Trip to Malaysia

Just got back from my trip to Malaysia and it was awesome. There were 9 people on the road trip, me and the other 2 Americans went with 6 other people that work here. They drove us in 2 cars and we met a guy named John who lives in Malaysia. He was pretty much our host and took care of things once we got to the restaurant. You cross a bridge that is probably about 1/2 the size of the Golden Gate and that is all that separates the 2 countries. Crossing the border was a real pain in the ass with long lines going both ways. They have separate customs so you have to wait at both the Singapore and the Malaysian borders to pass through. The bridge in the middle is said to be rigged with lots of explosives so either side can blow it up in the event of an invasion. We hoped someone didn't accidentally hit the button while we were there.

You definitely felt like you were in another country. The first thing you notice is that English is not the first language and you can't read any of the road signs. We went to a fishing village in a town called Johor Bahru. The Sing government is quite wealthy compared to Malaysia and the area was dirtier, the roads rougher and the buildings more run down looking.

It took about 2.5 hours to get there but we probably spent a good hour waiting at the border to get across. The fishing village was called Orang Asli and a long long time ago there were lots of fisherman but only a handful are left. All of the buildings are on stilts above the water. There is 2 restaurants and probably about a dozen little shacks over the water where the fisherman live. When we first pulled up we noticed a monkey up in a tree right by the road. I guess it must have been a pet because it was tethered to a rope but it was still interesting to look at it.

After we parked we realized the we were causing quite a stir. We no doubt looked like tourists snapping pictures all over the place. I bet there aren't too many white folks coming there for dinner either. There were a bunch of kids running around the village and they were quite eager to have their picture taken. After looking around for a bit we went to eat. It was outdoors and had a really big deck with a dock at the end where the small fishing boats were tied up for the night. There was also these big pens built into the water and that is where they keep the fish that they catch alive. When you order they go out there with a big net and take your dinner out of the bin. This place was very primitive. We were told it would be best not to drink the water or be prepared to suffer if we did.

Dinner was served family style and we let John order for all of us because he spoke the language we had no idea what to get. We pretty much had a seafood feast since that was the only kind of meat that they served. I ordered a coconut drink that I didn't really end up liking all that much. It wasn't the same as coconuts I had tasted other places. They brought out lots of big platters of food for us to eat. We had some sort of fish, mussles, crab cooked 2 different ways, snails, big juicy prawns (head, tail, legs, everything still intact), yes I said snails, fried rice, and some delicious bread that was made into balls and fried. It was all prepared in these big woks on the pier. I tried everything and aside from the coconut I actually like it all. The snails were much better than I thought they would be! I had a fork and a spoon but you should just plan to get messy at this type of dinner. A fork and spoon was of no use trying to get to most of the meat. It was perfectly acceptable to dig in with your fingers. The other strange thing is the only plate you got was about the size of a saucer. All the remnants of the feast were to be placed right on the table. Each person had a big stack of crab shells, shrimps parts, snail and mussel shells piled on the table in front of them when we were done. It was not the kind of meal I would eat everyday but it was a really fun experience.

Because we were right on the water ,it was slightly cooler than in Singapore and the night was absolutely beautiful. The deck was decorated with strings of white lights all around and once it got dark it had a very festive feel. They didn't really seem big on dessert there so we just sat around for a good while after dinner sipping on a beer and talking. Before today I only new the 2 guys that came from SF so everyone else in the group was new to me. I was kind of the outsider but everyone was very friendly and they made me feel comfortable.

After we wrapped things up it was just back on the bumpy roads for the trip back. It was nice just to look out the window and look at the country. Our Malaysian host was driving his father in law's BMW and he was actually concerned about leaving after dark. I guess things really aren't all that safe there because he said sometimes people in cars like that will get robbed. I guess you take that kind of stuff for granted in both the US and Singapore. On the way back there was a 3 minute downpour. I guess this is common in the tropical environment but the rain came out of nowhere, it rained for literally a couple of minutes and then just went away. I was glad we were still sitting on the deck of the fishing village. Gotta get in bed, time to work again tomorrow.

