The High Life

I finally made it down (a few weeks ago) to the Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore's two integrated resorts (or IRs for short).  Not, of course, to visit the casino.  I certainly am not going to waste money like that.  But, I did stand outside and peer in.  Not much of a view, and not very pleasant with the odour of stale cigarette smoke in the surrounding air, but nonetheless quite interesting.  Didn't see many people entering but I suppose it was a little early in the day (around lunch time).

I was actually at MBS for lunch at Pizzeria Mozza, one of the celebrity chef restaurants in the IR.  Pizzeria Mozza and its next door neighbour Osteria Mozza are by Nancy Silverton, in partnership with Mario Batalli and both restaurants are famous for their mozzarella, in particular the burrata mozzarella (this rather mouthwatering article tells all about burrata).  We had the burrata for our starter - the absolutely delicious mozza caprese - burrata mozzarella topped with a little pesto sauce and grilled cherry tomatoes (on the vine). The milky cheese, the tart sweetness of the tomatoes, the flavourful pesto - mmmmm...  The pizza too was tasty, and the famous crust was indeed light and elastic.  But the star of the show is indeed the burrata and I'm seriously thinking of visiting the mozzarella bar in Osteria. 

After lunch, we decided to take a trip up 55 floors and visit the MBS Skypark.  This was not without some debate.  Did we really want to pay $20 for a view?  In the end, we decided to do so and max out the time there.  Oh dear.  Did I just sound very Singaporean?  So we went up, and after walking around a bit we sat at the bar there and had a drink or two.  The view?  Well, it was certainly quite interesting to look down at the surrounding areas and to see all the way to the ends of Singapore, but I'm certainly not going to pay $20 again for the experience. 

So that was my visit to MBS. 

Tragedy

It has been 8 days since the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, a week in which Japanese lived under the spectre of a nuclear fallout.  A week of great tragedy, in which so many were left dead or injured, homeless and hungry. 

In the light of this terrible tragedy, our own problems should seem almost trivial.  But they are not.  A death of a pet dog, the illness of a beloved family member, are personal to us.   And it is not wrong, or selfish to focus on these personal concerns. For our losses, our fears and our worries, bind us to those who are suffering so greatly, so far away. 

Visiting Hong Kong

Yung Kee Chinese Sausages a photo by Taking5 on Flickr.

I visited Hong Kong last month; it was a short work trip but pretty fruitful. The business part was fine and I also managed a short trip to Lam Kwai Fong, where we had dinner at Yung Kee.

Yung Kee is a well known Chinese restaurant, famous for their roast goose and chinese sausages. My colleague found out I was going and asked me to buy some; so since I needed to have dinner we went over to Central (my hotel was in Kowloon) to the restaurant.

Foodwise, I was expecting a lot as the restaurant is in Asia's top 20 on the Miele Guide.  Maybe I expected too much as whilst the dishes were ok they were not spectacular, except of course for their specialties - the roast meats and the goose. The goose was delicious. Moist, flavourful, tender. The skin oh-so-crispy. It was really a dish I couldn't have enough of. The roast meats were also excellent. Maybe I didn't know what the other house specialties were, but the rest of the food was just average to me.

We went to buy the Chinese sausages thereafter. I was surprised to learn that they were still being sold by the "catty", a measurement of weight I thought had gone out with the dodo. Anyway, I think you get approx 20 sausages for the catty.  I bought four boxes worth, of lap cheong and the liver sausage (I forget the cantonese translation for the moment).

We walked around after dinner, around Lam Kwai Fong.  It was pleasantly cool that evening and light from the pubs spilled out into the streets; people were walking around so there was a nice buzz about the place without being overly crowded.  Unfortunately we had to go back as the next day was a busy one.  And, as our hotel was not in one of the more exciting parts of Hong Kong, there were not many subsequent opportunities to sneak out to Central again.  Guess that has to wait till my next visit to Hong Kong :-)  

Happy days are here again

Another favourite Glee moment.  I didn't get the reference to the Judy Garland/Barbara Streisand duet, but found the mash-up on this Youtube video.  It's a great tribute, down to Kurt doing a kick at the end of the song.

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

For my Christmas present, my very clever sister gave me "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling", by Ross King - a fascinating account of how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Along the way, he paints a picture of the politics of Italy and the Church at the time, and the dynamics between the Pope, Julius II. and the artistic community.

