-
Day 1 in the Bay Area: Mexican tortas in San Jose, Stanford University tour and new agey dosa
A torta is a massive Mexican sandwich with everything good in it. Meat, cheese, avocados, tomatoes, jalepenos etc etc etc. It’s so humungous and so over the top that my atheist Argentine Spanish teacher said that ‘it made her believe in God’. Well – there’s nothing like a born again believer.
-
San Francisco Bay Blues, Oysters, Clam Chowder and a long walk
San Francisco is the first city that I’ve visited in a long time that actually embodies the Pisces energy. A Pisces on the Aries cusp – but a Pisces nevertheless. I feel like I can just get lost in the moment and let it take me where it wants to – that I can stay…
-
The Silicon Valley Crowd: my cynical first impressions
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Difficult circumstances and a lack of equal opportunities is what drove them to start businesses. For most of my life, I always thought that entrepreneurship was a byproduct of struggle and overcoming obstacles. No one I know ever set out to be a business person. It was the…
-
Uzbek Dumplings: making Chuchvara in Tokyo
Who doesn’t love dumplings? I feel it’s one of those things that you can find in just about every cuisine. Meat wrapped in flour that’s either boiled, steamed, pan-fried or deep-fried. Yum yum yum! So my friend Noza taught me to make chuchvara – boiled dumplings served with either soup or tomatoes and onions.
-
Tokyo Snow and Canadian Winters: musings from an island girl
Thankfully, it doesn’t snow much in Tokyo. It’s snowed a grand total of three times since I moved here some two and a half years ago. And yesterday’s snowfall was the biggest. I was in the middle of teaching a lesson when it started snowing. My students stopped listening to me and promptly rushed to…
-
I Dream of Beijing
I love Japan – always have, always will. But it is a love that is born of duty and familiarity. Beijing – on the other hand – set my heart on fire. I didn’t expect it. But once I started to feel that way – I couldn’t control it. My passion had been reignited – and now…
-
A Singaporean expat in Beijing: you can take the girl out of Singapore, but you cannot take the Singapore out of the girl
In my heart of hearts, I believe that our Singaporean national identity is one of multiculturalism – one that is embracive and strengthened by its ability to adapt. As a culture, we cannot afford to build great walls because our economy is intertwined with the world economy. Singapore was founded on the premise of international…
-
Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant Beijing: a confused tourist and an amused waiter
I sink my teeth into the first wrap. The flavours are far stronger than what I’m used to. The duck is electrifyingly crispy and fatty, the sauce is tangy and sweet and the condiments are confusing. Midway through my first Peking Duck burrito, my waiter magically shows up with a plastic glove and a pair…
-
Days 4 & 5 in Beijing: delays, detours, the National Museum and the Great Wall of China
As a born-and-bred Singaporean, I am no stranger to Chinese culture. But it really is something else to be here and see the vastness of this and to see where Chinese culture was, where it is now – and perhaps where it will one day be.
-
Day 3 in Beijing: culture shock, crazy cabbie, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing Street
It’s been years since a place disoriented me so much; since a place truly felt out of this world. Every place I’ve visited in the past three years has had something about it that reminded me of someplace else. But not Beijing. It just feels so… foreign. And I’m someone who hates the use of…
Twinn Swan 