Catching up

Well it has been a couple of days since I posted so I wanted to let you know I am still alive and kicking. It is still a little strange that I am in a completely different day here than you are most of the time. Honestly, I having more fun here than expected. I definitely miss the family and being home but I have made some new friends and seem like I have lot's to do. The last time I came I was sort of tied to a group all traveling together. This time I am on my own and before I left I thought that would be a disadvantage. Now I realize that I actually like it a little better. I can make my own schedule and go where I want to. After the first week I definitely moved out of vacation mode. I didn't really have a lot of responsibilities at work and everything was new and exciting. Now I am working all day add that to the 50 minute trip on the MRT and the days have been flying by. Not as much time to go out and site see but also not as much time to get lonely and bored.

I seem to have made a few friends. There are 2 animators here like I am from SF to teach. I really don't work with them much at home and I barely new them. Since I sit by them at work now and we are staying at the same hotel we have been having dinner and stuff together and it has helped a lot. They both have wives and family at home so we can relate on that level. They are fun guys to hang with and I feel like I made a few new friends.

There are also 2 guys from ILM that moved out here with a 2 year commitment. I know them pretty well and have been hanging out with them as well. They are awesome hosts. They are 2 single guys that like to get out and enjoy the nightlife. Between the 2 different groups I can keep things mixed up and the time is flying by.

Tomorrow if all goes well I am going to join the 2 animators on a trip to Malaysia with some folks that work here. Malaysia borders Singapore to the north and is really a short distance away. I guess there is a big bridge that connects the 2 countries call the causeway. Even though it is close the trip is supposed to take about 3 hours because it takes forever to get across the border. They take the border crossing seriously here because they have such strong laws against drug smuggling, illegal immigration and everything else. There are a few terrorist groups in Asia so they want the keep them in check. I have heard that they really check you out at the border. Everyone has to get out of the car and they search inside the car and the trunk for anything illegal. Another strange things it that you reguired to have 3/4 of a tank of gas to cross the border. I guess the gas is much cheaper in Malaysia and Singapore doesn't want people to cross over just to get gas. If you don't have 3/4 of a tank you can't cross. One of the animators has been here before and made the trip and he said it was fun to go to another country. Malaysia is supposed to be much poorer and less safe than Singapore. We are pretty happy we are going with some Malaysian people as our tour guides. Last time the went they had to travel to their families house in Malaysia and switch cars because for some reason there is a quite a ring of thieves that steal cars from Singapore. The place we are going is some sort of seafood restaraunt on the water. I understand they have all of the fish out on some docks in big tanks in the water and you can pick your dinner out. I am not quite sure what to expect but it seems like it will be fun to see what life is like in another country. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post some here.

Tonight I am going to go out on the town with my single friends. We are going to go get some dinner together and then have a couple of beers afterwards. I only have a week left and all the sudden it seems like the time is flying by. I am sure I will be heading to the airport before you know it. I leave on Saturday night and get into SF on Saturday night so I get to find that day that I lost. I had a tough time with the jet lag last time so I suspect I will be wide awake at 2am again this time. I guess that is the price you pay for being a jet setter.;)

Anyway I took a couple of pictures of the skyline here right after the sunset from my hotel balcony. I will put them up so you have something pretty to look at. I hope everyone is doing well and I will post a wrap up of my Malaysian road trip after I get back.

Day 10 and 11 - Tourist no more

It is a been a couple of days since I posted anything so I thought I would catch you up. I have just been a little busy. Now that I am teaching classes it is a little more like work and a little less like vacation. The classes have been going well but there is just not enough time in the day to cover everything. I stayed late at work last night and watched a pay per view fight with some of the guys here. We ordered pizza and beer and watched it in a theater that we have here. I had a good time. I didn't leave until 10pm and took the MRT back to my hotel. I thought 10pm, the train should be empty at this time of night. I was wrong. It wasn't as crowded as 8 in the morning but there were plenty of people on the train. I still ended up without a seat for 3/4 of the ride. The rest of the week will probably be more of the same.

It has been raining for an hour or 2 almost every day this week. Lot's of lightning. I seems to go away as quickly as it comes so it isn't too bad. I will post again soon.

Day 9 - First day of class

So I taught my first class. I think it went pretty well. It was a little tough to get started but once I did things flowed pretty well. It is hard in this type of class, particularly the beginning, to keep everyone interested. There is a lot to cover and I am sure I saw a few yawns but the time I was finished. I spent time with everyone individually later on and that is probably more of my forte, working with people individually. Most of the people have general idea and some experience with what I was teaching and I think that helped a lot. Other than that I have just been working on some shots myself to fill in the free time. It definitely made the day go by faster with the class and I am happy about that.

