vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations

Category Archives: Food


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in which we go to Hyderabad

At Golconda

At Qutb Shahi Tombs

Indiaaah! Here we are again! Arriving late at night, whisked to Westin Mindspace Hotel – it is after all in Hitex City, Silicon Valley of the east, Gateway to the North/South depending where you are from, or just plain Cyberabad – along a toll road and with NO traffic!

sexy bedroom

sexy bedroom

Second good news is fab hotel with see-through bathroom and comfiest bed ever slept in. Zzzzzz

After delicious brekkkie of dhosa masala – death for la bella figura but unmissable – we decided to go the whole hog and get a guide and a driver for the day. Enter Mr Kumar! Small and skinny, with a luxurious moustache, he gave us all the important facts on Hyderabad as we negotiated our way out of Jubilee Hills, the Beverley Hills of India.

Cyberabad

Cyberabad

In a nutshell, Hyderabad and Bangalore (our last stop in India, not my favourite place, see previous blog) vie for 5th largest city (8m people) and hi-tech accolades. Hyderabad might just win being Microsoft’s largest centre outside the USA and hosting major firms such as Facebook, Novartis, Accenture, Amazon, IBM, Verizon, etc etc. It is also much more pleasantly laid out and not quite so huggermugger as Bangalore.

What attracted us is its history – partly gleaned from William Dalrymple’s White Moguls – which goes back to at least 11th century, with the old capital Golconda (see below), source of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The new capital transferred to Hyderabad in 1591 with the building of the

Charminar

Charminar

Charminar by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah…and our first stop.  Extraordinary building in middle of bustling square which, by midday on the Saturday we were there, was chockablock. Being the Muslim centre, burkas in abundance. Fabulous views from the top. Having been a Muslim-ruled centre under the Nizams until Partition, Hyderabad still boasts a Muslim population of 35% vs Hindus with 50%.

Ayurvedic hospital seen from Charminar

Ayurvedic hospital seen from Charminar

‘Oh yes, India is a secular country, no problems,’ opines Mr Kumar. But later, when he feels at ease with us and we talk politics, as all Indian love to do, he gets very excited. ‘There is too much democracy in this country. We are too nice to the minorities. Hindus only have 2 children in the family and Muslims have 10! They are killing us for no reason. We Hindus are peaceful people.  Pakistan is influencing them. Look what happened there where the innocent Indian man [bomber] was killed in prison. Here we spend crores [a crore = 10 million] of Rupees on arresting the Bombay bombers and we hang them. Legally! In Boston they just shoot them!’

The mildest of men, once he got going, he was unstoppable. A BJP supporter and avid Hyderabad separatist – the BJP has undertaken to make Hyderabad into a separate state should they get in in 2014: ‘The problem is the politicians, they are not interested in doing things outside their own constituency. So there is no progress. We hate Congress, only one family ruling in India since 1947 [with one small break in 1989], all Brahmins, only 15% of the population. Caste is a big problem and getting worse. When Dalits come into power they still have no social position or respect. Even if they have money.’

30 years later, buying some wedding bangles

30 years later, buying some wedding bangles

Then on foot to the Chowmohalla Palace via the Laad Bazaar, or bridal bangle market, with everything the Indian bride could need for her wedding. Gold, glitter, glass galore.

Elegant buildings are set around courtyards with fascinating museums reflecting the life and times of the Nizams of Hyderabad, including a

Chowmahalla Palace

Chowmahalla Palace

pillared Durbar room with enormous chandeliers, and a collection of marvellous vintage cars and motorbikes.

The grand Durbar hall at Chowmahalla Palace

The grand Durbar hall at Chowmahalla Palace

Before the heat (40C) dissolved us completely, we managed to locate two tiny and unsung attractions – the Badshahi Ashurkhan, a Sufi shrine with mosaics from 1595, but sadly unloved and uncared for, as was the Purani Haveli, now in the grounds of a girls’ school, the Silver Jubilee museum of the 6th Nizam created to show off all his gifts – silver of course – and which houses the largest walk-in wardrobe in the world at 73 sq m! Can you believe he wore new clothes every day of his life, and gave all his used clothes to the poor?

