Travel Virus

44 hours in the air and 500Km on the road…
October has been a wonderful month, traveling in America, Europe and Asia… 5 countries, exploring new places (Philadelphia, Atlantic city, St. Gallen), meeting new people, and above all a chance to spend some time with my friends again.
Like the Chinese say, time is circular and everything comes back… and yes indeed, I went all around the world and here I’m back again in Singapore, working…
Feelings too go round round, up and down, and come back to the start. That’s life.
The good news is that here is still summer!

I was really looking forward to spend some time abroad, I was thinking Lugano is so small, always the same, same people… but when I was living there i forgot to appreciate the beauty of the lake, the safety and low bureaucracy of Switzerland, the familiar feeling in the university, so small and so intercultural…
And after being away for six months I must admit I really miss Lugano!! The lake, the mountains, the university, and above all… my friends!
As zucchero says ” è andando via che si rimane…”
It’s almost time to go back to Singapore, luckily it will be summer again there and i’ll come back to beautiful Lugano in spring!

St. Gallen is a gracious little city in the north east of Switzerland, near lake constance (Bodensee). There is a prestigious management university there, the University of St. Gallen, specialized in management. The city is tiny and cute, very well kept and stylish. The people are all elegant and dressed up, the shop’s windows are fair of formality and stylish elegance… very expensive elegance!
The very center of the city is closed to cars, so it’s very enjoyable. There are several churches, of which one is really huge. The atmosphere is vibrant, especially around the market square, with fancy restaurants and clubs.
I was there to teach and experiment, and surprisingly it was very hot and we could hear the cows’ bells during the class

Last Saturday Chinese people celebrated mid-autumn festival with mooncakes. It’s full moon and the story tells to look at the moon to feel connected to the beloved ones that live far away… very romantic

On my way back to Italy I brought mooncakes to my family and friends, to share with them this Chinese tradition… my relatives enjoyed to try it but my friends did not…mmm… not global citizens yet!

Too bad I wasn’t in Singapore to see the celebrations! The Chinese garden was all decorated with lanterns for the event!

Several happenings in Singapore this weekend… the celebrations for the upcoming Deepavali (diwali), the festival of lights, are starting in little India, all beautifully decorated with colorful lights and bazaars… dangerous bazaars (on the left side of the pic) where i got trapped by the amazing colors of the Indian cloths! i love the Indian textiles, so colorful and elegant… i wish i could wear them everyday without looking like an idiot

In a few minutes the formula 1 race will start… I was hoping to be able to see it for free but it doesn’t seem possible, too bad. The circuit is just around the city center, along the route I usually take to reach the university, so basically I’ve been racing there! (See below)

Last night Jennifer took me for a nice dinner in a Swiss restaurant… yes so swiss that it totally looked like Manora, plus some decorative cows, waiters in semi-Bavarian cloths and alpin chalet interior design. Pretty fake but fun! We got spaetzle, roesti and cordon blue in pure Swiss style. It’s called Marché, at vivocity, you can even see Sentosa from there.

Today the Muslim Singaporeans, mainly Malay, celebrate the end of Ramadan. The main celebration was heal near Paya Lebar, with a huge crowd of people walking around the stands, buying anything from cloths, to food, to curtains, carpets, shoes, jewelery, house decorations and fancy head scarves!
It’s a very big happening for the Malay, there were soo many people!
There was also a CS gathering in a tapas bar in little India… quite inter-cultural: singapore+india+spanish tapas+malay festival… But I still prefer the indian food to the tapas

Today I explored the area around Bugis, toward arab street and the Gran Sultan Mosque (in the pic). After several months I’m here in singapore, I’m still amazed by the variety of cultures and their still strong distinctive characters that can be found here! It’s wonderful…. especially to see all these religions going well along together!
It’s ramadan and as you see in the picture there was a ramadan bazar, many people, lots of exotic food (including shrimp donuts and maccheroni), mainly ladies with wearing scarves and some talk show from the mosque!
Just behind the sultan Mosque you can find Arab Street, the famous place for buying textiles and silk. Indeed it’s very good, although the shops are a bit all alike. I think i made some good deals… they were also selling silk from Italy and from St. Gallen. St. Gallen???
Not far from the muslim heart of Singapore I stepped into a hindu temple (in the Bugis area) where there was a function for Krishna’s birthday. The temple was full of indians and indian-singaporeans, ladies with beautiful sarees, candles and hindu engaging music… but the most amazing part was to see the chinese-singaporeans stopping by and pray in buddist way in front of the temple!!
Awesome Singapore

I don’t have much to post because I’ve been working instead of enjoying Singapore, anyway the good part is that the aunty where I live, often offers me her delicious home cooked food!
She’s a great cook and I’m enjoying to have the luxury to try real Chinese food, not the restaurant one…
Today lotus root soup, rice, veggies and wonderful chili cuttlefish!