1. Singaporean salons offer up a whole new experience. I've often noticed how intricately hair/ beauty salons in different parts of the world (at least wherever I've lived) differ from each other. The difference usually lies in the minute details - such as the magazines they put out for customers to read, the services they offer, the drinks they serve you and even the chit-chat that takes place between clients and their stylists. Salons are one of those few interesting prototypes that offer up a unique platform, to study the micro-culture of a place and it's people.
Hair extensions is a HUGE phenomenon in Singapore. In fact, the mall next-door to us, called Far East Plaza, seems to be the mecca for Singaporean women, who love playing with the length of their hair, every weekend. If done well, some of these 'hair extensions' do add great body to seemingly scanty heads. Yet beware of the wind though! A small breeze is capable of revealing ugly knots at the nape of one's neck which is where the extensions get literally glued/ knotted to. It's probably just me, but imagine carrying around a bunch of knots in your head every single day! Of course considering how big a rage this trend is, here in Singapore, I am probably an exception. But then I am also a hair-type exception here - with my thick curly bob, as compared to the typical straight-thin mane that everyone around here sports, all year long. And in the words of my stylist - "Straight is boring", hence the need for frequent change, perhaps?
2. Singaporean hair salons always serve you hot tea. When I first moved here, I found this a bit odd, but now, 9-1/2 months later (Wow, it's been that long!) can't imagine a hair-salon experience without hot tea somehow. Hubster used to frequent a salon chain in Manhattan that would serve shots of whisky/ rum depending on your mood and I've been served wine/ champagne and machine-coffee/ tea-bag tea before, in other salons. But the infusions served in the local salons here, are freshly brewed, thus offering the perfect sense of calm one looks for, in a salon/ spa experience.
The other odd habit I've adapted from the locals here, is drinking warm water. Every time you ask for a glass of water here - be it in a spa/ salon/ restaurant/ anywhere - 9 out of 10 times you will be served with a glass of lukewarm water. That the Chinese believe in drinking warm water - is a fact known to many. While the West goes all-out with 'ice' to the point that sometimes there is more ice and less water in a glass, the East believes in the exact opposite. Hot water consumption is traditional here and a variety of reasons are cited for it - from it being helpful in digestion to a compulsive need of having to boil water before drinking in China. In fact at some local restaurants here, one may not find any ice at all, thus being left with no option but to glug down glasses of warm water. While Hubster isn't yet a convert, I don't mind the practice of drinking lukewarm water. It is soothing and makes me want to drink more water, which is a good thing, considering staying hydrated is of the essence in this Asian heat, all year-round.
3. Caught up mid-week, with an ex-lunch bud, only this time we thought we'd meet for drinks instead. I picked Caveau - the neighbourhood wine bar, since it provides for a great place to sit back and chat over plenty of options of wines to choose from. I like wine bars that are quaint, cozy and laid back. Their unassuming nature wins me over.
Conversations at other tables that caught my interest, as I waited for my friend, revolved around 'Sula' wines - probably the most famous wine of Indian origin today. The wine connoisseurs at the neighbouring table seemed disappointed with their wine-tasting session at the Sula Vineyard in Nasik and concluded that India still has a long way to go, when it comes to making good wine. I, on the other hand happen to like the brand. Specifically speaking, I enjoy Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz - which is rather fragrant and smooth - goes down easily and has lush berry flavours. Clearly not what my neighbours on the next table thought of it, for sure. But if you get a chance, try it out someday for yourself. I try my best to bring back a bottle or two of it, on my visits to India.
4. The Indonesian neighbour upstairs, almost threw a fit, in an elevator-conversation, later this week. She casually inquired if we had resorted to installing a CCTV camera, at home to spy on our nanny/ helper. When I responded saying "Of course not" rather vehemently, she seemed surprised. She couldn't understand my lack of need for doing the same. Her nanny/ helper is Indonesian; one she has brought in from her own country when she was moving here, over a couple of years ago. Clearly, she still doesn't trust the helper enough to want to monitor her 'activities' in the house, when she leaves her daughter at home alone, with the latter. No wonder then, she was aghast when I told her that we'd been leaving our baby at home alone, with a nanny, ever since she was 8 weeks old, in NYC, having never felt the need to resort to 'spying cameras' somehow.
Honestly, I don't understand the need of wanting to spy on one's baby's nanny. It is strange in fact, if one feels the need to do so, in my books. After all it is one's own baby that we are talking about here! The very fact that you pick someone to leave behind at home alone with your baby, means that you must trust the 'picked-person' per se, right? If there is even a small iota of doubt, why would you leave your child alone with them? Like any other relationship then, the one between the employer and the nanny too, warrants it's fair share of 'trust' bestowed upon it. And it works based purely on that, one would think.
Besides, there are a lot of other ways/ signs of telling what must go on, when the baby and nanny are alone at home, by themselves, every day. Babies themselves are big barometers of that and will tell you in their own ways, if they are happy or not, with their sitters/ nannies.
Seeing our baby bond with her nanny and watching them develop a special relationship of their own, is something that has been a tremendous source of joy for me, over the past two years of our daughter's life. To a parent, just the observation of this special relationship is clue enough, to know if the nanny/ sitter is a good one or not. Spying on them, is like telling them, "We trust you, but not completely, so we are going to make sure you have this camera lurking over your head, so that you do your job properly."
Wouldn't it be ridiculous if you were constantly spied upon at your job?
5. With a week left to go before the baby's birthday party, here in Singapore, there's a lot to get done, in all departments. I've finally figured the big-items of the party, sent out the invites, got an approximate head-count of the guests and come close to picking one of two venues, to host it in. So we are more or less in business, as far as the event is concerned. Next week, I pick this planning up a whole-new notch, with trying to make sense of this city's vendors and figuring out how easy/ complicated it is, to throw a good party here!