16 century tiles, Persian style in the Sufi shrine of Badhsahi Ashurkhana

16 century tiles, Persian style in the Sufi shrine of Badhsahi Ashurkhana

Hyderabad is the home of biryani so to sample this we went to Paradise, a four-story food court buzzing with families on a Saturday night. We were sprayed by a fine mist throughout our meal – we were sitting outside – but our dinner (R 1050) cost less that 2 glasses of post-prandial wine at the hotel!

Tandoori kebabs and biryani at the Paradise

Tandoori kebabs and biryani at the Paradise

The next day and Mr Kumar escorts us to Golconda Fort, along with a very detailed description if its history. I got confused so you can look it up. The current structure was built by the first of the Qutb dynasty, starting in 1518, on the site of an ancient mud brick fort. It reminded us of Great Zimbabwe, an impressive structure, set over an area of 40 sq km, built of hand-hewn granite blocks, slotted together with no mortar. Here we have grand halls of justice, zenanas, royal audience halls, all linked by steep steps, which we toiled up in 40C. The views of Beverley Hills and Hyderabad in the distance were stunning and worth it. Practically the only tourists there, the place was nevertheless teeming with Indian visitors, picnicking, playing badminton in the sacred portals, and leaving offerings at the various shrines.  Also asking us to pose for photos with them! Never have I been in such demand….

Ross and Mr Kumar at Golconda

Ross and Mr Kumar at Golconda

The staircase up to the Fort

The staircase up to the Fort

at Golconda

at Golconda

From there to the Qutb Shahi tombs, the only necropolis in the world where all members of a single dynasty are buried, comprising 7 tombs of the Kings and numerous hangers-on, including the founding female, Queen Hayat Baksh Begum, and Quli Qutb’s wife, after

Tomb of Queen Hayat Baksh Begum, wife of founder of Hyderabad

Tomb of Queen Hayat Baksh Begum, wife of founder of Hyderabad

whom the city of Hyderbad is named, and who was daughter, wife and mother to three of the generations of rulers. Based on Isfahan, the tombs incorporate onion domes, Persian and Indian motifs: they were decorated with majolica ties and precious stones, all now looted, but the ornate plasterwork remains and the granite will last for infinty.

Detail form Quli Qutb Shah's tomb

Detail from Quli Qutb Shah’s tomb

the Taj Mahal of Hyderabad - tomb of Mohammed Qutb Quli Shah, the founder of Hyderbad

the Taj Mahal of Hyderabad – tomb of Mohammed Qutb Quli Shah, the founder of Hyderabad

Again, a spectacular sight, Quli Qutb’s tomb being likened to the Taj Mahal of Hyderabad, but like all Indian monuments covered in litter and badly maintained. No hope of UNESCO status till they sort this out, I’m sure. Mr Kumar says the problem is that Central government allocates funds but these are outsourced and huge cuts are taken along the way so the resulting money spent is pitiful. In his wise words, ‘Politics and bureaucracy are the problem of India.’

Three little friends who wanted to chat

Three little friends who wanted to chat


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in which we go to Pulau Ubin on May Day

vickybikeMay Day is a public holiday in SIngapore so we make a very Singaporean outing to local island Pulau Ubin. Cheated and got a taxi to Changi ferry terminal then queued up for 5 minutes or so before we hopped on to one of the many bumboats that plough the waterway between the two islands. Journey time about 10 minutes; cost $2.50.

Bumboat at Changi

Bumboat at Changi

Ross with the bikes

Ross with the bikes – note wet shirt

On arrival we hire a couple of mountain bike look-alikes ($13 for the day). Brakes good (important after I broke my toe last year in Kerala due to faulty brakes and a resulting crash into the back of Husband’s bike) but gears challenging. It was blisteringly hot and humid and the island surprisingly hilly, so by the time we reached the nature trail – a boardwalk over the swampy mangrove area – we are both dripping.

Tide was out and we spotted several salamanders and crabs with huge lobster claws; amazed to come across a herd of wild pigs with nine piglets just by the bike park! It’s pretty wild – tropical forest – for somewhere so close to busy Singapore.

