I love NParks and how much effort goes into making spaces for us to enjoy being outside and to showcase some of our natural surroundings.
Recently, the Labrador Coastal Walk opened, completing a loop you can do from Labrador Park, through the Alexandra Garden trail, that takes you to the Henderson Waves bridge, down to Vivo, and then along the boardwalk back to the park. Or vice versa.
It’s too hot to do the whole thing now so I stuck to the coast walk. It’s easy and pleasant and you can walk end to end (Park to Vivo) in 30 minutes of purposeful walking.
The people I feel sorry for are the ones who dropped millions to buy a ’seaview’ property at Reflections or The Caribbean. Sure you get a view, but you also get the boardwalk and joe public staring into your living room/bedroom/bathroom. There can be no privacy unless your curtains are closed all the time. I wouldn’t like that. I suspect that area will start getting busy once that condo is fully occupied.
The walk takes you from the war/battery relics of Labrador Park, onto a boardwalk suspended in the water, curving past the Keppel Club and the lovely old Cliff House (I always knew it as the Admiral’s House), to the Keppel Marina, past Reflections and the Caribbean, to Vivo.
On a weekday afternoon, it was me, a smattering of uncles and fishermen in the park, and some expat moms and their babies and some runners on the boardwalk. As it is totally exposed, it was really hot, despite the seabreeze. The whole thing is lit at night, which would be a pretty nice walk.
So now I’ve done both halves of the walk I need to join the whole thing up and do the loop…I’ll save that for when it’s not 100 degrees outside.
view from Labrador Park - the boardwalk hugs the coastline all the way to Vivo
That's Sentosa and Resorts Word in the background
this is nice at high tide - surrounded by water
there's a beach you can play on near the Park
Keppel Marina
Reflections at Keppel Bay: people are starting to move in
the boardwalk outside The Caribbean. Onward to Vivo
Out of curiosity and because things weren’t working out with the BF, I signed up on two online dating sites in the past year and discovered that the number of love-frauds and scammers out there is just mind-boggling!
Since recent media reported many cases of women getting conned on online dating sites, I decided to ink down some of my experiences. If it helps someone weed out the fakers and save her some heartache, my excruciating online dating experience wouldn’t be in vain.
First of all, choose a guy who lives in your own country because after all, you want to be able to meet this person, look into his eyes and hold his hand. And if he says that he is actually overseas when he is supposed to live here, then you have caught him out on THE BIG LIE. Don’t be stupid – drop him like a hot brick NOW, Girl!
If he passes this first test or you take your chances on a guy who lives overseas, then maybe these next few pearls of wisdom will help. How do I know all of this? Because I’ve met them all, my dearies.
1) Weed out the Most Obviousfakes – the ones with really bad English (so I’m a language snob, shoot me), the ones who extol how beautiful you are and how they are so in love with you already in their first email (gag), and the ones who are only asking for sex (ick).
2) Never trust that who you see is who you get. If a paedophile can pretend to be a 14-year-old girl online, then any of these guys you see can be someone else. Many scammers use other people’s online photos in their fake profiles and if the guy looks like an absolute hunk, ask yourself this – why would he really need to hunt for love online much less in another country?
3) ‘Wink’ or send feeler emails out to those who catch your eye. And of those who answer, delete those who will not share about themselves but would instead only praise the beauty of your toes and ask you only for more details about yourself. This ploy endears the woman to them because they appear to be good listeners and seem very caring.
4) Ask about his job – what exactly he does, who he has to deal with, why he chose such a job. Very often these guys are listed as Engineers (usually oil and gas engineers because they think women don’t know much about it, duh!) and other technical careers. If he can’t give details about his job then he probably doesn’t know much about it either, so hit the panic button (Danger, Will Robinson!).
5) Scammers usually use a Yahoo email account or yahoo chat. I’m not sure entirely why, but I suspect that Yahoo does not track new account holders as much as Gmail or Hotmail.
6) Beware of UK phone numbers. If he asks for your contact number, ask him to give you one first. It is easy to apply for a UK telephone number online so many scammers usually say they live there and will give you a UK number. If you can trust your ability to distinguish accents, call him from a secure line and listen to how he speaks, not what he says. Some of the guys I called had rather dubious British accents, including one who claimed to be Canadian! The rest had fake accents, with the majority sounding like Nigerians trying to sound Brit, I kid you not!
7) Overseas chappies will also say they don’t have webcams. This prevents you from actually seeing that they are nothing like their online profile pictures. They will ask you for more pictures of yourself – don’t do it as this is also one way scammers get access to more pictures to create more fake profiles.
