Ohnolah!

It's a new year......and time for fixin' things!

Alright, so the calendar did change several weeks ago now -- and I can't really ride on the Lunar New Year wave any longer either -- but it's always a good time to fix something that needs fixin'.  This blog, for example.  I've let it go completely -- I got caught up on the holidays, hectic work days, vacation time, excuses, excuses.  It's just not been a priority, and with me the usual trouble is that once it's been a while, it's even harder to pick it back up (it's like that with my knitting, too, no surprise!).

I've decided to give it one last try, to write at least one post a week, or I have to give it up.  I'm giving myself until March 31st to get things back on track on this page.

Now that we're done with that little ultimatum, I'm almost ready to leave work and head out to a pre-Oscar movie cramming tonight and over the weekend.  Dear Bennett is playing host for a few fellow colleagues -- and it should be fun!  We're starting off tonight with Frost/Nixon over sushi and Royce chocolates....and plenty of sake.

Here's a shot from New Year's Eve which we celebrated in Siem Reap...very memorable:

Thunderstorms

I love the thunderstorms in Singapore -- they are spectacular and never fail to impress me.  The tropical warmth, the darkening of the sky, the wipping winds that come right before the rain sets in, the dramatic lightning and the deep rumble of thunder....and then the torrential rainfall that you just don't want to get caught in unless you want to get drenched...and umbrellas little are of little use.

A couple of weekends ago, I caught this shot of a storm brewing in the distance -- and I love the contrast of the dark sky and the sun still shining on the white buildings.

 

It's raining a lot today....we're getting into the rainy season, and the best thing about that, aside from the rain, is the cooler temps!

Icelandic Wool Warmth

The horizontal-knit shawl in unspun Icelandic is finally done!  It was a bit of a tough going here and there as the feather and fan pattern tends to get very monotonous...and boring.  But, taking advantage of a long plane trip back to San Francisco, I was able to finish just in time to wrap myself in the incredible warmth of this shawl to ward off the chill of Northern California (which feels much colder than it really is when you come straight out of the hot weather of Singapore).  I love the black and dark grey colors (on the pic, the black looks more like dark grey, but it really is black). 

Cambodia

We had a wonderful trip to Cambodia, to Siem Reap, with the primary purpose to see Angkor Wat and other famous sites and a secondary purpose to take time off, enjoy ourselves and take in a bit of Cambodian culture.  Our family traveled together with my friend Evelyn -- it was great to have her along on the adventure.  We were in Siem Reap for roughly four and a half days -- and pretty much everyone who had been to Siem Reap before commented "oh, yeah, that's plenty of time to see what you need to see"...however, we could easily have spent a week or more exploring the area around Siem Reap and enjoying the very friendly people we met along the way.  We did stay at a lux hotel with a nice pool -- an important requirement when traveling with two energetic boys who need space and time to unwind after temple-hopping.  And we did hook up with a driver and a guide to help us navigate the temples, the 'dancing' roads, and the many sights -- they were recommended by a good friend of mine who has known the owner of this now well-run and popular tour company in Siem Reap.  This friend of mine, I should comment, is an adventurous fellow Scandinavian who started traveling to Cambodia in the mid-90s when things were still a bit dodgy and much, much less touristy; he's gone there about 20 times over the last 10 years and could be considered to know the lay of the land around those parts.....

Anyhow, Angkor Wat was indeed amazing -- majestic, beautifully detailed, overwhelming in size.....I enjoyed experiencing it very much, but I must admit it did not come away as my personal 'favorite'.  Maybe it was because we didn't catch the 'perfect' sunrise moment...nah, just kidding....but Angkor Wat was maybe just a little bit too palatial for my taste.  But lovely, nonetheless, don't get me wrong.   Here's a shot of the sunrise -- which didn't really pan out since the clouds were low in the sky, but still, a nice moment at 6am...

Bayon, which is a part of Angkor Thom, on the other hand, was easier to consume and left a strong impression on me.  The massive faces carved out of rock and situated at various levels throughout the temple were impressive.  Bayon also had a very detailed set of bas relief work along the outside wall -- reliefs that were informative about the times, portraying daily life and life in times of war, and at points very humorous -- like the one detail that shows a woman holding a turtle that in turn is nipping at a man's behind....

The faces of Bayon were memorable; and as an incoming storm loomed on the horizon, the contrast of the stone against the sky and the green trees was just beautiful....

There were many impressions, one of the most important ones was the friendliness and sincerity of the Cambodian people that we met, spoke to, or simply passed on the way to and fro.  This country has been through so many terrible events in the not so distant past; there is very few people who were not touched by the rage of the Khmer Rouge.  But Cambodia was most definitely an inviting country to visit and exceeded my expections in many ways; I hope to go back again to explore some more. 

I'll post a couple of more entries on this over the next few days....I'm trying to carve out some time to update my flickr photos, this blog and other 'extra-curriculars' that have gotten less attention lately as 09 planning and general company craziness set in on the work front...

