The Welcome Banquet

We were officially welcomed to Singapore by Beh chew Leng and Dr. Pasad of the National Library Board of Singapore and by Trish Culkin of TLC (aka CARL). The NLB staff made some interesting comments: they are not afraid to use the library as a laboratory; don't be afraid to look at other industries for a solution to your problems; using RFID for simple checkouts and returns is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential--In a few years, you may not need Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress classification because RFID will tell you where on the shelf in the branch a particular item can be found even if it's misshelved.

Here was the menu for the banquet (and I have a paper copy to prove it!) in eight courses:
Vietnamese style spring rolls, roast duck, barbecue pork, petite octopus
braised shark's fin broth with crabmeat
deep fried seaweed roll in Thai style, sauteed shrimp in spicy x. o. sauce
steamed "live" marble goby in noble Tanfu style
crispy skin roast chicken served in mango compote
braised sea cucumber with Shiitake mushrooms in superior oyster sauce
braised thin noodles with preserved vegetables
cream of red bean with glutinous rice dumpling

I tried everything but the octopus and the sea cucumber, but Mollie had TWO pieces of octopus! I don't know what Carl did or did not try because each of us sat at a different table. Here's a picture of my marble goby.