Laura in Singapore

Bangalore Galore

2012-01-29T20:43:00.010+08:00

Dressing in white (dust).
Above, the seller of bags, below, Bengaluru Santa, I think.We found the blanket-selling doggy to be cute.The shirt below says "Riding Racoon", which I didn't originally notice since the chicken looked so delicious.This seemed less delicious.In Bangalore, you can buy the best pens in the world, it's amazing!Or non-vegetarian clothing. Mmmm meety.Barry gave this a "Thums Up"!One way travel is by gender-segregated dump truck.These little dudes warn not of the dangers of such methods, but about not using your mobile phone while driving.

Canuckristmas

2012-01-24T21:58:00.008+08:00

We had a typical Canadian Christmas.
This year I got two Mennonite summer sausages, so that was extra special!
Santa embedded presents deep behind the tree, which a small elf had to extract.
Traditional Christmas alpaca finger puppets.Traditional Christmas Burmese lacquerware.
We listened to traditional Christmas music.And contributed to important Christmas skills like eating with chopsticks.
Here are some of our traditional Christmas treats. Do you prefer tomato chocolate, above, or miso-ramen chocolate, below?A traditional Japanese Mexican meal of taco rice is best followed by sweet potato Kit Kat.
Or perhaps Crunky Ball. I think you can't go wrong with Crunky Ball, really.
Then, as per the tradition, jet lag and the cold caught up with us as shown.
Luckily, Santa made us some turkey soup to heat up at our hotel.

Glass, Smirch, Masochist and Chaos

2011-12-17T15:00:00.004+08:00

The large glass snowmen wish you happy holidays.It was also Barry's birthday, so we had burgers at our new favourite place.Since Santa is coming, we took appropriate hygienic measures.Since Barry's joints have aged prematurely due to overuse in triathlons but he's still a masochist, we now have to design our own. Above, Barry is shown waking up at 5:30am. Below, phase 1.Home-grown triathlons are conveniently located.Barry was very lucky - he came in first place!And won the prize! It was a clock radio, go figure!In other news, Singapore's subway system seems to have melted down last week. One of the most modern in the world, it trapped passengers in trains in the dark for an hour, which leaves me with the question: Do trains not have emergency exits? What if there was a fire? Why bother showing emergency videos in stations, given this?

Stellenbosch, South Africa

2011-12-11T15:58:00.006+08:00

We went to South Africa, where there are scary animals.Although we saw the less scary guinea fowl.
There were also spice mix-up hazards.We practiced our African drumming skills.Barry got a little too into it.Then we had an 80's flashback moment.
The wedding was in lovely Stellenbosch.
It's known for its wineries.Cool wedding band - better than Barry on the drums.And here I am with the happy groom.

Merry Engrish

2011-12-03T22:05:00.006+08:00

Right, it's Christmas season, so that means Engrish!
The above repeats for emphasis: "I wish you a Merry and Happy Christmas. May your Christmas be merry and happy".Chaff is a common theme featuring in my Christmas gifts.
The above wins the best Christmas Engrish award this year. Let us examine it more closely.In addition to flying Santas and donuts, there is the lesser known snowman gangster mushroom theft business going on. Maybe those are not mushrooms, but, giant strawberries? I need more information.
Finally, there is my new hero, Hungry Santa, who flies through space with cutlery. Let's go!
Anyway, this is a more persuasive gift bag.
And finally, another advantage of the Christmas tree - living in the middle of plants!

Japanese Characters

2011-11-22T20:20:00.010+08:00

Ishigaki is filled with interesting creatures. I worried that taking a picture of an owl with my flash may have blinded it. This worry is clearly shown in my mangled pre-snorkelling hands.Around here, they are really into their Shisa statues. They are lion-dogs, which seems like a cool pet when you can't decide between a dog and a cat.Here, we demonstrate our support. Barry once again attempts his angry scary face, but this time somehow ends up looking like he has no teeth.The tourist shisas were more brightly coloured so we didn't miss them.They warded off evil all over the place.The local public school taught is about international cultures. Italians wear overalls, Aussies like fish patterns, and the Senegalese are angry.It seems the Brits stole a Hudson Bay blanket, and the Ghanaians enjoy their symbol-wear. Pretty sure the Iranian should be covering up a bit better, mind you.The Malaysian demonstrates that we haven't seen enough of Malaysia yet. Davy Crockett was a Canadian? I like the white socks with black shoes. But I like Indonesia and the Irish milkmaid even more.To complete our learning, we went to a restaurant in Singapore serving the same type of Japanese food. This may have helped us if we'd gone before, but also made life less interesting.

Ishigakijima Beef and Awamori

2011-11-20T14:05:00.007+08:00

Looking for something to drink with loinclothed Grandpa and the kids at the beach? Well this poster at the Awamori museum, seems to suggest that the at least 60 proof stuff is the answer.The museum did not teach us much else, since we have not learnt to read Japanese yet. But apparently old rusty machines have been replaced by big shiny new vats.Barry and I enjoyed the tasting part, although we wore more clothes.
We were also confused by the references made by this cold coffee, as always.
I learnt much more quickly than Barry to order "Olion biru", shown above. We did not figure out why so many things referenced constellations and astrology, mind you.Barry got his points for learning to order Ishigaki Beef, albeit by accident and raw the first time.I'm going to repeat this a few times for emphasis. Cook for a few seconds on each side, look how delicious.

Remote Japanese Island

2011-11-13T17:23:00.004+08:00

Ishigaki is a pretty little beach town with gravel and walls made of washed up coral. Back in, well some year, they started driving on the other side of the road, as illustrated by this monument.After that, it seems, things got a little quiet.Pretty from up high... But if you look a little closer, there are lot of big areas of creepy big crypts!Scary, no?Then we noticed that some of the houses were bit empty, and missing windows.Do you think the goat mural goes nicely with the curtains?We also found signs of Canada.Which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Engrish!If Ishigaki gets too hectic, you can go to Taketomi island, population 361. You get the beach to yourself.
However, even here slightly creepy creatures linger. We learnt that some sea slugs are squishy and others hard.And also what restrooms do at night.

Barry's Talents

2011-11-02T23:13:00.003+08:00

Mmm, tasty seaweed pearls. This gave Barry a strange idea.Attempt 1: Beer giggles?Attempt 2: is your beer confusing you?Day 2, Attempt 3: Is there someting in your beer?Day 2, Attempt 4: Oh, just give it up, you don't look like the Japanese beer add, below.Anyway, let's focus on things Barry is better at, like eating too much wasabi:Enjoying strange food, like squid ink rice.I'm also good at that.And imitating lion statue grimaces.

Clean and Turcock

2011-10-27T22:06:00.005+08:00

Worried about getting tough marrow stains out? I thought I'd try this sample we got in the mail, but since it was in Vietnamese, I was confused. Do I apply it only to babies?But then, lo and behold, I ran into the adult version! It's for slimming, including babies, I guess.So instead, I can use this on my stains.In other news, it was Deepagiving recently!
And the littlest Indian visited us.
I decided that methods of burning Deepagiving calories all suck. This one because stopping is infeasible.

What Happens in Hill Villages

2011-09-17T21:30:00.009+08:00

We took some hikes through the hill tribe villages.Farming was evident. If you look closely, you might spot the water buffalo below.Craftmanship was more elusive. Clothing is made from hemp, dyed with indigo...But we only saw one, um, hemp plant.Rice can be ground into floor. Although nowadays it's just sold wholesale. Some farm animals were spotted. Piglet may not be to scale.This duckling however is to scale, and likes bonbons.Below is bark drying in the sun ready to be made into incense, although we didn't see any incense. Houses like these were used as "home stays", which are hotels for masochists.This cellulite vegetable would have been veggie of the week, except I'm not sure we've ever eaten it, or know how to cook it.Mountain farming is tough work and requires waking up early mornings, which explains why Vietnamese coffee is so strong.

