BOY WONDER WILLIAMS!

Woo hoo! Pete has just snagged his first award from The Society of News Design for the design and layout for a page he did for The Straits Times!! I am soooooo very proud of him, because it acknowledges the great work that he has done. He's won heaps of internal awards here at ST, but this is the first big international one that he has won at an individual level.. He shares the award with a colleague from the Life section - Andrew Tan... Keeping our fingers crossed that he'll be sent to Boston for this year's SND so he can get the award himself (and I can tag alone from a holiday!)... Can't put a grab of the page up here (tricky because of copyright I guess), but it was about furniture design, and he made it look all Ikea-instructional-booklet-like. It was really really good.... Really. So exciting, I'm married to a world-class designer. Of course, one could argue that he has always been.... But *Swoon* .... Heh. Art.

LE-BLAZA... FINALLY

After their dramatic ordeal trying to tie the knot in Belgium, Cass and Guy, as we mentioned earlier, finally had a brainwave and fled Down Under to do the deed... Looks like it was a beautiful wedding, and Cass has kindly agreed for us to share the snapshots... Have a look! Congrats again guys... Wish we could be at the party in Belgium in April... Making Pete buy lottery ticket tomorrow just in case... :) Make video montages at onetruemedia.com Art

HISSTERICAL DAY.... LITERALLY

Okay, I wake up this morning, and bleary-eyed, stagger into the kitchen to get a Diet 7-Up (I know, I know, its bad for me that early in the day, but that's not the point), and I spot, from the corner of my eye, what seems like a piece of thick black string next to Pete's shoes. I half consider picking it up and throwing it in the bin, and then walk away and figure I'll do it later, before instinct tells me to go back because the damn thing seems to be moving... Two whole seconds later I'm running to the room coz I can swear it looks like a snake, but I won't get close enough to check... So I drag Pete out of bed, who thinks its all one big joke, until my galliant hero finally agrees to come see.... At which point, instead of reaching for the first heavy, lethal item he can find, he goes back inside to get the blinking CAMERA and leaves me in the kitchen eyeballing the dang slithering thing!!! A snake. Like... argh. It was small and all that, but... argh. And of course, I'm wondering how the heck it could have gotten into the house, and if it decided to drop by alone! And it looked scary as hell. Being the swaku-snake hating-urbanite that I am, the only thing I can think to do in between freaking out is call the cops right (okay, so I tried NEA and AVA as well), and then just hope and pray the damn thing doesn't move right, but the cops take so long and we're so afraid the thing will disappear into the house that Pete tries to pick it up with the broom to toss it, and the damn thing slithers under the shelf. Of course, while all this is happening, time's ticking away and I am dangerously close to being late for work. Cops (finally) show up (just as I leave), can't find the damn thing, confess that they wouldn't know what in the world to do with it if they did, and then leave. And no pest control company is free to come right away. That, of course, was the moment Slithers here decides to make his entrance again, and glides over to the washing machine, where he stays for a couple of minutes before making a run for the pantry. The pantry. Full of boxes and lovely places to hide. Double argh. Cops come back for round two, drag everything out of the pantry, and have no luck and leave. Again. Meanwhile, Pete's stuck watching that Slithers doesn't get into the house. Again. Eventually, he has a brainwave that we try Pestbusters, who, thankfully, agree to come (thank god for friends in weird industries), and I rush home to let them in so Pete can get to work. To cut a long story short - the Pestbusters crew arrives. The three guys hole themselves up in the pantry, and less than 15 minutes later, emerge with the, grr, thing. In a plastic bag. He, apparently, climbed into the bristles of a broom head to hide, and I told them to just take the whole dang broom head please thankyouverymuch. They check for eggs, skins, and anything else that might hint that the bugger's been here for a while, and for friends, and the place, fortunately, is clean. Thank god. He (great chap named Azman) figures the tree-cutting going on downstairs might have driven the bugger in. By the time the whole ordeal is over, the better part of five hours has gone by. As it turns out, Slithers turns out to be a Paradise Tree Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) that is among five species of FLYING snakes. Shudder. It was kinda small like I said, but apparently it rarely grows beyond two feet long, so guessing the one we saw may not be a "baby".... According to good ole' Google, we've learned that its not so dangerous to humans, although I swear it near caused us both a heart attack.... (Oh, before I forget, if you ever have any pesky pest problems, we'd really recommend Pestbusters - quick, efficient, very sweet, and they don't have a million excuses for why they simply can't this or that, unlike some of the others we called). Sighs. What a day. Will be happy to never, ever, ever see another snake again. Maybe we should move to snakeless Ireland. At least for peace of mind. Art

MANGO MADNESS...

