Christmas in Singapore. A morning walk in MacRitchie Reservoir Park, ochre clay underfoot, breeze rippling the surface of the green water. Lunch at Crystal Jade Kitchen in Junction 8—sliced fish porridge, roast duck and char siew, baby kai lan sauteed in garlic. Classic. Hobbit-esque second lunch at Andrea’s parents’ with pappadums and a variety of homemade curries, one tastier than the next. Then hanging out in the kitchen in Andrea’s Holland Village apartment, Norah Jones on the stereo, the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air, watching the midafternoon rain come down outside the old-timey louvered windowpanes.