Ode to the Tablespoon

It was bound to happen......one of the things we were told about moving to another country is that you will naturally go through a stage of hating where you are, the people there or things about the new culture. Its kind of like the stages of grief when someone dies, its the stages of adapting to expat life.
Like everyone else we have had our moments with lots of these types of things, I choose not to blog about them as I recognize this blog is out in the world for all to read and I don't want to spread negative thoughts.
In this case however, I have decided to break that rule and share my absolute HATRED for a common every day utensil. I admit it, I have developed an odd hatred for the common every day kitchen tablespoon!
Before my family all thinks I have gone off my rocker, let me explain.....
Turns out, Americans tend to have this incorrect view of most Asians eating with chopsticks. They don't. Chopsticks tend to be reserved for Japanese food only. Instead, most eat everything with a tablespoon!
This should have absolutely no impact on me as obviously it matters not what people do in their own homes.  In my case however, we have a helper who delights in laying out a tablespoon with every meal. I mean every meal.  In the morning with my waffles or pancakes or eggs, I find myself with a tablespoon!  Aside from the wasted effort of putting out a piece of silverware none of us uses, it wouldn't normally matter..........................
AHA, that is where you are wrong ! What I didn't mention is that while there is a tablespoon set out it is missing the knife!!!! So I am expected  to butter and cut my waffles or pancakes with what? A Spoon!
In all seriousness, I realize that life is nice if all I have to worry about in life is having to get up to grab a butter knife.  At the same time, I find myself harboring a deep resentment for large spoons.
Thus this post serves as fair notice to all family that I will likely run screaming from the room should I encounter a tablespoon at any meal I am sharing with any of you while visiting in July :)

South Africa

Palazzo Hotel - Johannesburg, South Africa

Returned from South Africa a week ago now.  It was a quick trip but nice to say that I have been to Africa.
In truth, I saw very little of Africa aside from the airport, hotel and office.  What I saw seemed nice enough but due to ever present safety concerns in Johannesburg I was not able to really do any sight seeing.

Montecasino adjacent to my hotel, this is indoors yet the sky looks real!

The hotel I stayed in was quite nice and had an entertainment complex adjacent to the hotel that had some great restaurants, shops and a casino. The hotel itself was beautiful and modeled after an Italian villa.  As its really the only thing I saw, I took several pictures of it.
I would love to go back and have the time to take in a safari which the locals said is very nice.
All in all, just another business trip...... in a very nice hotel : )

This is the rear of the hotel that faces the pool.  In the mornings I had breakfast out on the terrace you can see with the covered tables. Even dined with a peacock one morning.  Of course, the only morning I left my Blackberry in the room to charge!

View from the pool level

One of the many gorgeous gardens on the property

Covered walkway that allows you access to the Montecasino next door

Dubai

Burj Khalifa at night - tallest building in the world

Once again trying to catch up on the blog and find myself needing to write several entries.
 First, my trip to Dubai which was amazing!  I found myself mesmerized and absolutely in love with Dubai. I was there at a very interesting time as the crises in Egypt hit its peak while I was there! I became very aware of the events in Egypt as I was in Dubai to meet three of my Egyptian colleagues who all work in Saudi Arabia. They were understandably worried for their families and thus got many live on the ground updates as the days unfolded.

Water Show at the Base of the Burj Khalifa over dinner

Very top of the Burj Khalifa

Dubai itself though is simply stunning!  I think the best way to describe it is Las Vegas picked up and set down in the middle of the desert.  Everything is new and modern. They also seem try quite hard to mirror American hotels, buildings and shopping malls.  My first evening there I went to see the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa.  It is a very modern building that is so large you cannot even photograph the whole thing.  At its base is a very large shopping mall and outdoor plaza with restaurants. In the midst of this plaza, at the base of the Burj Khalifa, is a very large lagoon.  Every 30 minutes a water fountain show set to music runs.....sound like the Bellagio to anyone else?  I have to say though that this water show far outdoes the one in Vegas!  Its easily triple the size.  It was an enjoyable evening!

Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai

My second evening my work companions took me to the Mall of the Emirates.  This is easily the largest and most luxurious shopping mall I have ever been in.  The mall is interestingly sectioned in a way that as  you walk down the hall you move through "areas" kind of like one big department store.  Meaning, if you want to shop for shoes you walk to the shoe area of the mall and have three floors of every shoe shop contained in the mall. Same with childrens clothes, toy stores, beauty shops, department stores or home interiors.  The decor in the mall is again very similar to Vegas.  The ceiling is made to look like the outdoor sky and changes from day to night.  My favorite section of the mall is the entertainment area.  Here you could choose to see a movie in a 60 theatre movie complex, bowl in a 50 lane bowling alley, roller blade, skate board, ice skate or even ski!  Ski Dubai is an entirely indoor winter playground. Your admission ticket entitles you to use of sleds, skis, and ski lifts and even winter coats, snow pants and snow boots. 

Enjoying Sheesha at the Lebanese Restaurant

My Egyptian colleagues from the Saudi office

After exploring the mall we dined at a delicious Lebanese restaurant.  The food was delicious with options including lamb, couscous and turkish tea but the real attraction for the locals was their 40 different flavors of sheesha.  Sheesha is a regional past time that involves smoking flavored tobacco through a large decorative water pipe.  It was truly a different sight to walk into a restaurant and see everyone sitting with these giant sheesha pipes.  Luckily, the smell tends not to be smoky but more sweet as the flavored sheesha is typically mint, lemon, apple and other sweet scents.  Definitely not something I would want to endure while dining on a regular basis but it made for great people watching!
All in all I really enjoyed Dubai and would love to take everyone back to experience what Dubai has to offer. The architecture was so amazing it seemed futuristic. Enjoy a few photos of the amazing skyline.

Building currently under construction near the Marina, it appears to "twist" into the sky

I thought the juxtaposition of these modern metropolis skyscrapers against the relaxed atmosphere of the marina with its yachts, sailboats and palm trees was interesting

Children's Television in Singapore

I try on occassion to blog about the mundane stuff in Singapore that we take for granted now so that our families get a flavor of how we live.  I thought Children's television might interest some as Halie is now to that age where she likes to occassionally eye the tv.  We have a wide variety of children's television here ranging from the normal Nickelodeon and Disney channels to Halie's favorite "CBeebies", a BBC channel dedicated to children's programming.  Some of you might have heard of it over a decade ago as it is the channel that originally brought the Teletubbies to the screen in England.  Just like Dannette, Halie seems to LOVE the teletubbies.
She does however have some other shows that she enjoys, all of which are on CBeebies and that I had never heard of before coming here. Maybe I was just out of the kid show loop.  If you have heard of these shows before leave a comment :)

In the Night Garden - this is adorable with characters like Makka Pakka, Igle Piggle, Upsy Daisy, and the Tombliboos (starting from bottom left and then moving to back row) 

The Waybuloos - still haven't quite figured this show out but it involves crystals and these characters float.  I thought that was the whole concept but now I see there seems to be some yoga component to it as they have live children during a regular segment performing yoga poses.  Halie loves it, I think its too complicated to understand.

Five Minutes More - this is absolutely my fave.  Its a 5-7 minute show that airs between certain shows.  The concept is the animals provide "just one more story" before bed.  Each episode one of the animals gets to be the story teller and the story evolves from one of the squares you see on the bed quilt.

Everything's Rosie (with a little help from our friends) - I have only seen this a few times but I love watching Halie dance to the theme song!