Swedish westcoast archipelago

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Swedish westcoast 1

In a moss green maxi halter dress along the Swedish westcoast archipelago.
Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

I was greeted by a tepid tropical rainstorm when I landed, the weather being unusually warm and playful even as Swedish summers go. It felt surreal that I didn’t need to put on any cardigan on my way home.

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Swedish westcoast 2

After the hectic weeks spent in Singapore at the heart of Asia, where everything seemed to move at double speed, being back in Sweden offered an instant breather. For one thing, you can sit and watch the sail boats go by without having a need to know where they’re off to or when they’ll return.
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Dim Sum that touches your heart, in Hong Kong

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Steamed eggyolk buns, dim sum or yam cha in Hong Kong.

Steamed egg yolk buns, New Star Restaurant, Hong Kong.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

I’ve far too often heard that Hong Kong has the best dim sum, so I was naturally excited about being in Hong Kong if only for the food.

But when in Hong Kong, like its so many shopping establishments, you’re confronted with so many eateries and interesting food choices that finding the recommended dim sum spots doesn’t even occur to you. You’ll find yourself pulled by interesting sights and smells to various foods on display, not the least amusing is watching people enjoy their meals standing at street corners, oblivious to heavy traffic not two feet from them. People stand and eat with the current rain on their shoulders, playfully dampening their fresh clothes and all of this plus the noise of the traffic and the rush of footsteps from others, makes you as a visitor want to get in on the act too – go completely local and tuck into some interesting food, standing in mud puddles and all.

Steamed meat dumplings, dim sum, Hong Kong.

Steamed meat dumplings.

Charsiew pau, dim sum, Hong Kong.

Char siew bao.

After the first rush of excitement and confusion with authentic Hong Kong cuisine, I set about to find the Guide Michelin star dim sum restaurant, Tim Ho Wan (添好運點心專門店) which means “Add Good Luck” at Tsui Yuen Mansion, Kwong Wa St, Mong Kok. The place is notoriously tiny in seating capacity and has been described as literally, a hole-in-wall place to eat. Well, suffice to say, without much planning this time around for Hong Kong and worse, without a map, I didn’t manage to find that place but ended up at New Star Seafood Restaurant along Stewart Road that, to my serendipitous discovery, had some truly awesome dim sum!
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Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro at Avenue of Stars, Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Along Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui’s Avenue of Stars (Chinese: 星光大道).
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

As you walk around Hong Kong, you realize that there are those who visit and who even do business in the country, but who never get involved, like a bystander that avoids the puddles when it rains, and then there are those who are living the very heartbeat of Hong Kong because they must.

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Tsim Sha Tsui, Victoria Harbour.

Hong Kong Museum of Art, flanks one end of Avenue of Stars along Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui, providing visitors a perfect starting point for walking down the waterfront.

These two sides of the same coin is most poignantly illustrated at Tsim Sha Tsui, along Victoria Harbour that shows the two facets of Hong Kong still meeting in this day and age, one of old China and one of what is modern China demonstrated literally by two vessels of different times passing each other. It is at this waterfront that western savvy gathering in The Peninsula, Intercontinental and Shangri-La meet eastern traditional that is just a stone’s throw from the harbour, down from Nathan Road at Mong Kok’s street stalls and wet markets.

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Only in Hong Kong…

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Signboards along road, Hong Kong.

Information overload along the streets of Mong Kok, Hong Kong.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

Characteristic of Hong Kong is the information overload that greets you along its busy streets, not only from signboards that hang abovehead, but by all the minute happenings along the street and around every street corner. From the movement of goods from van to store, to the bargaining for the best prices and the rush for buses, taxis and the MTR, it’s tempting to want to observe everything when you’re there. For a first time visitor, it’s perhaps sometimes easier if you just ignored for the most part, the things that happen around you in order not to feel overwhelmed by it all, for Hong Kong like Singapore with a sliver of difference, seems also a city that hardly sleeps.

These pictures were taken mostly in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, with the wet market scenes most familiar and heartwarming to me.
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ICMIT 2010 and the changing face of Singapore

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conference_1

From left to right Keynote speaker, Professor Philip Phan, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro and Keynote speaker, Professor Michael Song, ICMIT 2010 in Singapore
Photo: Courtesy of ICMIT 2010

Behind the short and cryptic ICMIT stands the full title of the IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology 2-5 June 2010. Originally a Singaporean initiative, this conference was now held for its fifth time.

Since my academic interest revolves much around Knowledge Management, Communication and Information Technology, I was happy to find towards the end of last year that a paper I had submitted to this conference had been accepted, and not only that but I was also invited to take a more active role in the conference by being part of the scientific review committee and indeed, actually chairing one of the sessions.

