Episode 2 Backpack Stolen in Train from Venice to Milan

 

The magnificent Duomo in Milan

The second episode which I encountered was during last year's visit to Northern Italy Lombard region. After 12 glorious days savouring the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the Lombard area, we were heading back to Milan from Venice. My wife and I were satiated with all around us. Wallets thinner, health restored through days of long walks and appetites  fulfilled with the finest Italian cuisines. We were ready and happy to head home.

We booked the Business Class carriage departing from Venice to Milan. Our error was to not take the non-stop train. Rather, the train we took was with several stops in between and that was where we were outsmarted and conned. Let me sidetrack and say this : 

The Italian people are very accommodating and nice. There are many polite ones and there are the not so nice ones. Every society has its good and bad hats, there are no exceptions. It is a sad state that many major cities in Western Europe have major crimes ranging from gang attacks, stabbings to petty crimes like burglary and pickpocketing. The fact that there is rampant petty crimes in any country indicates the level of social degradation over the years in that country.

Piazza de Duomo Milan in 2017 

The root cause is economic stagnation (sometimes for decades) leading to an underclass who resort to petty theft to feed themselves.Its a sad situation when people have to rip tourists who essentially bring much needed commerce and cashflow to a country. Italy had a major economic crisis in 2008 and had to borrow money from the IMF.  

Gargoyles on side of Duomo 

Back to my (mundane and unfortunate ?) story.  We settled into our Cabin which had marked seats linked to ticket class and passenger name. So I thought we were in the clear. My wife and I sat facing each other and I  put my backpack above me in the clear glass overhead rack  and hung my trenchcoat by the side hook, there are 2 for every 2 seats just above the window.

The train left the station and I looked around the cabin. The people there were all businessmen and women. Well dressed and seemed to be regular commuters on this type of train. I had foolishly left my passport, and my phone inside the backpack. 

I dozed off while she was occupied with work on her phone. The train stopped at a couple of stops and I looked up ever so often to see that the backpack was there. This was my long held procedure to be alert.

Along the way, some people came into our cabin and on the pretext of sitting at the next set of seats behind us, placed another backpack right above mine. I was threequarters asleep and did not notice anything amiss. Since there were backpacks, I thought one must be mine and I thought nothing of it. 

The person who did this was very schooled in the art of deception. They must have tried this trick numerous times on numerous trains with considerable success.

At the next stop, he or she got out and took my backpack. I was dozing and never took notice.

Only when it pulled out of the station, I got the shock of my life. My backpack with my precious passport and phone were gone ! I went into overdrive, my wife did not see anything amiss and went to the station master.

I reported the loss to the station master and the rest of the journey was fraught with worry and frantic planning. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to buy travel insurance and only the passport and spare phone were gone.

 I will leave that story for another post soon.  

Christmas Market by the Duomo Milan 

Precautions to Take when travelling to Western Europe 2016 - 2023 Experiences Episode 1

 Nov 29th 2023

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci 

My wife and I have had our annual 2 week holiday at each year end, since 2014. With the exception of 2015 (major project in S'pore), and 2020 - 2021 (COVID 19), we have travelled a total of 7 times, once to Japan and the remaining 6 to Western Europe. Average trip time 12 - 16 days. Places visited during these 9 years  :

a) London

b) Paris

c) Barcelona

d) Nice

e) Cannes

f)  Turin

g) Monaco

h) Milan

i)  Florence

j)  Pisa

k) Roma

l)  Venice

m) Como

n) Madrid

o) Seville

p) Cordoba

q) Lisbon

r)  Athens

s) Napfoli

t)  Santorini

u)  Mykonos

v) Cinque Terra

w) Tokyo

x)  Hakone

Precautions .- from me, a seasoned and somewhat disillusioned traveller on 'free and easy' trips 

There have been 2 major 'downers' for me.  I was pickpocketed twice (in 2016 Barcelona and 2023 Venice - Milan train) that has made me come to the conclusion that for travellers visiting Europe, they had better do the following, lest they end up with some major inconvenience and some mental distress if they end up losing their handphones, passports, credit cards and the like. With the bitter experience I have had, I now advocate using the following contraptions :

 

a) close contact sling strap on bags for their precious documents like passports and phones

b) bring only 1 or 2 debit cards 

c) If possible, carry a spare phone and not the one you normally use for work.

d) Buy travel insurance.

e) Always stay alert as best as you can

f) Trust no one especially at public places or places or interest. Eyes are on you all the time, the thieves can spot a tourist a mile off. 

Please, my dear readers and followers. Be prepared. There are a lot of unknown unknowns in Western Europe when visiting. The thieves work in gangs and they are very sophisticated.

