Few Good Men... in Singapore?

In my recent conversations with my friends, we all lamented that there are no more good men left in s'pore. One of my friends told me that many of her colleagues' husbands are cheating on the wives, and these are good-looking wives. Some other friends also complain about their husbands/ boyfriends being dumb or numb or a bump. They all put the blame on the men. Although I think cheating men are scums and that most men are dumb, I also feel that women need to do some self-reflection. Not saying that women who have unfaithful men are to be blamed but it's good to examine why they find another woman more attractive. Some men are just naturally scumbags but some may have wives who are just difficult to live with.

People have said that S'pore women are not that easy to deal with. My hubby once told me that if he wasn't married to me, he would have stayed single or get himself an exotic wife. Granted that statement needs to be discounted in view of the 'scoring brownie point' factor, I will not disagree with him. We are aggressive, unforgiving and sometimes unreasonable, and that's me included. Our men here have a hard time managing us.

I do admire kick-ass girls, like one of my friends who will not hesitate to give some kids a piece of her mind when she overheard them criticising about their parents in public. Or another one who scolded a man for not giving up his seat for a pregnant lady in the MRT. However, sometimes in our eagerness to appear assertive, we kick wrong innocent asses or injure some asses unnecessarily. I, myself, sometimes find it hard to stand my ground and remain gracious in this city of competition - for seats, for sale items, for our voices to be heard. One classic example, I went to a movie with my kid and brought along our lunches. The ticketing guy stopped me at the entrance and told me that I could not bring outside food into the cinema, despite the fact that I have bought popcorn and soft drink from the cinema vendor. I demanded to see the manager, who insisted that I collect the food from him after the movie. That got me mad. I gave him a big piece of my mind and stormed into the cinema depsite his protests. Although it was a stupid rule, on hindsight, I could have dealt with it better. I'm not saying that all s'pore women are bitches but sometimes, we assert our rights a little too much and it can be scary.

Another thing about women, which is universal, is that we enter into relationships with unrealistic expectations. We can't expect a man who knows no difference between Tiffany and Taka jewelry to suddenly be an expert in buying us excellent gifts. Men get confused when we get angry over things like this. It's not their fault. They are slow-learners. And when you ask them to help with housework, just shut up and let them do their stuff. As long as the house is not on fire and the kids are not lost or hurt, let them rule the house for that moment. If your husband is housework-duh, teach him patiently and allow mistakes.

The way I see it is, men are like children. Set some basic rules and agreement that cannot be compromised, e.g., be home by 11pm or no divulging of couple secrets/bedroom matters to outsiders, etc. As for the rest, go with the flow. Choose your battles wisely and don't sweat the small stuff. This way, the world is a lot more peaceful and you have a partner who appreciates you for not running down his back all the time. This marriage thing is not easy. After 13 years of ups and downs and ins and outs, I'm still figuring it out. Thing is, men and women are very different yet similar. We have different likes (for men, it's basically sex and for women it's shopping) and dislikes (for some men, it's shopping, for some women, it's sex). But for sure, both men and women share one thing in common - we want to love and feel loved, respected and appreciated. So if we work on the similarities more than the differences, we should be alright.

Switzerland - 14 Aug 2008 - Last Day...

Last day at Switzerland...

I woke up and opened the kitchen window for the last time to breathe in some fresh air and thought about going back home. I missed the kids and wanted to see them but I also wanted to stay longer. I guess there will never be such thing as a perfect holiday. When we travel with the kids, we have so many things to consider and spend much time entertaining them but when we travel without them, we miss them.

I woke my hubby up to take our last morning walk in zurich. We took some pictures of the forest path where we walked most mornings, enjoying the fresh air and scenery as we talked. In s'pore, we hardly have time to talk and spend time with each other as he is always travelling. I think the past 10 days had been good for us, to relax and just be with each other.

After we packed the last of our stuff, we called the cab. While my hubby loaded our luggage onto the cab, I gave ah kin a hug and told her we would meet again in 1 and half month's time. As the cab drove off, ah kin's face looked a bit lost. I was a little worried for her cos she likes company and she loves to talk, but I knew that she would be alright. In fact, I think the half a year stay in swit has made her a stronger woman. Ah kin, you go girl! And until we meet again, fatten up please.


The path of peace and happiness. Why can't we have forest paths like this in s'pore? Our parks are just too neat and contrived.

A mini 'water-fall' from the river along the walking path.

The tress with red berry-like fruits.

The morning walk route.

We saw this quaint little country-like cafe in the swiss international airport.