Most of these guys will have some kind of sob story to get your sympathy. I got these – widowed and left with a beloved young daughter; cheated on and with a sick mother; and my personal favourite – a tragic accident that killed his kid who turned out not to be his kid because his ex-wife had been cheating on him. The stories are endless. It helps when some scammers try juggling too many targets at a time. ..
The Canadian-widower-with-a-beloved-daughter sent me an email meant for someone else called Sammie then forwarded me the exact same email with the ‘Dear ….’ name changed. Ha! You should’ve seen the back pedalling he did after that. I was giggling with glee all night. It is vindicating to have suspicions confirmed, but you won’t always have that luxury.
The Cheated-on-with-sick-mum guy “travelled” to Nigeria (alarm bells!) and while there, ran into some problems transferring some money for an urgent operation for his mum, asked if I could help. Pfft. Riiiight. And what urgent op did she need? A cataract operation. Sigh. Do your homework mister.
When I told Guy-with-dead-kid-who-wasn’t-his-kid that I was planning to come to Perth to visit him, he quickly arranged for a “work trip” to another town to bid for a project and found himself short of $11,000 for an orientation course. DING DING DING!!! Jackpot — another major loser.
I am not saying online dating is a complete failure because my search did throw up a couple of possibilities who are here, and who are willing to meet up. Meeting up face-to-face really helps you determine whether you could start something, whether this will be a new friend for you, or if this is a complete lost cause.
If you think that I am perhaps some embittered cynical chick, my friends will tell you they actually think I am too trusting and open-minded. Why do we put ourselves through this rigmarole? Sigh, maybe it is because our social circles are too closed to reveal new friendships. Maybe it is because we just aren’t the social animals we used to be. Maybe we are afraid to step out of our comfort zones. Whatever happens, don’t go online when you are vulnerable.
Go in with eyes open, a healthy dose of scepticism, and a truckload of common sense.
And because I am always such an optimistic romantic fool, I still believe there’s someone out there who’s just right for me, and for you! Happy and Safe Hunting!
Metamorphoenix is an over-40 full-figured newly-divorced sister searching for a happy life. It’s sometimes painful, sometimes funny, sometimes ridiculous … but always from the heart.
This remake of the John le Carre hit spy thriller is made by Working Title films and StudioCanal. That should give you an idea of what it’s going to be like -- it’s a Brit movie, funded by Euro money. That means, no Hollywood.
And it’s set in the ’70s and there is really very little visual aesthetic to love about the ’70s. Bad clothes, sideburns, bad hair… plus it’s Brit so it’s less shiny anyway.
But you know when a Brit film knocks it out of the park, it’s good…because it’s all about the quality -- of acting, or writing, of performances. And when you have a who’s who of British talent (all males) -- Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy (Inception), Benedict Cumberbatch (he’s the new Sherlock Holmes), John Hurt, Mark Strong -- then you get a FORMIDABLE film.
The Cold War, the ’70s, spies, double agents -- but no flash bang pow. It’s atmospheric suspense, attention to detail, and the old ways -- no mobile phones, google, computers. It’s footwork, files, microfiches… Who is the mole within the British Secret Service (the Circus)?
Gary Oldman so deserves the Best Actor Oscar he’s nominated for. He’s almost unrecognisable: he never lets up his reserve, his front. It’s a superb shield, suggesting the automaton required for intelligence work (especially pertinent when juxtaposed with and emo Tom Hardy) -- yet Oldman manages to suggest there is more behind that front. Fine, subtle acting.
This movie goes at its own pace, and the story unfolds very much as in a book. There are no shortcuts. The director (Tomas Alfredson) expects you to stay focussed and alert. He doesn’t throw you a chase sequence or any tricks to spice your ride.
You are plunged right into the detail and it’s a bit bewildering at first -- be patient. It’s worth it. Go along with it.
It’s an unusual combination: Fox Searchlight, George Clooney, and the guy who made Sideways.
Because with the inclusion of Clooney you expect a big double-barreled blockbuster; and with Fox Searchlight and Alexander Payne, you expect nuance, subtlety, performances.
Unexpectedly, the movie is nuanced and comes at you…sideways. Like Sideways, it’s a journey through revelation of self/character, rather than ‘things happening’. In many ways, it felt very much like another favourite of mine, the quirky Little Miss Sunshine.
In this case, Max King (Clooney) has to deal with big issues: his wife is in a coma and dying, leaving him with 2 very disconnected daughters. He has big decisions to make about the future of the trust he administers, which owns a huge, untouched chunk of Kauai. He is the sole trustee of this land, handed down through Hawaiian royal history. On her deathbed he discovers his wife was not who he thought she was.
