Now that I've got an expanded role at Cisco looking not only after Australia and New Zealand, but also having the PR leads for Japan and Korea report into me plus joining the Asia Pacific Corporate Communications leadership team so gaining regional responsibilities as well I've been spending more time in Singapore.
On this, my second trip to Singapore I'm supporting our first Partner-led Conference. With over 50 media and analyst from Asia Pacific and China, it was a very busy week (Nov. 13-19) and after several days of keynotes, business presentations and panel discussions we headed to the Singapore Flier for some sight seeing.
Then we head to Coup d'Etat for drinks. I get a bit closer to the infinity pool at the Marina Bay Sands and still hope to some day actually swim in the pool at the top of the world.
One evening after the media/analysts had head home, I checked out the original home of the Singapore Sling at Long Bar at The Raffles Hotel. It's the one place in Singapore you can throw peanut shells on the floor and not get arrested :)
And on the day of my departure Miin was a wonderful host and showed me around Sentosa which is a very upscale, 2 km island.
On my flight back to Sydney, I was very, very lucky to be upgraded to First Class on British Airways. I'm not sure how this happened , but think it was because I checked in on the late-side (an 1:15 before my flight was due to depart, but since Singapore International Airport is the gateway to Asia my friend Miin says you don't have to check in the typical 2 hours in advance) and economy was already checked in so I was informed I'd been checked into Economy Plus.
As I was settling into my seat, I heard my name called over the intercom to identify myself to the steward. So I headed to the front of the plane and was surprised when informed my seat was being changed to...she pointed to seat 14B...at the same time I realised I was standing in first class. And it was weird, there were all these "pods" that were set up in pairs with one facing forward and the other towards the back of the plane.
All of a sudden I had a stewardess asking me what newspaper I wanted (no Singapore Straits Newspaper or Sydney newspaper, only UK pubs) and if I'd like a glass of champagne (which I only got a few sips of before they had to take it away as we were taking off, but they quickly got me another as soon as we were up in the air). Then another was trying to get me to take my seat, however, what stumped me was there's was no place to put my purse as there was no "under the seat in front of you". Then I got shown the drawer, of course how obvious, a drawer.
The other thing that befuddled me was if I sit down and recline how does the passenger in the pod along the window get in and out - he steps over my feet/foot stool - which is rather inelegant.
Once we're up in the air, I have a chat with my pod-mate (you feel compelled to say "hello" as you're basically lying right next to each other, face-to-face with only a plastic divider that moves up and down as he's passed his meal/drinks) and find out he's the architect of the Surry Hills library just down the street (we commiserate on the rather useless kitchen in the front of the library and the need for more seating) as well as new Parliament House (I compliment him on the great symbolismy of having the roof open to public picnics, see my previous blog post on this).
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi Beach
Continuing with the theme from the previous day, I checked out the 11-11 sculpture at the Sculpture by the Sea which is a series of sculptures lining the ocean view walkway from Bondi to Bronte Beaches.
A turtle made of tires, not slow moving at all with all these car tires.
This wishbone reminds me of all the times my brother and I buttered the turkey on Thanksgiving and got more butter on each other than on the turkey. Mom's turkey was always moist and wonderful tasting! Tomu and I always enjoyed making our wish and after pulling the wish bone apart seeing whose wish came true!
This art work spells out "dreams".
A turtle made of tires, not slow moving at all with all these car tires.
This wishbone reminds me of all the times my brother and I buttered the turkey on Thanksgiving and got more butter on each other than on the turkey. Mom's turkey was always moist and wonderful tasting! Tomu and I always enjoyed making our wish and after pulling the wish bone apart seeing whose wish came true!
This art work spells out "dreams".
My 11-11-11 Party
After celebrating 1-1-11 in a big way, it was hard to resist hosting an 11-11-11 party at my place. I struggled to find a cool theme for the party.
I brainstormed with friends and did lots of Internet searches. The best I could come up with was "You're my #1", "To infinity and beyond" and "Lucky 11" but nothing really rang true.
Yet it was fun to have a few drinks with friends, get together for dinner afterwards then have a lovely dessert at the stroke of 11:11 p.m. on 11-11-11.
