American Holiday

Mr. Reed making his move back to MKE - Watch out guys!
The then unmarried happy couple rollin' on the river.
The Gimbel brothers listen attentively to the wedding planner

Josh and Elijah - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The elder Gimbel's all spiffed up.

Separated at birth?

The merger of giants.
Beautiful women all dressed up.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Wagner ready to go to Italy.

Recently returned from a 2.5 week trip to the US and haven't had a posting opportunity. Visited LA and Milwaukee. Filled my face with food, family and friends.


In LA I managed to have Mexican food about 5 times in 3 days, burgers, pizza and even a spectacular Cuban meal at Versailles Restaurant on Venice Blvd (http://www.versaillescuban.com/index.html). We had the Cuban dinner on the way to the airport for our 11PM flight home. Sophia and I and the Whinery clan - Ed, Fran, Jon, Vanessa, Chris (honorary Whinery), Eric and adorable Antony and Bela dinner in the loud and crowded place. The food was bountiful, full of garlic and great. Too bad for the other folks in business class on Thai Arline's that night as I assume we oozed garlic out of our pores for the entire 16 hour flight!

The Milwaukee leg of the trip was marked by the gala wedding of Benji and Rachel. It was a spectacular day (even though it rained). The service was lovely as I stood in as the world's oldest groomsman. The dinner and dancing was first class. The Pilot House at Discovery World is a great venue. Situated on Lake Michigan with a 360 degree view the room was perfect for the event. http://www.discoveryworld.org/ . As an aside, well known Milwaukee politico and former lackey and bottle washer for yours truly at Miller Brewing Company, Joel Brennan, is about to become the CEO of the place.

Anyway the Milwaukee week was action packed - Tuesday - family boat trip. Party boat piloted by my dad - no personal injuries and only minimal property damage. Wednesday - dinner at My brother's - just his family, Rachel and Benji and me and Sophia, great food and a relaxing good time. Thursday - late dinner with mom and Jack as they pulled into Milwaukee for the big event - a bonus visit! Also had a quick visit with my old friend, old boss, banter buddy Tom Reed. Friday - rehearsal dinner, a mob of out of towner's and relatives, many of whom I hadn't seen in a long time. fun to catch up. Saturday - the big day! Sunday - the after wedding brunch, all the mutuals were shared.


One big take away is that I wish I had put together a hand out sheet of talking points on life in Singapore. I must have answered the same questions over 100 times. Don't get me wrong I like to talk and I am excited to tell my story but a sheet of a few key bullet points would have helped

• Lived in Singapore over a year now


• Love the job


• Love Asia and enjoy Singapore


• Yes they speak English there


• Sophia likes it too


• The food is great


• We have been to Viet Nam, China, Thailand, India and many more places


• We hope to be there at least three years


• It's very hot and humid - always


• Please come visit, but call first....
  

After the wedding Sophia went back to LA and I hung out in Milwaukee. got in a Brewer and White Sox game, a few more hearty meaty meals - steak, beef, pizza. Hung with Noah and watched about 10 episodes of my new favorite show "Flight of the Concord's" (will probably be in in Singapore in 2010 and also squeezed in a trip to Northfield and Kraft HQ.

We arrived back home safely and soundly and are now getting back into the Asian groove.

Kopi at Wang's

Kopi, kaya toast and those wet, soy drenched eggs....

The Wang House! http://www.wangcafe.com/

The line can be very long.
Small selection but big business
Off to work with kopi on a string.

It's the local brew - strong, sweet and at a price that can't be beat. I'm talking about Kopi. It's coffee with an attitude. Forget the $5 Starbucks burnt tasting designer coffee - try the $1.20 (Singapore Dollars, that is) kopi C.

http://staff.science.nus.edu.sg/~sivasothi/etc/makanminum/kopiNteh/text/kopi.html

This stuff is made by putting coffee grounds in a little fish net and pouring hot water through about 5 times. The kopi maker also "pulls" the kopi by pouring it back and forth between two pitchers. For kopi C they pour some evaporated milk and sugar into a metal cup, add the strong kopi and then a splash of hot water to cut it a bit. It is stirred up and then transferred to a paper cup. The kopi helper slips a little plastic loop around the cup, caps it and hands it to the customer. You can walk off hanging your kopi on your finger - no spills or slips!

It packs a jolt that keeps you going all day. Several of us got into the habit of having an iced kopi after lunch. I had to give it up as it was keeping me up nights. My new rule is no kopi after 10

AM.

Wang's and the many other well known Kopitiam places in Singapore are also famous for their kaya toast. Kaya is a jam made from coconut that tastes great. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaya_(jam)

The toast maker cooks a thick slice of bread on a grill, then slices the bread in half (to make it thinner), puts on a couple of big pads of butter and then slathers on the kaya. Quite a treat enjoyed by Singaporeans and visitors alike. The locals also like to have it as part of a breakfast set with a couple of soft boiled eggs they then mush up and add soy sauce. A little too watery and slippery for my taste....

So Cute!

Saw this car recently. Thought maybe I'd buy it for my niece Lena although she won't be driving for a few more years and it might cost a few bucks to ship it to Milwaukee.....

D'oh!

I fit right in....
Marge and Sophia - separated at birth?

Saw the Simpson's movie on opening night. There was a big crowd with a mix of locals and expats. The Simpson's is on here but I'm not sure what time, what night or what season.

I give the movie a 7. It was classic Simpson's but not exponentially better then the tv show. Homer even makes fun of the people dumb enough to pay to see a movie of something you can see free on tv.

The crowd also seemed to enjoy it. Two observations about the difference between a Singapore and US crowd are 1) Spore people are all on the phone and sending and receiving text message up to and during the movie. Not just a few people but about 1/3 of the crowd. 2) There are a lot of US centric things that Sophia and I laughed at but no one else did - Itchy and Scratchy on the moon and the scenes in the Oval Office, Chief Wiggum saying "they're China's problem now" when the family jumps into a sink hole, when leaving Alaska Homer says, "good to be back in the USA!". These jokes all fell flat.

Anyway, as the New York Times reviewer said - "It was a better then average Simpson's episode so maybe I will only watch it about 20 or 30 more times".