Paris: Deyrolle gardening equipment & taxidermy...

Yes, as some of you know, I have been jetsetting around Europe. (OK just London and Paris.) And I must say this was one of this trip's Paris highlights for me!

You wander into this beautiful old building to find it sells gardening equipment, plus quality books and prints of plants and animals. So far so normal. But go upstairs and you will find an entire menagerie of creatures. Stuffed and preserved. Zebras, lions, a polar bear, pheasants, peacocks, mouse-deer, even guinea pigs and hamsters. Flying overhead are an array of beautiful, colourful birds; glass cases house hundreds of butterflies and exotic insects (some mounted formally, some arranged like they're flying gracefully). Also, that old Victorian classic - the amalgamated animal: a rabbit with wings and other oddities.

And it's not a 'fusty dusty' old stuffed creatures thing.. this place is very clean, and the animals are pristine.

Actually I had wondered what Deyrolle was; perhaps it was somebody's collection, or another sort of museum? In fact, the creatures, like the books and illustrations (and gardening gloves) are all for sale. If I had wanted to (I didn't) I could have purchased a beetle for 4 Euros... or a civet cat for a few thousand.

It turns out that this shop was opened in 1881 by Emile Deyrolle, a naturalist and natural history dealer (from a family of naturalists, in fact). And it had a predecessor elsewhere in Paris which was opened in 1831.

Today I would guess Deyrolle caters for a niche, and I do wonder who their market is! For a casual observer, though, it's a strangely educational and rather beautiful experience. Worth a look :)

(Btw photography is not allowed in there, so these pix are somebody else's!)

Deyrolle, 46 rue du Bac, Paris

A Chinese Tea Ceremony

I had never heard of one of these before, but found myself pulled into one today (by friends) at Chinatown's Tea Chapter. Luckily we had someobody who knew the good blends to choose, and how to do the 'works'. So here it is, annotated! You should be able to click on pix for zoom views.

The Tea Set - includes cups & 'fragrance cups' (the tall ones), plus a 'Justice Jug'. The Justice Jug is where you pour the tea before serving, as the tea direct from the pot changes in features during the pour. The jug ensures everyone gets an equal experience.
 

The Tea - the dark one (which has been smoked) left, and the light one of the same leaf, right.

The Implements - shovel for the tea, pokey thing to clean leaves out of the pot between brews, tongs to pick up hot cups etc.

 

Coasters :)

Warm all the chinaware (including tea pot) with hot water before starting. You can tip the used hot water into the tray afterwards. The glass water pourer is kept warm (but not boiling) over a small flame in its stand (you can just see it in background)...



You can empty out the boiling cups using those tongs!

Use the shovel to collect the tea - make sure not to break the leaves while doing this.

Fill the teapot about 3/4 full with leaves and add hot water. Let brew for less than 1 minute. This is the white porcelain teapot for the light tea. 

Tea is first poured into the 'fragrance cup'. Here you take in the aroma, then transfer the tea into your drinking cup (on the left). You then rub the tall fragrance cup between your hands, and smell again. The smell is actually different this time! You can do this again - the residual fragrance changes as the cup cools down. Now drink your tea. The light tea was very refreshing and aromatic. You don't have to use the fragrance cup for second pouring.

Next up: the dark tea - which is brewed in a clay teapot. You repeat the same process, however.

The dark tea had a much woodier fragrance, and was much stronger / more bitter to taste. It is more caffeine-laden too, which is probably why I'm writing this blog at past midnight! Incidentally, if you are a VIP, you should sit on the pourer's right.

As a snack to accompany our tea hours, we tried these boiled eggs, which have been steeped in tea and spices. The eggs kind of shrink inside the shell, which looks crackle-glazed. Actually, they were quite tasty - slightly sweet and tea-like! - though they might not be so appealing visually!

Our venue before it filled up.

Tea Chapter, 9-11 Neil Road, Singapore 088808
www.tea-chapter.com.sg

Construction

I have just moved (temporarily) to a beautiful new apartment in a posh part of Singapore. Weekends are glorious. But weekdays: non-stop 1 million db construction. Throughout working hours, the flat reverberates loudly with the sound of heavy duty drilling, hammering, pile-driving from next door.. They're putting up more condos nearby (and a new MRT I think). I have noticed that almost anywhere you go in Singapore (HDB*, condo, whatever) there will be full-scale or imminent construction nearby**. I even visited the ultra-swanky, family-focused Bukit Timah area, to note that building was underway on almost every corner.

Sinagpore's property prices are sky-high - more than London, and (from what I am told) more than Tokyo. Both renting and buying (if you dare) are hefty undertakings here. There is a lot of cash to be made from property, and huge swathes of the city cater for the ultra-rich.

But what I don't understand is, if one happened to be ultra-rich, why would you buy one of these amazing condos, when there are several miserable years of Towers 2, 3 & 4 going up next door? It's not so delightful being woken by, then listening to this mega-racket all day long; and not everybody works. In fact, observing wealthier groups, the model across races is quite likely to be high ranking working husband / stay-at-home wife with kids. Family life is strongly encouraged over here. But how many wives and babies are going to enjoy this?? And if you are rich, you have choices.

Surely not ALL these apartments are purchased by corporations, or mainland Chinese looking for rent-out investments? Do locals not mind the noise? Are half these condos empty? Or is it simply a question of ubiquity - ie you cannot avoid it, so why bother?

Personally, if I had a few million dollars to blow on Singapore property the first thing I would consider is peace, and the proximity of zero construction! Having said this, the likelihood of actually being in that position is on the wafer-slim-side. ^^

Right, off to do some work wearing earplugs.

