Monsoon Wedding + Wedding Banquet

Dressed up and ready to go.
The breaking of the chocolate (like a Chinese or Indian Pinata)
The happy Bride and Groom
Sophia and some of the other lovely significant others.

Two great movies - Monsoon Wedding and The Wedding Banquet. One looks at an Indian wedding and the other a Chinese wedding. (http://monsoonwedding.indiatimes.com/)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107156/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107156/ . These two films formed my only real opinion as to what either event might be like. A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be invited to the Singapore wedding of the head of my office and his new bride.

He is Indian and she is Singaporean Chinese. The invite said "formal attire Chinese/Indian preferred".

We were excited about the prospect of attending. Sophia had worn her beautiful sari recently at my sister Rachel's wedding in Milwaukee and she also has a custom made cheongsam in her wardrobe (both highlighted in earlier blog entries). Until the last minute she wasn't sure what she would wear. Me, on the other hand, I had nothing. A tux, a pair of double happiness cuff links - not even a Chinese or Indian tie. No statement to make there. Several of my work colleagues had filled me in on their wardrobe choices. One guy bought and Indian outfit at Mustafa's, another had a custom made Chinese jacket. I ventured over to Shanghai Tang, the Prada of traditional Chinese clothes. It costs about $100 to walk in the door. http://www.shanghaitang.com/shanghaitang/ After looking at many clothing items I opted to put together an outfit that would go with my tux. I bought a nice white Chinese shirt with cool cloth buttons and an Chinese collar ($200). I also worked with the lovely store clerk to find another accent piece. There were no ties and the shirt wasn't French cuffed so she moved my into the silk scarf. There were several colors - black with lime green (too loud for anyone except perhaps my Dad), black with orange (a little too Halloween) and then black with red - "Red is an auspicious colour", said my friend, "and it looks good on you!". Sold ($150)!

Anyway, Sophia wore the sari, which I am now an expert at wrapping her in. I put on the Chinese/American tux. We arrived at the luxurious Oriental Hotel and headed to the reception. The crowd was very handsome - women in Chinese, Indian and Western clothing and men in equally colorful and varied garb.

The groom looked very happy and was dressed in a smart looking Indian suit. The Bride entered the banquest room later in a western style wedding gown and then changed into an Indian gown. They had just returned from a 5 day wedding festival in Mumbai so this was the culmination of the week long festvities.

The banquet was really well done. There were many course each with significance to the Chinese. We had shark fin soup, abalone, duck, mushrooms, Crispy chicken (yes the head was on the platter), fish and more. For dessert there was a large tin foil orb placed on each table along with a mallet. One of the guys at our table hit the orb which when unwrapped was a hollow, dark chocolate ball filled with chocolate truffles. Good stuff.

There was even dancing, mostly to some upbeat Indian music part clubby hip hop, part Bollywood. All in all it was a really nice night!

Lighting up Moon Festival

Clare show us her Piggy lantern
Clare and her Mom, Mabel
She loves to smile for the camera!
"And I get a cool toy just for stopping in!"
Grandma and Grandma had fun too.

The other night our little neighbor Clare stopped by with her Mid Autumn Moon Festival lantern in hand. She and her Mom and Grandparents stopped in for tea and Mooncakes as they walked the neighborhood with their lanterns.

http://www.kevdesign.com/midautumnfestival/orchardroad.htm

Sophia and I had done a little Mooncake shopping the day before. There was a huge set up at the Takashimaya grand court with Mooncakes from many different places. First we sampled about 20 different kinds from different vendors. The cakes taste from very good to very nasty. The packaging is amazing though. We went for the local yam paste crispy cakes and green snowskin cakes from one place and the more traditional double lotus paste variety from the Dragon Phoenix restaurant. http://wineanddine.asiaone.com/Wine%252CDine+%2526+Unwind/Features/Topics/Story/A1Story20070924-26762.html

http://www.dragonphoenix.com.sg/home/

Clare had two lanterns, one traditional and one in the shape of a pig (it is still the year of the pig you know). Her Mom and Grandparents had nice lanterns too. Her new brother victor was not able to make the trip but that was even better for Clare because she likes to be the center of attention. We gave her a little ball that lights up when it bounces and it amused her for at least the time she was at the house.