Not too much excitement today. I did go to my local Japanese grocery store on the way home. They have a really big selection of yummy sushi and I got some for dinner. They have a really good bakery that makes somewhat normal things. I took some pictures of the shelves. There is a little bit of American stuff scattered around but I would say about 90% of the shelves look like what you see in the pictures. It makes shopping a little difficult. The American stuff is what is expensive because it is imported. The Japanese stuff is cheaper but I just can't figure out what most of it is or how I would go about cooking it. Check out the pictures and imagine trying to walk into a store and get some stuff for dinner. That is why I stick with Eggs and Cornflakes, you can't go wrong there.

p.s. I think the Japanese folks think I am just a little bit strange taking pictures in the grocery store.;)

Day 8 - Slow day in Asia

Last night I decided the thought of spending the evening in my hotel room alone wasn't all that appealing. I had passed a movie theater down the street and a movie sounded like a good idea. They do things a little differently here and I think they have it right. In the US you buy a ticket and show up early so you can get a good seat, particularly if it is a popular movie. Here you get an assigned seat like at a sporting event or concert. You go up to the ticket window and they show you a diagram of the available seats and you pick yours out. Even better you can buy your ticket days in advance or even go on the internet and buy your tickets where you can see what is available before you even go to the theater. I thought it was pretty cool because you could show up right when the movie started. No showing up early and hoping you get a good seat. Another nice thing is the theater had a bathroom inside of it. Much faster to get in and out if you need to make a pit stop in the middle of the movie. On the negative side all the movies have Chinese subtitles. It can be a little distracting but you get used to it. TV is the same way. Popcorn and a Coke for $6 was pretty good too.

When I got back to my room the message light was blinking. A couple of guys that worked in SF have moved out here to be supervisors and I know them pretty well. They called while I was at the movies and invited me out for some cocktails. It gets a little lonely in the hotel room so the prospect of some social time was intriguing. Now mind you it was already 11 o'clock and usually I would be asleep. However it is Saturday night and who wants to go to bed at 11? I hooked up with them at a small local bar in their neighborhood. It was interesting to hang with the locals for a bit. They were eager to show me that they appreciated me coming over to help them out so they were buying all night. Of course one tequila turns into 2, and 2 beers turn into 3...I am sure you get the rest of the story. Did I mention that they serve alcohol 24 hours a day here? With no last call to save me I was doomed. It was a little rough dragging myself out of bed this morning, thank god it was Sunday.

So today I didn't really do too much. I hung around the hotel and did some laundry. I watched some DVDs and pretty much just hung out. Tomorrow is my first day really teaching classes so I am a little nervous but happy to have a purpose again. Hopefully all will go well.

Day 7 - Chinatown

It is Saturday morning and I decided to sleep in and make a good old american breakfast and start out nice and slow. I was contemplating what to do with myself and decided it was a good day for a visit to Chinatown. Somewhere between the time I walked out of my hotel room and the time I got to the elevator in the lobby it decided to rain. Not just a sprinkle either but this time I was prepared and I whipped out my fresh umbrella. I am glad I had it but it was still raining so hard that I got a little wet around the edges. Off to take the MRT to Chinatown.

The nice thing about taking the MRT is that when you exit the train and take the escalator up to street level you are literally dropped right into the middle of Chinatown. The main part of Chinatown is about 2 blocks long and 4 blocks wide. It is closed off to cars and the streets are just lined with stores and people selling stuff. Ever see that little sticker on stuff that says made in China? I think they brought all of it here. Honestly, most of the stuff is little touristy crap. Cheap buddha statues, chopsticks, kimono's, singapore t shirts, shot glasses, magnets, you name it and it was here. The shop keepers were a little aggressive and several of them would try to make conversation and lure you into their stores. There was a number of tailors where you could get a shirt or a suit custom fit to you and I found them to be the worst. They would actually follow you along for a little bit pretending to be interested with where you were from and then try to steer you straight into their store. The majority though just let you wander.