One of Singapore's latest swanky condo developments
can't remember its name!

*HDB = public housing. Contrast with condominiums = posh private apartment blocks.

** Both local and immigrant population growths have slowed here over the past three years, but this seems to make no difference!

More lanterns

OK the mid-autumn / lantern festival is over. But here are some more from Chinatown, just because they're pretty. (They look like they were decorated by schools) :)

Add caption

Discoveries of the Week: snails, handbags & Facebook

Some of you will be relieved to know that Facebook doesn't track our likes and dislikes (or anything else relevant) in order to target advertising at us. I know this because since I arrived in Singapore, I have been under bombardment from 'ultra girly' ads. And my likes consist mainly of movies and combat sports. In Europe I was merely sold credit cards and invitations to Farmville. In Singapore, it seems, there are different expectations of women, and it's pretty full-on.

The ad routine - despite my endless 'hide' tactics - goes something like this:

1. Handbags, handbags, handbags
2. Dresses from Korea
3. Designer shoes
4. Designer babies (conceiving, then dressing)
5. Handbags, handbags, handbags
6. Dream (designer) weddings (with designer groom)
7. Handbags, handbags, handbags
8. Weight loss (presumably to help procure points 4 and 6 whilst clad in designer gear?)
9. Embroidered eyebrows
10. Snail cream.

Points 1-8, pur-lease, I do have a brain. Points 9 and 10 however.. more interesting...

'Embroidered eyebrows' (sometimes even THREE D embroidered eyebrows) what these? I have never heard of this before and had visions of foreheads merrily festooned with 'Home Sweet Home' cross-stitching or cute protruding roses. (Well that's how I know embroidery anyway).

And what on earth is 'snail cream' (which I initially read as a the manicure essential 'nail cream') - cream made from real snails?

Yep, more Asian research for me!

Eyebrow embroidery has nothing to do with sewing. It is a lightweight tattoo process, to give people with fine eyebrows, erm, eyebrows. I am not sure if this would be a big seller in Europe (where we spend a lot of time thinning our eyebrows) but who knows.

Snail cream really is skin cream made from real snails, or their slime! Yum. Sometimes the snails are fed on ginseng to boost the properties. It is supposed to make you very, very beautiful. Apparently the creams have already been on sale in Europe for some years... though I suspect under a very different brand name!

The Peranakan Museum

This was my Monday tea-time excursion, and I wish I'd left a little sooner, to allow more time here. I really enjoyed this visit. The museum was curated in a really fun, colourful way, and, it turns out coincidentally, there was a whole exhibition featuring one of my family in there!

Peranakan is a Malay term and it refers to the cultures and people of mixed-race heritage derived from intermarriage of traders and local women. Here (Singapore, Melaka, Penang for example) this normally means Chinese traders and local Malay women. But I found out 'peranakan' includes other groups such as the Jawa Peranakan (South Indian Muslim merchants and local women) and Chitty Melaka Peranakan (South Indian Hindu traders and locals). This region had great importance during the days of the Silk Route, so many foreigners put down roots here. (Not much has changed!)

The museum focuses on the unique culture and customs of the Straits Peranakan Chinese. Their wedding ceremony, housing, eating, religion and crafts. The ceramics are beautiful (pink and orange are included as 'lucky colours' in Chinese Peranakan lore, and butterfly, peony and phoenix motifs are also special. So you can tell these colourful pots and dishes apart from 'regular Chinese' ones!) I especially enjoyed the telephones display: three retro phones are lined up and if you listen, you get a conversation from 1950s, 1970s etc, reflecting a typical episode for Chinese Peranakans from those eras.

Also throughout the museum are 'levers' which will prettily emboss any sheet of paper you have with Peranakan symbols - I wish I'd taken some notepaper with me!

Which brings me on to: Emily of Emerald Hill

The current exhibition. 'Emily' is a well known play by Stella Kon, which tells the lifestory of Peranakan Chinese woman during the 20th century. And one of the famous Emily actors featured in the exhibition is my stepmother Pearlly Chua (herself Peranakan Chinese). All very random, but there you are! I really liked the way the museum put together this exhibition too. It wove in fun contemporary illustrations etc alongside historical artifacts relating to the play and character. And I really enjoyed the 'stamping desk' (results above)!

Anyway, here's the typical Blogger-style badly laid-out pix which I can't caption, but click for slideshow! Check out the website below for more info.

 

 

 

Open most days, admission SG$6
39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179941
City Hall or Bras Basah MRT
http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/home/home.asp

There's also a shop and cool little shoebox cafe on site, which I must investigate next time.

Nosh of the Day: Grace Dew Fruits Jelly

I got given these jellies as a birthday present and wasn't 100% sure what they would be like. I had vague visions of Rowntree's raw jelly*. In fact they were damn yummy! Authentic, 'healthy' fruit flavours and a very nice firm, jelly texture. Ended up savouring... yet scoffing the whole lot in one go.

The Rokumeikan store (in Ginza, I guess the Tokyo equivalent of Bond Street or Piccadilly) looks quite posh, and seems to specialise in Grace Dew. Bit of a treat :)

* Rowntree's is the UK's most famous supermarket jelly brand. I suspect kids are helping their mums make it now, just as I did when I was small. It is not full of natural flavourings, and you're supposed to melt, dilute and re-set the jelly, of course. But as a sickly treat you might eat a cube 'raw' from the packet. Quite a contrast from the above, to be honest!