the holiday has ended, well sort of. it still feels like a holiday albeit the 14 hour days...
week two, my so much has happened already! first full week of work and i am only in the office for two days before heading out to singapore on tuesday night. two weeks in singapore for marketing reviews with all of the country managers while malabika has a week to find us a permanent home back in hong kong before joining me at the grand hyatt.
singapore, a city that many may find 'boring' when you think of the exoticism of asia. it's extremely developed, urbanised, wealthy, free of crime, and a sort of shangri-la of asiA. but one has to look deeper to understand singapore - the incredible divergence of different ethnicities, respect for varied cultures, and the food. yes, the food. i can write a blog on the food alone, i can't believe i just wrote that. but the food lives up to all the hype - soft shell pepper and curry crab, malaysian satay, indian food that can compare with the motherland, indonesian delights - a melting pot of the best of asian cuisine. most visitors stay within the ritzy hotels and restaurants, but there is plenty to uncover in the underbelly of this city / state.
amazing hotel with the best buffet breakfast anyone could imagine - western station with eggs and the works / indian area with fresh idly, sambar, curry, and the works / chinese area with great congee, soups, dim sum / fresh fruits, juices, teas...this experience confirmed for me that my favorite meal is breakfast!
right, so i did have to do some work. the office was a mere 5 minute walk away. i wont bore you with the details but 9 to 10 or 11 with subpar lunches ordered in. i was able to escape the first night for an experience at the 'hawker' stands. these stands are famous in singapore - large areas with multiple vendors selling 'street food' of all the asian delicacies. i went to the most touristy one, newton's, and it was unfortantely a let down. my eyes lit up when i got there, but as i saw the buses of tourists pull in and the tourist prices quoted to me, i had my plate of simple noodles that weren't good and left...
not to worry, i would follow up with an amazing meal of black pepper crab and seafood the following night. back in hong kong, malabika is jetting all over town with our real estate agent looking for a permanent home for us! although we enjoy very much our service apartment in soho, a neighborhood full of trendy restaurants, lounges, cafes, shopes, something doesn't feel right...everyone in soho is from england, australia, or france. this doesn't feel like asia!
so malabika begins her journey through hong kong visiting places and is often the case, the first one she sees is the place i am sitting in writing this blog. i can't believe i am writing a blog! it's in wan chai, a neighborhood about 10 minutes by tram, 5 minutes by taxi, and 20 minutes by foot from central. hong kong island is very small, a taxi from one end to the other with no traffic is 30 minutes. our building is a brand new one, ironically named thE yorK placE.
nyc prices have nothing on hong kong, unfortantely. some things are very inexpensive here, anything labor or service related as one would expect. but housing prices for owning and renting are unreal. nevertheless, this is the building, it's about which apartment. negotiations continue for a few days with much dodginess going into the weekend, our 2nd wknd in asia...
malabika leaves hong kong on friday and joins me in singapore on friday night. the apartment in hong kong is in the works and it's time to enjoy a wknd in singapore together. we go out for a romantic meal on the riverside friday night and crash as we are very exhausted. saturday we enjoy our first breakfast together in the lovely hotel and enjoy some r&r poolside. we then head to little india, visit the hindu and buddhist temples, and make our way for an early dinner to the place known for a singaporean speciality - the fish head curry.
yes, the head of a fish simmered in a delicous indian curry. it lives up to all it's expectations - we couldn't quite eat the eyes which are a delicacy but the cheek was precious. ok, i am sure i have scared the vegeterians out there! but fish head cury is light fare on the asian cuisine circuit. after a great meal, we head to the marina bay for a free alternative concert festival. see a bunch of bands from all over asia over a magical backdrop. met up with a couple of youngsters from Wales of all places who we continued the night on with until the early hours of the morning.
sunday, a day of rest. ss is normal around this part of the world, torrential rains fall all day. we rest and head out for to visit an exhibit at a museum, some reflexology, and an indonesian meal to end the night.
a full week of work for me and a week of well needed relaxation for malabika ahead. The apartment back in hong kong is under negotiation. malabika is able to meet up with an old friend from england days during the week, do some sightseeting, and enjoy the amenities of the hotel. i am working some long hours, but able to meet up with malabika for dinner a couple of nights. the week is fantastic on all ends, but the weekend coming up is going to be so exciting.
i am done with work on friday and can enjoy another weekend in singapore with my lovely wife. friday we end up getting a bit lost finding our dinner spot, but end up at a great spot for japanese. and then onto shooting some stick at a nearby spot and then dancing at a quaint club where we got VIP service. somehow, the tables have turned in asia - wherever we seem to go, it's always first class service. perhaps it's due to Malabika being mistaken for Bollywood royalty!
saturday, our last day in singapore after two weeks for me and one week for malabika. We visit the beautiful botanical gardens, head to the pier for a fantastic last meal of black pepper and curry crab. rent bikes and ride the coast before heading back for our final meal, a romantic indian meal. what an incredible trip. and yes, we have an apartment back in hong kong! we fly back together on sunday and plan to meet our future landlords during the week and clear out of our apartment in soho.
weeks 4 and 5 ahead - the move...followed by another week in Singapore. And then Paris, London, Germany, and Nepal...
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We finalized out apartment while in S'pore and once back in HK, we signed the lease and were ready to leave our serviced apartment, with a week to spare! Moving into our new place was a treat as it was actually a brand new place called York Place, modeled after New York City! There is actually a huge photo of the Brooklyn Bridge in the lounge below, and needless to say, we felt a great sense of synchronicity with the place. It also has a gym, pool, outdoor jacuzzi, which takes one thing off our list to find, which was a gym close by! It's brand new and in HK, a true gem. We have signed on for two years and it has a spare bedroom which is now our walk in closet-but don't worry, guests will have a nice sofa bed to sleep on in the living room, and our aero bed actually made it as well :)
ReplyDeleteAs we were settling into our apartment, I secured things for the apartment, and Sumit worked worked worked, as he is now joining his boss instead of me for dinner! We knew the hours would be crazy, but hopefully things will calm down after a few more months. Another business trip to Paris was arranged for Sumit (and another business trip to S'pore in between for Sumit). Since I'll be starting to work in January, I was able to join Sumit in Paris for the weekend and then visited my friend Diane in Germany for four days. It was great timing as it was Octoberfest there and I did not get to see or experience Germany while studying abroad in England oh so many years ago. Provst!
I then met Sumit again in London for our last weekend together and visited with some friends and Sumit's cousins from his father's side, who were super cool and hip.
I am currently in Nepal and have finally got to spend time with my family after five years, since our wedding here. As I have some time off form working now, we thought this would be a great time to spend quality time with my family as well as start some international work. I will be doing harm reduction work in the form of ear acupuncture and therapeutic holistic work within a few different Nepali prisons. I'll be working with drug/alc dependent people as well as people with mental disorders who do not have any access to healthcare. I am quite excited about this as I specifically focused on clinical and international specialties while doing my masters in social work. (Also, it has been a lifelong dream to work in Nepal -really since I was very little actually, so this feels so perfect.)
In the meantime before some of the work begins, I have been enjoying an international blues festival occurring and next week a jazz festival, and of course being pampered by my family. And yes, Sumit is working hard in Hong Kong but loving what he is doing and already making an impact!
Namaste :))))