The returning flight is never as good as the out-going flight. The former felt more bearable because of the anticipation and the latter just have a tinge of sadness, of a holiday that is over way too quickly. When we reached home, I had a short nap before meeting the kids for lunch. When the kids saw us, they flew to hug us. It was a nice feeling and the sadness of leaving switzerland was gone. Afterall, it is just a holiday. Our home is right here.

8 things we like about swit:

1. Fresh air - plenty of it
2. Hiking and living in the alps and mountains - not just admiring them from a distance but being in tune with them, 'becoming one with them'. So zen!
3. Chocolates - the fresh ones are very good but expensive but those from the Lindt and Sprungli Chocolate Factory are yummy and cheap
4. Real - although I complain about swit being tourist-unfriendly, it has managed to retain its authenticity and culture and has not been contaminated by the rest of the world yet.
5. Sausages and rosti, although we got sick of them after a week
6. Ovalmaltine - like nutella but with crispy bits. We polished off 1 bottle in less than a week.
7. Bread - the bread is always nice, even if it's a day old
8. Swiss made products - I have confidence in them as they are good and lasting

Seealpsee region, Appenzellerland

Ebenalp, Appenzellerland

St Gallen Church

Appenzell Town

Switzerland - 13 Aug 2008 - Lindt & Sprungli Chocolate Factory and Bellevue Old Town

Day before departure...

Time to shop for some souvenirs to bring home. We all decided that chocolate would be the best and most thoughtful gift (and economical too ;p). Uncle tan's friend recommended the Lindt Chocolate factory, which was in Schooren, about 11 stops from Bellevue on tram no. 165. Before we even entered the place, our olfactory senses were smack with the sweet sweet smell of coco. When we entered the place, it was like chocolate heaven - lots and lots of chocolates at low low prices. The chocolates here were like 40 to 60% cheaper than those in town areas but some of the packaging was not as nice la. Aiya, who cares about packaging as long as the contents are equally yummy? So my hubby and I started piling our baskets with chocolates in all flavours and sizes. While we went on a chocolate frenzy, ah kin calmly surveyed the area and mentally planned what to buy when she goes back in 1 and half months' time. We walked out of the store with 4 big bags and about SF150 worth of chocolates. At the tram stop, we began to worry how we were going to pack our horde of precious into the luggage.

We ate lunch at Little Saigon, which sold very expensive 'chap cai beng'. It was near to the tram stop from ah kin's house. Then we left the chocolates at ah kin's house and headed out to do some last minute shopping. We left ah kin at home to 'jaga' the chocolates. No la, she had too much excitement from the chocolate factory excursion that we asked her to stay at home to rest.

On our way to chocolate heaven.

The place that provided pleasure for the eyes, nose and tongue. Too bad there was no guided tour of the factory. Could only buy chocolates.

At the tram-stop outside the factory, waiting for Mr Sim to take picture. Ah kin: "Aiya, your hubby very 'beh zi dong' leh. Take picture so long. He don't know my hands are itching for those chocolates meh?!" Suisui: 'Cool down. The chocolates will still be there one. Give you one chocolate from my pocket first la." Great picture story huh? ;p

Four big bags of precious. Mua ha ha...

In our afternoon shopping spree, I bought a flik flak watch each for jeremy and myself since joshua already had a watch. I also bought a pair of cerjo sunglasses as my existing one had scratches. My favourite phrase which I had mastered very well during this trip was 'I need this.' These were swiss-made products so should last me for some time. Didn't buy any swatch as the prices were similar to s'pore's. Throughout the entire swiss stay, my proudest find was my red wind-breaker cos I couldn't find a similar one at about S$100, which was my budget. Then it was the brown leather belt which I bought out of need as I forgot to bring my belt. This belt held up my jeans for the entire swiss stay. I bought the belt from Tally Weijl, which is like Fox in s'pore at only SF9.90.

Some of the things I bought during my swiss stay. Clockwise from top: pink top from Schaffhausen at SF9.90, orange dye shirt from tally weijl at SF5, pink sweater from zara kids at SF9.90 (I also bought an orange sweater from zara kids at same price which I wore to appenzell), green tank top from tally weijl at SF5, white t from Schaffhausen at SF3.95 and sheer flower blouse from C&A at SF12.90. I also bought a green dress from C&A at SF14.90. As a reputed budget-hunter, I only look out for stuff that were cheap and nice or it had to be unique to interest me. I have too much clothes so I had to be very selective.

