Merry Christmas
Christmas begins tonight in our household. We share a Christmas dinner, say some prayers, open presents, tell stories, and go to bed way too late. Tomorrow we’ll laze around playing with the new toys, take a swim, write thank you notes, go for a long walk and end the day watching a few Christmas films. [...]
12 For 2012
Around this time last year I wrote two lists; of things I wanted more and less of in my life. Last year’s lists were an exercise in setting goals, articulating hopes and ending frustrations. Yesterday I went through those lists and made some comments. Although it has felt like a frustrating year, it’s good to [...]
Home In Singapore
My recent adventure in Mexico was so full of highlights. I’ve stood, in scorching sunlight, on a mountain filled with 2,500 year old ruins and crouched by candlelight among locals keeping vigil for Dia de los Muertos. But, now I’m back in Singapore and there are definitely some things I’m looking forward to; like seeing [...]
Yuck And Yum
“Don’t yuck somebody else’s yum.” I’m not much inclined to catch phrases. But, as a parent, sometimes an easy to remember line can help make an important point, especially one that needs to be repeated. Living here in Asia and frequently crossing cultural boundaries, “don’t yuck somebody else’s yum” has worked again and again. I [...]
Hong Kong Favourites (5-1)
Here’s the final instalment of my top twenty five things about living in Hong Kong. I started this list back in late January and always intended to take my time writing it. After all, this is meant to be a very personal and personally biased collection. Few of my choices would make it onto a [...]
Hong Kong Favourites (15-11)
If there are two things Hong Kong is well known for, it’s shopping and eating. The city thrives on dining and retail experiences and both sectors feature prominently in tourist marketing, lifestyle and culture journalism and online writing in blogs and social media. Of course, the reality on the ground is complex. There are lots [...]
Eleven Things I Want More Of In 2011
The new year is almost upon us. Here is a list of eleven things I hope to experience more in 2011. Radio Once upon a time (actually, back in the 90s), I drove a car and listened to radio. Radio was an important source of news, commentary and new music. But, when I stopped owning [...]
The 150 Thing
Malcolm Gladwell has become synonymous with the idea that mastery comes through sustained repetition (to the tune of 10,000 hours). This notion builds on
Inauthentic Food
The FIFA World Cup is, of course, a festival of football. For a little over a month, every four years, the best footballing nations of the world battle for the highest honour in the game. But, looked at another way, it is a glorious cultural festival as well. The World Cup gives us a chance [...]
Adelaide Central Market
Like every major Australian city, Adelaide has a good selection of cafes and restaurants. In fact, locals will argue that given their size, the city punches above its weight in terms of great places to eat (and accolades for their best eateries). I can certainly remember one glorious meal, at the Bridgewater Mill, in 1998, [...]
Six Days Six Meals
One thing I love to compare with Daytum is home-cooked meals, versus eating out. Hong Kong is replete with good places to eat, but I feel much healthier when my diet includes a lot of home-cooked meals. Breakfasts are, for me, always a home affair and lunches always eaten out. So, the evening meal plays [...]
Mid-May Madness
Well, not so much madness as industriousness. I’m now mixing everyday on my solo album in what is, probably, the best spell I’ve had on that project. Of course, as always happens, the moment I manage to become sedulous, a number of other things pop-up to vie for my attention. As my mentioned in my [...]
Daily Patterns
My big, simple goal this year is to be more productive. That doesn’t just mean doing more stuff, it also means putting more stuff out there; music, photos and words. Consequently, I’ve become more attentive to my daily patterns of activity. One way of doing this is using Daytum, a website that allows you to [...]
Lessons In Food And Love
I didn’t always have a food category on this blog. My goal was never to write about food, but it was probably inevitable that I would. I love cooking and eating. But, there’s more to it than that (as can be evidenced from the diversity of topics the food category has intersected with. For me, [...]
Jordi Roca In Hong Kong
Last night we brought forward a special occasion to enjoy a night at the Mandarin Grill with Jordi Roca, from El Celler De Can Roca in Spain (awarded three Michelin stars and by one ranking considered the 5th best restaurant in the world). Sr Roca was in town for a few days with the Mandarin [...]
The Future Of Food Blogging – Part Two
Having explored some initial thoughts about food blogging last week, I’d like to turn now to Robert Siestma’s thoughts about food writing as “criticism.” Towards the end of his piece in the Columbia Review of Journalism, Siestma quotes the film critic Richard Schickel in the New York Times, “Criticism – and it’s humble cousin, reviewing [...]
The Future Of Food Blogging – Part One
“…Reviews in newspapers and elsewhere had often been looked upon suspiciously by the dining public, seen more as a reflection of a publication’s advertising aspirations than a straightforward analysis of a restaurant’s virtures.” That quote, from Robert Sietsema’s recent piece on food blogging in the Columbia Journalism Review was written about the state of mid [...]
Clearing the Reader – Recent Blogposts That Caught My Eye
Today I’m in the midst of unpacking and setting up for the first week of the new year. Part of that involves going through emails and unread blogposts sitting in my RSS reader. Of course, I don’t get around to reading all of the 1200 or so unread contributions sitting there. But, here are a [...]
Do It Everyday, Over And Over, Again And Again And Think About It
You know those articles – the ones that give you lots of neat little suggestions to improve some are of your life – 25 ways to be a better parent, 5 ways to become a famous guitarist, or 10 ways to improve your love-life? Tips? Yeah, I hate those. Tips; not the money you leave [...]
What Does This Week Look Like?
The Autumn is in full flight. Most of my time this week is blocked out for the basics, practice, recording, photographing, writing, arranging. All nuts and bolts stuff. I have two bits of software testing going on right now. First of all, I’m diving into Adobe Lightroom, which for many photographers seems to be the [...]
The Future Of Australian Fine Wine
Wine writer, Jancis Robinson just post the text from Brian Croser (formerly of Petaluma) on the future of the Australian Fine Wine industry. For lovers of good wine, or Australian wine, or both, it makes for pretty compelling reading. Over the last twenty years the Australian wine industry has exploded largely because of it’s ability [...]
Touch Everything
Hong Kong is my first experience of living in an apartment. Sure, I’ve done my fair share of serviced apartments on holidays and some longish stints in hotel rooms, but never before have I lived in an apartment – and to be blunt, although we do well, most Hong Kong apartments are small. As I [...]
Back From Holidays And Clearing The Blog Cache
Back from holidays, fighting a cold and jet lag, setting up the studio for what should be a productive two weeks and enjoying catching upon the blogosphere after a much needed break. Here’s some things that caught my eye, Faith Following Jesus – A Catholic Latin American Perspective – Hamo has been reading a book [...]
Hong Kong And The Tale Of Two Bans
Two bits of entertainment related news that are worth tracking in Hong Kong right now. It seems that local government has, in its wisdom, decided to close down dining in public squares in the Central district. There are a few restaurants that have outdoor tables (with appropriate permits) and they are now being shut down. [...]
Fernando Gros is a musician, photographer & writer based in Singapore. Born in Santiago de Chile, Fernando grew up in Sydney and has also lived in London, Delhi and Hong Kong.