Little piggy wiggy

Little piggy wiggy

If you read my Bali blog, you will recall I was daunted by the scooter mayhem that is ubiquitous. Here in Singapore it costs $50,000 to get a licence to own a car, and there are very few scooters or motorbikes and no-one cycles – too hot. As a result there are comparatively few people who have passed a driving test or have any road sense.

So when the crowds flock to Ubin for a day out and hire bikes by the hundreds, it is truly terrifying. Whole families cycle side by side, babies front and back, chatting, looking at the scenery, picnics precariously balanced on the handlebars. It is quite obvious that many have never ridden a bike before: they come at you face on, no notion of keeping left; they park their bikes broadside, to make an adjustment to the chain or whatever, no pulling over; they come to a grinding halt at the merest incline, wherever they happen to be. We saw a nasty spill on a flat piece of road (lots of blood) and surmised that the injured party had simply ridden into one of her friends! Another girl fainted at the crest of a tiny hillock as she tried to get off her bike! It was worse than Bali as at least there you felt there were unwritten rules and a kind of highway code of conduct.

A well-deserved Tiger

A well-deserved Tiger

After 2 plus hours of this in the baking hot sun, nerves shattered, decided enough was enough, and we repaired to a local seafront restaurant for a Tiger beer and a steamed fish. Shared our table with five delightful elderly Singaporeans who had come just for the food – no cycling (bravo!). The jolly man loved a good acronym: when he heard we are going to india on Friday he said, ‘Ah India, terrible place, I N D I A – I’ll never do it again!’

This afternoon we bought the guide book – Hyderabad here we come!

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Boats going in and out – our restaurant is in the background


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in which I practise my culinary skills

In an earlier post you will have seen my new wok; well, I realised that this was not good enough so went and bought a ceramic one with a lid. Thus prepared and armed with a local cookery book and the internet, I unleashed my inventiveness.

Meat is very expensive here, so I have concentrated on seafood and chicken dishes. Most Thai and Malaysian dishes have a curry paste as a base, and I ALWAYS make my own. Even local websites say ‘3 tbsp of red/green/chill paste’ and sometimes even ‘3 tbsp of tomato ketchup’. Such recipes are rejected.

5 star dishes

Beef rendang – cooked lovingly for over 4 hours after several hours of marinating the meat. Melt-in-your-mouth or what! Here with  Chinese broccoli.

Beef rendang

Beef rendang

Tom yam soup – it’s critical to make your own fish broth, out of the prawn shells and heads in this case. I also used oyster and shitake mushrooms, and local fish balls.

It's all tin the preparation - making ones own fish stock for tom yam

It’s all in the preparation – making my own fish stock for tom yam

Tom yam soup with prawns squid and fish balls

Tom yam soup with prawns, squid and fish balls

Thai red chicken curry; I used turmeric root as well as galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, tamarind,cumin, coriander, paprika, black pepper and, of course, coriander root; a little Thai basil and fresh coriander at the end. I like to add veg to a curry to create a one-pot meal. Yum! This is in fact adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe – the local ones were some of the worst offenders in off-the-shelf ingredients.

Red chicken curry with aubergine and green beans

Red chicken curry with aubergine and green beans

Four star dishes

Isaan stye grilled chicken and Nyonya-style bean curd salad, with bean sprouts and snow peas. The salad has a delicious roasted cashew nut and tamarind dressing, while the chicken is marinated in lemon grass, ginger and fish sauce. The bean curd is fried to a golden crisp on the outside and melts when you bite it. Marks lost for presentation, not taste: should have had the dressing on the side and then it wouldn’t have looked so brown!

Isaan-style grill chicken (kai yaan) and Nonya style bean curd salad

Isaan-style grill chicken (kai yaan) and Nonya style bean curd salad

Sri Owen Khmer grilled chicken with baby pak choi: I also used the other half of the marinade to bbq some pork fillet which was delicious too. Marks lost for too much soy sauce on the garlic stir fry pak choi

Sri Owne's Khmer chicken cooked on BBQ with baby pak choi

Sri Owen’s Khmer chicken cooked on BBQ with baby pak choi

Blackened local white fish, with confit lentils and green salad. Decided we wanted to be less Oriental one night – so much lemon grass and fish sauce otherwise. The fish was delicious and one of the cheapest on sale.

