Kate launches "Flog"



Food of all kinds is everywhere in this country. Singapore's culinary artifacts are many and manifold, thanks to the four cultures that have meshed here over the last few hundred years.

In her food blog (or "Flog"), Kate is documenting her dining experiences like a true mushroom taster: there are many young adventurous ones, and many old cautious ones - but hardly any old adventurous ones. Let's see how long she lasts before we have to rush her to the ER.

In suspense

This is the cool thing about high-rises in Singapore: window cleaners. They provide welcome distraction at work....Malaysian migrants polishing up the glass and giving you a sideways stare. I put this one on the spot.

A bit of photography

Kate has posted some of her albums on "A bit of everything." A good range of people, places, and things. She'll be keeping this updated regularly, with lots of stills from Southeast Asia. Looks like Malaysia will be next.

The art of piñata...smashing

Pupils at an elementary school in Orange Walk demo their piñata-bludgeoning skills just before Christmas break. Belizeans have their own art to the tradition. Here a run-down of the techniques.

Oh, what you can get in a can

These were all firsts for me: Green tea in a can, a barley drink in a "can," and...



...Colt 45 in a can. Had to travel half the globe to find that one. I'm not sure which is worse, that they actually offer it, or that it costs 2.50 a can.

Betty: the second coming

Not two months ago did I drop my faithful Betty off to the caprices of her next owner. It is therefore with solemn anticipation that I look to her successor...who officially arrived on the market this week. Sorry Betty I, for my fickle loyalty. Betty II, see you in a year or so, I hope.

If this doesn't make you want to enroll your kids in Chinese classes...

...I'm not sure what will. This is a campaign that has been launched by the Promote Mandarin Council. Those who value linguistic diversity may not agree with the goal of the campaign; those who enjoy cute commercials won't care. These kids are impressive, and make me wish my brain cells hadn't hardened around red-neck English and a bit of High German.

Everybody loves teacher Badhra

Badhra, Kate's good friend and one-time host mother from Belize, is a popular teacher - even when she isn't teaching. Kate and I got to experience the admiration her former students still have for her. Pretty amazing, really - at least I don't remember wanting to hug my second or third-grade teacher so much.

The things you learn

You can learn a lot through a walk in Chinatown: which camera stores NOT to buy at, that a small bakery in the neighborhood called "Backstube" is quite popular among the locals, and how to prepare eel for dinner. That last one was particularly inspiring. Not for the squeamish.

Photo essay to bridge the gap

Some camera work during our exploration. The captions tell the story (be sure to click on the cartoon dialog box in the lower left corner).

A bit of everything...as you haven't seen much of anything here

OK, Tramps Abroad is still on - but I doubt the frequency of the posts will keep up with what is going on over here (heck, I'm still working on posts from Belize). Therefore, Kate has seceded - to set up her own photo-blog on Singapore, and she is much more loyal than I to her readers. She already has several posts from our excursions and mishaps. 

Here it is: a bit of everything. 

Kate's photo-blog is much cooler, obviously, because she uses Mac software and photos she takes. I will still be here though, wallowing in my Web-app inferiority.

Ms. Bravo-Bhasin has a go at culture shock

As I prepare to write up a first impression of Singapore, I wanted to draw some attention to an adept describing of culture shock. Travel novels are often the literature of choice for those researching a new country (I recommend works such as Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari or Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia), but they are usually too specific - and too long. When it comes to succinctly capturing the psychological tugs of culture shock, Marión Bravo-Bhasin pegs it.

The book in which these few paragraphs appear is actually a series – appropriately named Culture Shock!; Ms. Bravo-Bhasin writes the installment on Singapore. But the feelings she relates in five stages could apply from Columbia to Cambodia; Juneau to Jakarta.

Culture Shock

Stage one: the honeymoon

Everything is new and exciting. The best thing to do is learn to observe with curiosity and interest; learn to focus on the similarities and how we are really very much alike. 

Stage two: initial confrontation

Difficult times and crises in daily life begin to occur as the focus shifts from the similarities to the differences, which are suddenly everywhere! Communication may be a problem and feelings of dissatisfaction start to creep in. You may even feel discontent, impatient, angry, sad, and generally a little incompetent as you try your best to cope. 

Stage three: Gradual Adjustment

You begin to gain some insight and understanding of the new culture, and a feeling of pleasure and sense of humor may be experienced. The environment is more familiar and a feeling of wanting-to-belong begins to take over. You start to evaluate and compare the old ways and the new ways, and may encounter some confusion over your own identity as a result. 

Stage four: Adaptation

A greater integration into the new culture occurs and you start to get solid feelings of belonging and ease. There is increased enjoyment in new customs and ways of doing and saying things. It becomes clear that the new culture has good and bad things to offer. You then start to realize that there will be things you will miss when you return home. 

Stage five: re-entry shock

Moving back to one’s country of origin has new consequences and you may find that things are no longer the same (because of course, you are no longer the same).

Copyright © 2006 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited

Now, with a staggered start, Kate and I had both made it through the list in Germany over the course of several years. Before I go into any detail about Singapore, I’ll just say we are already straddling stages one and two.