Stay tuned and Thanks for reading!
Love,
Shweyta
Hair extensions is a HUGE phenomenon in Singapore. In fact, the mall next-door to us, called Far East Plaza, seems to be the mecca for Singaporean women, who love playing with the length of their hair, every weekend. If done well, some of these 'hair extensions' do add great body to seemingly scanty heads. Yet beware of the wind though! A small breeze is capable of revealing ugly knots at the nape of one's neck which is where the extensions get literally glued/ knotted to. It's probably just me, but imagine carrying around a bunch of knots in your head every single day! Of course considering how big a rage this trend is, here in Singapore, I am probably an exception. But then I am also a hair-type exception here - with my thick curly bob, as compared to the typical straight-thin mane that everyone around here sports, all year long. And in the words of my stylist - "Straight is boring", hence the need for frequent change, perhaps?
2. Singaporean hair salons always serve you hot tea. When I first moved here, I found this a bit odd, but now, 9-1/2 months later (Wow, it's been that long!) can't imagine a hair-salon experience without hot tea somehow. Hubster used to frequent a salon chain in Manhattan that would serve shots of whisky/ rum depending on your mood and I've been served wine/ champagne and machine-coffee/ tea-bag tea before, in other salons. But the infusions served in the local salons here, are freshly brewed, thus offering the perfect sense of calm one looks for, in a salon/ spa experience.
The other odd habit I've adapted from the locals here, is drinking warm water. Every time you ask for a glass of water here - be it in a spa/ salon/ restaurant/ anywhere - 9 out of 10 times you will be served with a glass of lukewarm water. That the Chinese believe in drinking warm water - is a fact known to many. While the West goes all-out with 'ice' to the point that sometimes there is more ice and less water in a glass, the East believes in the exact opposite. Hot water consumption is traditional here and a variety of reasons are cited for it - from it being helpful in digestion to a compulsive need of having to boil water before drinking in China. In fact at some local restaurants here, one may not find any ice at all, thus being left with no option but to glug down glasses of warm water. While Hubster isn't yet a convert, I don't mind the practice of drinking lukewarm water. It is soothing and makes me want to drink more water, which is a good thing, considering staying hydrated is of the essence in this Asian heat, all year-round.
3. Caught up mid-week, with an ex-lunch bud, only this time we thought we'd meet for drinks instead. I picked Caveau - the neighbourhood wine bar, since it provides for a great place to sit back and chat over plenty of options of wines to choose from. I like wine bars that are quaint, cozy and laid back. Their unassuming nature wins me over.
Conversations at other tables that caught my interest, as I waited for my friend, revolved around 'Sula' wines - probably the most famous wine of Indian origin today. The wine connoisseurs at the neighbouring table seemed disappointed with their wine-tasting session at the Sula Vineyard in Nasik and concluded that India still has a long way to go, when it comes to making good wine. I, on the other hand happen to like the brand. Specifically speaking, I enjoy Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz - which is rather fragrant and smooth - goes down easily and has lush berry flavours. Clearly not what my neighbours on the next table thought of it, for sure. But if you get a chance, try it out someday for yourself. I try my best to bring back a bottle or two of it, on my visits to India.
4. The Indonesian neighbour upstairs, almost threw a fit, in an elevator-conversation, later this week. She casually inquired if we had resorted to installing a CCTV camera, at home to spy on our nanny/ helper. When I responded saying "Of course not" rather vehemently, she seemed surprised. She couldn't understand my lack of need for doing the same. Her nanny/ helper is Indonesian; one she has brought in from her own country when she was moving here, over a couple of years ago. Clearly, she still doesn't trust the helper enough to want to monitor her 'activities' in the house, when she leaves her daughter at home alone, with the latter. No wonder then, she was aghast when I told her that we'd been leaving our baby at home alone, with a nanny, ever since she was 8 weeks old, in NYC, having never felt the need to resort to 'spying cameras' somehow.
Honestly, I don't understand the need of wanting to spy on one's baby's nanny. It is strange in fact, if one feels the need to do so, in my books. After all it is one's own baby that we are talking about here! The very fact that you pick someone to leave behind at home alone with your baby, means that you must trust the 'picked-person' per se, right? If there is even a small iota of doubt, why would you leave your child alone with them? Like any other relationship then, the one between the employer and the nanny too, warrants it's fair share of 'trust' bestowed upon it. And it works based purely on that, one would think.
Besides, there are a lot of other ways/ signs of telling what must go on, when the baby and nanny are alone at home, by themselves, every day. Babies themselves are big barometers of that and will tell you in their own ways, if they are happy or not, with their sitters/ nannies.
Seeing our baby bond with her nanny and watching them develop a special relationship of their own, is something that has been a tremendous source of joy for me, over the past two years of our daughter's life. To a parent, just the observation of this special relationship is clue enough, to know if the nanny/ sitter is a good one or not. Spying on them, is like telling them, "We trust you, but not completely, so we are going to make sure you have this camera lurking over your head, so that you do your job properly."
Wouldn't it be ridiculous if you were constantly spied upon at your job?
5. With a week left to go before the baby's birthday party, here in Singapore, there's a lot to get done, in all departments. I've finally figured the big-items of the party, sent out the invites, got an approximate head-count of the guests and come close to picking one of two venues, to host it in. So we are more or less in business, as far as the event is concerned. Next week, I pick this planning up a whole-new notch, with trying to make sense of this city's vendors and figuring out how easy/ complicated it is, to throw a good party here!
Stay tuned and Thanks for reading!
Love,
Shweyta
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