The place was crowded and full of energy and it was fun to walk around. Lots of different sights and sounds that you don't see everyday. After I got out of the more touristy area it was fun to walk around and look at the shops that you would think the locals might go to. One of the places I was interested in seeing was the wet market. It is basically like a big farmers market with fruits and vegetable but they also had lots of different meats. I bought a couple of veggies and they were actually really cheap. Then I got to the meat area which smelled a little bad. The had lots of different kinds of fish, poultry, duck, and beef. If I could have figured out a good way to cook some beef here I would have definitely bought some. They had a couple of live animal stands. They had loads of really big frogs in cages, catfish and eels in big buckets. I snapped a couple of pictures and included one of the frogs in this blog. The people in the wet market for the most part acted like I wasn't even there. I felt a little weird taking pictures at first but they didn't seem to care what I was doing. I didn't really hear any english, all chinese. I have heard that many of them dont speak english at all and you have to point alot and then they will figure out the price on a calculator and show it to you. I wandered around there for a while and then went back into the neighborhood.

Low and behold I stumbled onto a spot I really wanted to check out while I was here, Maxwell Food Center. This is another hawker center where food is sold from little stands and everyone eats at tables in the middle. I had seen an episode of Anthony Bourdain's travel show where he went to Maxwell Food Center. A favorite local dish is called Chicken Rice. It is really pretty simple. It is boiled boneless chicken breast on a bed of rice that has been cooked in some sort of chicken broth. As I walked around looking for the stand I was pleasantly surprised that nobody bothered me to eat at their stand. It seemed a little less touristy and had real plates and silverware to use. Still no napkins. On a side note, I learned that when you say napkins here it means something entirely different. A napkin is a female sanitary item. That explains some of the strange looks I have received when I asked for napkin. Anyway, I wandered around looking for the famous chicken rice stand. It wasn't really hard to find because it was the only one with a line about 10 deep. I was the only white guy in line so I figured if the locals would wait then it must be good. It didn't disappoint. I thought it was very tasty and I am glad I had some. It was cheap too, only $2.80 for a small serving which was perfect for a little lunch. The cheapest meal I have had yet which was nice because nothing else in Chinatown had been cheap. Before I left Maxwell FC I stopped at the drink stand and got a wonderful Mango drink. It was basically a smoothy but the fruit looked like it just had come off of the tree and it was delicious.

After lunch I decided to wander back in the general direction of the MRT. On my way back I stumbled onto a very large Buddhist Temple. It was 4 stories high and on the upper floors they had some exhibits on the history of Chinatown and the history of Buddha. On the ground floor there was an actual Buddhist service going on and I found it facinating. Everything inside was brightly colored and the Buddhist Monks leading the service were chanting. I have no idea how long the service went on but they chanted without a break the entire time I was there.On the walls of the temple there were 100 different buddha statues that all represented something different. It was a little weird that they didn't care if tourists wandered around while they were having their service. I guess they saw it as an opportunity to enlighten you about their religion. After watching the service for a bit I decided to look around up stairs. On the 2nd and 3rd floor there were exhibits and it was pretty much set up like a museum. On the 4th floor there was a big meditation room. Nobody was in there but to enter you couldn't take pictures or wear your shoes. I went in and found a HUGE shrine to Buddha. It was made out of solid gold and was probably as big as about half of my house. There were tiles on the floor (that you couldn't walk on) that were made of solid gold. On the ceiling there were lots of little gold statues and I gathered that if you were a member of the church for a mere $5000 you could purchase one and it would bring your family luck and prosperity. When I say purchase I don't mean you could take it home. I mean they would hang one inside the temple in your honor.

By the time I was finished in the temply my feet had done enough walking for one day. I took the train home and hung out in my room and watched a little TV. I really enjoyed my visit to Chinatown though. I think I want to try and go back at night because I have a feeling it is really beautiful with all the lights I saw overhead.