All this unfolds at a gentle pace -- the soundtrack and sound effects of this movie are most definitely indie-feeling: no kerpow, or bang, but lots of silences and gentle Hawaiian folk music.
The focus is on Max leaving his comfort zone, and building unexpected relationships with his daughters.
What’s signature Payne about this movie is it can’t decide if it’s a tragedy, comedy, or drama. It’s mostly quiet and serious with gem-like moments of funny. Because life is like that.
That’s the main thrust of the movie, set up right in the beginning.
Life is life, no matter who you are, where you are, there are obstacles and hurdles, good moments and bad -- everyone has their journey.
George Clooney, no matter how much they try to unglam him and make him look like an average middle-aged man, is still George Clooney. George Clooney in a bad outfit. George Clooney with bad hair. George Clooney looking tired. But still, iconic George Clooney.
What surprised me was his ability to convey tragic pain, sadness, mundanity, confusion, devastation. Because you know, glitzy George of the red carpets should be immune from that right? Which again leads back to the central premise : life is life, no matter who you are.
I could not forget that it was George Clooney playing Max King. But then, when I read the script, I cannot imagine anyone OTHER than George playing Max.
There are some fabulous performances in this movie. In fact, I can’t think of a single character that wasn’t authentic, real, gem-like and absolutely necessary.
Outstanding for me, Shailene Woodley as daughter Alex -- all coltish and gorgeous and YOUTH. Overwhelming, intoxicating youth. Foul-mouthed, wayward, lost -- and suddenly found with a new relationship with dad.
Younger daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) is also pitch-perfect: young, influenced by her older sister, sassy, slightly lost, totally unself-conscious.
Sid, played by Nick Krause, is an absolute delight. Annoying, perfect, necessary -- what a great character.
Another standout was Judy Greer as Julie Speer. Totally arresting.
The director was absolutely right not to get distracted by the Hawaii issues -- the movie is really only about the Haoles (whites) of Hawaii, not the locals, the Chinese, Japanese… as Max King himself realises
Even though we’re haole as shit and go to private schools and clubs and can’t even speak pidgin, let alone Hawaiian, we still carry Hawaiian blood, and we’re still tied to this land. And our children are tied to this land. It’s a miracle that for whatever bullshit reason 150 years ago, we own this much of… paradise, but we do. ..
The Hawaii of this movie is not the NaPali coastline, outrigger canoes, volcanoes and all those images we’re used to. Occasionally we get a glimpse of what it would be like to really live in Hawaii -- not vacation in Hawaii. Nonetheless, Hawaii is a very real part of this movie.
Right after the movie ended I knew I liked it. A day later, I realise it’s crept under my skin, with all it’s quirks and nuances and real/funny/life observations and I totally love it.
Really finely-balanced, finely-tuned, just the right amounts of everything -- a gem of a movie.
I’ve long been a fan of history and historical fiction, especially if presented in a light-handed, deft way.
But my picking up My Last Duchess was definitely a post-Downton Abbey reaction.
This book was published last year, and not to be mistaken with Amanda Foreman’s The Duchess (made into a fabulous film starring Keira Knightly). At its core it is a love story, but set in amongst the particular issues of the age.
Cora is a young American heiress, when the rich in America were fabulously, out-there rich. This is the Gilded Age, the time of the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the ‘robber barons’. The rich were excessively rich, and lived madly extravagantly.
Cora’s socially ambitious mother takes her to England in search of a titled husband, and Cora unexpectedly falls in love with a real, young, handsome Duke, with an impoverished estate.
But the Duke has secrets and issues of his own, coupled with Cora being at a loss and ostracized for being a rich American – new money thrown at the aristocracy – and a cold reception from her British peers plus an awful feeling of getting everything wrong. The tall, rich beauty losing her footing amidst the cobwebs of traditions and great estates.
It is not a bodice-ripper, or a ‘romance’ novel. It is a close look at how Cora copes with all that is thrown at her, her new-found vulnerability, the ridiculousness she encounters, and her true coming of age.
It is a pretty astute observation on rules, emotions, naivete, intentions and, of course, what money can buy. And of course, a wonderful departure from the dreariness of our own reality.
I’m not sure all the questions that are posed on all those issues get answered. The ending, to me, is another big question in itself, at the choices Cora makes. But perhaps love is more powerful than anything else.
It was one of those rare books whose story arc, well-painted characters and excellent mise-en-scene sucked me in and I had to stop myself from reading it in one sitting.
It’s not a great book, but a pretty good read, and excellent escapism.
The proper name is Thow Kwang Industry, famous for having the only ‘dragon’ kiln in Singapore. Hence, Dragon Pottery/Pottery Jungle.