The festival is winding down but it is one of my favorites. We are also in the middle of Ramadan and the holiday ends with the Hari Raya festival on the 13th.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/apps/event_detail.html?pageName=DailyEvent&buttom=detail&eid=7843&eventType=1

Most Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset and I see many people in the office participating. The good news about this month long fast is that we can always get a seat at noontime in the Halal Food Court in the mall next to the office.http://lifestylewiki.com/Banquet_Food_Court

Mmmm nothing like some Halal Singapore faves with no worry about finding a place to sit....

A Fish Called ______ ?

"I can't believe you guys are having fish for dinner again!"

We recently came into ownership of nice big fat fish. One of the neighbors was about to throw him/her away because he/she had a bad habit of eating all the smaller fish in their pond. We don't have a pond (or a pool) and at present we only have a very tiny tank which gives the fat fish very little room to maneuver. His little tank is in our dining room near the table. All is well so far but he was giving me a look last night as we were eating fish tacos for dinner. Still and all his current situation is much better then the fate which was awaiting him last week.

We are hoping to get him/her a spacious new home soon but in the meantime we are entertaining any suggestions for names. The picture may not show it but he is about 6" long with a big belly (full of little goldfish).

Please feel free to make your suggestions known by adding a comment.

Sophia, Myrna, the fat fish and I thank you!

We're Xiamen

A statue of a warrior welcomes those who enter the harbor.

Street side fried foods - your order please?
Fresh seafood from a basket, or bucket. Squirmingly fresh!
One of the nooks and crannies of the old part of the city.
An evening wet market.
Fried chicken feet at this stall.

The riverfront (not as beautiful as the seashore).
The gardens of the Nanputo Temple.
Buddhist Monks reflecting on the day.
Another one of those fun translations. Basically they don't want people to release their fish and turtles there.
Madam Wu Yi ready to take on the big multi nationals.

A standing ovation for her years of service to business in China.
A small band entertaining dinner guests.
The garish lobby of my hotel.
A busy morning market.
She only sells the bottom halves of the chickens (as far as I know).

Street scene - modern dude passes the traditional street sweeper.
Great selection of veggies, meats and Eastern treats.
The dumplings are ready to be cooked.
Mmmmmmmm snakes.......
A very old, yet still inhabited home.

Another old meets new.
WW II era police motorcycle still in service.

A few weeks ago I made my first visit to the Chinese coastal island city of Xiamen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiamen) Xiamen, with a population of about 1.5 million, is considered a rather small city by China standards. It is a pretty place on the Taiwan Strait with nice coastal recreation area complete with beaches, paths, parks, outdoor art and restaurants. There are nice hotels and a few interesting attractions as well as a few large universities. The terrain is hilly and rocky and there are several smaller islands in view from the coastal parks. I was there for a business conference for multi national companies that was a subset of a big trade and industry fair at the huge Xiamen convention center. (http://www.xicec.com/english/hzjj/zgjj.htm)

I spent some time at the conference and also got a chance to walk around the older part of the city, where the real people live.

On the meeting front I got to sit at the head table of an industry/ government meeting chaired by the Vice Premier of China, Madam Wu Yi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Yi) Madame Yi may look like a nice little old lady but she is a very intelligent and savvy world leader. She has been very prominent in helping China to achieve it's recent success as an economic powerhouse and one that is open to investment by businesses from all over the world. she was just ranked the 2nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/11/biz-07women_Wu-Yi_2CR9.html (Kraft CEO was number 9 and my friend the President of the Philippines number 4). I was impressed and extremely pleased to be able to watch her interact with some real big business barons from huge global companies like Mitel Steel, Sony, Maersk, GM, Volkwagon, Yum and many more. I also attended a big banquet hosted by the young, energetic up and coming politico who is currently the Vice Mayor of Beijing. An intimate gathering of about 1000 people.

the real interesting part of the trip for me was just walking around the city. Like most cities in Asia there are building going up everywhere. New office buildings and housing. Ximen is no different. there were dozens of new buildings as well as dozens more in various stages of construction. There is a huge apartment complex near the convention center that consists of about 8 huge buildings, all very modern and trendy looking. These complexes would fit in nicely in San Diego or Miami.

