The XtraSuitcase

Thaipusam- a Hindu festival

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Thaipusam

Warning……this post is not for the faint-hearted! I thought we had interesting parades in Brussels…wait to you see the photos from this one!

Thaipusam is a fascinating Hindu festival celebrated in India, Singapore, and other places around the world. We have a sizable Indian population here in Singapore so the festival was quite large. D had to work, so I went with H, a new friend I made here in Singapore. We met at 6:55 am – we did not want to miss anything!

The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati (a Hindu Goddess) gave Murugan (Hindu diety or god) a "spear" so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadam – which he did.

Thaipusam is a time for Hindus of all castes and cultures to say thank you and show their appreciation to Murugan.

It is not so much a celebration, but more of a time of penance and consecration to the gods, usually involving self-mortification in a test of mind over pain.

The foot procession starts at the Srinivasa Perumal in the Little India district and ends at Thandayuthapani Temple – a 4 kilometers walk (approximate 2.5 miles).

Yellow and orange are the colors of Murugan, and this is what you will see most people wearing.

Most carry pots of milk or "paal kudam" on their heads or in pails as a show of devotion and love to the gods.

The most intense form of devotion is the carrying of kavadi — an elaborate framework carried on their shoulders.

The kavadi has various shapes and sizes, from the simple – a wooden stick with two baskets at each end (they contain rice, milk or other articles that the devotee has vowed to offer the gods) slung across the shoulder….

….to the decorative structure of flower interwoven with peacock feathers.

To wear a kavadi, the devotees must abstain from meat, alcohol, cigarettes and sex for at least a week prior to the festival, some extend the period up to a month. And they must fast completely for 24 hours prior to the walk.

They attach the kavadi by piercing a number of metal rods into the torso skin to hold it in place.

So if you were wondering if it really went through the skin…you can see the answer is YES!

The white powder is holy ash.

Some of the kavadis can weigh up to 60 pounds. In recent times, the men wear belts in order to carry the weight of the kavadi on their waist instead of on the piercings.

It is said that devotees are able to enter a trance, feel no pain, do not bleed from their wounds and have no scars left behind. Really? I am pretty sure I would be crying from the pain! We did not see any blood.

Many of the hooks had limes at the end. The lime symbolizes protection by the deities but it is also to add weight and therefore pain.

Most of the men carrying the kavadi were pierced with two skewers (or 'vels' – symbolic spears); one through the tongue, and one through the cheeks.

The piercing by skewers symbolizes several things including that the devotee has temporarily renounced the gift of speech so that he may concentrate more fully upon the deity and that the devotee has passed wholly under the protection of the deity who will not allow him to shed blood or suffer pain.

As a rule, men wear kavadi; the women "only" skewer their tongue or cheeks and we saw very few women with piercings.

A few of the men were pulling a small chariot with hooks attached to their backs.

How about this photo?? She is as happy as she can be while he is struggling to walk.

Some walk on sandals studded with nails.

Some believe carrying the kavadi washes away sins through self-inflicted suffering; others say the kavadi symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.

An entourage of relatives and friends who support and encourage them throughout the pilgrimage accompanies those who carry the kavadi.

This made it very difficult to photograph them as the entourage was in the way of the “perfect” photo! The helpers sing and dance and protect them from the crowds and form a protective ring around the kavadi so that the wearer can dance freely….Yes, these men actually dance around with spikes in their sides!

It is definitely a family event and all ages participated from the young to the old.

At the end of the night, the kavadi is dismounted, the needles and skewers are removed by the priest, and the milk in the pots—which has stayed pure—is poured over the deity (god) from head to foot.

Next year, I hope to get to see the actual piercing take place!
the lion dance and salad toss

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The celebrations of the New Year continue. Monday we enjoyed the lion dance and the salad toss at the embassy. To read about this event, click here to visit my art blog, ma vie trouvee.
Happy Chinese New Year – January 23, 2012

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Happy Chinese New Year - January 23, 2012

2012 The Year of the Dragon

To learn all about this fun and interesting holiday,

click here to visit my art blog – ma vie trouvee.

Happy New Year!
What and where are we eating?

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At hawker stands!

A hawker center is the name given to an open-air complex that has several small booths or hawker stands that sell a variety of inexpensive food.

Each dish is made to order, so it arrives hot and is delicious. You can add additional peppers or spices if you like it hot.