In the evening, we all met uncle tan at the main train station and walked to Bellevue for dinner. He had made a reservation at Restaurant Swiss Chuchi for cheese fondue. While entering the restaurant, I spotted 2 big men eating this sausage and rosti meal. I knew I told myself no more sausages for the rest of the swiss stay but this one called out to me. And it turned out to be a beautiful relationship. This beauty had cheese and bacon wrapped inside and out with some yummy brown sauce. It was a pleasurable but short-lived romance.

Showing off my new cerjo sunglasses.

Our first cheese fondue meal. The alcohol was a bit strong but the cheesy crusty residue towards the end was marvelous. We had fun scrapping them off.

Although this was the second time we went to Bellevue, we did not explore the place cos the previous time, my hubby was climbing the tower while I was busy shopping. A rather nice place to walk. Very crowded for a Wednesday evening.

The cheese fondue left us all very thirsty, so we went around looking for a place to drink. Then we chanced upon this remote place with many people eating al fresco, so we decided to walk in. The interior was a pleasant surprise. It was like entering into a tropical country, with palm trees and bamboo fans and lots of tropical plants. The owner, who must be mexican, was very hospitable, shouting for us to go right in. Although we only ordered 2 beer (futchsberg) and 2 desserts (chocolate cake and vanilla ice-cream and some creme brulee with fruits that came with burning alcohol), he gave us a plate of complimentary snack - some fried banana with salsa.

We took a tram back to Smiede Wiedikon and on the tram ride, somehow the topic of 's**t' came about. It was a gross but funny way to end the outing.

The first dessert. The second dessert suffered a quick demise before we had a chance to take a picture of it.



Two empty plates, very well cleared out and 4 very happy stomachs.

The night view of Bellevue was beautiful.


Passed by Migros on our way back. Migros, our favourite 'NTUC' in swiss. We went there a couple of times in the morning at about 8am to get fresh bread and croissant.

Schmiede Wiedikon, the region where ah kin stays. I like the sound of the name.

The tram station where all our journeys began. Rather sad not to see it again.

Tomorrow we would bid farewell...

Switzerland - 10-12 Aug 2008 - Appenzellerland (Part III)

12 Aug 2008 - Seealpsee, Jacobsbad and Urnash

Our last day in the mountains before returning to civilisation. A little background on Appenzellerland. It is situated in the eastern part of Switzerland and is known for its gently rolling green hills, flowery meadows and rugged mountains. It is made up of 2 cantons. We were staying at the southern, or the alpstein region, which assumes the hilly, wooded landscape.

After breakfast, we untied the one of the 2 boats and rowed round the lake. The interesting thing here was that the inn never charged anyone for using the boat, even non-residents. Anyone could have a go. As it rained the night before, it was a little chilly out but the air was FRESH! The boat ride also gave us a different view of the entire place.

The happy boat-rower.

The happy boat-rowee.

The view of our inn from the boat. The inn looked almost mystifying yet welcoming at the same time, like a home.


The farmhouse on the left was where we had some fresh milkshake (no ice-cream though, just fresh milk and some coffee powder) and the one on the right was where we had our whey bath. Although these farmhouses shared the same lake as the inn, it took 10 to 15 minutes to walk there. After the boat ride, we packed up and relunctantly said goodbye to the lovely waitress who tried her best to communicate to us for the last 2 days and checked out of the beautiful mountain inn.

More feet soaking in a small stream before we exit the mountain region to take a train to urnash. The water was icy cold. After a minute or so our feet felt numb, so we lifted our feet, ate some chocolates then dip some more. I also picked some smooth cool stones to bring back home as momentoes.

An unexpected find enroute to urnash. While approaching Jacobsbad station, we saw a rugged amusement park with a roller-coaster that looked different, more like a slide. We made a rash decision there and then to alight and check it out, barely made it out before the train door shut. The roller-coaster slide cost SF9 for the 2 of us. Finally found something cheaper than s'pore. It appeared mild as it started slow, which was ok by me cos I was just happy to enjoy the scenery and cold wind on my skin. 'Looks are deceiving' would be an appropriate phrase to use on this thingy. The slow rickety start turned into a series of sharp twist and turns and ups and downs. My hubby had wanted to take a video of lush tranquil scenery but ended up capturing the dizzy movement of the car and the wild screams of his crazy wife. It was another pleasant surprise and the reason why we never liked package tour. Only when you travel on your own will you have the pleasure to live like the locals and discover new things.