Blackened snapper with confit lentils and green salad

Blackened snapper with confit lentils and green salad

Other efforts – unclassified, usually taste excellent but dont look as good as they might! Masterchef, help!

My first attempt at Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. Couldn’t get the rolling-up knack, but later found a video which told me how it should be done…a la prochaine! They tasted as they should, however.

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Stir fried squid Malay style, with lots of blachan (fermented prawn/anchovy paste). Too much garnish and too much sauce, it all looks a bit monochrome. but it was sure tasty! I adore squid…

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Have struggled with local heroine chef Sylvia Tan, where nothing seems to taste of much; anyway I made her mushrooms and white fungus (couldn’t get black) with seared flank steak and it was Ok; other dishes such as Peranakhan favourite ayam (chicken) tempura have been underwhelming.

Ozzie flak steak with Chinese mushrooms and white fungus

Ozzie flak steak with Chinese mushrooms and white fungus

Some memorable delicacies eaten out…

First the top dim sum place, Din Tai Fung, popular for Saturday brunch. We are going to Taiwan in May so will check out its alma mater…

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Making the dim sum in front of your eyes

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You can also get other stuff – Ross has spaghetti-like noodles with a spicy pork sauce; I had  hot and sour soup, and we shared the broccoli

 

 

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In Jakarta, I also some quite extraordinary sushi, very hot,  and beautifully presented.IMG_1351

 

Next week’s blog will come from BALI; I am taking a quick break while husband is travelling; an unaccompanied spouse in fact! I shall be visiting one of Louise’s friends and then going to a dive centre in the north and do some scuba. Good opportunity to see the island.

 


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in which we go to Jakarta and I get the hump

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My delightful interrogators on Easter Sunday

Not sorry to leave Jakarta. Huge city of 8 m plus people, clogged with motorbikes, taxis, cars, buses; traditional red-roofed houses juxtaposed against enormous sky scrapers – and polluted. But compared to India the traffic is (almost) regulated! Certainly infrastructure – flyovers and roads – superior, and there is a whizzo toll road to and from airport. India could learn from that.

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Motos parked as far as the eye can see!

Added to which hotel Manhattan was rotten to the core – dirty (mould growing in bathroom and on shower curtains), bad food and murky pool. Even gym tired. Might have been OK once but seen better days, and it was paid for on expenses. Wah! Reason: 5 mins walk from offices, unheard of in this city of horrendous rush-hour jams. But for accompanying spouse it’s a poor place to hang out and work, as sight-seeing alone is challenging. English is virtually unspoken, even by upmarket Silver Bird taxis; Blue Bird drivers, for the record, were better! So I left two days early.

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NB man wearing ManU teeshirt; there was a noisy ManU convention in town over the weekend, can one never escape their fans?

We arrived for Easter so we got a couple of days ‘doing’ Jakarta a deux, enough really. From the enormous Medan Merdeka square – largest in Asia, and Soviet in style, centred round what is known as Sukarno’s last erection, a monument to himself – to the old Dutch Batavian port of Kota, interspersed with some good grub we did ok. But stupendously hot and sticky and 2 hrs max outside excursion in full sun.

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Ross being interviewed!

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Not sure about this lesson in violence from mother to son!

Holiday weekend so hordes of families camped out in square, having picnics, visiting the erection (5 hours queue to go up top). Ditto Sunday in Kota, where the old Dutch Fatehilla Square was extremely festive: girls in Sunday best, floaty pink, red, and pastel-coloured gauzy outfits with sleeves to keep off the sun, complete with straw hats over their headscarves, being ferried round the square by gallant swains on hired pushbikes; human statues; monkey on a motorbike; marionettes; and street food and drinks galore. Highlight was being interviewed by keen and delightful students in English – obviously a class exercise. Asked what I thought about Indonesian people, first I said ‘very friendly’ and then, ‘they are very small and make me feel very big’. Giggle, giggle. Ross asked much more searching questions on the political system. History does not relate his reply!