Land of the Hill Tribe People

2011-09-17T21:05:00.008+08:00

In Northern Vietnam, you can travel into the past.
Ok, not really. Here, the Black Hmong woman is talking on her cellphone.
And the outfits are better in colour (I think this tribe is Giay or Zay).In our hotel, the traditional garb of each hill tribe is explained.
Mostly, we saw the Black Hmong, below. They were best at pushing their wares, which were, sadly, trinkets made in China (or perhaps in Vietnamese factories, but not in hill tribe villages).Some of the food for sale was more local, however.Also available were Red Dao, shown below.

A Long Trip North

2011-09-17T20:07:00.008+08:00

The trip to get here is not a simple one. You start here, in Hanoi.
What to eat?Perhaps some seafood?Hanoi provides fascinating chaos and great pictures of bikes.And motorbikes. Here, a whole fridge on one.Here, 6 ducks. Probably more, not shown.We took the fancy overnight train north through the mountains, for 9 hours.Luckily, they still had Vietnamese coffee when we got there.Barry was pretty happy about that! Here's a hint at where we went. And it has nothing to do with GnR.

Taipei Temple Time

2011-09-17T18:34:00.008+08:00

Ok, so we're all tired of Chinese temples, but look how pretty! This is different, a man with a Mohawk and broom has been grabbed by an elephant!
Here some sort of story is told involving a dark, poorly-clad bad guy who appears to be stealing the young.
Imagine facing up against this guy in war? It would be distracting, no?
Most temples have what I call the hairy gods as shown here (hair alarmingly real-looking), but this fish-god was a first for me. There is always the red rage god.
And, amidst all this great photography, there a bored Barry who has resorted to work email!
And decorating ideas - don't you think we should have more ceilings like this?Ok, once Barry had temple boredom, you can go up the tall shiny building. And see the little tiny buildings below.

EATaipei

2011-09-17T16:19:00.003+08:00

Just around umbrella cat corner is one of Taipei's fantastic night markets, which is slightly busier.
There's a whole lot of food going on.
Some of which is not easy to identify.I tucked right into a stick of candied tomatoes with prunes. It was, well, good enough to eat despite the obvious throat impalement while walking risk.Barry had the much wimpier bubble tea.I also tried this, which is congealed pig's blood with sticky rice. Good, but strange to me that it was served at room temperature, sometimes with peanuts. I figured it should be a part of a hot breakfast.Again you'll see the trend of my heroic bravery. Here I'm liking, but not really understanding Stinky Tofu.
Whereas Barry's enjoying much less adventurous beef noodle soup.He is also shown here trying to figure out which one is the mortar, and which the pestle, at a grind-you-own sesame seeds Japanese restaurant.Later on, we found the best dumplings in all of Asia, and bought 30 of them to eat over the next few days. Our rapture made us forget photography.

Taiwanese Fish Balls

2011-09-11T17:53:00.003+08:00

If you're wondering what to do in Danshui, Taiwan, there's always the Fish Ball Museum. I bet you haven't been to one before. It's across the street from the temple of the god of fish bits.Um, excuse me, there seems to be an old drunk man on top of your temple.Anyway, back to fish. After flaunting its taxidermy,
the museum has beautifully illustrated fish ball details in Mandarin!What could make you hungrier than this balling technique?We were careful not to mess with the intricate displays.Overall, the fish ball museum gave Barry an ice cream craving. I settled for a triple sausage-on-a-stick. We saved our fish ball cravings for another day.

Emperor Times in Beijing

2011-08-25T22:18:00.012+08:00

Above is the temple of Heaven, in the Park of People playing Majong, Singing, and Getting Fit.I would like a similar paint-job for my next home.When the Emperor got tired of his Forbidden city, above, with its naughty title, (and fake-blue sky that I touched-up to cover the smog),he retreated to the Summer Palace. We did not find it less crowded or cooler, just less convenient. But we were big fans of its air conditioners and their message. I did not throw waste, but I did sit by, sucking on the cool air, despite the apparent disapproval.
The Emperor was also a fan of animal carvings representing real and emperor-imagined species.
Modern Beijing locations, such as Tiananmen square shown below, were a bit less flamboyant.
After all the walking in the heat, might we suggest a candied plum, assuming you have a gut of steel.

Beijing New and Old

2011-08-25T21:55:00.008+08:00

Beijing offered us some contrasts. New building:
Old building:A tale of two corners; fixed up old building.
Classic style:
And our more modern Engrish style. Mine says "Hello Paris"; hers says "Sweet Love Frequently Lisps" and then something about writhing.Barry and I had different ways to cope with it all. He rebelled.I just overheated as shown here.

Election Errata!

2011-08-24T20:16:00.003+08:00

It turns out I was terribly mistaken! The Tans ARE easy to tell apart. On the ballott sheet, not only are there black and white pictures, but also symbols!! That's right, the presidential candidates each have their own symbol. I was quite confused (glasses? But they all wear glasses. And is that an aboriginal headpiece?), but I found the answer:
The heart stands for conscience and empathy (I thought love, but I was again wrong).
The hand-bubble stands for the Voice of the People. But there's more! The five fingers, (consistent with chinese reflexology), represent honesty, fairness, a positive attitude, courage and public service. However I'm not sure if these are features of the Tan or of the People...
Anyway the ~~headdress~~ palm leaf represents: "the multiracial society, the trunk represents them coming together (the races?), and the roots represents (sic) people taking root in Singapore" (roots however not shown).
The glasses represent, well, glasses. However, Mr. Tan adds: "No one has ever ruined his or her eyesight by taking a long-term view".

Tan much?

2011-08-20T10:12:00.003+08:00

Singapore is electing the next President (read Governor General). We can't vote, which is lucky, since the above illustrates how difficult the choice is. This follows the General Election. Most importantly for us, we get one extra holiday for each election. That means we'll be going here! Stay tuned.

The Great Wall and More

2011-08-13T15:17:00.004+08:00

The Great Wall is where you fight the enemy as I demonstrate below.Potential enemies are shown here.I call this one: Three Davies Gazing.After the wall, we went back to appreciate more modern Chinese architecture.We also enjoyed modern Chinese Cuisine with our friends Mike and Jen.We tried Cutie Wife cakes for dessert.Jen demonstrated Chinese shopping: Find a bike with what you want and then shriek. Negotiations and house plant acquisitions ensued.We also learnt from Jen how freaky the back of an ear is. Ew, look!

Beijing in Red

2011-07-30T18:47:00.004+08:00

Above, kids at the forbidden city. I think the emperor didn't want to let the kids in. With all those concubines, they must have made a lot of noise. Below, delicious scorpions, fried birdlets and other delicacies.We stuck to less exotic snacks, although we threw in a freaky bun for good measure. It failed the yummy test.Also failing was the wine-flavoured pocky, despite the poem.The hanging ribs with mushrooms and sticky rice were the winner. Since we did not realize you had to order by piece, it was a bit awkward to eat the lone rib.

Sparkling Kitties

2011-07-23T09:23:00.007+08:00

This is the story of the Sequined Cat Vest.Wearing this vest brings admiration from everyone around you.The wearer of the vest is bestowed with near magical dancing skills,matched only by those of Argentineans!After touching the vest, I felt like this:After wearing the vest, it is important to have your friends help replenish your vital sugars.The cat vest loves everybody, even disbelievers and dogs.Underclothing is optional. A personal decision, really.But from where does such a mysterious creation originate? Is it one of a kind?We smart, global citizens investigated!And oh my goodness there are so many more! From Indonesia to the world, let sequined vests adorn us all!And let us also wonder, a little, about the careers of the above models.

Italians of the Week

2011-07-19T18:31:00.000+08:00

I call this: Three Bald Italians Shearing a Sheep!They were just downhill from this pool, where it was too cold to swim.
Above this was the Steep Driveway of Testing Nerves, the sloping path above.And then even further below, across lake Como, was the house in which George Clooney sometimes lives.The Italian beverage of the week is the Spritz, which is cool for being bright orange! Drinking these does not help you find George.The ice cream of the week is Jug o' Gelato, shown above.The hotel of the week is the airport Sheraton, which gave me the above plate free, likely mistaking me for Mr. Clooney.