Episode 1 - Dec 3rd 2016. Born district Bareclona

We had arrived and were thoroughly enjoying the scenery, food, wine and general laid back atmosphere of the Catalan countryside.  It was day 4 and we had already visited the following 

a) La Sagrada di Familie 

b) Parc Guell

c) La Ramblas

d) La Pedreira (Antoni Gaudi designed house with 0 sharp edges). 

e) Marina 

At Hotel Rooftop overlooking the Marina Dec 2016

The tapas on the whole was world class, and we had a lovely 4 days, triapsing all the places of interest plus the marina at the waterfront. I had witnessed personally 2 people being chased down by their victims and naively thought 'Nah, wont happen to me !'. I was so wrong !

The 4th evening we had arrived, we ventured to the Born neighbourhood. It runs perpendicular to the waterfront and the early winter evening was full of locals and tourists just eating al fresco with fire heaters warming up everyone. The feeling was, in effect, somewhat magical.

My wife and I chose to dine al fresco at one such Tapas place, and there was another party of around 6 people at the next table. We had just arrived, and while waiting to place our order, I foolishly placed my Samsung 10 (new) on the table. The party next to us left and, I slouched over and looked at the menu.

A tallish man came over on the right of me, and I rejected his offer of flowers. When he left, I remarked that who would want to buy plastic flowers for their partners ? Little did I know that they (the syndicate) had made the first attempt at my phone.

A small man then came over, and placed Flamenco dancing flyers under my nose. I pushed his hand away and he disappeared quickly. In a flash, I realised my phone from the table had been swiped when he pushed the flyers under my nose, at the same time taking my phone

I jumped up but he was no where to be seen.

It was a major shock to me. Beware !!!   

I will go again to Europe, the only way to overcome your fears (of being robbed or worse) is to face them but with renewed, more guarded demeanours and the wisdom of living the experience. 

At the rooftop of La Pedreira, Barcelona

Dec 2016

Dinner at Sebastien Mother's Day Dinner Post 2 of 2

The entrance of Venue by Sebastian 

Situated on the ground floor of the Downtown Gallery (opposite the old Singapore Conference Hall), the Venue by Sebastian is a fine dining restaurant operated by the chef himself with fine dining dishes, French Asian fusion style and with prices more down to earth. 

Most dishes are priced within the $20 + to $30 + range and there are many starter dishes priced at $15 + range. It presents good value for money.

On the day we were there, it seemed like there were plenty of repeat customers from the way they spoke to the wait staff and the way they seemed familiar with the menu.

We have only been here once before (in 2019) and their business on a Saturday evening is, well, very good.

Farro 

with mushrooms, Kanbu Butter, poached egg an9d Paggianco Cheese

This was the first time I was eating Farro, so it was a very pleasant culinary experience for me. It is a protein and tasted a bit like minced meat, if I were to give it the closest tasting experience for it. 

Ribeye 200 g 

The Ribeye was also above par and for $42 + it was well worth it. The medium doneness felt more like medium rare and the texture was smooth to the palette.Bravo to Sebastian and his team. 

All 4 dishes we ordered were above par and the duck confit was exceptional. 

                                                                      Duck Confit 

The service provided by the mainly Singaporean staff was above average, professional and friendly. They filled the glasses of water without prompting, they took orders even before needing to give them a headsup.

Their training to serve is one of the better experiences we have had in Singapore.

We were so full by the main course, that we totally forgoed the dessest. I must say that we will come back again.

Venue by Sebastian

Downtown Gallery #01 - 02

6A Shenton Way

S'pore 068815.

Tel : 6904 9688 

                                                                  Pork Collar 

 

Venue by Sebastien - Mother's Day Dinner 11th May 2024 Post 1 of 2

 

Located at Downtown Gallery behind the CPF Building is this gem of a restaurant called Venue by Sebastian. Sebastian Ng is a highly decorated chef  with global experience in London, Tokyo, Melbourne and Turin and started his restaurant in 2017. He has plenty of regular clients and his fare is European with an Asian twist.

We started with the duck confit with lentil and lettuce. The duck was really flavourful with the crispy skin and tender meat. I enjoyed every single bite of this signature dish.

Priced at low $30s this is a must try dish.  

Pork Collar dish was equally superb as it was grilled just nicely with some pink flesh inside. The sauce of mayonnaise was a perfect foil to the heaty meat. However, I would recommend this dish who love tender pork grilled to perfection with some fat.

Priced at high $20s again this dish is truly value for money.

Seating ambience.

The seating is much like a canteen and not like fine dining, which is perfect for Singaporeans who are happy eating in simple settings so that the prices of the meals can be affordable. 