Hawker centers sprung up in urban areas in the 1950s and 1960s and were considered a venue for the less affluent. They were primarily built to reduce the unhygienic food preparation by unlicensed street hawkers.

Over the years, hygiene standards have vastly improved and the food stall operators are given cleanliness grades (A,B,C) by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to help customers make an informed choice.

Today the hawker stalls are becoming mainstream and are popping up in food courts in shopping malls. They are still independently owned by the family – no McDonald's or Burger King in these food centers.

All meals are served with rice or noodles. They predominately serve pork, chicken, and fish. And eggs, lots of eggs. Beef is not very popular here.

The one below has dried fish on the top – I think this is an acquired taste. Luckily I tasted it before I mixed it in the soup.

Oh and the very best part of the hawker stands is they are CHEAP! We have never paid over 5 Singaporean dollars ($3.85 USD) for these meals.

The restaurant in the photo below is one step up from a hawker stand. They seat you and take your order, but it is still very casual. This one was located in the part of Singapore they call Chinatown.

This restaurant served chicken only and you could have it on noodles or rice. Look at that beautiful crispy skin.

We picked noodles. This meal was twice the price of the hawker stands, 9 SD ($7 USD). The owner told us they have been in business since 1963! It was very good.

If you want to see what a rambutan is – hop over to my art blog, ma vie trouvee.
What’s In – What’s out list for 2012

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Donald and Cathy’s

What’s in / What’s out list for 2012



In                                    Out

Singapore                                                    Brussels

sandals and flip-flops                                         boots

shorts                                                                skinny jeans and tights

casual short sleeves for work                        suits for work

English                                                             French

bubble tea and fruit juice                                  beer and wine

iced coffee                                                        hot coffee

hawker stands                                                   Michelin restaurants

chop sticks                                                      forks

ice cream sandwiches                                        waffles

fish                                                                   beef

rice                                                                   potatoes

broth-based meals                                            cream-based meals

ice in drinks                                                   never ice in drinks

Asian décor                                                     Paris décor

full-sized refrigerator    tiny refrigerator

shoe lockers                                                      coat closet

marble floors                                                    wood floors

cold (air conditioned ) apartment                      hot apartment



Singaporean dollars                                           Euros

all stores open on Sunday                                 all stores closed on Sunday

most stores open until 11 PM                            all stores close at 7 PM

buses                                                               trams

right-hand drive                                             left-hand drive

muggy heat                                                      muggy cold

green outside                                                  gray outside

tissue sellers                                                  street bums

tweeting birds                                                honking car horns

customer service                                            indifferent clerks

This is from our first four days in Singapore! We are enjoying it all – learning new things by the minute.
Our new grocery store in Singapore

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Singapore Begins Now!

We are settling into our new apartment – well, with three suitcases full of stuff. We have been out and about and have explored the neighborhood.

The closest grocery store – about a 5 min walk across the main street is what they call a wet market – which is an outdoor market with very local food.

Beautiful fresh fish.

Unusual fruits and Vegetables.

We bought these – sweet and interesting – some what like a lychee. They are called Rambutans.

And the very smelly, icky durian fruit. We have not tried them yet – but will soon!
2011 year-end review

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2011

Here's to 2011! We had a great year of travel. We had the opportunity to visit eleven countries, including four that we visited for the first time (Turkey, Cambodia, Thailand, and Romania). France was our most visited country, we hopped over there four times. We have selected a favorite photo from each trip for this post. To see more photos and read about our adventures, just click on the country name and it will take you directly to the post.

February/March

Bangkok Thailand

Cambodia – Temples of Angor Wat

Cambodia – a village in the water

Cambodia – Sojourn Village

Belgian Countryside

May

Istanbul Turkey

June

Berlin

Hamburg

July

Romania

Alsace, France

August

Loire Valley, France

October

USA

November

Singapore (D)

In De Wulf – Heuvelland Belgium

December

Alsace France – Christmas

Paris – Big 50

Singapore!

And our new home, our new country – Singapore!

Thank you to everyone who visits our Blog! We are thrilled that you leave comments and come back often. The new year, 2012, is going to be an exciting time for us as we pack up our apartment and move to Singapore. We hope you stay with us for another year of exciting travel and please drop us a note every now and then – we love to meet the people who read our blog.

Happy New Year to you and your family!

Donald and Cathy
D’s big 5-0 in Paris!

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PARIS – DECEMBER 23

My honey-pie turned 50 on Dec 23rd. As crazy as we are with the move, the morning of his b-day we hopped on the train to Paris for the night. We came home the next day, which was Christmas Eve.