I brainstormed with friends and did lots of Internet searches. The best I could come up with was "You're my #1", "To infinity and beyond" and "Lucky 11" but nothing really rang true.
Yet it was fun to have a few drinks with friends, get together for dinner afterwards then have a lovely dessert at the stroke of 11:11 p.m. on 11-11-11.
Scuba Diving Around Manly
In the many ocean swims I've done around the Sydney-area I haven't been too impressed with the sea life I saw (or lack there of) so I've been focusing most of my diving further North.
But in a reunion dive with friends from my last Fish Rock I did my first dives in the Sydney area. It was very cold for one thing and in comparison to Fish Rock, I'd have to say so far my experience has been about average.
Nonetheless it was a good opportunity to practice using my new underwater camera. Thank you again to my brother Tomu for the great underwater camera!
This video is of a cuttlefish that was coaxed out of its cave but when I realised it was getting closer and closer to me, you'll see from the video that moved out of its way.
This last photo is of a rock fish, quite poisonous.
But in a reunion dive with friends from my last Fish Rock I did my first dives in the Sydney area. It was very cold for one thing and in comparison to Fish Rock, I'd have to say so far my experience has been about average.
Nonetheless it was a good opportunity to practice using my new underwater camera. Thank you again to my brother Tomu for the great underwater camera!
This video is of a cuttlefish that was coaxed out of its cave but when I realised it was getting closer and closer to me, you'll see from the video that moved out of its way.
This last photo is of a rock fish, quite poisonous.
Sydney Zombie Fest on Halloween
I've been going to a lot of activities organised by the Travel, Food and Wine Meetup and on Oct. 29 I joined them at the Sydney Food and Wine Festival at Hyde Park. While the wine and food was tasty - and expensive considering the quantity given for what you paid - it was hard to miss that there were a lot of people walking through Hyde Park looking like they should be in a Michael Jackson Thriller video.
After a few inquiries I find out that there's a Sydney Zombie Walk. What this? Well if you Google it, you'll find out that it originated in California and it's a bi-annual fundraiser but mostly it appears to just to be an occasion to dress up like you're a victim of the latest vampire or horror film and parade around the city (Sydney Police blockade the streets to let hundreds of people walk through the city). How bizarre is this!
Later that evening I checked out this Halloween Party at The Argyle (evidently the largest in Australia). Here's the "Post-it Man".
After a few inquiries I find out that there's a Sydney Zombie Walk. What this? Well if you Google it, you'll find out that it originated in California and it's a bi-annual fundraiser but mostly it appears to just to be an occasion to dress up like you're a victim of the latest vampire or horror film and parade around the city (Sydney Police blockade the streets to let hundreds of people walk through the city). How bizarre is this!
Later that evening I checked out this Halloween Party at The Argyle (evidently the largest in Australia). Here's the "Post-it Man".
Singapore's a Small, Packed Modern Country
On my first trip to Singapore (Oct. 19-23), I was most surprised at how from the tallest building you can cast your eyes about and see the whole country. It's 26 miles wide and 14 miles from north to south. It's filled with many tall buildings that are both business and residential and it's a city of opposites. One morning I had a peanut soup for $1 and a cocktail for $24.
After our first day at our work offsite, we went up to the rooftop for drinks and here's me having my first Singapore Sling cocktail drink.
Afterwards we went to dinner at this Noodle Market which had tons of vendors selling all kinds of traditional Singaporean foods.
.
And I loved this dessert... reminded me of mochii
After filling ourselves with food, we went karaoke.
And then my first sight-seeing activity in Singapore was to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which is one of the highest buildings in the city.
After a day of shopping - where I purchased my very first pair of designer shoes (a la Carrie Bradshaw Salvatore Ferragamo) - we checked out the Merlion (head of a lion, body of a fish) which is the mascot of Singapore. And according to Wikipedia "the fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means 'sea town' in Javanese and the lion head represents Singapore's original name — Singapura — meaning "lion city" or 'kota singa'."
After our first day at our work offsite, we went up to the rooftop for drinks and here's me having my first Singapore Sling cocktail drink.
Afterwards we went to dinner at this Noodle Market which had tons of vendors selling all kinds of traditional Singaporean foods.
.
