.::. Phantom Cover .::.

This is so cool!  Not as great as the original, but so cool nonetheless.

I was hoping that Les Miserables would come to Singapore after Wicked, but it didn't come true.

These musicals are so powerful, and I really wouldn't mind watching them again and again.

Such amazing YouTube videos are great for blue Mondays when you do not feel like doing anything else.

.::. Salt or Pepper Shake? .::.

Do pepper shakes have one hole or three holes?

I always thought this was universal, international.  But apparently, it isn't!

I never once doubted that the pepper shake is the one with 3 holes, while the salt shake is the one with one hole.  I don't remember getting it wrong ever either!

It all started with our trip to Nepal - the salt shake is the one with 3 holes, while the pepper shake is the one with 1 hole.  The husband apparently thought like me, and happily sprinkled what he thought is pepper in his food.  Yet to his horror, it was actually salt.  He added salt to his already salty food.  It led me to conclude that Nepalese loved their salt - salty food and salt shake with 3 holes!

I posted a comment on Facebook and a friend I knew from Europe commented that salt shakes with 3 holes are international.  Then I started googling it and realized to my horror that there is no 'international' or 'universal' pepper/salt shakes!

I'm beginning to realize that those universal things I originally thought isn't universal at all.

I used to think that keyboards were universal, since I learnt typing on a typewriter since young and the computer has the exact same keyboard.  I never once suspected that different languages had different keyboards.  After all, I typed Mandarin words using the same keyboard.  Now, I wonder why did I think that?  

.::. Last week in pictures .::.

Last week was a full week of regional meeting yet again.  Did 6 months just pass me by?  I can't believe it's almost a year on the job.

To our dismay, this regional meeting was in Singapore.  Again. They used to have it in Ireland, Paris, London, Macau.  But the last 2 since I joined was in Singapore.  *cries.

Regional meeting week is always very tiring.  The day starts at 8am and ends at 11pm, with full day meeting till about 4pm, some activities, then dinner.  I usually drop dead once I'm home and crawl out of bed the next day.  It doesn't help that we drink every night - Champagne, white wine, red wine.


















This time, it was at Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa.  It's pretty, but I still prefer Four Seasons!  Four Seasons have free flow of TWG tea and Nespresso coffee, with more comfortable beds.  Rasa Sentosa had pretty good service and food too, but somehow, it just failed to impress.  The only nice thing was the view.

For team building activities, we had a bowling game of 2 hours (damn tiring) and a cable car ride and some games organized by those team-building companies.

This is the view from the cable car.  Nothing fantastic.

The first night's dinner was at Flutes at the Fort which had pretty good reviews.  Many people recommended it for celebrations and said that it was a romantic place.  It's a French Restaurant by the way.

The table setting.  We ordered a set menu which was already pre-chosen.  The only choice we had was the main course and dessert.




The starter was tiger prawns with avocado and mango.  Mediocre.  The beans soup we had next was also forgettable.

Then came the main course, I had high hopes.  But sadly, it was tasteless and simply isn't a good steak.  The roast beef at Rasa's and Melt's buffet was better than this.





The only redemption was the earl grey creme brûlée with sesame ice-cream.  I liked it.  It wasn't fantastic but it's the kind of dessert which you can keep eating and didn't feel like stopping.

The food at Flutes on the Fort is disappointing.  Luckily I'm not paying a cent for the meal, else I would have been sorely disappointed.  The nice colonial building surrounded by trees couldn't make up for the food and price at all.

The next day was free-and-easy dinner, we chose Melt at Mandarin Oriental because I wanted to try it!

It lived up to the reviews.  Delicious!  And the service was great.



My favorite dessert was the waffle.  It was delicious.  The home-made ice-cream was also good.  I had 2 of these even though I was stuffed.



There was also boston lobsters served.  It was good, though not as good as the one I had at Rockpot.  The best lobster I've had in Singapore so far.



And there's the usual sashimi which was very fresh.  I love parma ham and this one was darn good!  It was sliced very thin with the machine on the spot.  The best parma ham I've had so far.  Better than Bonta and La Catina.

We had Thai food at Sabai Thai, Custom's house on the third day.  I forgot to take any pictures, but the atmosphere and food was really good!  Everything was great.  We were laughing so much that day.  People really do open up after some drinks.



