In The News

...and we are back with this weeks segment of, In The News (Jeff Daniels a la The Newsroom voice)

Clearly, this weeks headlines have been dominated by the news and updates of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. So unbelievably sad and tragic. I have been going back and forth reading local publications and U.S. news outlets and it's interesting. Kuala Lumpur (or KL as everyone here calls it) is just to our North - about the distance from NY to Boston. Everyone here is very interested in following the story. However, in my opinion, if there had been any Singaporeans on board (surprisingly there were not considering how close KL is and how often people living here travel back and forth from there) there would be a far different sentiment around town. Hopefully everyone in the region keeps peacefully working together for the greater good. Such an unbelievably strange and scary scenario.     

Okay, I am sad again, time to lighten up the mood...

Some newsy tid-bits from this week. 

I guess there is a new show out there called Rich Kids of Hollywood or something? (eye roll) I am usually a fiercely loyal fan of awful TV, but sometimes just no. Don't get me wrong, I love drama and excess (see RHO_), but do not enjoy straight stupidity. Gasp! Have Michael's years of TV shaming finally worn me down?

See this people - I'll see your rich kids of LA and raise you rich kids of Singapore.  

I spotted this gem while Michael was cruising the ice cream aisle at 7-11 the other night. And yes I did spend >30min stalking their instagram accounts later that evening. There is something about people who are totally unabashed and shameless that is really intriguing to me.  However, I will note that in Singapore high end designer shoes and bags, luxury goods and sports cars are borderline par for the course and people are half way numb to it. People don't even blink at a 20 year old driving a McLaren or Aston Martin - I saw a couple out the window of the bus just this morning in fact ;)

Next article was about a couple who spent a full day taking selfies at every train station in Singapore. I mean...everyone has to have their niche? #icant

And finally some pretty places to look at to cure your winter blues (it's still winter, right? JK) This was a recent Buzz Feed article about restaurants with amazing views - Asia edition below.  (my friend Mary sent me this :))

Fingers crossed we are lucky enough to be able to check some of these off at some point. We are going to Bali next month (with Michael's parents! Woo!) so maybe we can visit at least one of those then. Lucky ducks, I know, I know :)

17. Vertigo, Bangkok, Thailand

Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts / Via banyantree.com

You’re sitting: in open-air at the 61st floor rooftop
At: Banyan Tree
Looking at: the heart of the business district, river, and city skyline
Eating: signature dishes like roasted snow fish, tenderloin, wagyu, or vertigo appetizer plate

18. Soneva Kiri, Koh Kood, Thailand

Soneva / Via soneva.com

You’re sitting: in a bamboo dining pod
At: Soneva Kiri Resort
Looking at: Gulf of Thailand’s shoreline and an ancient rain forest
Eating: homemade Thai cuisine brought to you by a flying waiter

19. Bukhari, Uma Paro, Bhutan

COMO Hotels / Via comohotels.com

You’re sitting: in a dramatic dining room named after the traditional Bhutanese fireplace — it’s that cool thing in the center of the room
At: Uma by COMO hotel
Looking at: Paro Valley
Eating: Bhutanese and international dishes with seasonal, locally sourced produce

Also at Uma:

COMO Hotels / Via comohotels.com

You’re sitting in: the villa terrace
At: Uma by COMO hotel
Looking at: Paro Valley
Having: a private dinner

20. Tapasake, Island of North Malé Atoll, Maldives

One&Only Resorts / Via reethirah.oneandonlyresorts.com

You’re sitting: on a Maldivian lagoon
At: One&Only Reethi Rah
Looking at: Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean
Eating: Japanese cuisine, with highest grade sushi and sashimi shipped from Tokyo

21. Ayung Terrace, Sayan, Indonesia

The Four Seasons / Via fourseasons.com

You’re sitting: on the terrance
At: Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan
Looking at: the Ayung River and palm trees
Eating: Asian-inspired and Indonesian specialties

22. Felix, Hong Kong, China

The Peninsula / Via peninsula.com

You’re sitting: on the 28th floor
At: Peninsula Hotel
Looking at: Hong Kong skyline and harbor
Indulging in: European cuisine

You can catch the Symphony of Lights, a nightly multimedia show between Victoria Peak and Hong Kong Harbor.

23. Kupu Kupu Barong Villas, Bali, Indonesia

Kupu Kupu Resort / Via kupubarongubud.com

You’re sitting: in a split-level setting with outdoor terrace
At: Kupu Kupu Barong Villas
Looking at: the Aunug River and forest
Eating: Southeast Asian–French fusion

24. Waterfalls Restaurant, San Pablo City, Philippines

Daniel Nicholson / Via Flickr: adjacentfrontier /Creative Commons

You’re sitting: at the foot of Labasin Falls
At: Villa Escudero Resort
Looking at: Labasin Falls
Eating: All you can eat lunch buffet.

Labasin Falls is not actually a natural waterfall, but a spillway of the Labasin Dam. A slight bummer, but still cool.

