Chiquitita and Chips

How could we ever forget such eloquent lyrics as: " Chiquitita, you and I know, How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they’re leaving" or "Ring, ring, why don’t you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all" ? While not the greatest of verse, it creators, ABBA, were certainly one of Sweden's most successful exports. In Singapore there is another such export with Swedish connections- in a word, Ikea.

As I have always enjoyed Scandinavian design it has been a great relief to discover low cost furniture with good design principles and of a scale that is suitable to modern apartment living in Singapore.

Not only does the local populace flock to Ikea every weekend they also have taken a shine to the restaurant offerings such as Chicken Wings and Swedish Meatballs (see picture). The meatballs in question vary little in design from the traditional English Meatball but are noticeably smaller.

Lucky I was wearing my reading glasses at time of ordering or I might have missed them on the plate.

Ikea is no 'Johny Come Lately' on the Singaporean scene - it has been here for the past twenty eight years. At the end of 2006 it opened an even bigger megastore at Tampines and did do with a traditional wood cutting ceremony.

Knowing the efficiency of the Swedes, it is quite possible that the table we decided to purchase yesterday was recycled from the same ceremonial log.