Would I go back again ? Yes. Surely. 

What dishes would I try again ?

Duck Confit. 

Very Good Dry Pork Noodles (Bak Chor Mee) at Evans Road Food Centre

There is a small food centre (Sprouts Food Place) by the side of Botanic Gardens and the Swimming Pool, off Evans road and just before Cluny Road.  Why I know it is there is because, I frequent the place after my morning runs along Dalvey Estate Road, and White House Lane.

The food court is entirely air conditioned, and you can park your car at the open air car park lots beside. Around 8 am - 10 am there are numerous people who will adjourn there after their walk at the Botanic Gardens nearby. 

There is a drinks stall, a noodles, stall, a zhi char stall (Meiben Food Stall) and a Malay food stall (Botak Jones).

I am the only exception, as I am the only runner who runs around the weekend at that time and finishes at the front of the food court, more or less.

The Dry Pork Noodles is the best I have tasted in a long while, to be honest. I normally order the Mee Kia Eu Mee (its also called) or thin yellow noodles (you can also choose from Mee Pok, Sit Mee, Mee Kia and possibly Mee Sua - thick white noodles).

There are 2 prices available, $ 5 for small bowl and $ 6 for a large bowl. I recently tried the large bowl and was bowled over by the numerous ingredients put in it.  Let me try to describe the experience :

The noodles are springy in texture, the ingredients are plentiful There are :

a) 3 large pork balls

b) at least 4 - 6 slices of pork loin

c) generous minced pork portions

d) mushrooms

e) spring onions chopped

f) pork lard (you can request these to be8 omitted).

Do try to drop by one day and see for yourself if indeed the Bak Chor Mee is one of the best or just another run of the mill ?

The closest MRT is Botanic Gardens and you will need to walk about 5 minutes along Evans Road stretch.

There are plentiful signs informing passing cars of the presence of Sprouts Food Place.

Do give it a drop by.

You will not regret it. 

Biomedical Manufacturers ; Your Products must be Accelerated Aged Tested for ASTM F 1980 - 21

 

The video above shows the Lab (No. 1) in Singapore running 10 test chambers 24 hours 7 days a week for key biomdeical customers from Singapore, USA and Thailand. Accelerated aging is a process in which finished biomedical products are aged in test cabinets called chambers for months for simulate the actual shelf life of the product in their client's storage facility.

If after the aging tests (for every one year of aging test represents 8 years of shelf life in the storage area of hospitals or clinics) defects show it, it is infinitely better to rectify the products in factory rather than endanger the client's patients in the field.

Think of the damage to the brand's reputation if this batch of new (for example) contact lenses causes a major eye defect once the product is sold and distributed globally !

Screening = Accelerated Aging 

The calculation is simple. According to ASTM F 1980 -21 

Storage Temp                    End of Life                             Aging Duration (set at 55 C)    rH

25 C                                    36 months                                    4.5 months                        50%

25 C                                    60 months                                    7.5 months                        50%

QRA performs BOTH Accelerated Aging and Shelf Life Testing 

Lab No. 1 and Lab No. 2

Shelf Life Testing 

Storage                 RH                                Duration

25 C                      60%                                5 Years

5 C                        No.                                 5  Years

Talk to the Professionals : We have over 15 Years Experience Globally in Accelerated Aging Tests (since 2009) 

Email : mark@qra.com.sg

             evalyn@qra.com.sg

Website : www.qra.com.sg

Association of friends gets stronger as we age.

 

Sat 4th May dinner at Zhi Char stall 

I had the privilege of meeting up with old friends from school and junior college Saturday 4th.The food was from this stall called Hoong Cheng Seafood (cooked food) stall at Block 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4. 

Many of us had never met since the last day of school and junior college, so time indeed has flown by. We have a pilot, a chief steward, a couple of entrepreneurs, and some retired friends who have done their industry proud.

I am thankful to Peter Tan, a mate 2 years my senior, based in Perth Australia for organizing this 'do'.

As our children grow up and find their path and partners, our work and health will call time (many of us are with health issues, from high blood pressure, gout, joint issues, eye issues and so on and so forth) so its time for us to realise that our time is now to step back and enjoy whatever remaining healthy years of our lives we still have.

During the dinner, I was shocked to learn that several of our JC mates of the 80s had passed away (cancer and heart attack) - life is indeed short. 

I'm giving back my time each week in the form of helping out my karate dojo at Tanglin CC and I intend to do more volunteer work by next year,

As we enter into the 3rd Age, I have firm belief that the 'old boys' network will be stronger than before.

Here's to more meetups in the future !

CARPE DIEM !

ILLIJITIMI NON CARBORENDUM !