Even if I have spent my last ten years in Sweden, I did grow up in Singapore and spent my postgraduate years at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU) respectively.

So this conference was a happy reunion of sorts since the organizers of this conference were mainly from NUS and NTU, so it gave me a chance to meet with several former professors, who were also my mentors. In particular a warm thank you goes to Dr. Chai Kah Hin (NUS) and Dr. Ravi Sharma (NTU) for a conference well organized, and to Dr. Chris Khoo Soo Guan (NTU) who besides a most impressive tour around the vast NTU campus also showed us the best new dessert and ice cream parlors in the area.

Conference themes
The main theme to this year’s ICMIT conference was Management of Innovation and Technology in its widest sense. My point and contribution was to discuss that technology when managed, packaged and sold as in whole industrial complexes for example, would fail if not accompanied by the tacit knowledge that is needed to make it work. My point was illustrated from the perspective of Swedish managers working in Swedish companies in Singapore.

lecture_4119

My paper was presented under Knowledge Management (1), 4/6/2010 13:30-15:00, Room: Jupiter, Chairs: Cheryl Marie Cordeiro and Ying Hsun Hung

As an example, a bicycle in a box however neatly packaged and sent somewhere, would still need someone to teach one how to use it, to be of any use at all. And how this tacit (implicit) knowledge transfer – by definition not possible to codify – could be investigated and assessed by the use of language.

When keeping up is not enough
What struck me when we circled down for landing in Singapore Airline’s (SIA) Boeing 777-212ER was how fast Singapore changes. Every time I come back, the landscape changes.

orchard_ion_building

The new ION shopping mall that opened July 2009 at Orchard Road, brings together “the world’s best brands’ flagship, concept and lifestyle stores within one development, with four levels above ground and four levels below – totaling 66,000 square meters of retail space.”

There is however, a price to pay for Singaporeans with these speedy changes. There are so many memory lanes that are just not there anymore to be walked and the financial and architectural development is done in such a rush, at such a breakneck speed, that it washes clean a sense of rootedness for Singaporeans to its land. Still, Singapore is indeed one of the major financial and administrative centers in South East Asia, a character trait that impresses upon visitors with the current architecture of the heart of the Central Business District. The goal of Singapore is to make it to the lead, and remain there.
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Swedish Midsummer’s dessert

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Fresh strawberries and ice cream dessert, the ideal midsummers party dessert. No preparation time at all leaves plenty of time for your friends.

Fresh strawberries and ice cream dessert, the ideal Midsummer’s party dessert. No preparation time at all leaves plenty of time for your friends.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2010

The upcoming weekend is the traditional celebration in Sweden of the absolute longest day during the whole year and consequently the shortest night. Originally a pagan tradition, it is still celebrated with dancing around the midsummer’s pole – symbolizing fertilization of the soil – and in anticipation of bountiful harvest.

Nowadays the harvest is not so much the issue as a splendid opportunity to have a barbecue party in the garden and meet friends. With this in mind I would like to share one of the simplest ideas of the whole year as a perfect dessert – plain vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.

The strawberries however, not travel well and should be had ideally directly from the field.

All things considered this might actually be on of the few occasions where Scandinavia have an advantage over tropical Singapore. They might not have ripe mango, rambutan or lychee but – they do have sun ripened strawberries.

La Braceria – an Italian home away from home, in Singapore

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Appetizer of parma ham at La Braceria, Singapore.

Slices of velvety smooth, salty-sweet Prosciutto – Italian ham – served as antipasti – before the main course, at La Braceria at 5 Greendale Avenue, Singapore.
Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

For the small community of Italians in Singapore, La Braceria is like a home away from home. Tucked away in a residential cove off 6th Ave, even the entrance of the restaurant is obscured by large, leafy potted plants, so that when you walk in, you feel as if you’re walking into a private garden of your very own.

Quiet and cozy, the interior is not large at all, though warmly lit. What immediately caught my eye was the brick pizza oven that features prominently behind the counter near the kitchen entrance, making it the sort of kitchen I would yearn to have at home.

At La Braceria IV, Singapore.

In the middle Fabio Iannone, with friends.

At La Braceria II, Singapore.

At La Braceria III, Singapore.

In good company.

The crowd at La Braceria is distinct, willfully understated and elegant. Dressed mostly in smart casual, they are people who enjoy good food and wine and take their time doing so. You can expect too, to meet an eclectic mix of Europeans and Singaporeans alike at the restaurant.
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Nurul’s Pandan Chiffon Cake

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Nurul's pandan chiffon cake, one of Singapore's favourite chiffon cakes.