Low Res, High Cheez

2011-07-08T07:58:00.004+08:00

We've been enjoying our serious photo booth hobby again.Note the enlarged bluer eyes and lightened hair. Such are Japanese photo desires.
Believe it or not, many of the special effects were Barry's choices. Although we ran out of time due to our illiterate confusion.

Lessons in Engrish and Flench

2011-06-25T20:01:00.006+08:00

Engrish Anatomy.
Engrish Motivational statements.
Lessons in Flench. The present tense versus the gift.
Here we have a Trumph of engineering at Trumph Tower.
Barry says this is what happens in Flench if you eat too much fish.
Engrish economics lesson for tourists.
Philosophy: The fine print says: "There are some which are not spread here".
Study too hard and you might get something stuck in your platanus!
Made in Chinese Cabbage cuisine.The above is traditional Engrish. Flamboyant use of adverbs, unusual animal combinations, extreme girliness.This is standard Engrish advertising, although who knows what for.We at Engrish school wish to see you soon, although not so welcoming for a store.

Burning, Hoffee, Cups

2011-06-18T07:34:00.005+08:00

So here, live hockey is available at 8:00am if you buy the special channel (which also shows Nascar and wind-surfing to demonstrate its obscurity). Hockey with coffee is somehow more stressful than with beer.On a side note, did you know you can book him for a party? Great idea no?
We enjoyed this, although pizza here didn't match up.
Ya we're fans for at least 7 games/year. And, for the second time since we've been here, Canada made the international news! Mostly about this. Imagine the questions I got at work during the next day's fire alarm.Eventually we celebrated the efforts with preposterously priced Canadian beer.

Further Fukuoka

2011-06-04T13:15:00.009+08:00

Yatai are intimidating food carts where you enter through curtains to eat with locals. Barry made me go there twice.Due to karma, Barry had to eat a whole dried salted fish there. Thank you, goddess of stone sculpture with your numerous assistants.Other food choices included an unexpected Canadian BBQ restaurant.Look, Canadian hamburgers, complete with lotus root and pumpkin chips!I think we liked Japanese BBQ better.The dimensional drink (sake?) menu did not enlighten us, so we made the wrong selection.And finally, we went to a baseball game, where Barry got cheering sticks with stickers! You can see him attempting the cheers here.This proves that balloons are also for adults.

Taito Training

2011-05-28T19:54:00.007+08:00

In Fukuoka we went to Taito Station, a colourful arcade. Barry was not bad on the drums. Until we realized that the screen behind us was giving us secret messages about aliens in the forests of Canada.
The games were a bit confusing. This one as something to do with angry people and cakes.We learned about Gloomy, who is a naughty grizzly, weighing more than 2000 pomegranates, who forgets to stop attacking people. You can win Gloomy if you win the games.There are other prizes that seemed of dubious value: pillows with butt or chair noses.I preferred the tiny old-fashioned camera.All this just made Barry nauseous, unfortunately.

Fear in Fukuoka

2011-05-23T19:02:00.005+08:00

Above is a graveyard in Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture. Below is something far more frightful, do you notice anything amiss?As we approached on tip-toe.And then, enough to make me scurry away, this one was on the other side of the same building! Plastic heads trying to eat us!Here is what it looked like to me, in case you didn't get it from not being there.

Delusions of Barry

2011-05-19T13:55:00.003+08:00

Ever since someone in Myanmar told Barry he looked like Nicholas Cage, he's been acting a bit unusual. It got worse when someone in Japan called him Keanu Reeves. He started driving imaginary luxury cars.Making special friends with bunnies.He developed a strange allergy to rubber. And has occasional nausea in inconvenient places.
So what do you think, Keanu, Nicholas, or just Barry?

Burmeese Zen

2011-05-07T12:45:00.011+08:00

We went back to the Shwedagon, to see what we could find. We found a photogenic girl.We found children going through a ceremony. They're being carried to avoid burning their feet on the ground.Barry, this boy, and I all made this same facial expression in the heat.The Buddhist nun sought alternate shelter.This is the Singu Min Bell. The occupying British managed to drop it in the river while stealing it, which is why it's back, with damage shown.This is a pear-shaped deity with strong eyebrows and ears.I'm seen here appreciating robo-Buddha.Anyway, here's the Shwedagon again, just because it's awesome.Likewise, our hotel had many advantages, including a lovely pool, a gourmet restaurant, consistent electricity, and a drink called the Mandalay sour. All this zen rebuilt since cyclone Nargis.Barry is shown here enjoying zen with his new Burmese longyi. Yup, it's a man-skirt.We even chilled out enough to see the dew.

Myanmar Meander

2011-04-29T16:11:00.008+08:00

Walking through Yangon, here is what you find.Crabs, claws sold separately. Likely partially precooked in the heat. Brooms.
Mangosteen.
Bananas are sold by people wearing Burmese makeup, thanaka.Birdhouses outside the market provide decorative, if confusing, interest.Buckets of everything that you could need.

Monk'd

2011-04-25T21:16:00.003+08:00

After four years in Asia, trying to subtly take pictures of monks...It turns out, if you go to the right places, you're weird enough that they want to take pictures of you! Not a word of english was exchanged.

Lesser-known Evils

2011-04-17T18:06:00.007+08:00

This is my favourite picture of the week, which I call The evil of filing.
Next, just some pictures of our neighbourhood haunted house.How about: Ancient Muslim graveyard at night. Scary, no?If that didn't work, then let's ponder these happy and photogenic kayakers.Here is the sludgebuster and the yuck of the water they're paddling in! Now you have fear. Finally, this is Frankenbuilding. Seen in Sydney, it's modern condos grafted onto an ancient church. It may also eat children, just sayin'.

Engrish of the week

2011-04-10T21:29:00.004+08:00

Barry's Engrish umbrella did not make it through the week.

however, for some reason Barry decided he needed an Amazone shirt.Barry has also taken up a new sport: Li Ning!The above Engrish expresses our need for faster aviation.And this one says that a sweet tooth helps your love life.I'll let you interpret the above. Below is Barry's new Indian shirt. Turns out it's a bit more religious than he'd hoped. And on that note, here are some deep thoughts.

Quick Trip South

2011-04-03T19:01:00.008+08:00

We kept busy this weekend doing mirror photography and contemplating architecture.
But guess where we went 2 weeks ago. Hint: There was Lebanese food.
There were large burgers made out of questionable meat.And if you go to a wedding, you can wear a fascinator as shown above. Such is the way of a wedding in Australia.
Even the French McDonalds has no worries.

Lucky French Harmonicas

2011-03-26T21:05:00.003+08:00

The costumes of the week are made of stone. The language of the week is Beginner French as spoken in Africa, and apparently intermediate level as spoken in Spain?The construction company of the week is shown below. We hope neither is used for construction.The Festival of the week is the Harmonica Festival, lasting 4 days! The biomechanics man is shocked!Creepy snow sculptures of the week include aliens

And the scary happy family. I'd take the aliens any day.Perhaps you wonder about some of the things 7-11 sells here? Well there's Craze Hottis, which are between the slurpees and the mashed potato machine.

More delicious is Roti John, below left. This is a fried egg, onion, meat and bread combo with mayo and chili sauce. It was invented for the original white colonials (hence the name), apparently as a hangover cure.Speaking of hangovers, the hotel of the week is the Hoover hotel. Freshly vacuumed!

Hotel Hobbies

2011-03-20T17:03:00.003+08:00

Ever find yourself bored in an esthetically luxurious hotel as shown above? Well, inspired by the book "Hotel Hobbies", I tried to entertain myself. Hobby #1: soap carving.Harder than I thought, but I made a nice flower, no?I decided to make up my own hobbies. How about hotel gastronomy. Reheating pizza: Kettle and steaming cup method does not work well. Hairdryer method: Works better, however bathroom covered in herbs.