And there's the drinks.  We had the best drinks the last night because the regional CFO was supposed to join us.  He didn't make it, but we enjoyed the great drinks nevertheless.

We had Dom Perignon 2002 and 2003, Krug Grand Cuvee and 1998 Vintage, Cliquot, Moet, Cape Mentell, Cloudy Bay, Cheval des Andes and Henessey Prive!  I still love Krug, though Dom Perignon is great too.  I'm working with people who really loves and knows wines.  I'm amazed by how much I can drink without being near drunk at all. And the more you drink, the more you learn how to appreciate and enjoy it.  I'm totally spoilt.



Last night's dinner was at Rochester's Min Jiang which was really good too!

By the end of 4 days, I was dead tired, just like the last time.  They're saying that the next regional meeting in October will not be in Singapore anymore.  I sure hope so!  I don't really mind anywhere, except for maybe KL.

It's been 2 tiring weeks since I'm back from Nepal.  First week was spent nursing my bad throat infection and rushing through work.  Last week was absolutely draining.

It's another week tomorrow.

.::. Day 1: Around Thamel .::.

We arrived at the Kathmandu's airport in the afternoon.  It was simply one bricked building, and we had to queue to pay for Visa on arrival.  As we were staying for 16 days, we had to pay US$40 for a 30-day visa.  The 15 day visa cost US$20 but they refused to let us extend that for a day though there were notices around saying that we could.

It was hectic and crazy.  There are many people who are waiting to help you with your bag so that they can earn tips.  Touts were everywhere trying to get you on their taxi.  Everyone wanted your attention all at once.  We were at a loss, since our guide said that he would pick us up but did not say how we could recognize him.

Just as we walked out of the airport to the chaos, he suddenly appeared and asked if I was Jan.  I was somewhat shocked!  In the end, he said that he recognized us since we have scanned our passport for him to apply for the trekking permit.  *phew.

So we were ushered to a super old tiny Suzuki taxi with a boot that can barely fit both our backpacks.  The drive to town was very bumpy and I had my first glimpse of Nepal and the dirty streets.



This was the street right outside our hotel.  We went for lunch right after checking-in.

Our first meal there, we wanted to try Nepali food.  This was their traditional rice with vegetables and curry, called Daal Bhat.  It was refillable and it's impressive how much rice the Nepalis eat!

Outside the restaurant.

We settled things with the guide and got some trekking gear before roaming Thamel by ourselves.

They sell their meat and fish like that, by the street where cars go by.

It's the most touristy area, but they are mainly old buildings with narrow roads. 

Almost every shop sold the same things.  Trekking gear, hand-made paper, shawls.

Their local market.

Their taxis which are all really old, without aircon and looks like it's about to break down any minute.

Colourful felt crafts.  I like.

This dog was so cute!  I wonder if it can see?

There wasn't much to do nor see, so we had dinner early at a Thai restaurant and retired early for the trek the next day.

Despite paying US$30 for a three-star hotel popular with trekking groups, the room was small and very tired.  For some reason, the building was cold and there was no hot water.  Moreover, the door can be pushed open easily even after we lock it.  It was pretty cui and we did not shower.  The room was dim and electricity was only available for 10 hours a day.  It didn't help that there was a Danish tour group with teenagers screaming and running about at 3am in the morning.

With that, we ended our first day in Nepal and a hint of what a difficult trip this was going to be.

.::. I'm Back .::.

I'm back.

And I'm really happy to be back.  I'm even happy to head back to work despite a bad throat infection (that lasted the past 2 weeks) and an MC.

Strange.  Very strange indeed.

This trip is...extraordinary.  Totally not the type of holiday I'm used to.  It was an incredible experience though.

So much to say, a whirl of emotions.

I'm thankful.



And here's one of my favorite shots of the trip - our signature jumping shots at the Everest Viewpoint near Namche.  It's about 3500m, and the highest we managed to climb.

It's the first holiday that I kept a diary and wrote down my experience everyday.  I'm not sure if I'm going to manage posting about it all there though.  I just managed to upload all the pictures, almost 8GB of them - lesser than I thought I would take.

Very busy month ahead.  So much to do, so much happening at the work and personal front.  With 2 weeks worth of emails and deadlines to meet and the regional meeting next week, plus collection of keys for our flat and some wedding preparations and renovation research, I'm up to my neck.

Is it March already?!

Breathe.