Pandan chiffon cake, by Nurul.
Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

The Pandan Chiffon Cake is a staple on the Singapore culinary scene, hitting right at the heart of the kampong and its people, so to speak. I grew up eating it at breakfast, tea-time and possibly any other time of the day in between full meals. Because it’s so lightly textured, it’s not unusual for fans of these chiffon cakes to finish about half of a cake before noticing what has happened, guilty that they hadn’t shared more of it with other guests at the table.

This gorgeous looking, moist, light and spongey pandan chiffon cake featured here, is not mine. It was baked and given to us by a family friend of ours named, Nurul.
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“See you at Raffles!”

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro and Jan-Erik Nilsson, Raffles Hotel, Singapore with the Singapore Sling, outside East India Room.

Singapore Sling, the romantic signature drink of the Long Bar, at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
Photo © Steven Grindrod, JE Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

The Raffles Hotel was established in the Late 19th century and rapidly became a meeting place for the rich adventure seeking class of western men of leisure, British colonial officers and businessmen seeking fame and fortune in the Far East, and to whom “See you at Raffles!” became the signature parting words.

To the general public, Raffles Hotel became famous through literature. Those who could not afford to travel but stayed home, read and dreamt, were swept away by the romantic writings of the greatest authors of their time, the most influential of which was probably Somerset Maugham who actually lived at the hotel and wrote some of his stores in the Palm Court.

In 1987 its importance was recognized by the Singapore authorities by naming it a National Monument, not a small thing in a city where anything older than last year could suddenly be torn down and replaced by something more modern.

Although it started out as something much more modest, the ambience inside the Hotel brings back echoes of colonial splendour with its unique blend of tropical gardens and classical colonial grandeur.

Stories and myths build romance and there are many such surrounding the Raffles Hotel.

Many of Maughams short stories deal with the lives of mostly British colonists in the Far East, and are typically concerned with the emotional toll exacted on the colonists by their isolation. For example one story entitled “Rain”, which charts the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert a Pacific Island prostitute. Maugham himself maintained that many of his stories presented themselves to him in what he heard during his travels, which made him leave behind a long string of angry former hosts. Which, is probably why he eventually found himself writing at a hotel, abuzz with even more rumours from all faraway outposts of the British Empire.

As its literary fame eventually faded away in a world dominated by digital social media, Raffles Hotel remains famous as the place where the Singapore Sling was invented by the bartender Ngiam Tong Boon sometimes during the first decades of the 20th century.

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Muthu’s Curry along Race Course Road, Singapore

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Curried cabbage, Muthu's Curry in Singapore.

Cabbage and other dishes, served in individual dishes depending on your order.
Photo © JE Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

In this highly competitive culinary atmosphere that is Singapore and worse still, if the dishes in question belong to one of the country’s core ethnic groups of Chinese, Malay (even Nonya food), Indian or Eurasian, it isn’t easy to make it to the top recommendations list of places to eat of Singaporeans.

Muthu’s Curry along Race Course Road with its approximate 40 year long history came highly recommended as a place for good Indian food. What today is a restaurant chain, began in 1968 as a one-man hawker stall serving staple south Indian food on banana leaves. It was already famous during the 1970s for its full flavoured and generous servings of fish-head curry, and its signature dish has grown in popularity and reputation in its 40 years of development.

Just a quick tangent on Singapore eating…To get a feel for the local culinary scene, I would personally recommend that anyone visiting Singapore first hit a hawker center for their meals to try any, if not all authentic local food. Places such as the East Coast Hawker Center or the hawker center that is completely out of the city center that lies in the corner of Bedok in the East of Singapore (Bedok corner hawker center as I know it) serve pretty good inexpensive local fare. Other more familiar places that most visitors to Singapore might learn of from brochures obtained from their respective hotels or tour guides would be the East Coast beach (skip the seafood outlets, go for the hawker center), Chinatown for Chinese cuisine, Little India of Indian cuisine and Geylang for Malay cuisine that all have ethnic specific local cuisine.

Hawker centers are also known to charge a little less per dish / meal for no less tasty meals compared to their indoor air-conditioned counterparts of food courts and restaurants that you find along Orchard Road or in the heart of the city for example.

A naan basket, with a variety of naan types, Muthu's Curry, Singapore.

A basket filled with naan in a variety of flavours.

But alright, if you want out of the tropical heat after a long walkabout in Little India and you’ve heard about Indian food served on banana leaves, then Muthu’s Curry is a recommended experience for well-cooked authentic (mainly) south Indian food. The prices are mid-ranged, though definitely pricier than the coffeeshop and market stalls that you can find all around the area itself.
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