Iron method: Not sure how, too scary, orientation challenges.Hotel hobby #3: Towel Origami. Total failure, the book lied. This was supposed to be a chicken.More successful: hotel spa pedicure. (Suggest wine is not minibar variety).

Relaxing foot scrub sadly only increases boredom.Overall verdict: hotel hobbies pass the time, but you may end up just as bored as you started.

Blowing in Otaru

2011-03-13T14:18:00.011+08:00

Guess what Barry's practising? Below, he's shown putting his hands way too close to molten glass.Don't worry, I showed him how it was done.Eventually, Barry got the hang of it, check out his blow!And his smoothenation.And one of our masterpieces.

To sum it up, in Otaru, you can do your own glassblowing as a tourist. No language skills required!

The finished results are a sight to see! A great way to drink sake.

How to Pork, Teppan style

2011-03-02T04:11:00.001+08:00

Looking for a some teppan pork and an okonomiyaki? Just find a pig called Gord, (Golton in Japanese) first. Careful cuddling him as his ears are sharp. You can also identify the restaurant by the flying pigs.Ordering is based on a simple, colour coded system!Then you will get this, which is an uncooked okonomiyaki!To cook, just follow these Japanese instructions! Still confused? Eventually the waiter will help out.

And the result is worth it, we ordered more!

Sampling Sapporo

2011-02-27T14:48:00.004+08:00

Sapporo offers a bewildering range of delicacies.

Barry is shown sampling the aptly-named soup curry. We did not try the winter-dried fish, to our knowledge.

Though we did tour the full range of seafood selections.

Some foods were more confusing than others.

Hokkaido is special for roly cake made on a sideways shawarma machine.And for cheese, which, though eaten too fast to be photographed, was bought in the market shown below.

After all that, perhaps some dessert?

Hokkaido Confusion

2011-02-13T17:48:00.005+08:00

One of the reasons Japan's so great is that we don't understand much. How is this bear in tighties linked to the store selling chocolate-coated potato chips? Why is this man a fish?
Barry, however, understood the table reservation signs.

Luckily, guidance is provided, such as this Shopping Helpo booth. Here, hints for dealing with winter. Luckily, we survived even without our corduroy pants! Note that Americans are in trouble given the temperature conversion shown here!

These instructions on a sand dispenser - save yourself and others!More confusion - what do these fashion stores sell? Then sometimes you wonder if Japan finds other places a tad unusual too.
Places like Heiduruburugu, perhaps.

But some places, they truly understand, like Idaho!
Just remember, when in doubt, life is vegetables.

Japanese Thirst

2011-02-10T18:20:00.005+08:00

When Singapore is hot, time to get a cool drink in, perhaps, Sapporo. Above, the Sapporo beer museum and challenges in smokestack photography. Below, the sake museum. We pretended to read the Japanese history of beer.

And the snow mascot of sake.This man seemed equally confused.Sake tasting - that we understood!
And, surprisingly, the sake museum features Japanese wine!Here, Barry demonstrates his sake glass with overflow in the box technique. Harder than it looks!

Rain. Forest.

2011-01-30T19:29:00.003+08:00

What do you do on a rainy weekend after being strengthened by a giant pomelo? Well it's time to put on your poutine shirt and embrace the rain!Here is the normally calm canal.And then we met the Singapore water utility logo, Mr. Drop!As you can see, he has a different tone than other water logos I found. Although the awa one is surprisingly feminine.

Anyway, then we faced the rain, much to Barry's excitement.I tried to blend in with the monkeys so they might approach me. But the closest we got was seeing this snake-like monster.

And then we shrunk to miniature proportions!

Puppetation Weekend

2011-01-24T20:59:00.006+08:00

Feeling creative and looking for something to do this weekend? Well if you're Barry, you might choose to sew.Ok, Laura does it too, here she's shown with a big tangle.Can you tell what we're making?Here I'm being introduced to my lizard as he eyeballs me.

And Barry hung out with his creepy eye-less bird.

Once the puppets start to take over the furniture...

You know it's time to give them away!

After all that, I suggest a drinkable wine at an affordable price at our fave wine bar.

2 hours of sparkling for $12 can really relax those sewing hands.

Northerly Holidays

2011-01-13T04:42:00.004+08:00

For the holidays, we visited weather! (No, we don't really fly on Polar bear planes). We tried to act normal, but we were freezing.We played with cute wee folk.

Teaching them important things like photography.
Then one of them played a practical joke on me. Who stuck the bib to Auntie Laura?
Now what shall I do with this?

We also got to play with their toys, shown here is the hopping penguin, as in real life. But we couldn't master our own toys - here is my helicopter crash face.
Happy New Year!

The Rest of New Zealand

2011-01-08T14:25:00.002+08:00

New Zealand has many natural wonders. Below are the punakaiki rocks, said to resemble stacks of pancakes.Speaking of pancakes, oh my goodness food! Below are corn fritters, a modern pancake substitute from the heavens!And then for dinner there's lamb, venison and wine, gourmet restaurants in every town, probably even Athol!After all that eating, we went to the steepest residential street in the world.

And then some hiking amongst the ferns which, in New Zealand, have become trees!After that we were rewarded by liquor land, "There's No Land Like It". (Church shown for entertaining constrast).

Other NZ Creatures

2011-01-01T13:43:00.000+08:00

New Zealand has lots of animals to see.
Some easier to photograph than others.
And some with the same facial hair as Barry!Some cute ones.

Some crossing the road.And again: big.

And the lesser known New Zealand animal: the salmon! Welcome to Salmon World.

Birds without Wings

2010-12-19T14:13:00.009+08:00

One of the main reasons to go to New Zealand is to see penguins. Obviously, we're big fans.

And the sheep don't seem to mind them either!

These ones above are wishing you happy holidays!

You've got to be careful not to endanger them further. Not as cute as a penguin, this is a Kea:New Zealand has other flightless birds, some of which look like chickens.
And then a couple which can even use their wings (spot both).Sadly, the most famous bird, the Kiwi, was only seen hiding in Barry's mustache.

Big Cold Glaciers

2010-12-17T20:44:00.003+08:00

In New Zealand, you can go see really big blocks of ice called glaciers! Since it's very dangerous, you can only watch from afar. Hazards include maneuvering through rushing waters like so.

Sadly, it was only sunny at one of the glaciers.It was foggy and rainy at the other.

This is the way the glaciers shave down the mountain.Leaving huge river beds of boulders, which we saw all over New Zealand. Here are some rocks and a poser.

It took Barry a while to spot the glacier, despite its massive size.

Barry's Town of Knives

2010-12-12T20:22:00.006+08:00

What would you do in New Zealand! Well, if you're Barry, you'd go to Barrytown!

And what would you do there? Perhaps throw axes (badly)?

Or burn stuff? Well we did these things, so as to make a Barrytown knife, wouldn't you? Below, Barry, in Barrytown, forging steel.Below, Laura, in Barrytown, learning she's not strong enough to forge steel.Barry telling Laura to sharpen up and stop forging like a girl.It turns out there are many steps in making a knife, several of which involve these belt sanders. The precision steps are done my knifemaster Steve.

Since it's NZ, there are lots of sheep.

Finished product, Barry of Barrytown was very proud.
Admire our forging, sanding, polishing, drilling, slicing and riveting skills, oooooooh.

In case you think we made this up, click.

Walking on Fire

2010-12-04T05:29:00.004+08:00

After missing it each year, Barry and I finally witnessed the Hindu Fire-walking festival. This starts with a 4km barefoot walk, which would have been photographed below, except we got dazzled by the blinky lights of Deepavali.Beforehand, the devotees hang out in the temple, some appearing to be in cages.There was much music and commotion (as with all things Hindu that I've witnessed). But unfortunately, the actual fire-walking part doesn't start until 1:00am on a Sunday night.So, Barry and I set our alarm; and this is the sight we were able to quickly glimpse.I mean very quickly. We were ushered through, and told to keep moving and stop taking pictures. So you're not gonna see fire, or focus for that matter.But evidently these were hot coals, through which devotees scurry. At then end the feet are cooled in this (likely fungal) puddle.Now since you can't see very well, it's available on TV screens which, they say, add 10lbs. Also involved in this festival is the placing of leaves on a deity sculpture, and walking through what I think is turmeric.

