1 covered-regular. Let's see if they'll piss me off.

Indonesian Food Is Preferred

I was really happy to have dinner with the work associates at 6.30pm because that meant I needn't have to waste the entire evening. Of course I had other plans and places to go after hours with the friends.

We're in Jakarta. I'm not eating anything else but Indonesian food and spices. So it was to Pandan Village where the menu was rather extensive. Of course I had my favorite jus alpukat done just right, along with plenty of sambal everything-else. Heh.

Like I suspected, the gurami fish tasted best fried because well, it was deep fried. You'd just taste the oil and pretty much nothing else. This was kinda pan-fried, which resulted in this eeky muddy taste that I didn't quite take to. Thank goodness the vegetables, sayur asem and corn which were good. Whew. It was only after the meal then I realized that there were no red meat or chicken on the table. Woooohoooo.

I ordered alot of sambal. Sambal terasi, sambal pencit, sambal tempe, sambal terong, sambal terasi, sambal brambang....all! Best. Frankly, those and a little bit of rice and corn were enough to prep for a night out at the watering holes where I was given an introduction to the indie scene in Jakarta and got blasted full in the face with the music of the Indonesian indie bands.

On The Plane

When I'm on cattle class, window seats are a big no-no. Aisle seats are preferred just so that I can go pee whenever I want. It's almost always a given that my fellow passengers need to pee less than I do.

I was late in checking-in online and there were no other better choices than the allocated window seat. The system indicated that the 2 seats next to me would be filled. However, when I got on the flight, both seats were somehow empty. YAY. I could plonk all my stuff on the next seats. There, my pseudo business class seat. Heh.

The stewardess gave me a choice of lamb with rice or fish with potatoes. I picked neither. Juice and water would be fine. Jakarta would have lots of options for food. I heard the passenger in front of me ask if it was grilled or roast, and the reply came "roasted". In the end, I realized from the work associates who commented that their lamb appeared as rendang. Alamak. A world of difference between roast lamb and mutton rendang yo.

Since it was a comfortable window seat, I put on my sunnies and merrily stared out at the clouds during take-off. Quite beautiful some of them were. I had a couple of very serene moments with no specific thoughts and just focusing on the shifting cottony shapes. Staring at a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds lifted the spirits loads. It was a good start to October.

An Addition To The Letter H

Only after I uploaded the photos then I realized how odd it looks as an empty bag. I should have filled it with stuff first before posing with it immediately. Ah well- too lazy to take another shot.

I've sort of tried but can't seem to give up leather. Must try harder. Who knows. Maybe one day I'll switch entirely to fabric and recycled bags. I really really like leather. :( That smell! The smell of new leather is simply intoxicating, each time. This leather is divine, but it looks best after some stretching and usage. Then it becomes supple.

It's not the usual bright orange. It's a little muted. And it does come in two other colors if you ask the store about it. :p It's interesting precisely because it's not a dainty sort of bag. It's very hardy. You can grab it out to the malls or it can become a casual tote. No frills. This one is as bland as can be. and that's precisely what I like about these lines in the label.