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Fatehilla Sq, Kota

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Sad reminder of glorious past…

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Fine old Dutch building on the canal

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The old Dutch drawbridge, nicely restored, but the stench from the canal is quite believable looking at this pic!

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All in a day’s work

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Grab 40 winks when you can…

You could see remains of the old Dutch town, must have been very attractive, now largely crumbling. The canal leading out to the sea full of putrid debris – stank to high heaven, as did the fish market in the shanty town near the sea front (couldn’t see that for building works!). People eking out a living by collecting plastic bottles and sleeping by their stalls, or whatever shelter available. Reality check – Indonesia is a very poor country for most people. Jakarta is a misleading city.

We were nevertheless astounded by the ostentatious wealth on display in Indonesia Grand Mall,

…while the washing dries

largest in Asia apparently but you could be in Bond Street or 5th Avenue given the luxury branded shops, and the immaculately coiffed and coutured ladies, elegant men (all yuppy-young), an army of uniformed nannies minding spoiled and overweight offspring while mums shop and gossip with friends. Let’s hope there is a trickle down effect…

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A good cocktail always gets rid of the hump! here we have chargrilled grapefruit martini; followed quickly by pineapple kaffir lime leaf margarita! smile on face!

Upside undoubtedly the helpful, smiling and gracious people, and delicious food. Like Singapore, food courts and restaurants in the malls are very popular, but we went to two recommended restaurants: Samarra, in sumptuous surroundings, carved statues, Indo-Arab fusion, where we had delicious fish satay and a lamb nasi dish, accompanied by a bamboo shoot and coconut soup.

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My nasi (rice)dish with lamb

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Fish satay on lemongrass skewers

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Satay street food, at a fraction of the price!

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deep frying must be extremely hot!

On my last night we visited Kembang Goela, Jakarta’s no 1 Trip Advisor-rated eatery. A bit OTT, but splendid decor (we had a ludicrously expensive bottle of wine), but the rendang and deng deng (deep friend beef carpaccio) were out of this world. A purple-suited nanny spent most of our meal chasing an unruly child round the restaurant and feeding him when he stood still. Children are absolutely adored all over the Far East (and they are beautiful) but under-disciplined in my opinion! One wonders what kind of adults they will turn into?

I shall look forward to returning to Indonesia – to the islands – but will give Jakarta a miss next time.

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Deng deng beef (left); rendang (right) and our chicken nasi dish (foreground)


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in which we receive visitors

Dear friend Fi and husband RIchard dropped in for 24 hours en route back to England from Perth. This provided an opportunity for me to masquerade as experienced tour guide and catalyst for reuniting old friends. The photo gallery below tells the story! Click on each image if you want to enlarge


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in which we visit Malaka

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The Malaka river, with the traditional houses now decorated with top-notch graffiti

Sounds romantic, a name we have all heard of in history lessons, and it was a delight! Founded as a port in the 14th century by the Portuguese and fought over by the Dutch and then the British East India Company – it is bang on the old spice trade routes to the east and made a perfect stopping off point for the ships – the old town is a remarkably unspoiled mix of all these influences, charmingly entwined with Straits Chinese heritage and delicious Nyonya cuisine.

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Detail of some of the graffiti

Our trip did not get off to an auspicious start, as we discovered we had left our crucial Singapore immigration exit slips behind…signal for being marched into a separate room where new forms were filled and an official painstakingly input everything on a computer…and of course delayed our bus by at least 20 minutes. The queues in and out of Malaysia were horrendous in both directions  – first week of school holidays. Duh! So the four hour trip took well over five; even our return, where we had had to get a limo as all buses were full, took over four hours with overhead thunder, lightening and torrential rain.

ImageBut on the plus side: we met a charming American couple, Sue and Sean, as we wandered round the bus depot in the early hours – turned out they were veteran divers and photographers with inside knowledge of the Indonesian islands; notes were taken for future travels! Poor them, they had decided on a day trip which ended up being scarcely three hours (note to all: this is not day trip from Singapore!), so we took them under our wing and devised a whistle-stop tour of the main attractions, comprising the old Dutch town and the more contemporary 19 and 20th century Straits Malay quarter – Jonkers Street – now a hustling, bustling shopping and eating area.