But what I really enjoyed was the description of how Michelangelo learnt the art of fresco as he painted the ceiling, how he grew in confidence over the course of time, and especially the author's insights into Michelangelo's creative thought process as he worked on the different panels of the painting.  I like how he also integrated the story of Raphael, who was working on the frescos for the Pope's study and rooms around the same time.

I had of course visited the Sistine chapel just about one and a half years ago (as recorded in a previous post) and craned my neck looking up at the ceiling the whole time.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos :-( But I recall looking at the ceiling and thinking that there was such a contrast between one half of the ceiling, where the panels appeared to be more crowded with smaller figures, as opposed to the majesty of the other half, where the masterpieces of God creating dark and light, and the creation of Adam (with the famous finger) were.  The book explains that the more crowded panels were painted first.  Thereafter, the scaffolding for that half of the chapel were removed and Michelangelo got his first look at the frescos from the floor of the chapel.  He realised that they were not impactful due to the size and composition, and thereafter increased the size of the figures and simplified the composition for the second half of the ceiling. 

These, and more insights, can be found in the book.   I do recommend it for any art lover planning to visit Rome/the Sistine Chapel.  The only downside is that there were not enough colour plates in the book.  I would have loved more.  Instead, I had to look at the paintings online on the Vatican Museum's website - the virtual tour of the chapel - whilst reading the relevant section in  the book.

Journey to Pompeii

I have been on leave all this week. Aside from meeting up/having a meal with friends, and clearing my work email, I've taken the opp to do a little bumming around Singapore.  One item on the "to-do" list was visiting the Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore - Pompeii : Life in a Roman Town 79CE.

It's been a while since I visited the Museum - in fact, I've not returned since my first visit soon after the Museum re-opened.  Instead, I visited the Peranakan museum a few times in the interim :-)  So it was probably time for another trip.  And the Pompeii exhibition was well worth the time.

The first thing which greets the visitor to the exhibition are casts of people and animals lying on the ground.  When Pompeii was excavated, the forms of those who died during the volcanic eruption were found - the ash had covered them and formed moulds around their dead bodies.  Whilst the bodies decayed over time, the shapes remaind. Particularly poignant (for me) was the cast of the little dog which had been chained up to guard his owner's property, whilst they fled to safety.  He died trying to escape the chain. Another cast was of a man, seated on the floor, with his hand covering his mouth in an attempt to keep the ash out.  But his  efforts, too, were in vain. 

The next stop is a short video, which attempts to reproduce the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on that fateful day in  79CE.  The eruption was actually recorded by the Roman letter writer Pliny the Younger (the Pepys of his day), who describes what happens in some detail - from the early part of the eruption to the subsequent darkening of the sky and the constant raining down of ashes.  Pliny was in Misenum, a nearby town, not in Pompeii itself, but he too had to flee the town in order to escape the volcanic ash and fumes. His uncle, however, had taken a boat out to study the volcano and also to mount some sort of rescue mission and perished in the attempt.

Subsequent rooms contain pottery, coins, weights, religious artefacts, jewellery and other items from the destroyed city. But my favourite room was the one containing the statues and beautiful frescos from the town. Some of the colours were still so rich and fresh, I had difficulties in believing that these were really almost 2000 years old.  According to another short video, the frescos were preserved so well because of the ash they had been buried in, following the eruption.  There was also a beautiful little mosaic fountain.  It is fascinating to think that this is just one small Roman town, not particularly exceptional, yet with people who appreciated beauty, art, and the pleasures of life.

I ended up buying a book on Pompeii, and with a wish to pay a visit to the ruined city one day.  I feel fortunate indeed to live in Singapore, far  away (relatively) from active volcanos. But at the end of it, it is indeed a reminder not to take for granted the blessings which we have, for life as we know it can indeed change overnight.

A somewhat pensive thought to end the year on!

p.s.  a few more photos on my Flickr page.

Waterfall

Silky Water!
Originally uploaded by Taking5

I thought I should end this series of posts on Laos, with this photo of the Kouang Si Waterfall, near Luang Prabang.

It is my first photo with silky water, achieved through lengthening the exposure, but as I didn't have a tripod, I had to find a suitable perch to put the camera on.

This is of course not the full falls - those are far more impressive. But the water looks a lot nicer in this shot - do check out my Flickr set if you would like to see more photos.

This visit to Laos has been truly enjoyable, exploring the countryside, meeting the people, participating in the life here.