Some hotels in urnash. Seemed like most urban houses looked like that. We wanted to check out a restaurant called Sonne which reportedly had some very nice veal ravoili but we couldn't find it and the town was like a ghost town. We couldn't see more than 5 people within a span of 10 minutes in this town and more than 99% of them spoke no english. A little too quiet and spooky. So we ended up eating in a small little cafe with only 1 table of old folks and another table of young people and yap, we ate sausage and swein (pork) snitchzel and potatoes again but we came prepared. We brought along macdonald's garlic chilli sauce to eat with these bland-looking stuff. The chilli sauce woke up my tongue and gave the meal a different edge. If the chef knew what we did to his food, he would have chased us out with his swiss victorinox chef knife. After we finished, we decided to be kind to the chef and hid the chilli sauce packets in the paper napkins and made a quick exit.

Although swiss food was generally not as diverse and kick-ass or kick-tongue as s'pore food, the views were always great.

We stopped by a shop that sold appenzell products and bought some cookies, flauder sparkling mineral water and a bottle of beer for ah kin and uncle tan. When we reached ah kin's house, we were happy to know that she had prepared our dinner. We bathed, did some laundry and sat down to a scrumptious meal. Both ah kin and uncle tan must think that we were very hungry cos we gobbled up all the food on the table. Somehow, people don't get tired of asian food as easily as ang moh food. Maybe because asian food is generally more varied and flavourful and less jerlat.

Later in the evening, my hubby did a show-and-tell of our appenzell stay and we ate some sprungli chocolate cake that I bought from the main train station. We also tried the appenzell cheese which ah kin found too strong. This was also the night that I made a great discovery - ah kin reminded me of the cows in appenzell, who ate all day, from the time we woke up at about 7am to our sleeptime at 11pm, we could hear the cow bells, signifying that the cows were still grazing. Ah kin nearly fell off her couch laughing when I told her my observation. Well, some people are just lucky - eat all day and still no ounce of fat on them. Tsk tsk...

Switzerland - 10-12 Aug 2008 - Appenzellerland (Part II)

11 Aug 2008 - Seealpsee and Ebenalp

I woke up to an awesome view and thanked God I was lucky to have the opportunity to see His mighty works. We headed for the breakfast buffet, half expecting to see crap as the rate was SF60 (about S$80) per person per night in Bergasthause Forelle, which was considered dirt cheap by swiss standard. There was no bathroom ensuite. We had to share a common bathroom with 4 or 5 other rooms on the same floor but the bathroom was very clean and big. Of course, you could also stay overnight in the same inn or other mountain inns at SF35 if you were willing to sleep with 10 other people. Obviously there were people who were willing to do so, judging by the number of inns offering the backpacker rooms. The breakfast was surprising good, with cold meats (the ham was delicious and light), local cheeses, cereal/muesli, yoghurt, OJ, milk, bread, jam and fruits.


Imagine waking up to this every morning. I would be a happy girl.

The mountain inn we stayed in - Bergasthause Forelle, which was located at a beautiful spot, with full view of the alps, in front of a lake and about 10-minute walk to nearby farmhouses that produce cheese.

Some amazing sights we saw during our morning walk. Couldn't believe we took these pictures. They looked like they came out of some postcards.

We chanced upon this chapel behind the mountain inn which was surrounded by forests. It was so tranquil. I would love to take my wedding vows here.

Outside our room. Everything in this inn was made of wood.

The night before, we received bad news from the paragliding instructor that all paragliding sessions were cancelled for the entire week due to forecast of bad weather. Damn!! I missed it in sydney due to bad weather and now I missed it again! A californian couple I met at the inn told me that at least 1 person died from paragliding in america each year, so they prefered to stay grounded. Maybe this was for the better afterall but I would still jump at the chance to paraglide or hangglide if I could.

Thankfully, during our morning walk, we chanced upon a farmhouse that offered whey bath in the open. Erm, with appropriate covering to protect our decencies but with great uncovered sky view.

This was the sign that turned our day around.

Whey is basically leftover water from the cheese-making process. We thought it would smell cheesy but it turned out to be sweet smelling with a hint of milk/cheese scent. The whey water was warm and the tub was very deep. I could feel myself floating in the tub. It cost SF80 for the both of us with complimentary mineral water, some chocolates and a slab of local cheese that tasted really good. And we could soak all day. After an hour and half, we decided we had soaked up all the benefits of the whey and had enough of the sounds of cow bells. When we wanted to bring the mineral water bottle back, the owner, Daniela, offered to give us another bottle as this one was expensive and they could recycle it for some money. She even filled up the bottle with drinkable water from her own house, knowing that the tap water in our inn was not drinkable. It was truly a great experience.