ImageWonderful street food – 5 dimsum for R3, about 80p – and later Nyonya laksa and spicy seafood in a palm leaf with beers for about £10 (seafood is surprisingly expensive everywhere; had we stuck to veg or chicken we could have spent R5-6 each or about £1.25).

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Ross on our gin-less hotel bar balcony!

Had found a boutique hotel –

the Sterling on booking.com – and it really was rather wonderful too, old colonial style, with a jacuzzi bath on the balcony But no gin! On the Sunday, after our river trip, we had a rather unremarkable lunch – but at least I had a glass of wine (beer is too gassy), the first for about 5 days; the jolly waiter with a limp, who spoke (in my hearing) French, German and Japanese, thought Ross looked like Piers Branson. Who? You know, James Bond….Aaah Brosnan!

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Fast-food street style – here they are dry frying squid

Fascinating the number of tourists (made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008), mostly huge crowds of Malaysian and Chinese, in groups, taking photos of everything in sight, especially themselves. The Churchillian V sign is a favourite pose…and, thankfully, relatively few Westerners.  It’s great when people love their own country to the extent that they visit its landmarks, something we in Europe rarely do.

The photos really tell the story better than words; but Malaysia I think has the potential for lots of wekeend trips – people are friendly, food delicious and access (relatively) easy.

ImageAs we drove back, I mused on what is the difference between what we used to call Third World and Second World countries. It hit me suddenly. In, say, both Kenya and Malaysia you will see modern buildings, high rise office blocks, huge shopping malls, town-house developments and the like. In Kenya (and other countries with outward trappings of wealth and development) you will still see thousands of people walking everywhere and an army of overloaded matatus

Image(minibuses). In Malaysia virtually no-one walks and there are frequent and smart buses gliding down the roads. There is enough disposable income to take public transport, to own a motorbike or even a car. Mind you, even in Malaysia, you have that Third World phenomenon, a police road block. We got stuck in one for 40 minutes!

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The garish but luscious rickshaws, complete with boogie box reverberating with Hindi style pop songs!


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in which I shop for essential items

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View from my kitchen

Day 5: now worked out what I am missing; no, essential items are not replica bags and designer clothes (all of which would be nice but not available here – they are all the real thing and cost zillions).

After 3 days of getting into the new routine: swim 1 km in 35 mins, read my book for an hour, and then for the rest of the day read through mum’s letters in chronological order – now up to 1942 and she’s just been commissioned and  is on a boat but all the interesting bits have been cut out by the censor! – decided to go on first major expedition ON MY OWN.

This is quite easy in truth – Great World Serviced Apartments has nifty FREE shuttle bus that goes to Orchard Road, Mecca of shopping, every 30 mins, and returns in a loop. It deposits me right outside Tang’s Department store (est’d 1932) where the kitchen equipment is in the basement.

Yes, dear reader, I am ashamed to say that this blog risks becoming rather food-oriented (fellow blogger Janet will be impressed my my devotion to housewifely duties, even in Singapore, while she struggles in civilised France to do the same…).

ImageEssential items for a foodie like me boil down to: wok (amazingly flat did not have one); single Bodum cafetière; small egg-size milk saucepan; Kenwood automatic chopper for making own fresh red and green Thai curry sauces and chopping coconut for Keralan curries (these require chopped flesh, not just milk); lime squeezer; garlic press; and four mugs – again only two terrible thick ones and I must have bone china for my tea. Wonderful Tangs had most of these on offer, so I felt a very good housewife indeed. Decided not to get the cute godlfish dinner service though…

IMG_1023Virtue not rewarded as greeted by the 4pm sharp monsoon downpour with thunder and lightening and got wet waiting for the bus. Wah! (new expression which makes me sound quite acclimatised, don’t you think?).