With the help of Google and a bit of imagination, tried to make chicken with mango salsa last night. And going by Pete's clean plate, figured I would share... There are loads of variations on the web, but this one worked for me and it was quick and simple, and even if you don't cook the salsa with the chicken, it makes for a really fresh salad, and it keeps. Thinking next time I might try it with fish .. So anyway, here goes.... Mango Madness Ingredients Chicken 3 chicken breasts, cut into halves (you might wanna use fillets if you want them to cook faster) (Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil and some fresh lemon juice; cover and put in fridge) Salsa 2 large mangos, diced (I like them still a wee bit sour, but thats a matter of preference really) 1 red pepper, diced 1 green pepper, diced 1 green chilli (you can use chilli padi for more kick if you want), chopped 2 onions, chopped (I like red onions) 1 handful of chopped coriander leaves 1/2 handful of chopped mint leaves 1/3 cup fresh orange juice 1 tbsp lime juice 1 tsp olive oil Salt & Pepper Sprinkle of red chilli powder (You can use 2 chopped tomatoes too, if you like) - Mixed up the salsa and refridgerate for awhile. Hokay, so when you're ready to rock and roll, pan fry the chicken breasts in olive oil till they are pretty much cooked through. Then add the salsa mixture, bring to a boil and cook for two to three minutes. Dish it out and sprinkle some fresh cilantro. Enjoy! I served it up with oven-baked wedges of garlic potatos, and, ideally, there would have been some peas to go with but they didn't cooperate. Ah well... Bon Appetit! Art

ANOTHER ONE THAT MADE US STOP AND THINK...

TW

YOU LOOK, BUT DO YOU SEE?

Have surfaced from our day out in Little India with the boys (no don't get excited, we mean the Canon 30D and the EOS 300) completely inspired... Pete hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that there are experiences of a lifetime right on our doorstep that we don't stop long enough to really enjoy. As a Singaporean who has been in and out of Serangoon Road a countless number of times, I am quite embarassed at all the wonders on display that I never stopped long enough to really see fully appreciate (especially since I tend to avoid the place like the plague on Sundays). Either way, dragged there by the bossman, and forced by my new toy and the constraints of film photography, I have to say that I really saw a lot for the very first time.... Wonderful stalls, beautiful angles, a kaleidescope of colour, smells, sounds, tastes, love, friendship... Organised chaos. Disorganised order.... Lovely... The stuff from my black-and-white adventure with the 300 will be a while coming (in part because I still have 18 shots left on the film, and in part because we have no clue if any of the photographs I took will actually come out hahahahaha. Erm, am keeping my fingers crossed though.... Some of them were quite nice. Really!) but here's a taste of what the 30D captured (mostly by Pete) .... And believe me when I say that it is only but a taste... We hope this whets the appetite for a Sunday adventure in Little India.... Will not bog this down with rambling descriptions but will keep it to the bare minimum and let the pictures speak for themselves (note: we kicked off at Campbell Lane and then worked out way down through the back alleys and side streets)... Some of the best stuff to look out for, though - a coffeeshop serving up Kingfishers accompanied with piping hot plates of chana masala (chick peas in Indian spices) .... Very, very civilised. I will never crave beer nuts again).. And if you just keep going, you'll eventually find a little square somewhere in backlanes near Mustafa which is truly out of this planet... It was like walking straight into Bombay's Chowpatty beach... Street vendors armed with pails, chick pea mixtures, cucumber, fried stuff and a whole lot of arm power filling up cones of the most wonderful smelling bhel puri. And there were a whole bunch of workers on a day off battling it out on a carrom board that had been set up on the periphery (they were phenomenally good) .... Amazing stuff.... Got a wee weird for a while coz, not surprisingly, I was the only woman there (and I would not recommend a woman going there alone unless you're quite gung ho and not easily irked by strange looks and comments) and Pete was the only ang moh there, so they eventually started taking pictures of us with their camera phones... Fair enough trade off I guess, given the fact that they were the subject of our viewfinders.... Topped the day off with this find..... I guess everyone needs a handy distraction when they're in the middle of a long phone call..... Not too bad for a day out we reckon.... More to come... TW

FOTOS AND FINAL PREPS...

Pete's been trying to get me used to our extended family of Canons, and I've been trying to get a little pratice on the S2s before taking the EOS 300 on a spin and wasting a whole lot of film because I'm so used to clicking away on a digital camera and then deleting away the crappy shots. Kinda intimidated by the prospect of having to thoughtfully compose a shot because every single one (sighs) is gonna be costing me money... But I guess in the good ole day, that was how photography went. Anyways, figured I would post some of my practice shots. Comments, feedback, tips or thoughts are most welcome. These two were taken down by the pool on Sunday, and I'm pretty proud of the one with the butterfly since I only had once chance to capture the moment before the little thing flew away. Taking the EOS 300 out for its virgin adventure in a couple of minutes, and scratching our heads trying to figure out where would be 1) nice to take photos, 2) bustling on Chinese New Year, when the country seems to go into virtual meltdown. Wish me luck... will post a couple more pictures if any of them turn out well. Actually, while I very much welcome the Year of the Pig (since the luck of the Dragon is meant to get much better, sorta kinda - and believe you me I need all the luck I can get, and Pete's luck is meant to be pretty good too), the whole Chinese New Year/Chingay deal has kinda made preparations for our trip kinda tricky, since the country is on "off mode" today through Tuesday, and next weekend Orchard Road is closed for the Chingay Parade, which can only mean mayhem. Anyways, we're still managing to tick some things off the list, including the kids' presents and a whole lot of made-in Singapore curry powder.... Don't ask. Okays, gotta run - running out of daylight hours to take pictures. Here's wishing a Happy And Prosperous Chinese New Year to all who celebrate it! May your lives be filled with fortune in the year of the pig! Gong Xi Fa Chai, Wan Shi Ru Yi!! Art & Pete Ps: A warm welcome to Raps, who finally found us... Good to see ya again mate... Enjoy the blog!

