Shanghai Surprise

Time to apply the Pancake makeup and wok the dog – it’s China!  With all the luxuriating there is to do in Singapore, I forgot that the bulk of Asia doesn’t have champagne brunches, air conditioning, subways, and safe taxis.   Nothing like a trip to Shanghai & Beijing to disabuse me of such naivete. 

 

Singapore Sling

Next stop on my global tour:  Singapore.  I stayed with my dear friend R. whom I met at Wake Forest.  After earning way too many degrees at prestigous institutions, R. is now a scientist working in Singapore.  His boss is the guy who cloned that sheep, Dolly.  As far as I know, he hasn’t cloned anything but does see double after one to many of my special martinis.  Bottoms up to Singapore!  The cleanest inhabited corner of our melting Earth. 

Yes, it really is that clean.  The whole city-state has been sanitized to within an inch of its life.  I even had to smuggle in a freight containor of chewing gum.  And thank heavens I had traded in my mohawk for a more conservative hairstyle.   At the immigration desk at the airport the official looked at my passport photo, then up at me and said:  “good.  much better now.  much neater.”  So, does that mean i’m not getting caned?

Sir Raffles himself, eternally watchful of his creation on this little swampy island.  And believe me, someone usually is watching or listening all the time to be sure you aren’t rocking the boat.

A river runs through it.  That’s the Fullerton hotel on the right and that giant durian looking thing in the distance is a performing arts center.

R’s lovely apartment, right in the heart of town.  Very nice view of some old chinese shop houses across the street.

The city is a real mash-up of cultures, religions, races, history and modernity.

Singapore is also known for its great food.   And I did partake in many delicious meals.  There are wonderful “hawker centers” all around where you can get food from different booths and then sit in a usually open-air environment with a Tiger beer.  The locals love these places.  I did too – although my stomach was upset about 1/2 of my stay there!

A friend of R.’s has a family restaurant with the most amazing food. 

And this hole-in-the-wall but oh-so-good Indian joint, Sammy’s.

Usually I would greet a visit to a botanical garden with a yawn.  But the park in Singapore was lovely.   So lush, so green.  Makes sense, given that the entire country is basically a greenhouse.  It’s just one degree from the equator afterall.

 

The Mountains

And then up to Vermont for a quick, but lovely, long weekend. One of the last weekends for ok snow on the eastern slopes.

And a quick stop in Boston to see J. & A. and the kids before they go to California on sabbatical.

 

First Whiff of Freedom

I practically walked out of the office for the last time and directly into a plane at JFK. First stop – Paris & London with E.

Tickets from the fashion shows I was fabulous, I mean lucky enough, to attend.  Actually, I was in the backrow, straining to see the fabulous as it paraded in front of me!  And yes, the models are incredibly skinny and tall.

Next stop, London. Taking the Channel Tunnel.

And the Tube.

My friend J, from graduate school, who now lives in London with her growing family.

 

The View from Cornwall-Upon-Hudson, NY

This post is out of order.  This was during July, as a break between the trips to East Asia and South Asia.  It gives you a taste of how E. and I spent some of the summer in the country.  The lovely Hudson Valley, ice cream stands, Storm King Art Center, grilling the local “Tommy Steaks” on the deck, etc.  I will admit that it was hard to think about leaving the country again for the Third World; we had such a nice and relaxing time in our little white trash section of the Hudson Idyll.

Here, a shot of our cottage, discovered on craigslist.  These people had no idea how to decorate, or throw things away for that matter, but it was a great first summer-weekends-out-of-nyc experience.

Very cool sculpture and lovely grounds at Storm King, just around the corner.

We hunted around for the special little places.  This farmstand/cafe was one of our favorite finds.

And this last shot is from Maryland, not New York, but I don’t have a separate entry for MD and I really love this restaurant and this shot!  Near my sis N, and her husband, R’s, place.  Bloody knuckles burning with Old Bay notwithstanding, you really can’t beat this!

 

The Scoop

Here is the story.  After working for 8 long years climbing up the corporate ladder in New York City, I received a gift from the heavens.  Time.  Money.  Time + Money!  So after walking out of the corporate death-star for the last time on February 28th 2006, I aimed to spend that time +  money out seeing more of the world. 

Here was my letter of farewell to the office:

“After some eight years of learning, fun, and increasingly gray hair, I am leaving ELC to pursue my next adventure(s).  As some of you may know, before my career at ELC Online I earned a Masters in Foreign Service and have spent a few years living, studying, and working in Europe.  I was on a career path focusing on international relations and foreign policy but somehow ended up with lipstick, foundation, skin cream, and the internet!  One would think that this corporation would provide plenty of opportunity for negotiating with hostile powers, diplomatic impasses, and mascara embargoes, but alas, I still feel the desire to try something new (and no, I don’t mean Revlon or L’Oreal).
 
Instead, I will be spending the rest of the year exploring opportunities in  Southeast Asia, India, and Africa.  My hopes are that these opportunities will manifest themselves, for instance, as some time spent on a micro-financing project in Vietnam, volunteering as a health educator in Africa, and learning about new technology and its roll in the booming economies of India and China.  Not sure how all these details will unfold - but that is part of the fun.  My flight to Singapore is already booked – the rest I’ll take from there.  At the conclusion of this year of globetrotting  and whetting my appetite with different career ideas, I’m sure that I will realize more than ever what a very small world it is indeed.  I’m sure that I will see many of you again on our personal and professional journeys.  
 
I wish you every success and happiness in your
future endeavors.  Please do stay in touch, and send my note and info on to all those I have inevitably missed.”
And thus, it all began……
 

 

Yes, I’m starting a BLOG. God, how original.

I’m going to write something strongly emphasized here about the onset of blogging.