Food highlights have been delicious Thai green prawn curry cooked by me; and last night’s trip to Spize, 6 pm to 6 am local diner where we feasted on seafood nasi goring (Indonesian fried rice) and squid in a hot sauce, with belacan kangkung (water convolvulus with dried shrimp and shrimp paste), washed down with a half litre of sharp fresh lime, all for S$30.

Other news: it looks like neither of us will get visas for India: they changed the rules three weeks ago and as Ross does not have a work permit here, and as I am only the ‘accompanying spouse’ with no official status, it’s looking tricky. Down to the High Commission first thing tomorrow. It’s a blow for Ross as it’s part of his job to go there in 10 days time! I have to say ‘I told you so’, as I suspected you had to apply from your country of residency but no-one ever listens to me…


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in which we arrive in Singapore

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Day one in Singapore.  Exploring the malls on Orchard Road – an anthropological phenomenon but I can’t say that it really turns me on.

What am I doing here? You may well ask! It seemed like a great idea at the time, when Ross was offered a 3 month interim appointment in Singapore with a Swiss pharma corporation, to be the ‘accompanying spouse’. Not something my friends would normally associate me with, although three years in Geneva should have prepared them. And me.

Arriving for the weekend made it appear like a holiday: unpack, straight out to our local mall and a yummy dinner of chilli prawns, garlic pak choi and spicy aubergine; bed. Then an early morning swim in our 50m pool (outdoor) before heading off to the world-famous Orchard Road shopping city, one of the largest and most modern collections of malls in the world, with familiar designer brands starting at the top end with Cartier, Armani, Prada, etc, then going more prosaic – Zara, M & S, Massimo Dutti, Body Shop (might as well have stayed in London if shopping is the objective). And all ludicrously expensive: I bought a swimsuit in M & S for more than double London price! Given that the average Singapore income for 80% of the population is S$6000 per month who buys this stuff? Notwithstanding the malls are teeming with people; maybe like us, looking not shopping.

Nevertheless the food courts are cheap and full. We had lunch in one of the better known, Food Republic: dim sum and a special soup where you choose your ingredients and they quickly boil them up in a delicious broth, six ingredients all for $4.00.

Then on the amazing underground, the MRT, trains every four minutes, clean, spacious, smooth, efficient, to Chinatown, where we followed a guidebook tour. In between the skyscrapers we see glimpses of what old Singapore must have looked like, 19 century Peranakan houses, with brightly painted shutters and iron grills, the skyscrapers peeking over their roofs, old men ferociously playing checkers, and smaller street food stalls and little Chinese medicine shops.

Peranakan houses

The area behind China Town – Ann Siang Hill – is now very trendy with boutique hotels and bars (left). Here we find SImon Rigby, a Queens man and Ross’s contemporary who is based here for the next couple of years, sans famille. Caught in an end-of-season monsoon downpour, we sip Earl Grey on his hotel terrace. We catch up with him later, first for drinks in the Fullerton Hotel, the grand old Post OffIce building (see below), and then in IndoChine, a rather touristy restaurant, but well situated overlooking the marina.

Fall into bed – after watching the Wales/Scotland game in a bar, as you do, and woke the next morning, no jet lag! Yay!

Ross Simon marinaAnother swim – going to swim 20 lengths every day to keep fit – before meeting more old Cambridge friends for a Japanese Bento box brunch at Moon in Sun in yet another mall. I am surprised to discover Mark and Lucie Greaves live in a house in Singapore, as do our evening dates, friends of friends from Champery and Geneva, who have an old colonial ‘black and white’ set in a luscious tropical garden, with pool and live-in rainforest style terrace. But peeking over the roof of their house is the ubiquitous tower block, albeit rather an attractive one!

Now Day 3 and I wake up and think, What am I doing here? Ross has gone to work and I am faced with setting up a daily routine, which will go something like: early morning tea; emails, online news and Facebook; more tea; swim 20 lengths; read book in sun (one hour); do ‘work’ (research for book, have brought all my mother’s letters, written weekly to her mother since 1939, with me, in my hand baggage); coffee; browse local supermarket for dinner ingredients if not going out; buy sushi for lunch, or whip up a slimming salad; more ‘work’; tea; then what????Wah! this might get a bit monotonous….