MEN ARE FROM.... ?

So a colleague tells me this morning about her attempt to get a coffee at a Orchard Road cafe over the weekend. (Please note, some readers may find bits of the story that follow somewhat disturbing/disgusting/both of the above/remotely enjoyable). Anyways, her hubby goes inside to pick up the caffeine, and she notices a young guy next to her, who sits down, pushes his chair as far under the table as he can manage, puts a file on his lap and a piece of paper on the table. One hand's holding the pen, and the other disappears under the table, following which he, well........ yes...... to a girl in a spaghetti-strapped top a coupla tables down. Meanwhile, friend's hubby comes back with a vanilla ice blended for her, which, well, she's not too keen on drinking anymore, for obvious reasons... and of course, after the guy semi-spasms over his table, she's completely blown away that he's done this. In the middle of the city. In the middle of the day. In full view. The husband: He can't believe that the guy didn't even buy a coffee. Art

JONNO ROCKS....

First piece of business for the day: Testimony to the fact that you can take the Canuck out of Singapore, but you can never take the Singapore out of the Canuck, Jonno has made his entry into blogsphere with his very own version of Chilli Crab... Dude, we're gonna put you to work in the kitchen when you come to these parts again!! In other news, the countdown to Ireland begins, and it could not have come soon enough. I think both of us are in desperate need of a good, long break, some mindless fun and Guinness that that does not taste like dishwater. The wedding promises to be great fun, especially since this is possibly the first time all of Pete's friends are at the same place at the same time (watch out livers). The only thing thats causing come stress is the packing - while the international flights allow us 25 kg a piece, some of the internal flights within Ireland have ridiculous weight limits like 15 kg, and charge the world for excess. I reckon 15kg is how much just the winter wear weighs, and freezing is starting to look like a viable option... Ah well, I'm sure it will sort itself out. Can't wait to see everyone. I think Pete's gonna have to drag me on that plane kicking and screaming when its time to come back. Art

FELICITATIONS CASS AND GUY!!

And just when we thought the wave was over, yet another "bridesmaid" has gone and tied the knot!! Cass and Guy got married in Perth last month, and it looks like it was an amazing ceremony, and the girls look so cute. We wanted very much to have been there, but fate would not allow it. Sigh. Did manage a couple of nice catch up sessions with Cass on her way home, and we're both very much looking forward to their upcoming relocation to the region (Ho Chi Minh, here we come!). Anyways, here be some more pictures of the couple of the hour! Cheers guys, here's to a wonderful life together... With love, TeamWilliams. Ps: To some of our regular visitors: I guess you have noticed that the Comments Moderation has been turned on, and I'm really sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused. We all have some lowlife trawler to thank - someone who clearly has too much time on her/his hands, not much of a lovelife/life of her/his own, and too little intelligence to realise that thanks to technology, a clear trail leads right back to the source of the postings. So to our little visitor: If you have something to say, rest assured, we don't give a damn. Bugger off. Cheers.

DOLCE VITA....

Okay, the promised update on the amazing anniversary dinner. Both of us had to work on the actual day, but took the day before off, and then surrendered all decision making to Noel and the gang at Oriental's Dolce Vita, and my god, I wish we had done so sooner. With some conspiring by Noel (who, unfortunately, had the day off), the staff were well prepared for us - gorgeous table facing the pool side, covered with lovely roses and rose petals. The Moet was popped even before we sat down (guess no one told them about the effect champagne has on us, har), and in the spirit of the occasion, we indulged. Then came the lovely sorbet, and still-warm bread with olive oil. And then things just got better, and better. Among the starters - tuna belly with a garlic sauce and chives, salmon with quails eggs and shallots (very yum), and portobello and wild mushrooms (you getting hungry yet coz it gets better).... The fish was paired with a lovely Chardonnay, and the mushrooms with a Shiraz I think... Main courses (smaller than usual portions)were almond crusted cod (out of this planet) and pork belly with potato cakes... Of course we have cleaned off every single plate by the time we got to the pork there wasn't much place left for it!! Erm, not that it stopped us...) We couldn't resist dessert either (despite neither of us having any kind of sweet tooth). It was hard to describe, it was like rasberries covered in chocolate moose, topped with an orange foam (very science lab-meets-haute cuisine). They practically had to roll us out of there. Of course, the perfect meal was topped off with fabulous service and the perfect setting, so needless to say, we're DEFINITELY going back... Soon. Would recommend it to anyone too... Sighs, okay, now I'm hungry.... Art