He did all HIS favorite things on HIS special birthday

We visited the Christmas Market:

We discovered fabulous caramels made by Henri Le Roux. I love caramels, D is so-so about them. But after eating an entire bag – he agreed these were delicious and the best he had ever eaten.

Early evening, we checked out the department stores “Vitrines de Noël” (holiday windows). Gallery Lafayette and Printemps are known for their special Christmas windows.

Galeries Lafayette’s theme was “Noël Rock ‘n’ Mode” created by New York artist Andrew Yang. Because they are animated, it is very difficult to get clear photos.

The miniature puppets were called Kouklistar poupées with names like Brigitte, Imany, and Inna Modja, along with Mademoiselle K, Medi, and Cyril Mokaiesh. Made of soft muslin and hand-painted, they danced away in front of the crowds.

The musical bus.

Inside Galeries Lafayette there is a huge tree in the center of the store that goes up 66 feet, almost reaching the the grand domed ceiling, created in 1912. It was decked out in 55 neon signs continuing the "Rock in Mode" theme. The store was so crowded, we only took a quick look at the tree and left. I must be getting old : )

Printemps

At Printemps, the windows were created by Karl Lagerfeld. Titled "Christmas Dreams of Far Away", the windows displayed holiday scenes from legendary cities around the world. The cities were selected by Lagerfeld as sources of inspiration and destinations that have been part of Chanel’s history.

His concept was designed to take visitors on a small trip around the world in just a few minutes. It even had an airplane from Los Angles to take you on this magical ride.

Featuring a pilot and a flight attendant embraced in a kiss on the top of the plane.

The displays had an enchanting appeal, fused with Lagerfeld’s trademark charisma and flair. Many were animated, but not all.

A few of the cities included Moscow:

New York

London

Shanghai

Tokyo

And I am not sure which country this one is from:

My favorite, was Paris – with many tiny Carls dancing around the city….

For D's birthday dinner we ate at Le Tir Bouchon, one of our favorite Parisian restaurants in the 2nd arrondissement. D had baked camembert cheese for a starter, and the beef onglet in a red wine sauce for his main. I had ravioli des poisson (fish) and the house special of duck confit, foie gras, and mashed potatoes. We had a lovely bottle of red wine from St Emillion and we shared a chocoalte moelleux for dessert. It was a delicious meal.

The next day, to continue doing all of D's favortie things for his B-day weekend, we went to the flea market! Wasn't he lucky that it was open Christmas Eve Day?

We ate lunch at another favorite Brasseries just down the street from the flea – La Porte Didot. It is a very local place where they serve typical French food. Always good. We also got to visit Dave and Fatama in their new Paris apartment. They just moved in on Dec 21 so I did not think it was fair to take any photos.

I had an excellent Birthday trip doing all my favoite things in Paris….I mean…..D had an excellent birthday trip. Look at him….now that is a happy 50 year old!

Farewell Paris – we may not see you again for many years!
Christmas in Alsace France

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Not quite French, not quite German – Alsace France is a world all to it's own. Nestled between the Rhine River and Germany, Alsace has some of the most spectacular Christmas Markets in Europe. Dating back to 1570, the markets run from late November until December 31st.

Strasbourg claims to be the capital of Christmas. History says….. that Christmas tress were sold here back in the 16th century along with decorations of paper roses, apple and sweets.

Folklore says that in 1858 there was a bad drought and there was no fruit for the children to hang from the trees, so a glass blower created glass balls – the first Christmas balls.

Unfortunately, due to high winds and heavy rains – the Strasbourg Christmas market was closed for the day. All of the chalets were shut tight.

A custom of this area is to decorate the windows and doors with elaborate decorations – with the primary ones being stuffed animals. To see many more of the decorated windows, hop over to my art blog – Ma Vie Trouvee.

Kaysersberg, a charming village with less than 3000 residents was the market we visited on Saturday. I was not able to get any photos of the market as it was crowded and raining so lots of umbrellas!

There were some elaborate decorations in the village.

This was outside of a restaurant.

So much yummy food to eat in this area, and extra special treats for the season.

A peek through the windows.

With lots of sauerkraut and meat!

We stayed at our VERY favorite B&B in Europe, Ambiance Jardin. We have stayed here five times over the four years we have live in Brussels. If you visit this area you MUST stay here! I have shared many photos of the B&B in previous posts – but here are a few more with Pierrette's beautiful Christmas vignettes (and a little PSE altering).