Generally, no burning occurs, but just in case...

Eating Hong Kong

2010-11-26T17:57:00.001+08:00

At first, Barry was a bit scared of the food in Hong Kong, but then he cozied up to some horseshoe crabs.The crab seen escaping succeeded! I gasped at the short-lived drama.Usually, HK food makes people happy.

But sometimes there are stranger reactions. Food spectrum: from mobile softee...to razor clams at a Michelin star restaurant.called whatever this says. That fat tire man is clever.

And finally here is proof that Asia CAN do delicious desserts. Esthetically pleasing, well, perhaps not as much.

Movember

2010-11-22T21:23:00.007+08:00

A strange thing has happened involving oddly red hair...on Barry's face! It is for Movember, a charity supporting prostate cancer and male depression through the growing of a mustache. (I guess Augustache was already taken). Anyway, you can support his Movember here. Above, Barry's Mo is shown eating manly sausage rolls. Below, ways we've found to camouflage it in pictures:

Below are the top five comments on Barry's Mustache so far (not all of which are mine):

1) Barry, how many colours of hair does your face grow at once? You're a roan cow!

2) Oh man, I flinched because I thought you might kiss me and I was scared of the pain.

3) No, I don't want to grow one, because look how bad Barry looks!

4) You keep adjusting it, but it's still crooked.

5) It's so itchy, I'm not sure I can last another 10 days.

Feel free to donate, more pics here.

HK2

2010-11-12T17:22:00.000+08:00

Sorry Frank, but we found ourselves in Hong Kong again last weekend. Barry visited his friend,And I wanted to learn some funful English! This is how you well mount a sign. Well is not equivalent to safe.Hong Kong is fast paced, perhaps the fastest of them all.

So you have to take time to stop and smell the fish in bags.or the roses.but not the durians! This place forbids durians (only in designated areas), dogs, gambling, smoking and some other stuff:

Happy Deepagiving!

2010-11-09T18:08:00.003+08:00

We recently celebrated Deepagiving, which is a combination of Thanksgiving and Deepavali. If you think about it, they are similar. Deepavali is the Indian Festival of Lights, Thanksgiving is the Festival of Eating with Indians and Pilgrims.Peacocks, turkeys, you see the similarity.Our friend Laura made festive hats for the pilgrims,

and the Indians.

This is what Deepagiving looks like. There are flashing lights and rugby (as close to football as available), and Indian flower decorations.

Barry en Europe

2010-10-31T16:12:00.005+08:00

Lately, Barry's work's taken him to some interesting places. Above, La Défense and required Dutch shots. Below, stereotypical French ones: Barry avec baguette, Pensevr, chien gâté.

In Paris, it appears Martians are a faux pas.But Engrish is available.Even back in Singapore, I suspect Barry might have had more fun than me in the last month...
But at least I enjoyed some Mexican food at a hawker centre.

Barry's Business

2010-10-22T21:38:00.005+08:00

One of Barry's better business ideas is to sell Singapore's Fire Rhino to the world redneck market. That's right, this sweet ride comes fully equipped with manly fire-gear! Spray away your tailgaters and turn on your siren for road rage (where local laws permit). And did I mention it's called a Rhino?

Open door areas allow your mullet to blow in the wind! Now clearly it needs better rims. The scoop stays, but the lights need some mods. And voilà, Fire Rhino can compete with the Humvee, convertible Jeep, Ute (In Oz, the El Camino isn't yet dead), and any SUV with a snorkel!

Soft-top option extra. Anyway, while Barry's away on business, I'm having lots of fun: Though I admit I've made this mistake a couple of alarming times.And I'm sometimes too lazy to make coffee. Local kopi (strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk) is a great substitute.

However, since I'm not even close to mastering the straw/bag combo, I usually end up with the pour/spill combo instead.

Hong Kong's Other Bits

2010-10-16T12:48:00.005+08:00

Above, Hong Kong Blue Ice beer. Below, Labatt Blue, Labatt Ice. I'm just saying, don't you think the HK-Canada migration might have led to some idea sharing? Now onto more important things: In Hong Kong, don't eat your hamburger friends until outside the MTR.

No graphically illustrated spitting.

Here are some other specific rules, don't gamble while your clothes are drying.

Our hotel was also strict!
But the sweet brown taste of sticed conches shark's lip certainly makes up for it.

Tall, Fast and Bumpy

2010-10-02T15:57:00.004+08:00

A few weeks ago we went to Hong Kong with our new HK friends, some of whom look into the camera.There have been comparisons between Singapore and HK, however I noticed more differences than similarities. HK has Singapore beat when it comes to walking speed, population density, and cool buildings.We went to Victoria peak, but the rain obscured our photography.

Cowtown

2010-09-24T18:46:00.005+08:00

I had a business trip to an exotic place called "Cowtown" in the "New West" because the old West is scary, lots of guns.Even the police wear cowboy hats here. I saw them do important things like giving tourists directions!

Since I was focused on shopping in my spare time (I'm cowgirl sized), I did not check out the sites, but there was a tall tower.And many choices of what to do: this building has a church, a modelling agency, and fashion makeup!There is also oil money.

And most importantly, my friend Chantal lives in Calgary! She and I support Beer and Wine, even when the stand is closed.

Historic Gyeongju

2010-09-19T11:16:00.005+08:00

While in Korea, we checked out the historic sites of Gyeongju, which include ancient tombs as shown below. I tried to figure out why, after years of poverty, occupation, war and such, nobody raided these! We went into one, and there was gold in there, I don't get it.There were lots of them!Then again, they were protected by angry stylish warriors with moobs,And strangely, by skateboarders with nunchucksWe enjoyed the historic sites although our comprehension was limited. This is Cheomseongdae, used by 7th century Koreans to view the stars.This giant bells signals that it's time to eat.

If you don't like street pickles,there are plenty of other street vegetable options as well.

Kaleidoscope of Korea

2010-09-09T20:44:00.007+08:00

Korea offers unique shopping opportunities. Barry bought many socks, because he finds them very fashionable. He is also a big fan of video games on tv called Star craft and involving strange creatures at war.Barry tried out his own forest war tactics, but he ended up stuck in the bushes, can you spot him?Personally, I was more into rugged sports like cycling. I thought my bike's basket was pretty cool... until I saw this basket and realized I'd forgotten my basket toy.
And also I wasn't wearing the latest in Korean sun protection like this woman.Biking and forest maneuvers were tough, so we chilled at the Western Ice Bar.There were many choices for dinner.

Stuffed tigers prefer live food:But we compromised on more native cuisine.

Korealternative

2010-09-05T10:25:00.006+08:00

Ya, so Barry's got this weird new habit of making me imitate statues.But don't worry, I got revenge:Barry went onstage to "rock out", and, well, now you know why he's not a rock star.I stuck to food-oriented confusion.Luckily alcholicliguors were readily available.
Some things in Korea are confusing: why is this sushi cutting up a sushi?Other things less confusing: isn't this a great ashtray?

Delicious Kimchi Dreams

2010-08-26T07:38:00.006+08:00

In much of Korea, limited English is spoken. No problem, we would walk into a restaurant, shrug our shoulders, and then the above ($12 worth) would show up! Sometimes, there are pictures or plastic food at which you point, as in the below.
Barry demonstrates our confusion when this showed up. Happily, this confusion led to the servers helping us cook our own...

Until it was transformed into this (well after we ate some, since our photography vs. hunger priorities shifted)! This delectable dish is called dak galbi, and we suggest drinking it with the low cost, tasty and cooling makgeolli rice wine. This wine was another star of our vacation.Koreans are also really good at street food.And western fusion food. Hot dogs with Korean sauce? Sure!Now let's talk about attitude. Korean food's spicy and bad-ass. Check out these street peppers - wouldn't wanna run into them in a dark alley, would ya?

