Bonne Année

I'm currently vacationing halfway across the globe from France, visiting family and friends for the first time in 3 years. This year marks the first decade since we moved to the States and sadly, only our third trip home to visit the family. So many things have changed since we left; the increase in business globalization and international travels have led to more and more developments in this part of the world. It feels like everything here moves at lightning speed; I'm awed by the pace of life and slightly confused by the blurring lines between the Western world and this place. In fact, it feels like a little Paris here sometimes.......
@ Galarie Lafayette, Paris                                                   @ Ngee Ann City, Singapore

A scene from the local bistro (a.k.a coffee shops)

Macaron Tower, Gerard Mulot

a tower of teddy bears, Takashimaya

Holiday decorations @ Orchard Road, the "Champs Élysées" of Singapore

French pastry-tasting; I  thought I was back in pastry heaven - Paris, well, almost.....

American theme park in Asia

This tiny republic is now home to multiple celebrity-chef restaurants and is on her way to becoming the culinary center of Asia, boasting dining establishments by big names such as Daniel Boulud, Joel Robuchon, Tetsuya Wakuda, Mario Batali, Guy Savoy......the list goes on.

There's certainly been great progress made; the influx of foreign investments alongside the influences are strongly evident - I invite you to take a peek here and tell me if it reminds you of a certain place in Paris? - and everyone here is riding on the transformation train at 200+ miles an hour. Excellent accomplishments, no doubt. Impressive, definitely.
For me, however, all these will take a little getting used to, especially the "inorganic" elements. What captivated me most was not the towering skyline

...although I'm happy that the city's landscape provided the backdrop for this shot that I took just several days ago, which I'm quite pleased with. What do you think?

Singapore Flyer viewed from Marina Sands Skypark (57th floor)
..my interest lies in the old world charm of the city

Malay Heritage House, Singapore

I enjoyed the places where heritage and customs are preserved and great bargains still to be had

Juxtoposition of the old and the new........

......places where I can enjoy a cup of local, strong, black coffee served old-style, i.e stained teacup-saucer with a small soup spoon, with slices of kaya (coconut jam) toast and soft-boiled eggs. This is such a divine combination and I urge you to try it if you're ever in this part of the world

Instead of croissants, baguettes and café créme, I've been having kaya toast and strong black coffee for breakfast the past couple weeks. Instead of Eiffel Tower, I wake up to this view in the morning (sans the snow and freezing temp)

Although we call America our home now, it's great to be able to come back to this part of the world after a decade. It's also been a transformational decade for us and 2010 has been exceptionally great for D and I. The new decade will bring many more good changes, for sure and I'm stepping into 2011 with great expectations.

Here's wishing You and Yours a year filled with increase, health and of course, sweetness in every aspect of your life. Happy New Year! Bonne année! 新年快乐! Selamat Tahun Baru!

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Dining in Paris

As guilty as I am of not updating this blog on a more regular basis, the past one-and-a-half weeks have been such an awesome time spent with family, relatives and friends whom I haven't seen in a long while that I felt the need to be totally selfish with my time and take the time to simply enjoy this special "homecoming". However, it is the last day of the year and while there're still lots of things to share about my stay in Paris, I'll leave you with snippets of some of the best meals I've had in Paris, places that I would return to dine (and recommend) without hesitation.
First up, 

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A Sunday in Paris

Nestled in a quiet, cobbled-stone alley off of busy Boulevard St. Germain des Pres, Un Dimanche à Paris is my latest discovery of yet another fine salon de thé in Paris. Barely a month old, this ultra chic chocolate boutique not only offers specialty chocolates but it's also a pâtisserie cum salon de thé cum restaurant cum lounge cum culinary venue for private events all at the same time.

I stumbled upon this latest concept store by Pierre Cluizel, son of the famous chocolatier Michel Cluizel  while taking a late afternoon stroll in my favorite Parisian neighborhood just last week. The modern store façade really stood out against its old, medieval-like surroundings, with its sleek interiors and brightly-lit display cases of gourmet chocolates and exquisite pastries beckoning passer-bys to enter, take a peek

 or linger on to sample their delectable offerings at their salon de thé, which was what I ended up doing.

A glimpse of the pastry kitchen located along the hallway prior to entering the salon de thé

I love their attention to details.....steep for 5 minutes, watch as the yellow sand trickles down the hourglass and DO NOT POUR until the top bulb empties.....

The chocolate orange eclair was one of the best eclairs I've had in a while, the delicious puffy choux filled with lusciously smooth chocolate créme pâtissiere infused with orange flavor and a thin layer of orange confiture.

Un dimanche à Paris. I can't think of a better way and place to spend a quiet afternoon in Paris. 

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Down the rue where I live

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you move from one disconnected scene to the other and everything happens rapidly - one minute you're making dinner at home and the next minute you find yourself in the midst of totally different activities in different parts of the world? I feel like I've been living that sort of dream this past month.  39 lessons, 1 written and 1 final practical exam in 30 days, moving from one place to another - I'm not exaggerating when I say there was hardly time to catch a breath. I know I have a backlog of posts to share but in a nutshell, we had our last class session just this past weekend, I took the final exam couple days ago and graduation is tomorrow. In a flash - I think I've  lived through it to truly understand what that expression feels like. There was very little time for anything else, aside from eating out, but for now, let me leave you with the treasures I've discovered down the street where I live, where I take small walks just to wind down and yes, to breathe a little.

I'm so glad that now I'm  much closer to Le Grand Epicerie.....

where I can get decently good Iberico ham, followed by cheese from Quartrehomme Fromagerie just a few steps away

I love the enchanting shops along the street, with inspiring French designs and style, pulled together with elegance and nonchalance all at the same time - such perfect imperfection!

High quality artisan crafts to add that bit of variety to the holiday shopping.....

.... salon de thés dot the street, perhaps one in every 5-6 stores

where I had great hot chocolate, even better than Angelina's but let's save that for another day.....

All of that within a radius of a mile from the new place in a neighborhood which has a very different vibe from the previous one. I still miss the view of  Eiffel Tower but I do get a glimpse of another famous monument from my window (which you can't see from the photo below but it's there - trust me!). I wished I had more time to sit by the window and observe the Parisians go about their everyday life....

....and as much as I dislike the cold, I'm wishing for more snow, at least once more before I leave.  There's really nothing like snow flying in a flurry, sifting white, fluffy flakes on the streets and blanketing everything in white.......

Are you wishing for a white Christmas too?

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