Living in Brussels, I’m often asked if I miss Singapore. My answer: Not really. I only miss my family and friends, as well as the food. Regarding the latter, I miss the spiciness and wide variety of southeast asian dishes such as rojak, chicken curry, nasi lemak, congee, po piah and char siew rice. All of which I used…
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认命 (rèn mìng): 承认自己的命不好而逆来顺受; to be resigned to fate Friday, 15 November 2013: I was standing outside an entrance to a building in Belleville, chatting with a woman from Dongbei in China. In her mid-forties, Xin Yuan* was in a black cinched waist puffer jacket, a short white woolen skirt worn over black leggings, and boots. She…
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“Maïs chaud, chaud maïs” (literally, “corn hot, hot corn”) Ah, the familiar cry of yet another African man selling roasted corn. Always in winter, always right outside the Quick fast food restaurant that is above the Belleville metro station. Sometimes, there are up to three or four of them at that busy corner where rue…
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When I first moved to Brussels, I stayed at the Sheraton hotel at Place Rogier for several weeks before I found an apartment and moved into it. Initially, I had no idea what the neighbourhood was like nor any inkling that Gare du Nord – just a few minutes away on foot from the hotel…
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Angelina Hue 