To learn more, we went to Seoul's Kimchi Field Museum, where we learned that before the hot pepper, Korean food was duller and kimchi was just, well pickles. Sounds British, leading me to wonder why the brits didn't bring their cabbage closer to their peppers. Anyway, my faves are the radishes, as shown.Barry was really into the kimchi museum, almost inappropriately so.

And then we learned another reason we like kimchi - it tidies!

We did Gwangju, did you?

2010-08-22T06:24:00.008+08:00

Tell a Korean you're going to Gwangju, and they'll look at you strangely and ask why, while trying not to offend you. In Gwangju, we happily learnt there was an amusement park beside our hotel. However, it turns out its amusement had long fled.We started to wonder what had happened that had scared the owners away so quickly.Soon, we forgot about it and were on our way up a mountain in an otherwise empty chair lift.

At the top, there was a lookout.And a fun house.And, strangely, a former mountain train station.To avoid getting totally freaked out, we relaxed at a restaurant, which appeared as if just for us (since we saw only 5 other people in 2 hours). Here, we enjoyed local makoli rice wine & kimchi. Yes, drinking out of bowls is what you're supposed to do.And the view of the city was fantastic. Especially with no one else around.I was only a little bit scared on the way down. Barry helped via interpretive dance. The next day we went to the nearby town of Damyang, known for its bamboo. Here, Barry sports his new Korean purchases: Canada hat, America shirt, and umbrella with cakes on it.

Fauxnesia Weekend

2010-07-30T21:33:00.003+08:00

Singapore's small, and when your island fever gets too intense, you gotta skip town! The easiest solution is to get on a boat to the island of Bintan, aka Fauxnesia. Fauxnesia, like Disneyworld, Vegas or Iqaluit, is for people who want to convince themselves they're somewhere they're not. In this case, we're pretending we're in Indonesiapore.Bintan's resort area is separated from the rest of the Indonesian island by a barbed wire fence, and its currency is the Singapore dollar. Shown below are fauxsatay, bigger than actual satay but less tasty.Bintan is not without its dangers:However, if you need a getaway and a 90 minute massage, Fauxnesia is easy and relaxing.But be careful not to hyper-extend that relaxed neck.

Visiting the Birds

2010-07-25T16:45:00.004+08:00

We recently visited Singapore's Jurong Bird park. The birds were a big fan of Barry and Erin. I, however, was a little more hesitant.These birds are ibis, though I'm more familiar with them in their hotel form.Some of the birds seemed to be having a good time.But others not as much (unless it's normal for ostriches to bald).Good times, and less good times (tiny owl cages and penguin enclosures not shown).

Wet & Wild

2010-07-03T20:57:00.005+08:00

How do you take your coffee? No, this is not a mass coffee spill: Singapore's had a few floods lately, after which our local paper published the following picture:Whoa, back-up the truck, the article nonchalantly just mentioned terrifying poisonous snakes. Is this not, um, scarier than floods? I guess the answer depends on whether you're one of these drowning cars' owners.These clever people seek higher ground. They will later likely seek anti-fungal cream.

The apparent cause of flooding was a blockage in one of the city's many drainage canals. We did some investigative journalism to see what might get stuck in drains here. And, well, we found a few things.

Monkey Man and other Wild Wonders

2010-07-03T14:34:00.012+08:00

We have recently discovered that Singapore has its own Sasquatch, called the Bukit Timah Monkey Man. So naturally we went to find him. We certainly found many places in the forest where he might hide.

Here's Barry looking for footprints:Here's me running away in fear - not of monkey man, but from a huge spider's web I had just run into.

Well, instead of finding cryptids, we found alternative creatures, such as soccer cows.A monster snail slowly attacking my umbrella:We found the lesser known, flower peppercorn, probably used by monkey monster as seasoning.

You're enraptured by my photographic representation of the puffball, yes?Outside of the forest, I call this art of art imitating life...And this: the End of Puff. And finally: Lotus-like flower hides under the Wall. (As opposed to Buddha).

Expat Exits

2010-06-27T18:31:00.004+08:00

The above nice picture of a Chinese word expresses my sadness of losing a bunch of my best friends lately. They have been victim to a common phenomenon known as the expat exit. Last week, Wolverine and Anne left for Hong Kong. This week, Dave's going back north, and Erin left earlier this year for Indonesia.To mark this sad occasion, we had proper goodbye meals. This one included Singapore's most delicious dish: chili crab. Chili crab is served with Barry's favourite buns for sauce dipping. He says they are just like babies.The best side dish for chili crab is black pepper crab, which also deliciously laughs in the face of western seafood sauce convention.Chindian fried noodles complete the meal.

Unless you're still hungry, then $1 will buy you an ice cream sandwich, made with pandan bread.

Weekend Walk Wonders

2010-06-19T16:39:00.005+08:00

This weekend, Barry learned about communism.The reason for this is that once we got tired of wondering about the giant balloon across the street from us, we went on a walk in our neighbourhood.The weather was so bright, even golden Buddha had to wear shades.

Street fires burned out of control. And cemented-over former garbage chutes provided intrigue.

The Teochew Drama association didn't seem to have any shows on today.

But as usual, we were more interested in the street kitties.

Also entertaining were alley plants decorated with crab shells. Intriguing.

If you're looking for room 401, it's around back. Similarly, this door reveals the secret codes.
This man was stirring vast vats of curry with what looked like a rake.

In the end, we had troubles finding our way. Where did the stairs lead to? Shouldn't they connect to this door?

Storms, Birds & Intelligent Issues

2010-06-13T13:29:00.006+08:00

I thought you might like to see what a storm looks like here. Sadly, my photographic adventures failed to capture the lightening. But I did capture the intellectual pigeon, below:In other news, we've been typical mature adults lately. But seriously, we kept space, at least.We also checked out some of the local industries lately. The Drugs and Nutrition company across the street seemed it would sell things that we wanted, however it was closed.

We assume the uber-modern Institute of Science is making some cutting-edge discoveries.

And, shocking development! Graffiti in Singapore! With quasi-political slogans! Shocking.

Laura, Barry and Ho Chi Minh

2010-06-05T22:05:00.006+08:00

Why is this woman hidden underground, and why is Barry tunnelling away? Well, because of the Vietnam war.These are the Cu chi tunnels, used as one means for the Viet Cong to stymie the Americans. Also used were booby traps show below. The Americans fought back with their own weapons, as detailed at the museum formerly named the American War Crimes museum. Fair enough.To move on to brighter topics, here are some balloons.And a picture of me and Jack. Fruit.As you can see, I fit right in in Ho Chi Minh. I even tried the local convenience dogs, but the cat food smell stopped me.HCM is a pretty city

filled with Vietnam's main mode of transportation, the overloaded scooter:More, including mad chaos videos.

Eurasians in the 70s

2010-06-02T18:04:00.004+08:00

I get a lot of searches for "Eurasian Culture" so, let's start at the beginning, which is the 1970s. In the 70s, Eurasians had tendencies to wear purple shirts, white pants and Asian socks. They smoked in rooms decorated like this. Perhaps you'd like to see that bedspread again?

Nice. The Eurasian phone of choice in the 70s was the Telboss Sweetone - cutting edge.

No actual cigarettes were harmed in the shooting of these photos.

What Sydney Has

2010-05-22T19:56:00.004+08:00

Sydney has a few things that Singapore doesn't, such as oceanfront cliffs, cemeteries in prime real-estate, and rebellious cliff families.Also strongly lacking in Singapore are Jewish gay rights protests.