After the whey bath, we decided to treck to the famous back-packer inn, Aescher, which was built into the mountain (the mountain made up part of the inn structure) and had a great restaurant. It took us more than 2 hours to reach there, first by walking down to Wasserauen, then taking a cable car to ebenalp, then walking another 20 min to Aescher via a cave. I was never so glad to see a restaurant. We had our lunch at about 3pm but there were still alot of people there, which was a good sign.

Happy to have found the restaurant at last.

The view from the restaurant was spectacular. No wonder people stayed here long after their lunch.

Some of the scenery along our trecking route. Although the trecking/hiking was not easy, it was an enjoyable one. We stopped frequently to rest and drink in the sights around us.

In the evening, we were craving for instant noodles after more than 1 week of swiss food. We brought along some beef instant noodles that my hubby bought from shanghai and started cooking with the portable cooker and mineral water (the tap water was not drinkable). I tell you, it was the best instant noodle meal we ever had. We also ate some cheese and red wine. It was raining and cold outside. Sitting at the window in the chilly evening slurping up some hot noodles while looking at the alps and lake. What joy! After the noodle meal, we headed for the inn restaurant for some desserts as we saw many people ordered yummy-looking ice-cream. They were delicious! Then we borrowed some cards from the waitress and started playing jim-rummy until we felt tired and headed back to bed. It was a fulfilling day, filled with new and exciting experiences that would last us for a long time.

Mr Sim slurping up delicious hot beef noodles. We actually ended up snatching the bowl from each other ;p

Switzerland - 10-12 Aug 2008 - Appenzellerland (Part I)

10 Aug 2008 - St Gallen and Appenzell Towns

We have been looking forward to this 3-day stay in the mountains, to experience the vastness of nature and to what I call 'rough it out' in comfort. We booked a 2-night stay at a mountain inn in the Seealpsee region, a 50-min climb from Wasserauen train station, less than 2-hour train ride from zurich city. We stopped by St Gallen and Appenzell towns along the way so the ride was broken into comfortable segments.

We set out early to catch the 8.45am train and made it just on time. When we reached St Gallen on a sunday morning, the town was very quiet. Luckily the main attractions, the Abbey Library and the church were opened, although the rest of the town was not. The Abbey Library of St Gallen was founded by Irish monk St. Gallus in 612. It is the oldest library in Switzerland, and one of earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. In 1983 the library together with the Abbey of St. Gall were made a World Heritage Site, as "a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery". Yes, I copied these from wikipedia. The library was a sight to behold. Too bad no photography was allowed. A video of the library can be viewed at

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/multimedia/video/detail.html?siteSect=15045&ne_id=8158378&type=real

The St Gallen Church, which is now a cathedral, was built in the 17th century. A choir and orchestra were performing when we were there.

The painings on the church ceiling.

There was a sunday fair going on when we reached appenzell town. In contrast to St Gallen, this town was rowdy, with live music and people dressed up in their traditional costumes. The appenzell people were often the butt of swiss jokes because of their ancient practices but I thought it's cool that they didn't see the need to change.

Tents like this where music concerts were held were everywhere. Apparently, you had to buy tickets to go for these concerts.

We had our lunch at the Hotel Traube, where a live band played traditional music during the lunch period for free. Who needs tickets to the outdoor concerts when you could have them for free in the comfort of a restaurant while enjoying your food?

The restaurant was famous for its veal and this was the best and most tender veal I had, accompanied by some gnocchi-like pasta and veg.

We discovered smooth appenzell beer and flavoured mineral water, flauder.

Saw this cute little girl in traditional costume and couldn't resist asking her mother (in the background) for permission to take a photo with her daughter.

After a satisfying lunch, we headed to Wasserauen to start our 50-min climb to paradise. The road to paradise turned out to be quite hellish. This little river was the turning point of our climb - after this landmark, it was a steep and grueling back-breaking uphill climb. It turned out that for the swiss, it was a 50-min climb but for s'poreans, it was more like an hour and half. The amazing thing was there were old folks and young kids, some even had pacifiers in their mouths, who made the climb! And there we were panting like our lives were about to expire.

Along the way, we saw some paragliding enthusiasts which motivated us somewhat as we had booked a slot the following morning to glide in the sky.

The ardous climb. Some people were making their way down.

The torture was worth it after all. Imagine seeing this view when we opened the windows in our room. Breathe-taking...

After a much-needed bath, we decided to explore the area before heading for dinner. The air was fresh and crisp and the lake was just beautiful. This picture just goes to show that black is so slimming. After dinner, there was nothing to do. No TV, no malls, no computers, so we did the most logical thing... read, talked and went to sleep, anticipating the next day's activities.