[Good Friday Dinner]
1. Although it was a public holiday, I wanted to reciprocate the friendship extended to me by the good Senator when I was in Brasilia last year. Senator Heraclito Fortes, Chairman of Brazil's Senate Foreign Relations and National Defence Committees and three other Senators were passing though Singapore after a visit to Dili and Jakarta. Gerry d'Silva, President of the Eurasian Association, kindly agreed to let me host dinner at the Eurasian House. Two trustees, Joe Conceicao and Osaca Oliveiro also attended. On the Singapore side, many bore Portuguese surnames which fascinated our Brazilian friends.



2. Good Friday being a day of abstinence, the menu included no meat although fish and crustaceans were OK. One interesting dish was toufu devil's curry. Quentin, who runs the restaurant at the Eurasian House, did us proud.



3. Senator Fortes did not speak English and relied on Brazil's Ambassador, Paulo Soares, who could have been a professional interpreter. Joe Conceicao, however, still remembered his Kristang which the Senator could understood bits of. Despite the translation, it was remarkable how at ease we felt with the Brazilians because of a common cultural heritage. Senator Fortes is a big man. He gave me two decks of playing cards which featured his caricature. He was not impressed by Chris De Souza's youth because he himself first entered politics at the age of 29.



4. I told Senator Fortes that I would be accompanying PM to Brazil in November this year. He promised to host me to a Brazilian churrascaria dinner, probably to make up for the absence of meat at my dinner. For those of you who are not familiar with Brazilian churrascaria, it is an endless supply of different top-quality meats carved in front of you. According to Ambassador Soares, there are now seven churrascaria restaurants in Singapore!

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