Poll Results

The Emmys were rebroadcast here. Which show (incl. their actors/actresses) should have done better?? 

I don't think everyone is as much a tv nut as I am :).  There were six responses spread across the board.  Two votes for The Office, one for Two & a Half Men, one Dexter, one Grey's Anatomy and one for "other".  I really wish I could add a fill in the blank answer sometimes!

I do love watching tv at home, and especially since so many shows are available online as well.  However, once you leave the U.S., those shows are no longer available online. Since they are also not broadcast across the ocean (well maybe 1 or 2 seasons behind), it leaves me without my precious tv shows! ;)

No fear - between the local cable channels and iTunes, I've found some new shows to keep up with. 

New shows:

• From iTunes, I selected 2 of the cheaper tv series that I followed back home: NCIS and 90210 :).
• Return to River Cottage - This is a new favorite.  Anyone remember the old PBS reality show that had families living back in the days of Little House on the Prairie? This show is a man living somewhere in the UK I believe who has a little farm and makes due with what he has.  He has a cow for milk (and she'll have a calf soon!), a few sheep, 2 pigs now (1 was roasted for a festival), chickens for eggs, fields of hay, a mini-green house with lots of tomatoes and other plants, etc.  He uses everything from his plants and animals to make a living and barter with his neighbors for services.  It's primarily a food show but shows all the aspects of farm living.  For example, last week some neighbors came to cut down a big tree, so he had firewood.  He always helps out to his best ability (not born as a farmer!) and then provided them with a great lamb stew and some cuts of beef I believe, in return for the service. 
• Mad Men - While I splurged for cable here, I did not elect to pay for it at home.  Luckily this means there are shows such as Mad Men that are a season behind here but are new to me!
• Fringe - A sci-fi show (which I usually don't care for) with Joshua Jackson that has grown on me. 
• Robin Hood - I've only started watching this show from one of the BBC networks.  Looks like it will be good though.
• House - I declined the opportunity to watch this in the U.S. because Dr. House annoys me, but it is a good show and I've taken it up here.
• Echo and the Elephants of Amboseli - Animal Planet has helped to satisfy my love for the elephants.  This is a fun nature documentary type show that goes along in the life of Echo, a matriarch of a group of elephants in Africa.  Very interesting!

VVVRRRROOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

**First two pictures are clearly not my own doing.  These are courtesy of postings by Harry Tan.  Refer to more of his spectacular F1 pics here and his impressive photo blog here.  **

This weekend was the second annual Formula 1 night race in the downtown streets of Singapore.  It is a 3-day event and Saturday I was already in the area after my Mandarin class.  In order to burn some time between my class ending at 5 and the practice runs starting at 7, I headed out to dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant I've always wanted to try.  They served some great jamon and queso manchego, but I probably wouldn't go back for just that. 

At dusk, the crowds picked up and you could start to hear the buzz of engines as you walked the streets of Singapore.  I headed down to the hotel I use stay at when I came to town, it was kitty corner to the actual track and I thought I could sneak up to a high floor to steal a pic from the hallway window - WRONG :).  The elevator entraces where highly fortified w/ hotel personnel bedecked in F1 gear.

Instead I took a stroll down near one of the gates and outside the track.  Here are a couple dark pics that clearly are my own :). I captured some of the sound effects as well via video. 

 

While I'm not an F1 fan, or even Nascar or racing fan for that matter, I'd have to say it was a pretty awesome feeling, everyone was excited and hearing those cars (I couldn't even see them) just gave you more energy. The tickets come with a hefty price tag (S$1,000 for a 3 day walk around pass - no seats), but next year I may try to get a one day ticket for Saturday or something. Maybe I'll have to become a racing fan after all ;).

I did watch the big ticket race, or at least the first half of it, on Sunday evening.  At one point, I put it on mute, leaned out my window and thought I heard the drone of some race car engines (may have been in my head) - I'm only 10 min from downtown.  Back to the TV... there was a small crash that I saw and it did look a bit more complex, weaving through the streets and not just around an oval. I don't know how the drivers do it.  Also, they said the road was a bit bumpy and you could tell because every few seconds you'd see sparks shooting out from under someone's car since it's so low of a ride.  Yes, talk about low rider ;).  Man that's an old song, but yes, it's in my iTunes and is playing now!

Hope everyone else had an enjoyable weekend!!

Xièxie! Zàijiàn! (Thank you! Good bye!)

Today was my first day of Mandarin classes, "Gateway to Mandarin Level 1".  It is 10 sessions of a 3hr class on Saturday afternoons.  It is put on by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and a pretty fun building as you can see in the pic.  I arrived plenty early to pay up my tuition and grab the first seat.  The next person to arrive was another American who's been here about 8 months already.  Out of a class of almost 20, we are the only 2 Americans - my table partner was from Thailand, there were a few people from India, one from France, the UK (I think) and then other people who appeared to be Eastern Asian but I'm not sure where from.  So a good mix of us!

Our instructor came in, "Wo shi Peng Bo", and kept repeating while we looked at her like "huh??".  Finally we figured out that it is "I am Peng Bo", "....ni ne?" -->"and who are you??".  The first five minutes of class, she spoke no English and kept having everyone introduce themselves only half understanding what we were saying.  Then she finally broke into some English explanations and I was a bit relieved.  The 3 hours flew by and she made it quite fun.  (Using "quite" has been something I've picked up here in Singapore.)  When we had good conversational exchanges with our table partners, she would say "very terrific", "sounds like Beijing local" and "so good"; although I know we had to be big time butchering everything.  I probably said one sentence ten times and in a different way each time.   Here are some of my notes.  I'm excited to go back next week.  My table partner from Thailand actually had a year of Mandarin back when she was in school and she's married to a Chinese man now, so she knows some of this easy stuff and helps me out :)  Here are some of my notes from our first lesson.