It's time: our home for the next year

One more document to go, and we are off to Singapore for the year. We'll swing by the immigration office here in Germany one last time for what is called Sondererlaubnis für langfristigen Auslandsaufenthalt. That monstrous term is what we need so that the German border guard doesn't send us back to Singapore at the end of our stint (in which case the Singaporean border guard would send us back to Germany, and we would be caught in a perpetual 12-hour Quantas flight).



The dates are set: February 28, 2009 - February 28, 2010. What happens between those dates is a toss up. But supposedly, I will be working and writing, with a pronounced focus on APJ (Asia-Pacific Japan) content. The real winner in the deal, however, is Kate, who will be attending just about every course imaginable: Yoga, cooking (thank God), occupational therapy, photography, German (ironically), and perhaps even scuba diving.

We don't have a permanent place yet, but we will be spending the first month in the Orchard Rd. district. The relocation service has hooked us up with some whacky modern digs in an imposing glass prism of a building near SAP's offices.

So if your in the mood for a visit to Asia but don't necessarily want to forego the comforts of Western living, by all means, look us up in Singapore. And if you do want to forego those amenities, then just crash at ours for the night, and head out to Cambodia the following day - we're easy.

Kate will be setting up her own Photo site pretty soon, to visually document our excursions. We'll provide the link as soon as it's ready. Of course, we will also be keeping the Web lines open with intermittent blog posts and videos. So stay tuned, and let us know what you're up to as well.

We'll see you when we see you.

Belize a la carte

It's been a month since we returned from our month-long trip to Belize. Preparations for our upcoming trip (stay tuned) have kept us from posting the vids, stills, and summaries. So we are posting an overview of the terrain we covered along with several quick and dirty videos of the highlights, which we compiled while "on site." Enjoy! (Some vids may be without sound, unfortunately).

Adventure a la carte


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I took all the videos out...will replace soon with better ones. The sound was all kacked.

My pickney grew up!

Visiting Belize was like a homecoming: seeing my Belizean family, my Belizean home, and my former students. I was surprised to see that most things around the town had stayed the same. The stores, the restaurants, the city plaza, the tortilla factories, and even my old school hadn't changed very much. I felt like I had never left. 

However, my students, "my pickney," in the local Creole parlance, changed dramatically. So much so that I even had to ask a few of them who they were. They all looked so much older, wiser, and much more grown-up. 

When they came to visit, I caught myself doing double and triple takes, amazed at the young adults that they had become. These were the same children who sang and danced around my classroom; who recited the entire poem of Shel Silverstein's "Sick"; who played kickball with the passion only kids can have; who completely obliterated what I thought was an indestructible cockroach pinata; who hugged my waist so tight I couldn't move.

Now they are as tall as I am (if not a little bit taller).

Of my original class of 22, I got to see four of them during this trip. Unfortunately, three more came by after we had already left. 

Thank you Steven, Kimberley, Mareli, and Adreli for stopping by and finding me. Sorry I missed you Edgar, Cindy, and Jonathan. I'm so very proud of you and who you have become. Next time I'm in Belize we are having a class reunion. Maybe even with a cameo appearance of "Freddie."

Garifuna beats in Hopkins

About 14% of Belize's population is Garifuna, an ethnic group with Afican roots who predominantly dwell in the central-eastern district of Stann Creek - mostly in its capital, Dangriga (Garifuna people also live in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua). Their history is complex and often tragic, but the Garifuna people have persevered through the centuries - their culture, music, and dance, for example, were recently recognized by Unesco as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."

Just south of the Garifuna capital lies the small beach town of Hopkins, where Kate and I stayed for two nights with the Colemans. On one of those evenings, we encountered a group of Garifuna musicians playing at a nearby drumming center. Six percussionists, with drums, shakers, and turtle shells gave us a show and a short tour of their music.




As Kate and I learned, Garifuna drum beats also form the foundation of "Punta Rock," a popular, contemporary genre comprising a mix of fast beats (everything about Garifuna music is fast) and electric instruments. Andy Palacio, the Belizien artist of the lead-in music in this video, did much to broaden the appeal of this music across the globe. You can find out more about his sad yet inspiring story here.

Thanks to the folks at the drumming center for their hospitality and the long, entertaining hours of rhythm.

At home in Orange Walk

We have been gone a while - a month to be exact. Hence the radio silence on our blog. Our excuse: Belize.

We have many videos, photos, and thoughts to process before we can duly describe this beautifully diverse country. In the meantime, here's a short video of an average day at the Colemans' in Orange Walk, our gracious hosts and diligent guides through the weeks in Belize.

And another succumbs to the switch

Welcome to the ranks, Bren. Hope you enjoy it - I'm here to advise.

Adventures of Special K

Konrad got his first taste of Europe - including the Alps, Alsace, and more. We were lucky enough to accompany the cutie for some of his treks.

Colmar avec les cousins

Kate and I zipped to France with Bren, Corey, and Special K last weekend. The destination was the Alsatian town of Colmar. Although it was a tad dreary, the townsfolk were out in droves. Following is a leisurely walk through the accordion-filled old town.