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See you on Monday! 

- C

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The Weekender: The Rolling Stones

Hey All! 

Weekend recap here. We had a wonderful weekend with the highlight being the Rolling Stones live in concert! (as my dad clarified, the original?) 

Yes, that is what pretty much dominated our entire weekend and it was awesome. Everything from the low-key Friday night prep session - watching the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom - shout out to Lisa of the Stones! - and studying previous set-lists - to mapping out our exact Saturday itinerary and Sunday recovery. A run down below...    

Friday night began with a much needed manicure. I recently got a gelish manicure (aka gel or shellac - gelish is the brand they use here, not sure it is common elsewhere) and naturally ripped it off myself, like I do every single time, so my bloody stumps needed a proper manicure. I never stray from a neutral or a red, but I was feeling 'fun concert nails' this time ;)

Sigh, a manicure always looks 10x better in person than in pics. 

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the perfect nail selfie?!

Saturday. This is our pre-concert game face. Michael looks unhappy, but really this is the face of exhaustion. He had spent the previous 35min bouncing up and down, off the walls, screaming, preforming his own rock concert while I was getting ready. 

"Cassi, you know that my personal performance style is emulated off of Keith Richards."   

Lift to our (very yummy) pre-show sushi dinner at Kinki. The fish was fresh, the sushi was tasty and it was located in the perfect area within walking distance to the venue. 

Note: if you ever need to do an early bird dinner, it's a great idea to do sushi. I mean, think about it, who wants to be the last guy into a sushi restaurant?

So many selfies, need more friends.

Quick shot drink on their roof top deck before the show. (the show was located inside the Sands Hotel, pictured below)

Almost show time! 

The sold out show held 5,000 people. It was inside a legit hotel ballroom - like people get married and have work conferences in there and we were sitting on individual padded banquet chairs. It was kind of crazy. 

The crowd was a little subdued for such a big rock show, but everyone had a great time and was happy to be there. After all, Singapore isn't known to be the most wild and ruckus city on the planet ;)

Concert pictures (like nail art) never ever turn out as good as the real thing. Below are a couple videos taken during the show. They are a little Blair Witch Project-y, but Michael's enthusiasm is priceless. 

What a fantastic show! I won't pretend to be the biggest Stones fan on the planet, but I have been to enough sporting events and spent enough time at The Wheel to know and appreciate the classics. Above all else, the thing I truly enjoy most is watching how genuinely, deep-down, small child, jumping out of your shoes, borderline unhealthy, no actually unhealthy, absolutely elated this kind of thing makes Michael. Nothing in this world makes that man more happy than watching, playing, listening to or talking about music. He's a 1960's rock star trapped in a 2000's bankers body :)

Below is the set list. 

{image source}

After the show we made the impulsive decision to head to the basement of the hotel and check out the casino. We were already there and thought it was be a fun way to keep the night going. This place was un-real. Entrance is free for foreigners (we just showed our employment passes) and like a $200 entrance fee for locals - go figure. We found (I mean Michael found) a craps table and we walked out big winners! What a fun, memorable, strange night we had. 

Sunday the entire city celebrated the long awaited rains (finally!) Singapore has had an uncharacteristic dry spell, combined with the onset of the haze, making life less comfortable. It was the perfect Sunday of monsoonal rains and a Netflix marathon. We are getting really into Ewan McGregor's The Long Way Down and the Long Way Round documentary. Check it out. 

no filter

And that's about it for our weekend folks.

Michael is currently traveling in India for work the rest of the week. He took the camera with him and I made him PROMISE (multiple, multiple times) to take enough pictures for a guest post when he returns.

Miss you guys.

-C

Calendar update: April 18 trip to Pulau Sibu Island, Malaysia (it's a driving, not flying trip)

April 21 Michael's parents arrive in Asia!

[Editors note at time of press: so very, very heartbreaking to hear about the tragic and untimely death of Mick's long-time love, L'Wren Scott]      

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The Weekender

Hi Friends! 

Sorry I am a day late - I had a bad case of the Monday's and didn't feel like typing (blogger problems)

A recap of our weekend...

   

As you can see the haze is starting to roll in and become very noticeable. Having only lived in the Midwest and NY, I have never had to battle with air quality issues (NYC hot trash and urine aside). I even downloaded my first PSI app on my phone!

The morning starts out just fine and by late afternoon the haze rolls in - you can see it in the air, smell the smoke and feel it in your eyes and throat. The haze rolls in every year around this time as farmers in Sumatra, Indonesia burn and clear the land during this dry period. Singapore and others are continually working to better regulate and set sanctions around this issue.     

Friday: the face of optimism 

See, all clear on this glorious Saturday morning. 

Side note: living on the equator means goodbye to dark mornings and sleeping in past 8:00 a.m., sleeping in to thunder storms (I feel like it only rains in the evening), or staying snuggly during a snow shower. Nope - clear skies and 80 degrees means get up lazy! Consistent sunrise and sunset has its pros and cons. Ugh. 