And I loved this dessert... reminded me of mochii
After filling ourselves with food, we went karaoke.
And then my first sight-seeing activity in Singapore was to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which is one of the highest buildings in the city.
After a day of shopping - where I purchased my very first pair of designer shoes (a la Carrie Bradshaw Salvatore Ferragamo) - we checked out the Merlion (head of a lion, body of a fish) which is the mascot of Singapore. And according to Wikipedia "the fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means 'sea town' in Javanese and the lion head represents Singapore's original name — Singapura — meaning "lion city" or 'kota singa'."
Not For the Faint Hearted - Cupcake Decorating Class
In thanks for being such great Aunties to Calypso, Lisa gifted Nadia and I with "cupcake decorating" classes. Clearly Lisa has an ulterior motive that shows great foresight and planning for when Calypso's older and in school ... considering she's only 8 months old now.
When I was in the US this past August, I noted two TV show trends. New Jersey's getting a bad rap from several reality TV shows (Real Wives of New Jersey, Jersey Shore and Jerseyliciious) and cupcake decorating is not just for Martha Stewart anymore (Ace of Cakes).
So I should have suspected when I went to our cupcake decorating class (on Oct. 8) that it was going to be more than slabbing some frosting on top and taking colored tubes of frosting and decorating them with pretty flowers. In fact, when Nadia and I arrived, it was a packed room of 40+ women and when we watched the demonstrations the instructor used lots of tools, measuring circles and colored fondant (new word for me).
And everyone was quite serious about maximising their time executing each of the techniques demonstrated, using the tools and all the different colored fondant. It was quite intense and high pressure. So not what I was expecting from a morning of cupcake decorating.
In the end, Nadia and I decorated 6 cupcakes and you'll see our results here.
The cupcake that I think turned out best was the one that looks like a wedding cupcake with pearls - I used a "quilting tool" to create the patchwork pattern, then placed these silver balls at the intersections of the lines and added some of the flowers that I'd "punched and rounded" and put "shimmer" on to create the glistening effect.
I didn't get the scale of the "bear" cupcake right as the ears look more like moose ears, but note the attention to detail with the "blush" on its cheeks. And the same thing with the ladybugs, again I didn't get the proportion right as the head is supposed to be much smaller than the body.
Later that night I shared my cupcakes with friends at Cafe Sicilia in Surry Hills.
When I was in the US this past August, I noted two TV show trends. New Jersey's getting a bad rap from several reality TV shows (Real Wives of New Jersey, Jersey Shore and Jerseyliciious) and cupcake decorating is not just for Martha Stewart anymore (Ace of Cakes).
So I should have suspected when I went to our cupcake decorating class (on Oct. 8) that it was going to be more than slabbing some frosting on top and taking colored tubes of frosting and decorating them with pretty flowers. In fact, when Nadia and I arrived, it was a packed room of 40+ women and when we watched the demonstrations the instructor used lots of tools, measuring circles and colored fondant (new word for me).
And everyone was quite serious about maximising their time executing each of the techniques demonstrated, using the tools and all the different colored fondant. It was quite intense and high pressure. So not what I was expecting from a morning of cupcake decorating.
In the end, Nadia and I decorated 6 cupcakes and you'll see our results here.
The cupcake that I think turned out best was the one that looks like a wedding cupcake with pearls - I used a "quilting tool" to create the patchwork pattern, then placed these silver balls at the intersections of the lines and added some of the flowers that I'd "punched and rounded" and put "shimmer" on to create the glistening effect.
I didn't get the scale of the "bear" cupcake right as the ears look more like moose ears, but note the attention to detail with the "blush" on its cheeks. And the same thing with the ladybugs, again I didn't get the proportion right as the head is supposed to be much smaller than the body.
Later that night I shared my cupcakes with friends at Cafe Sicilia in Surry Hills.
Multi-Ethnic Sydney at The Basement
The Basement's an underground club where many live music bands have launched their careers. Spontaneously I went (on Oct. 7) with friends and we stumbled upon African Tribal Music at The Basement.
It's probably the most multi-ethnic scene I've seen in Sydney since I arrived.
It's probably the most multi-ethnic scene I've seen in Sydney since I arrived.
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