For those of you who don’t live in Singapore (which is probably most of you) and would like to get a hold of the book I’ve recently been published in, the answer is yes, you actually can buy it on Amazon.

The link is here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/9810728182/

I understand if you just do a search for “Sushi and Tapas” on Amazon, you just get a bunch of nice recipe books, which might be awesome books in themselves with some really great recipes, but possibly not what you’re looking for.

And yes, I know it also says “Temporarily Out of Stock” on Amazon, too, but THIS IS NOT REALLY TRUE!  Amazon actually do have it in stock, they’re just (for some reason) waiting for enough orders to be placed for the book before indicating it’s in stock.  So get ordering!

Have I mentioned the authors have pledged all their royalties to charity?  Proceeds from the first, self-published edition went to Women for Women International, which helps women in war-torn countries rebuild their lives.  For the new edition of the book, recent proceeds have been pledged to a Singapore-based charity called Beautiful People, a volunteer initiative which aims to inspire, educate, and empower teenage girls and young women.  More about this charity in my next blog post…

I’m back in Doha, having had an amazing time in Singapore for the book launch of Sushi and Tapas: Bite-Size Personal Stories from Women Around the World. (Prior to that, I went to Sumatra on my own for five days of jungle-trekking, white-water rafting, and climbing volcanoes.  A bit too intense, but I survived.)

The launch took place at The Arts House (a venue in Singapore with a great program of literature, film, and music)  and we had a capacity crowd, mainly women, both ex-pat and local, with a range of ages.  There was an enthusiastic response overall, I met some wonderful people, and I had to sign about 60 or books or something… yikes.  Ooh, Singaporean Ambassador-at-Large Professor Chan Heng Chee graced our event with her insightful introduction.

Here are some photos from the evening:

Me with contributing authors Jing Huang, Zipho Sikhakhane, and our fearless editor Neo Gim Huay on the right

I should be smiling. Probably Book #44 that I had to sign…

Stay tuned for interviews with me in The Business Times and Cosmopolitan magazine in Singapore.  (Yes, opposite ends of the media spectrum, but hey, I got mass appeal…)

I’ve been perfecting the dual-moded  vacation – half of it rugged outdoors stuff, the other half cultured urban stuff.  The only problem is you then have to bring two wardrobes – and often in my last-minute packing, I end up neglecting one of those two.  So, the night before the book launch, with my legs still in pain from a tough descent down a 8,000-ft volcano (Gunung Sinabung on Sumatra), I realized I’d packed mainly trekking clothes.  i.e. Nothing Really Suitable for an Interview with Cosmo.   Cut to the next afternoon, when I found myself running around the malls on Orchard Road, Singapore, trying to find a suitable dress mere hours before the book launch.   “Just find me a Zara, and I’ll figure something out!” I said.

Anyway, yes, Zara saved the day with a classy dark green dress, and I got a compliment from the Features Editor of Cosmo.  That’s gotta count for something, right?

A big shout-out to everyone at Epigram Books for their brilliant launch of Sushi and Tapas  – in particular, Edmund Wee, Felicity Low, and Michelle Chua.  They’re a great local publisher with a strong emphasis on Singaporean culture and literature.   If you’re in Singapore, I spotted a nice stack of our books at the front of Kinokuniya Books at the Takashimaya Mall on Orchard Road.  (There’s a Zara one floor below if anyone’s in need of a last-minute dress.)