I’m sure you would’ve heard that they are probably going to be shut down soon to make way for Progress.
Established in 1965, I believe the lease expires end March, so if you are so inclined, hie thee to Kranji.
You can make this a part of a Kranji day out, mapped out by the National Heritage Board. Check this out. It’s a nice way to spend the day, not malls, not developments, and slightly wild.
The dragon kiln is a long oven that gets fired a couple of times a year, and potters love it for the unique glaze it brings.
Anyway, if you aren’t a potter, the unfired kiln isn’t much to look at.
one end of the long dragon kiln
There is a studio area, and classes on offer – but not for much longer.
What you go for is the VAST, mad, eclectic collection of ceramics for sale.
Tchotchkes like you wouldn’t believe, some scary, some tacky, some cute, and all sorts of plates, dishes, pots, umbrella stands.
I wouldn’t say it’s crazy cheap, but definitely unique in having so much in one spot. I remember when Holland Village had the stores that sold all these great ‘tongs’ – now gone of course.
pots, vases, pots, vases, pots, vases...
love these ceramic stools
deity anyone?
there's an upscale corner, with collectibles
fine work too
there's also stone and terracotta
and some celadon
It’s a nice spot, still has a bit of a kampong feel and a sense of countryside about it.
The whole Kranji area (except for the CleanTech Park development that’s the reason for the end of the dragon kiln) gives you a real feeling of getting away from the city.
Khana Commune is one of Singapore’s new things, a secret supper club.
A what?
Secret Suppers are like flash mobs for eating. In the instance of Khana Commune, host (the very lovely) Zina Alam opens her home to you and up to 15 others. You pay to hang out at Zina’s home and eat what she prepares for you, with people you don’t know.
Usually something I would avoid like the plague, but I was piqued with curiosity and by pictures of Zina’s food showing up on my FB page. You know I have a fondness for food (understatement).
My friend Mai described it ‘checking our social skills, to see if we still have any’.
When we arrived, there was already a table of 6 going, made up of a group who had come together. We decided to take the second table instead of joining a pre-bonded group – it seemed less intimidating.
Our table of 8 ended up being made up of a group of 30/40-somethings Canadians and a Brit anaesthetist, his Singaporean friend, and us. Who would have thought that would be a combination for an enjoyable, sociable evening? There was one person who we could have met through our normal circles. The other 5 were definitely out of our six-degrees-of-separation-ness. It was a really enjoyable combo.
If you sign up for these things, you have to go with an open mind and an open heart. Part of the secret supper experience is the social one, of meeting people you wouldn’t ordinarily meet, hearing different stories over yummy food. If nothing else, you’re united by curiosity and food-fandom. So there’s bound to be something to talk about.
And it was yummy. Zina offers Bengali-based food, a mix of mum’s recipes and cooking (mum was in the kitchen), Zina’s own experiments and helper Wati’s contributions. This was our menu for the evening -
to start
stuffed mushrooms
begun bhartha on dahl with roasted winter figs (aubergine mash on lentils)
to follow
murg pilao (dhaka chicken biryani)
potato cutlets
peanut and pineapple salad
to sweeten
gula melaka kulfi
It sounded very promising!
It was ALL good. I was happily surprised by the dahl – I’ve usually had yellow dahl that’s quite watery (especially in Nepal, it’s like a soup), but this dahl was thick, substantive and really flavourful. Coupled with the aubergine puree, it could have been a gooey mess, but it wasn’t – it was tasty, and the bite of the roasted fig provided the texture to hold it all together.
The chicken pilao was subtle but hearty, and accompanied by mum’s sweet chutney, and Wati’s crunchy, fresh salad. All together on one plate, contrasting textures and flavours that worked really well together. They were accompanied by potato-meat rissoles, delicious in their own right, and another nice note in the overall piece. The pilao is quite unlike the heavier Indian biryani – it was gentler, less greasy, packed a quieter punch but delivered taste.
Being a great fan of gula melaka, I was excited by the kulfi, and it didn’t disappoint. Maybe if you don’t have a sweet tooth, it wouldn’t be your cup of tea – as kulfi (like ice cream, but with condensed/evap milk) is sweet and rich. The gula melaka added another dimension of the sweet. A happy marriage.
As far as I could tell, I wasn’t alone in enjoying the good food and convivial company. You wouldn’t ordinarily catch me rolling out a phrase like ‘convivial company’ but it genuinely was.
Zina herself is a delight, a natural hostess blessed with oodles of charisma (and cooking skills). Zina’s sister, in London, has now started a London Khana Commune – so readers in London, give it a go!