The old part of town has many narrow, hilly winding roads with interesting alleys, shophouses and market places. Everywhere in the older areas there were people walking and riding bikes along with vendors selling fresh fish, clothes, vegetables, dried provisions and more. there were also many small restaurants, food stalls and shops. Each little street was a treasure trove of sights and sounds.

One of the most well known sites in the Nanputo Temple. Nanputo is a very old Buddhist temple and monastary with bautiful buildings and grounds built at the foot of the mountains. the ponds in front of the buildings were full of fish, turtles and beautiful lotus leaves and flowers. I could have easily sat there and reflected for hours. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/fujian/xiamen/nanputuo.htm

I was not really able to sample the street food for fear of upsetting my delicate stomach but I did eat at a really good seafood place. Upon entering the foyer of the restaurant there are about 20 big aquariums and also tubs of water. The tanks and tubs held live fish, eels, shellfish, rays and other edible sea life. We picked out the various items we wanted to eat, the waiter wrote up a ticket, a guy pulled the live animals out of the tanks and we were shown to our table. Within minutes we were served a few warm up courses and some of the local brew- Shark beer. Soon we were eating the shellfish, whole fish and eels that had been swimming along happy and oblivious only minutes earlier. The food was really good and all of the preparations and sauces were very tasty and the vegetables fresh as well.

While walking around the next morning I saw many interesting sites - a girl skinning live snakes, a man making and cooking dumplings on a huge outdoor cooker, kids playing in the alleys and an old man singing songs in the Fukkian dialect. As I headed to the airport I was thinking that I might have to come back to Xiamen again soon.

Mid Autumn Festival

Puff the magic dragon - and friends
Looks better at night.
The mythical Chinese guys are watching over things.

Mid Autumn Festival is upon us here in Singapore (and all over Asia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

http://www.kevdesign.com/midautumnfestival/

I can feel fall in the air. Here in Singapore temperatures have plummeted from highs of 93 to highs around 92 and the summer flowers are giving way to the fall flowers. It rains a bit more then last month and then the sun comes out and dries the puddles in about 5 minutes. The locals have started to wear their winter clothes often times actually wearing long sleeved shirts and closed toe shoes. Iced coffee has given way to hot coffee. And of course lanterns and moon cakes are everywhere.

First the moon cakes. According to one Chinese folk tale, a Han Chinese rebel leader named Liu Fu Tong devised a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongols to end the oppressive Yuan dynasty. He sought permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor.
These gifts were round moon cakes. Inside, Liu had his followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to strike out in rebellion -- on the fifteenth night of the eighth month.

Thus Liu got word to his people, who when they cut open the moon cakes found the revolutionary message and set out to overthrow the Mongols, thus ending the Yuan dynasty.
Today, far from the exotic and heroic legends, Chinese communities all over the world make and consume moon cakes during the traditional autumn Festival.

In my opinion most of the varieties of moon cakes are rather dense and pretty bad tasting. Made with lotus paste and many egg yolks. Not quite as bad as fruit cake but in the same ballpark. I am told that there is much re-gifting going on in the moon cake world. It is a lucrative business - everybody sells them from all the nice hotels (Shangri-La, Ritz-Carlton, Raffles), the mid and lower level hotels, bakers, restaurants even Starbucks and Hagen Daz. While the taste is kind of bad the packaging is really pretty elaborate and beautiful.

The other big thing is lanterns. All over town you see lanterns and lights. Chinatown is done up with beautiful light up wonders of the world and the famous Chinese Garden has an "under the sea" theme. We haven't gotten to see it all yet but will report more on this later.

Ciao

The Pitchman

The shrine to the Pitchman - He has been doing this a long time
He has many props and talks a good game (as far as I can tell).

Bowls, dried fish, turtles, mysterious copper vessels - I first thought he was a chef.
First - kills a few goldfish for good measure.
Not quite dead yet....
The little guy was very interested in what was going on.
If you hold it close enough you can hear the ocean.

