DIY Swediporean Lasagne Bolognaise

Tonight's menu: Lasagne Bolognaise, as seen in the photo.

How to do it in a few easy steps;

Get a Singaporean friend who marries a Swede.

When they are in Sweden, they will bake lots of really good lasagne, and they will freeze it.

Sometimes when they visit Singapore, they will bring along a few, and give you some.

If they give you some, keep it in the freezer until you are ready to eat it.

Now, when it is time to eat it, read the instructions on your combi-oven.

This may require opening some red wine.

This Spanish red worked just fine.

Once you figure out how to bake the lasagne, put it in the oven, take it out, and place it on the table like this;

This lasagne got the micro-grill setting at 600W for 16 minutes - it was my first try, so must have been beginners' luck.

Now, put the lasagne on a couple of plates like this;

After that, eat it, drink the red wine, savour the moment, and wash the dishes & load the dishwasher.

Can or not?

Coney Island, Singapore's new park

On 20 December 2015 we took our first look behind the fence.

Of course, had to have Starbucks breakfast first.

Starbucks at White Sands

Coney Island has been designed well. There are both gravel paths and cement paths.

Gravel Path

Gravel Path

Gravel Path

Gravel Path

Gravel Path

Cement Path

The Northern coast features a long beach 

Kids playing on the beach

Visitors posing with Pulau Ubin in the background

Kayakers tacking a break

Looks like a private beach with Malaysia in the background

Kayakers passing by with Pulau Ubin in the background

Some kids use the beach to artistically express themselves.

Family time

Any kind of bike can handle the paths, however as some of the paths are uneven, rocky and sandy, mountain bikes and hybrids are best suited for Coney Island. Fat bike owners would also be able to enjoy bicycling along the long sandy beaches. 

Mountain bikes having a rest in the shade

There are many picturesque spots for posers.

Say cheese

There are also plenty of places to sit for a rest, in rain shelters and beachside.

Far removed from the hustle and bustle of modern life on natural wooden benches

From Coney Island there are new views of Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin's North-western tip

After a tour of Coney Island, a visit to nearby Punggol Settlement offers rest and replenishment.

Mountain bikes resting while the bikers enjoy lunch

The famous Sembawang white beehoon

Some tips for Coney Island visits;

• Bring water and sunblock
• There can be sand flies so use insect repellant and wear long sleeve shirts and long trousers if you want to be extra protected. The day we were there there were not many sand flies.
• Toilets are available on the island

The official island map

Our route

The official sand fly advice

Enjoy the park and please apply park etiquette, basically: 
Don't take anything except photos, and
Don't leave anything behind except footprints (or bike tyre tracks)

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My first full marathon

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2015 - bib and medal. I am the noob. 

My brother had done marathons, other family and friends had done them, but not me.

In 2014 I did the Standard Chartered Half Marathon in 2:07. At the time it felt like that was a simple achievement of mind over matter. Breaking through a mental wall.

Of course, adequate training was a big part of that breakthrough.

So I wondered; If completing a half-marathon is primarily overcoming a mental limitation, is the same true for completing a full marathon?

I thought about that for seven months. Then in July 2015 I registered for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore full marathon. 

A family tattoo saga

No one would have expected that my family would end up having a tradition involving tattoos, however my brother set the ball rolling which, after thirteen years, resulted with six of us getting inked on a regular basis, even sharing some designs.

It all began with tranquillity in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA in 2002.

This is how my brother's 'tranquillity' tat looks thirteen years later, in 2015:

First tat in the family

Origins: The Durian (more photos than words)

Durians at the source in Malaysia, before transport to Singapore

To enjoy durians in Singapore, the usual practice is to head into Geylang or Dempsey Road and do your best to negotiate a delicious durian for a good price. Enjoying them at the curbside seated on plastic stools at old card tables and tossing the shells and pits into big plastic laundry baskets is a wonderful experience shared by many devotees.

Singapore's Bermuda Triangle (a.k.a. Changi Business Park)

Anyone who has driven to Changi City Point knows about this, you leave via the main exit of the basement carpark onto Changi Business Park Central 1 only to be sucked into a vortex of serpentine roads rendering the average person's sense of direction useless and burning out all car GPS navigational devices and smartphone map apps. The signage is of little help, often only serving to intensify the sense of confusion. After seemingly endless backtracking and U-turns freedom is finally achieved and the journey home possible.

Behind the Singapore Expo in Changi, many who have driven in
remain lost to this day 

Thrill-seekers will likely continue to venture into this dark pit of confusion, however, today for the first time on the World Wide Web we will reveal a safer alternative that will protect your family and sanity.