The big splurge....

I did it....I finally bought a 'real' grown-up camera, a DSLR.  I've had my eyes on a Canon DSLR for quite some time, to supplement my most excellent Canon G9.  Canon just released the EOS 50D, coming out first here in Asia, and this is what I bought.  I really wanted to buy the body only and get a different lens, but only kits were left -- I got a 17-85mm lens with the camera, and so far the wide angle has been great for the types of photos I've shot in the last week or so.   I'm by no means an experienced photographer, more of a casual point-and-shooter, but now I've got my work cut out for me, learning how to use this piece of equipment.  I'm very excited but also a bit intimidated....but let's see how it goes.  I've had a chance to play with it for a few days....and I'm getting ready for next week's trip to Cambodia!

After taking the kids to the bus this morning, I captured the 'national bird' of Singapore -- the construction crane -- against the morning sky....

Stora Dimun

I finished the Faroese shawl from Cheryl Oberle's book - the Stora Dimun - a couple of weeks ago.  I used what I would call a 'dove blue' Kauni yarn for it, and it turned out well.  Here it is all pinned out...since then, I've worn it at work a few times and it's wonderfully warm and cozy....

 

I used the blocking wires for the first time; convenient for sure, but a bit tricky.  I think it stretched the top edge out too much.

Anyhow, it's a keeper.

Pink freighter

There was this hot-pink freighter in the Singapore harbor for a few weeks -- it left late last week, took off to somewhere else with cargo -- but before it went, I took a shot of it, in the late afternoon from the 37th floor of Suntec.  It was a spectacular freighter, completely painted pink, except for the red hull.  I've never seen anything like it....and I wonder where it was from.  So cool.... 

  

F1 night in Singapore...bright lights and fantastic views

The F1 night race in Singapore came and went, creating a few challenges on the transportation front to and from work as roads around the business district in Marina Bay were increasingly barricaded off to get fitted with the strong lights that were to illuminate the race track for the first ever night-time competition.  The race also created much excitement in Singapore and surely got a lot of press -- off- and on-line, here and abroad.  We spent the race night at a friend's house in great company and with a stunning view of central Singapore from the 26th floor....(it's not a terribly clear photo, but gives a fantastic view of all the lights....):

 

The Singapore Flyer changes color....a great backdrop for the National grand stand and the Esplanade performance center -- the two oval-shaped buildings in the foreground.  The brightly-illuminated lights across the picture is the race track on the Esplanade Bridge crossing the river. 

Once the race started, the loud noise of the cars made the whole scene quite exhilirating.  It was a great setup -- the sights and sounds from afar and the live tv transmission projected onto the white wall in the apartment...

  

The Swissotel Stamford was another great vantage point for race-lovers...and then there's the space station government offices that always crack me up!

   

It was a fun night...and spectacular promotion for Singapore.

I feel sad tonight.  I just learned that a good friend of mine's mother passed away today.  She was a lovely person and a strong woman who I had the privilege to get to know just a little over the course of a couple of years and a few occasions -- I grew fond of her and appreciated her intelligence, her wit, and her dignity.  Olga passed away quietly in her apartment in Belgrade.  May she rest in peace and her memory live on forever.

Breakfast in bed ... and finishing up a project

My oldest son served me breakfast in bed this morning -- how wonderful is that?!  He's taking cooking classes in school this year and having a lot of fun with is -- this morning, with a little bit of Dad's help, he made an omelet, and added a small bowl of yoghurt, some fruit and piping hot coffee......yum!!

 

This lazy Saturday morning allowed me to finish up a project that has been around for a long time -- a couple of years, at least -- inspired by a shawl I had seen in "America Knits" -- the Southwest Shawl.  The finished result is nothing like the one in the book, but i love it.  The yarn is from Fiesta Yarns: La Boheme and La Luz Multi (pure silk) in the Taos colorway and La Luz in a petrol-color that I'm not sure the company carries any longer.  I have to say that while I love the colors of these yarns, La Boheme was a bit trying to knit with as the boucle and the mohair tend to bunch up and misalign on a regular basis; and the dark petrol color discolored my wooden needles very badly. 

I basically knit the shawl sideways, changing between the La Boheme, La Luz Multi and the single-color La Luz at no specific intervals, creating an organic striped blend of the colors.  I then crocheted a border, first with the silk, then with the mohair blend, then again with the silk.  And then the project just laid there for a year or two -- I didn't use it, it just didn't really appeal to me afterall....until I brought it with me to Singapore as one of the 'unfinished' projects that needed some TLC.  It's been sort of just lying around staring at me this past year; but last night, I started a fringe for the bottom half with the left-over yarn -- and I must admit, I love it!  Here it is:

 

And a few close-ups....the edge detail:

 

The colors are just fabulous....

 

Starting the weekend with finishing up a long-overdue project feels great....and after a super-hectic work week, a creative outlet can get your back on your feet pretty quickly :-)