Life is Stranger Than Fiction

My editor just called with the surreal news that, after just one week, Diary of An Expat in Singapore is the number one bestseller at Kinokuniya in the popular culture category. Now I feel a little guilty I complained about where the book was placed. The saying: "Location, location, location," definitely is not limited to real estate. Note to self: in another lifetime become best friends with bookshop staff before publishing a book. Forget about literary agents, it's the people in charge of book shelves who really hold your fate. In one bookshop, my book was next to Diary of Anne Frank (seriously?), in another it was placed in Military Highlights (because my Dad was a green beret?) and in another it actually took me, and two very friendly staff members, fifteen minute to even locate the book...

But as they say: life is stranger than fiction. Somebody must have found it after all. 

http://www.kinokuniya.com/sg/index.php/fbs003?common_param=9789814408578

Diary of An Expat in Singapore...The Book is Here!

Look what just arrived in the mail!
Diary of An Expat in Singapore, the book based on the blog, was published and released this week by Marshall Cavendish! And this box of first copies is the best package I received all year.
Who am I kidding: Best Package Ever!

I want to thank you all for having read this blog, sent me your insightful comments and questions, and generally inspired me to keep writing. There would be no blog without readers. A lot of sweat and determination (coffee and oreos) have gone into this.

Diary of An Expat in Singapore is now available in bookstores everywhere.
I can't wait to hear if you like it!!

Scenes From an Italian Summer

"Is my gondola ready?"

"If I cook the ragu' for lunch,  I can make the vongole for dinner."

"We're in charge of watering, right?"

An Italian Visitor's Impressions

"Ma c'e' sempre cosi' caldo qui?" ("Is it always so hot here?")

Alexander and Eliot's cousin Luca has come back with us from Verona to spend a couple of weeks here in Singapore. These are some of his first impressions:

After just one hour, Luca: "Is it always so hot here?"

After a couple of hours: "It feels like the jungle."

Later that day: "I have heard a lot about bacon. Do you have bacon here?"

After the bacon: "Was that dinner or just a snack?"

That night: "This rice doesn't taste like risotto. Oh, and I forgot to tell you I don't like Chinese food."

Later that night: "This building has 30 floors? I thought my building was high and it's three stories."

Next morning: "Can we have more bacon?!"


For more on what visitors, see also http://diaryofanexpatinsingapore.blogspot.sg/2013/03/stuff-first-time-visitors-to-singapore.html

Perks of Travelling With Kids

"Can we stay another night?"

The perks of travelling with kids. No, this is not the title of a science fiction novel or an example of a witty oxymoron. These perks really do exist, for example:

1) When travelling with kids, you get to board planes first.
2) You rarely feel crowded on ferries. The question: "Did you remember your vomit bag?" works magic.
3) You always eat extra food at restaurants. (Choose their dish wisely.)
4) You have an excellent excuse to not do just about anything: visit archeological ruins, accept invitation from a distant relative, meet up at a faraway location or attend a conference. "I'd love to...but, you know, with the kids..."
5) You get to gauge the cleanliness of public bathrooms everywhere.
6) You get to see cartoons in foreign languages.
7) Occasionally, somebody takes a liking to your kids and gives them a free gift, like a glass blown horse from Murano or a Venetian mask (see above).  There's Halloween sorted.

I'm sure there are plenty of other perks I'm missing but I can't come up with anything. Seeing my brain has turned to mush from... traveling with kids.
Please do add your own below.

Postcard From Venice

"Mom, can he come over for a playdate?"

100,000 hits today!

Not exactly what I expected would happen when I started this blog three years ago...but the blog has taken on a life of its own and just gotten 100,000 views today!
Oh, and the royal baby was born too. Happy Tuesday everybody :)

The Pleasure of Anonymity

"Crumbs again?"

I used to joke that one of my lifelong ambitions was to enter a cafe' and say: "The usual." A Freudian scholar might interpret this as an unconscious desire, common to serial expats everywhere, to belong.
In these past few months, I got the chance to realize my 'dream.' After dropping the kids off at school, I walked every day to the same cafe' and even sat at the same table with my moleskin notebook and pen. Eventually, I heard the long awaited words, from the waitress: "The usual?"
I smiled. Finally, I got what I wanted: a coffee and a croissant without having to say a word.
Then one day, unexpectedly, she added: "So, how is your book coming along?"
After that, I sort of dreaded walking in. I missed my anonymity and that unique pleasure that comes from drinking coffee surrounded by strangers... and a hungry sparrow or two.

This Is What Second Grade in Italy looks like...

"Where's the gelato?"

It's Always A Holiday in My Mom's Kitchen

"I thought vespa was a type of ice cream..."

I have a good friend whose holidays feature castles, temples, and Michelin-starred restaurants (hi LeeAnn). My holidays, on the other hand, mainly feature me drinking coffee in my mom's kitchen. Maybe I should get a tour guide. Or only travel with LeeAnn. But the truth is I really like hanging out in my mom's kitchen. It's where I spent most of my time when I was little or when I was home from college. Writing essays on the kitchen table, listening to the piano wafting in from the living room, marvelling at my brother Stephen's crushing logic on why he should own a vespa. The only difference is that in those days, my two great aunts Josie and Milly, were also in that kitchen. Hence, the freshly baked apple pie, endless cups of coffee, and conversations littered with: "What'd she say?" "Roosevelt was a great president," and "Was this lunch or dinner?"
Now it's my own kids hanging out in my Mom's kitchen listening to stories about the good old days. Sampling her risotto, checking expiration dates on Easter eggs (it's July, Mom), and watching her extensive classic film collection. An excellent way to get over jetlag, but I do wonder what effect back to back Audrey Hepburn films might have on them. As long as it doesn't result in Eliot wanting to shop only at Tiffany's or in Alexander asking for a vespa, I look forward to my yearly rendez-vous with Holly Golightly.

It's happening...

"I knew all that coffee and procrastination...would pay off."

Sure Signs There Is a Hazardous Haze in Singapore

Singapore's Summer Collection

1) Beijing here: "Who's laughing now?"

2) Indonesia voted least popular neighbor.

3) Outside looks like the film set of Apocalypse Now.

4) No problem getting a taxi.

5) Haze is the most googled word.

6) Children are encouraged to stay indoors and play video games.

7) All picnic items are on sale.

8) PSI (Pollutant Standard Index) is followed more closely than the Nikkei index.

9) Somewhere in Sumatra, there is a farmer without internet saying: "I think we're getting away with this."