I discovered that Sydney is where bottle scrub brushes grow natively.And vegemite comes free in little packages, which,

if you accidentally roll on top of, look like this on your shirt and bed. (Sorry hotel housekeeping, at least I don't have the bowel problem you thought it was.)And I nearly forgot Hungry Jack's, which is strangely what Burger King's called in Australia. Seriously, the King's a Jack, you heard it hear first.Best of all, Australia has good, cheap wine, a case of which I exported (legally, paid duty, still cheaper and better). Shown here mid-packing process.Like Singapore, Australia has some rules. Though I'm not sure whether Singapore restricts spear fishing.Evidently, the verb "to poo", is not used down under.

Japan in Singapore, Making Delicious Happy Time

2010-05-08T20:43:00.005+08:00

Singapore offers us tastes of other Asian cultures. For example, Japanese stores have won us over on sake. We recently bought Japanese playing cards, which are safer due to the warning not to throw them.You can tell something about a culture by what's on its cards. I have a rice & edamame pair! I trump you with my Queen of Scary Knives.Nothing says right bower like a rainbow. (Research has just shown that most readers won't know what a bower is, so substitute card lingo of your regional choice).We also enjoy healthy Japanese food. Barry is shown here eating bacon-wrapped cheese teppanyaki.And here is Barry's favourite Japanese cereal: Criscorn. Bears, Eurasian farmers and tanukis are also big fans.

And no post on Japan would be complete without some Engrish. Happy Birthday, all sweet dreams come true now.

This bag, from the Japanese store, tells us what Koreans think about Romanian wine.And tells us about nature - it gives you relaxation and composure - all this in a $2 bag!
I prefer Japanese products for lapping presents.

Finally, as advised, I've stopped the use with other thing, for now anyway.

Hot Mamas in the Paper

2010-05-08T17:10:00.010+08:00

What do you want for mother's day, perhaps a firmer bust? As explained in this newspaper ad, it's "your most important asset as a woman" (sic). Angie's bust looks so great that no one believes she's a mother. One wonders if she asks people this. Probably, as she also had to ask for her husband's support before using the firming gel (um, sic?).
Another heartwarming mother story above: Mother passes down body image issues to daughter, but luckily both lose 8-18cm instantly with 6 in 1 power ozone! Unfortunately said product also evidently promotes monstrous foot growth.
Feel like a piece of poo-ball mascot? Well, even though "D'Tox Juice" can cure all your woes in 2-4 hours, they sell you a 6 day program. Worth it if you get a plush toy of the mascot, whom I couldn't love more.

This one above is scientific: "Nettles rebalances and purifies clogged follicles for healthy scalp"(sic). It's a "Trichologist-validated treatment", which declares in fine print: "There is no scientific proof that any product (except registered medicinal products) or service can retard hair loss or promote hair growth. Your results may vary."

Above, thin oxygen "is suitable for all skin types, attenuate the unsightly comedone eruptions and revive your skin to an essence of life and radiance" (sic again). This might be a good time to highlight that Singapore lacks infomercials.

Breaking News: Bad Hair is Tuesday's top story.

Warning! This one helps sagging buttock (singular), and losing excess fats (plural). Send your weight problem and social security number to "win". Identity theft notwithstanding.

Above, "Hair Care helped me stopped rising hairline and nervous breakdown". Evidently brain damage is a potential side effect.On the positive side of hair loss is Michael Bolton, who can bring back your youth through his concerts, unchanged in 15 years.

Finally from this week's paper is Singapore's love/hate relationship with its 2 new casinos, with anti- and pro- advertisements juxtaposed.

Tales of Shining Lights and Vegemites

2010-04-25T12:54:00.005+08:00

Lately, Barry's been venturing out of the house on his own, and trying to make his own fun. This is because I'm have trouble leaving the new massage chair:From said chair to you, here are the pictures of the week. This one, of a wall on a bridge, defies categorization.The formerly alive creature of the week is the re-grown tailed gecko, below, who could have used some health care:The shocking news of the week is that, after Barry's questionable Australian adventures, I've been surprised to learn that vegemite and marmite are both actually delicious. Seriously, as long as you don't expect them to taste like nutella.

Another creature of the week is the rarely seen Baking Barry, who is oven tending.

Finally, hidden at the bottom is the monster spider of the week, from Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetlands park.

Ticos of the Week

2010-04-18T15:43:00.006+08:00

The Ticos (Costa Ricans) of the week are the scary river crocodile above and the picnic peacock, below. Runner up is the Roseate spoonbill, though I think it could have been more roseate, don't you?The fruit of the week is what I call sour Tico strawberry apple. Called "Cas band" on the package, yet not on google.

The inefficient nut of the week is the cashew, which grows like this (green part is the nut). You didn't know? This blog can be educational.

Volcanoes far and wide

2010-04-14T21:16:00.006+08:00

After tunnelling through the earth to Costa Rica, we visited Rincón de la Vieja Volcano. My Spanish confirms that this means "Corner of the old Lady", which I think means she's an angry old wench! Above, her bubbling slime. Below, my mother seemingly unaware of potential doom:The nearby white-faced capuchins also seemed cool with it all, if a little curious.As did the agouti, a pear-shaped auburn rat.Barry's favourite volcano animal is the coati, because it reminds him of tanuki.These animals must have figured ways to avoid falling into of crevasses of bubbling bile.I, however, was more alarmed, as shown here in the valley of death.

Fear Factor Food

2010-03-26T19:38:00.005+08:00

Our friends Mike and Jen came to visit recently. Seeing as they biked here from Kazakhstan (that's right, across Asia, use your mental globe), we knew they were hardcore. So we took them eat freaky food:Frog porridge can be sticky, Mike liked it more than me. He was also a mild fan of turtle soup, supposed to help you swim better.

In a final show of hardcore, here's Mike eating Durian Jam (Jen's dislike not shown).

Everyone was a fan of Tulang, bone marrow curry, (birthday version shown) but who isn't?Mike & Jen thought we were being nice, so they cooked us a delicious dinner! Thanks guys!

Tokyo Speaks to Us

2010-03-18T18:31:00.004+08:00

Japan is a fabulous travel destination: safe, clean, friendly, very easy to manoeuvre and yet culturally and linguistically exotic. The joy is in trying to figure out what it all means. Here are some examples for you to try:

My guesses, and more examples.

Where Fish Comes From

2010-03-13T16:11:00.004+08:00

I was told that more than 3 fish market pictures was boring. So if this applies to you, you're done now. For bigger fish fans, the Tsukiji fish market, the biggest in the world, is my favourite Tokyo attraction. Between 5 and 6:15am (yes, we made it), you can witness the tuna auction:Once auctioned, the tunas get cut with huge knives.We'll skip some steps, but here is what's offered for breakfast. If your attention span can handle more, it's here.

Tokyo Fashion and Barry

2010-03-09T18:56:00.008+08:00

When it comes to fashion in Tokyo, there's a lot going on. Below is picture of me pondering it all (I'm on the right).

For Barry, however, there is no need to ponder. He's all over it. You say animal ears are in?

Barry's immediately got himself a tiger hat.

Special socks?
Barry got himself panda socks because, he says, "socks with ears are cool".In fact, Barry's so stylish that the Japanese have started copying Canadian fashion! More.

Laura in Tokyo

2010-03-06T16:18:00.003+08:00

Tokyo provides photogenic nights, above, and days with big-eyed green freakdolls. Upon arriving in Tokyo we immediately went to the Tanuki & Plastic Food Store neighbourhood, wouldn't you? I just couldn't get these darn raccoon dogs to look for the picture.The restaurant district also sells the biggest and most expensive knives I've ever seen (Look at Barry's reflection in the glass for perspective).How do you like your squid? Perhaps white, dried and on the street?Tokyo, one of the world's biggest cities. 4-digit license plates.
More of Tokyo's oddities are here.

Canada's Olympic Victory

2010-03-01T20:51:00.004+08:00

Laura prefers the U.K.'s Olympic Medal standings, which show, as I've been explaining, that we won the Olympics!

http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/medals/2010-standings/index.html

Wedding in India

2010-02-26T19:56:00.005+08:00

I travelled from Little India to Big India for a wedding. If you ever do the same, you should dress appropriately, but note that a post-sari sunburn causes a shoulder of pain.
It's a good opportunity to accessorize.Don't be surprised if their is a horse for the groom.There will be lots of music, but your dance moves will likely be insufficient. Either way, you'll still have lots of fun and be glad you attended.