Saturday morning was the same ol' drill - I do some kind of outdoor aerobic activity and Michael plays in his flag football league (check out his fb page for a cute pic of the team!)

Around lunch it was time to be productive. Our apartment is in pretty good shape outside of 'Michael's room.' This is the 3rd bedroom/office where Michael spends a lot of time mainly because I took over the entire closet in the master bedroom (I mean isn't that how it works?) With all the late night conference calls with NY and the time he spends working on the weekends, it was high time we got his office up and running. 

  

On our list was a new desk and bookshelf - but first a Mexican lunch and some margs to get us warmed up for the big adventure (yes we are pathetic). 

We browsed about 5 stores and realized we needed to go home and actually measure the room (fail) and vowed to come back on Sunday. However, much progress was made.  

We made it home in time for a quick trip to the grocery store, a power nap and a Singapore second shower before heading over to our friends Christina and James' for a BBQ. 

Cheers! 

After dinner we headed to this dive bar near their place. It was a-ma-zing. Gawd, I love a good dive bar. 

No gambling OVER the table people. 

It was the perfect night of good food and fun with great people. It felt so good to be among friends and to be out and about on a Saturday night. With the pool table and old school Nelly and 50 Cent bumpin' we could have anywhere. It was awesome.
      

Sunday we set out to find the East Coast Parkway on our bikes. There was a slight mix-up if the bike portion of Michael's triathlon was 40 MILES or 40 KM... so this happened. Note: I was right, it is km.        

After our traumatizing workout (sorry, only I was traumatized) we had a relaxing rest of the day. Back to Duxton Hill to complete our office purchases and cook dinner.  The office is really coming together - I will maybe consider giving it it's own post once it's complete.

Dinner comprised an average vegetable pasta so I rewarded myself with a pan of Bill's famous Kappa Krispies #KappaKrispies Why have I never thought to make this at home?

See you later this week.

- C

P.S. only 4 more days until THE Rolling Stones! 

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(Introducing) In The News

Hi Team! 

Happy (almost) weekend for you - Happy official weekend for me! 

After some thought I decided to start a new series at LGE entitled, In The News 

This will just be some fun (and sometimes serious) tidbits of news and information on the happenings in both Singapore and Asia in general. Let's all set our expectations low, move our prejudices aside, and enjoy!  

This week on ITN: Why your red packets are going to be really small next year and the most talked about thing to roll through Singapore since Raffles himself. (I can't stop chuckling to myself at that joke and no one is going to get it). 

Singapore named the world's most expensive city

Singapore has been moving up the ranks of the world's most expensive cities to live in over the last decade

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Singapore tops expensive city listWatch
• International schools demand surgesWatch
• How do Singapore's poor families get by?

Singapore has topped 131 cities globally to become the world's most expensive city to live in 2014, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The city's strong currency combined with the high cost of running a car and soaring utility bills contributed to Singapore topping the list.

It is also the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes.

Singapore replaces Tokyo, which topped the list in 2013.

Other cities making up the top five most expensive cities to live in are Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney, with Tokyo falling to sixth place.

The EIU's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey is a relocation tool that uses New York city as a base. It looks at more than 400 individual prices.

Continue reading the main story

Top 5 most expensive cities

1. Singapore, Singapore
2. Paris, France
3. Oslo, Norway
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Sydney, Australia

Soaring Asia

The top 10 cities this year have been dominated by Asian and Australasian cities as well as some in Europe.

"Improving sentiment in structurally expensive European cities combined with the continued rise of Asian hubs means that these two regions continue to supply most of the world's most expensive cities," said the editor of the report, Jon Copestake.

"But Asian cities also continue to make up many of the world's cheapest, especially in the Indian subcontinent."

Most Asian cities that top the list are there for predominantly higher costs of groceries. Tokyo is still at the top of the list for everyday food items.

Inexpensive India

However, not all Asian cities are tough on the wallet.

India's major cities - including Mumbai and New Delhi - were found to be among the least expensive in the world.

Mumbai's prices are kept low by large income inequality.

The low wages of many of the city's workers keep spending low, and government subsidies have helped them stay that way.

Outside of the subcontinent, Damascus in Syria saw the largest drop, becoming the fourth cheapest city in the world as the country's ongoing conflict has led to plummeting prices.

Watch: Toby Iles from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) explains to Sharanjit Leyl why Singapore is the most expensive city to live in

While the EIU's survey takes into account the cost of living, other firms employ different research methods.

Mercer conducts research to determine the most expensive cities for expatriate living.

It found that in 2013, Luanda, Angola was the hardest on expatriate wallets due to the difficulty of finding adequate secure housing, and the high price of imported goods.

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.....

Haze Return Amid Drought Stokes Concern of Repeat Choking

Singapore faces threat of early, prolonged haze

Photo by me: view from work, not home 

News Archives: The Anton Casey Saga (once MAJOR talk of the town)

Little India Riot  

See you back on Monday :)- C

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