Our lovely breakfast table.

Despite the rain, we still had a fun time. We highly recommend a visit to this part of France anytime of the year, but especially at Christmas!
In De Wulf – Restaurant – THE BEST EVER!

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To celebrate D getting the new job and our wonderful time living in Belgium, we SPLURGED on Friday for lunch at the Michelin-starred restaurant In De Wulf. It was a two-hour drive each way and the meal lasted three and a half hours. It was the most expensive meal we have ever eaten, but it also was the best! It consisted of 20 small courses : )

Chef Kobe Desramaults is quite young (30 years old), but wow can he cook! He was born in Heuvelland Belgium, which is in the Flemish region near the French border. He grew up in an old farmhouse – now the location of his wonderful restaurant.

We opted to take our aperitif and amuse-bouche in the front sitting room by the fire. We started our celebration with a local champagne.

The dishes are shown in the order we ate them. The French name is written first then the "roughly" translated English version.

In De Wulf’ Menu - November 2011

Lard seche maison =

House speciality – homemade bacon;

salted and smoked, then dried-cured for 6 months

Cereales & Herbs =

Crispy morsel on cream

Betterave rouge yaourt =

Beet root crisp with beet yogurt

Looks so simple but it was packed with flavor –

one of the top bites of the day! For the crisps, the chef makes an emulstion of beets and beet juice, gels the mixture in a thin sheet, then fries the beet gelatine. This gives the crisps more intense flavor.

Poulet carotte =

Carrot mousse on crispy chicken skin

Pain brule, Maroilles =

Burned bread filled with cheese from the Maroilles and covered with mushroom dust.

Another one that looks simple but oh my gosh!

One of D's favorite of the day

We then moved into the dining room to begin our culinary adventure. Kobe's food has been described as an explosion of flavor and we found this to be a great explanation of what we experienced. Each bite was so fresh, so unique - it is hard to even describe.

Pain with frais beurre, lardon cream =

bread with creamy fresh butter and lard spread

Panais, lovage =

Crispy parsnip with a parsnip cream

Bulots =

Local cockles with sauce

Before we get too far into the meal – just a quick mention that we had a flight of wines that were carefully selected by the sommelier for each course. We did not have a different wine with each course….but the wine changed every few courses.

Bigorneau =

Periwinkle Welk (sea snail) with herb sauce

Crabe, blette, feuilles de Capucines =

Crab, spinach, buttermilk-chive sauce

Chau pointu raifort huitres plate de Zelande =

Oysters from Zeeland, covered with cabbage leaf and horseradish

Coquille verveine pourpier =

Scallops with walnuts and verbena sauce

Another one of my favorites! I love the smell and taste of verbena.

Bar de mer betterave maritime navets =

Sea bass with turnips strips, laural leaves, and bone sauce

Celeri-rave en croute de sel fromage cremeux, vinaigre de pomme, oseille =

Celery root baked in salt crust, with celery foam and cheese sauce

It was baked on the open flames (which was right next to our table) in a salt crust. They only served the middle part.

Champignons sauvages, cereales =

Wild mushrooms, foam, and crispy cereals

Choux laurier, coeur de boeuf =

Mixed greens covered with dry-cured ox heart shavings

Lievre boudin des pates topinambour =

Wild hare fillet and sausage with carmelized onion, artichoke sauce and sunchoke crisps

This was another of our favorites. We are used to rabbit, but wild hare had so much more flavor.

Gateau de fromage, poire de Kemmel =

Pears from Kemmel, cheesecake ball, served in elderberry juice

Noix, biere Pannepot, lait de Kemmel =

Hazelnut, beer icecream, crisp, and buttermilk reduction

Pomme romarin, chervil

Apple tuile, rosemary mousse, Spanish cheese

Back to the front room for coffee and more sweets.

From left to right = chocolate, carmel, and salt,

marshmallow covered in chocolate with layers of cake

fruit gel

and last but not least – smoutebollen….doughnuts : )

Donald was "fat and happy" with his gastronomical meal!

Here we are with Chef Kobe. We bought his cookbook and he signed it for us. Donald spent the next day reading it and is already trying a recipe. I will not be using this cookbook – too complicated for me!

We had a fabulous time and it truly was the best meal we have ever eaten! If you have a really special event to celebrate and are living in Belgium – we highly recommend you splurge and go to In De Wulf..

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