An unexpectedly enjoyable and happy evening. Happy tummy, happy brain. For $55 a head, that’s good value for money.
To give it a go yourself, contact Zina to get alerts on her next planned evening, or like the FB page.
Tiong Bahru is the new Club Street it would appear.
From a quaint deco-ish estate with long-time residents mixed with dormitories for foreign workers (legal or not I don’t know, but I went into a tiny property once that housed about 35 men, no windows, no air), to an influx of new residents paying $1m (it was $800k about 6 months ago) for a 2bedroom flat.
Part of the hipness is from the newer business opening there – uber-hip Books Actually and even uberer-hip Strangelets. And the buzz around Forty Hands for stellar coffee. All on one quiet street.
Now joining them on Yong Saik Street is new eatery Open Door Policy. A resto-child born out of a ménage a trois of Cynthia Chua (Spa Esprit), Ryan Clift (Tippling Club) and Harry Grove (Forty Hands).
As it is the hot new thing, make sure you book well in advance, or wait a couple of months.
We only tried a few dishes, so please share on FB if you try the other dishes on the menu.
As usual I got so caught up in eating, I forgot to take pictures, so you’ll have to make do with the stock photos.
It must be that I’m not hip enough or too old, because the decor just didn’t do it for me. Uncomfortable metal chairs (old school chairs?) that snag your clothes and your skin (if you’re wearing a skirt), cold metal ceiling, strange wood panelling. The large skylight in the back of the space is lovely, and if you’re seated in that part of the resto, it’s got a very New York-y feel to it. It could just be that I’m of the age that I would choose warm and inviting comfyness over edgy, painfully-hip decor. You young hipsters might love it.
Happily though, the food is outstanding. It’s tasty, tasty, very very tasty, it’s very tasty. (you think I’m babbling, but I’m just quoting a commercial from the 80s!)
I felt like Gregg Wallace on Masterchef with every first spoonful. Because really, the food here is all about the taste, and the genius in being able to extract as much taste out of a single spoonful possible. You really do get multiple hits of taste from one spoonful because of the chef’s skill in building complexity to a dish. It’s not about comfort food and losing yourself in volume and a food coma. It’s about making each mouthful count.
That thing you hear on those shows all the time – you have to really know your food to be able to combine flavours to make a masterpiece – yes, that’s here. Much like how Willin Low manages it with his local-modern fusion at Wild Rocket.
We had 2 starters – the baba ganoush and the halloumi (menu here). The baba ganoush made really interesting with the addition of curry oil. Creamy, flavourful, with an uplift from the curry oil. But the halloumi! I would go back just for the halloumi.
As with all the dishes, beautifully presented. Grilled strips of halloumi in a dish with olive oil, roasted cherry tomatoes, anchovies and olives. Salty, bitey cheese, softened by the olive oil, sweetened by the tomato bursting in your mouth. Don’t ignore the cubes of drenched focaccia in the bowl. Yet another lovely flavour, yet another texture.
I had the much-buzzed-about beef cheek – 48 hour cooked sous vide. And truly, it really is the tenderest cheek of beef you could hope to meet! It really gently melts. You have to love meatymeatmeat – because the central flavour of it is it’s rare-ish meatiness – much like tartare. I don’t think I could eat it again as I like my meats adorned or really done. But I’m glad I took the opportunity to celebrate flavour and texture like that.
Next time it’s the rigatoni bolognese for me.
We had the lime pannacotta with coconut sago and the white chocolate mousse with raspberry headache (still don’t know exactly what a raspberry headache is) The pannacotta was yummy and comforting but the white chocolate mousse was stunning. Little pellets of semi-frozen white choc mousse dusted in raspberry powder (the headache??) with raspberries on the side and raspberry coulis (all of those make for a headache??). The sensation of the hard pellet melting in your mouth to release the milky sweetness countering the bite of the raspberry. Damn.
Another surprising wow was the affogato – espresso over a dollop of ice cream. The coffee is from Forty Hands and they take coffee really seriously here (no decaff) and wow, it really is something else. That round-but-bitter, rich, intense coffee meeting the melting, creamy vanilla ice cream – just amazing. I think that might have been the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. It was definitely the best affogato ever.
Service was good, with young, knowledgeable, well-spoken staff. We had a bit of a to-do with the maitre d’, but he did work very hard to redeem himself. It did mar the evening and we did have to leave early because of it – but the effort he made to make up for the upset was appreciated.
It wasn’t the most comfortable experience ever, but it was one of my tastiest. I don’t think it’ll become one of my default restos as it wasn’t terribly welcoming, but good food nonetheless.
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