Gong Xi Fa Cai Tai Wan

2010-02-24T20:16:00.003+08:00

Laura in Singapore wishes you a belated happy year of the Tiger, as celebrated by this lion dance put on in our condo. Sadly, it was a pretty lame lion.

Thaipusam Festival Returns

2010-02-20T16:16:00.006+08:00

Thaipusam 2010:

Thaipusam 2009:

The second time at Thaipusam, Hindu festival of unusual piercings, is much like the first. We answered some important questions such as:

Does one re-use one's cheek piercing stick? Yes.

Do you mix it up by moving limes around one year to the next? Indeed.

To be clear though, Thaipusam is my favourite Singaporean festival, try to plan your trip around it. It's part Carnival, part National Geographic, and entirely fascinating. In case you forget from last year, it involves piercing yourself,

hanging stuff from yourself,

and/or wearing a souped up Kadavi pierced into you and walking 4km with it. More.

Alternative Eurasian Cuisine

2010-01-31T17:55:00.004+08:00

To be true to his heritage, Barry recently embarked on an adventure mixing European and Asian traditions: Jam and Durians. Since he tells the entertaining story of durian jam making best, please check it out. Barry gives his creation one thumb up (it would be two except he has to keep the stuff sealed in a container then double bagged, then frozen so that I don't have to move out.)

Freaks of the Week

2010-01-22T22:01:00.004+08:00

First, a serious subject: Canadian Pork. Obviously, it's better because of the Rockies and Niagara Falls. Our mountain waterfall pigs are also grown on carefully prescribed diet (sic) so they're bursting with bad marketing! The second serious topic is our near death by a plague of giant (GIANT!) face-sucking locusts. Luckily Barry saved us with his now honed badminton racket technique.
Lest you think we only use our badminton rackets for chasing vermin, you are only 60% right, as I'm an uber jock. I'm all about hitting stuff with rackets. At least twice!The confusing karaoke multi-bar of the week is Dynasty. Four levels of sketchy bars AND a rear podium!The game of the week is Wii Sports Resort, which helps one express one's inner feelings. Will has man-rage:Barry has man-glee.Catherine has robotic precision and a secret history of bowling fame.
And I have bad coordination and an apparent excess of skin.

Hazzard County, Ontario

2010-01-16T17:52:00.008+08:00

Before getting back to our regular Asian adventures, let's explore Blenheim, Ontario. Here, you can see real Dukes of Hazzard cars (above) or travel through the history of the automobile, where important trends, like the bullet bumper, are on display:Did you know that in the good old days it was darker and you needed more headlights and that horns were, indeed, horns?In the past, cars expressed themselves with ornamental yet dangerous hood ornaments like the flying tire lady, the space bus, or the flexi-bird.Oh dear, I seem to have a flat in my smooth mint & white tire!
Ok, you've waited long enough, we're back to Asia. Do you think the modern Dukes would drive, perhaps a Ssangyong Actyon?

Strange Canadian Sightings

2010-01-09T08:45:00.008+08:00

Since 60% of this blog's visits are from outside of North America, I thought I'd point out some sights which will appear common to the other 40% of you. Like, for example, a quaint barn used as a subtle expression of Canadian patriotism. Brings a tear to the expat's eye, no?But then the expat will remember things like this. What could it be?It is a shed to store salt, which is spread on the roads to melt some of the ice, so that drivers don't die, but instead suffer stained boots, shoes, coats, cars, etc. Then there are the weirder things, like Blenheim, Ontario's biggest claim to fame. Yes, that's cherry pit spitting. A finable offense in Singapore, Joe would have to pay $20.This is a sign for a restaurant (read chip stand) off the highway.And this is something I found among the dead/dormant winter garden plants.More winter in Canada here.

Happy Holidays

2010-01-03T13:46:00.007+08:00

As expected, my holidays started with a tropical cycling elf with lights, beside the Christmas bamboo. But then we went to Canada, where it was much colder, and I had much nicer hair.Barry ate this many cookies to celebrate the season.The angels and space creatures sang,And the family rejoiced with traditional champagne and fondue.Soon, it was time to start planning my eating for 2010.In Canada, we celebrate Boxing Day, which is where, after having received presents, you buy yourself even more things. I used the opportunity to buy pants and underwear, so as to avoid buying XL sizes in Singapore.The next phase of our holiday involved visiting the little people.And borrowing their books to catch up on our reading.Then we caught up on our eating. Tex Mex is an important culinary movement not yet available in Singapore.Finally, upon our return to Singapore, we donned receding hairline hats to welcome the new year!

Barry's Secret Aussie Affairs

2009-12-16T09:02:00.020+08:00

Barry' been to Australia 4 times this year, and I'm starting to ask myself some serious questions. This time he went with his bike and enough skin tight clothes to bury a kangaroo in.

Barry says: "She was long and curvy, a beauty to the eye, with clear waters and a break in the middle where she was under repair." He calls her Jetty.

Barry claims to have gone swimming, and I quote: "Growing up in a land of poisonous snakes, crocs, sharks, spiders, and other mean creatures means they can swim and run very fast. And since one quarter of the population lives within 3km of the coast, they are naturally great swimmers too, and offered me the following helpful advice "Try not to look like a seal" (as I stood in my black wetsuit at the start line). "

Barry says: "She has great meaty toppings, and none of the fake Asian stuff we sometimes see. They even call her "meatasaurus".

Barry, the victorious athlete, says: "If you happen to find yourself without any triathlon races to do in December, or find yourself in Western Australia with too much energy, I suggest doing the hot, long and painful Ironman Western Australia race. If you feel like you are a fast triathlete in your home town, come down to Australia and see how slow you really are. " And yet, the camera tells a different story:Most suspiciously of all, Barry claims, that in the heat of the race, when he was starved for energy, electrolytes, and sanity, he ate, and ENJOYED vegemite! Can you believe these shocking tales? Laura says "hmmm".

Inspirational Updates

2009-12-06T13:05:00.005+08:00

Preparing for the holidays and need motivation, or perhaps fashion advice? You've come to the right place. First, here is some inspirational Chinese Restaurant marketing. I have not Putien, I think.Always good advice:Here is some inspiration from our current favourite Engrish shirts:

This one I bought before fully reading and was shocked!

My sister, during her visit, preferred Punjabi suits, which are not always as aerodynamic as was hoped:

Finally, here is Barry's favourite shirt.

Bali Jungle Weekend

2009-12-02T22:28:00.005+08:00

Stuck in Bali for a work trip and don't know what to do for the weekend? I suggest, if you've been before, to forget about the temples, shopping, and beach resorts (above), and go hide in the jungle! This is the view from our private jungle chalet (monkeys not shown):Unfortunately since these chalets are built into a cliff, there are a lot of stairs:These stairs lead to the restaurant (see if you can spot the jungle chickens).And to the infinity jungle pool.And at the bottom of the cliff, there is a secret ravine with an awesome waterfall. To answer your questions: Yes, those are Tarzan vines and yes, Barry is ready for your fashion advice:You can also walk along the roads. Face shown for scale - roads are basically paths.The jungle is filled with surprises - these cows are used to plow the rice paddies, and tied next to their owners modest jungle houses.Once you've hiked and absorbed the beauty of isolation, you get all relaxed and sentimental and start taking picture of leaves,And flowers.

Laura in Qatar

2009-11-21T18:53:00.005+08:00

Welcome to Qatar, where, due to a short day trip spent mostly in a car, I leave much to the imagination. I call these two: "Doha by plane".This one: Downtown and Passing Palm.

This one is called: "Barbed Wire Tumbleweed in Desert".This one, representing the most common view: "Desert via car window".And finally: "Mirage".