Look - nothing up his sleaves.
The shill - happy to part with his hard earned cash for good fortune.
The mystery of the lottery numbers.
This stuff is hot - but it wont burn!
OK - we are at the end of the show and no one forked up any cash so you will all have REALLY BAD LUCK!

I guess that having a grandfather who was a Tin Man (Aluminum Siding Salesman) made the hard working Chinese guy catch my attention. I spent a summer working for my grandpa Harold doing cold calls door to door trying to get people to buy siding and trim for their house and I heard my Dad's tell stories about how he and my uncle used to work for my Grandpa at the Wisconsin State Fair when they were teens. I've seen people pitching mops, grills, miracle cloths and detergents. I know what a tough job it is to get people to think about buying something they really don't need. Recently, in a busy square in Singapore's Chinatown I joined a crowd that had gather to watch a pitchman at work.

The pitch was all in Chinese and although a couple of young bilingual guys gave me a few insights into what he was saying I am still not exactly sure what he was selling and how various parts of his spiel had anything to do with anything.

When I first approached the orange jumpsuit clad old guy he was smacking goldfish on a small stool. On the ground nearby was a mat with a few small bowls, some dead turtles, a few goldfish and several dried fish. An integral part of the pitch, so it seemed. He stunned the fish and added them to the pile. He later put a few turtles, goldfish and dried fish into a can, sealed it and covered it. He also sprinkled some powder around his little sidewalk area. During the 45 minutes I stood there he did the fish thing and then moved on to a few other things. He pulled out a packet with some paper, a picture and a small metal tube (I believe this is what he was trying to sell). He unscrewed the tube, pulled out some copper looking thing, put it back in and added water before screwing it back together. He handed it to a guy who held it in his hand. He then handed it around to others. Nothing happened. He did a few things and then handed it back to the first guy. when the man closed his hand he quickly opened it and jumped as if he had been shocked or burned. This happened with everyone. He passed on me probably knowing I had no idea what he was saying and no chance I'd buy whatever he was selling.

After the shock trick he got a guy to fire up $10 for one of the things. I assume the guy was a shill. Anyway, he called that guy up and did a long ritual with a whole handful of lit incense. He lit it and rubbed it on the guy's arm. No problem, no burns. He also did a trick with a bowl and a handkerchief and the amazing appearance of a few numbers, guaranteed to hit on the lottery. All the while I was waiting for him to show how he had brought the fish and turtles back to life.

I think he was selling good luck in the form of a trinket and a Chinese map of the body with various ways to tell one's fortune. He pitched hard, got people interested and had lots of props. the picture of him as a young man and various old newspaper clippings (in Chinese) were there to attest to his greatness (or at least his trustworthiness). The pitch was a bit too long (Grandpa Harold would have sold 10 siding jobs in the same amount of time) and too complicated (the guy was doing too many things). At the end only two people bought his charm trinket and he was not very happy. For that I reason (I think) he refused to show us that the fish and turtles were brought back to life.

I don't know who I feel more sorry for - the guy because of his hard work with no reward, me for listening for 40 minutes or for the poor fish and turtles who as far as I know are still dead......

I Met the President!

The pint sized world leader approaches as my associate Ray Soberano looks on.
I bend to shake her hand revealing my growing bald spot - the Rogaine stopped working!

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to meet the President.

No, not the lame duck Texan whose list of friends an allies is shrinking faster than the worlds glaciers. The president of the 12th largest country in the world by population and of my home away from home, away from home - the Philippines. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population for the rankings).

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been President since 2001. The diminutive leader is the second woman President and the second President in her family (father Diosdado Macapagal was Prez in the 60s). She, like all Philippine Presidents, has faced some tough times with many economic and social challenges as well as countless political challenges.

She visited the local Kraft plant a few weeks ago along with the US Ambassador to the Philippines to help open up a new R&D facility. It was an exciting event for all concerned and garnered nice media coverage as well.

The President's mother happened to be the guest of honor when the plant officially opened 44 years ago.