Day 6 -4th of July in Singapore

As you might of guessed, there isn't much hoopla for the 4th of July here. It is just another day. No BBQs, no fireworks, and no day off. We had a BIG thunderstorm here last night and it was so loud it woke me up a couple of times. It was hard dragging myself out of bed. As I was leaving to catch the train another ILMer staying here got my attention. He was getting a cab so I jumped in and we shared it. It made getting to work a bit faster. He has an arrangement with the cab driver to come at the same time every morning so I think I might try make that a regular thing. Splitting the costs makes it more affordable. I rode the train back in the afternoon. Lots of school kids ride the train to and from school. You know they are school kids because they have to wear uniforms here. A kid who was probably 11 or 12 sat next me and he had some food from McDonalds. They like to fine you for everything here. Litter and it is $500, jaywalk and it is $500, spit on the sidewalk or chew gum it is $500. In fact if you fail to flush a public toilet when you are done it is a $500 fine. I have no idea how they enforce that one. If you eat or drink on the MRT it is a $500 fine. When I first got here I thought it would be nice to have a cup of coffee as I rode the train to work until I saw all the signs saying you can't. Well the kid couldn't hold out and started eating his fries on the train, happy as can be. There was an older guy sitting across from me and I could tell he didn't like it. He just stared the kid down the entire train ride. I actually felt a little uncomfortable but the kid didn't seem to notice at all. Nothing was going to stand between him and those fries.

On the way home I decided that I had enough of eating out. It gets a little old after a while. I decided I was going to stop by the Japanese supermarket and pick up some stuff to make spaghetti. I had seen some prego spaghetti sauce on my last visit and it seemed simple enough. Of course, it wasn't . I found the sauce alright but meats are an entirely different story here. The main meat that people eat here is fish followed closely by chicken. You don't see much pork or beef but they do have it. I headed over to the meat section to get some ground beef. When I got there I discovered that what looked like ground beef was actually a mixture of ground pork and ground beef. Why they had to mix the 2 I will never know. I decided that it just wouldn't do. I have seen some ads in the paper here for a chain called the Fair Price Supermarket. In the ads they seemed to have more American foods than what I have seen in the Japanese Supermarket. Next time I go I am going to take some pictures so you can see what I am working with here. They actually had some packages of god knows what that was called Essence of Deer. I gathered it was some sort of powder made from crushed up Deer antlers. It seemed to have some miraculous healing powers. Anyway, I decided to go back to my hotel to drop off my stuff and change into shorts. In case I hadn't made it clear it is pretty freakin' hot here. Then I was going to take a cab to the Fair Price. Back at the hotel I was thinking about the 4th of July and decided it just wouldn't be right to have spaghetti on the 4th. I decided that I would make a good ole fashioned hamburger and some fries. That is pretty American, right? I get to the Fair Price and it is only slightly better than the Isetan Supermarket. They do have more American foods but you are going to PAY to get them. The majority of the store is still asian and that stuff is much cheaper. I was feeling pretty healthy so I didn't really need to make some deer antler soup. Fortunately I found some hambuger meat here. It didn't say anything about pork so I have to assume it was 100% beef, I guess I will never know for sure. Still there were lots of compromises to be made. I found a small little package of hamburger buns tucked away in the corner of the bread section. I am guessing they aren't really big sellers. A burger has to have cheese so I went to the deli area and asked for just a couple of slices. They don't do things that way here. You have to buy the entire block of some not so cheap cheese and they will slice it up for you. Too much for me so I found some mystery Australian cheese slices in the dairy area that I decided to make due with. Condiments were next. I thought it would be nice to get some mayo but mustard is usually cheaper and could make due. The mustard was $6 a bottle, ouch. The mayo was actually cheaper but probably because you could only buy a tiny bottle. I guess I will just stick with Mayo. I thought a nice 6 pack of Bud would be festive and it was on sale...for $16.75 per 6 pack. Coke Light will do. I am starting to realize that the fries are going to be tough. I would have to fry them since I don't have an oven and the corn oil wasn't all that expensive but I was going to have to get a huge bottle. Ketchup was about the same as mustard and I felt it was probably going to end up being $15 or $20 for fries. Chips will do. I thought a burger just wouldn't be a burger without some lettuce and tomato. I went to the produce section and the lettuce was reasonably priced but looked like it was about a month old. The tomatos only came in a 4 pack for $8. I decided that who needs stinkin' veggies when you have meat and cheese! I saw some watermelon at the bargain price of $4 for one a little larger than a cantalope. Perfect size for me and the sign said seedless too. I grabbed a couple of essentials like some bacon ($12!) for breakfast tomorrow, some soda, and some delicious looking oreo's. I really wanted some Ben and Jerry's but it was $13 for a pint and I was sure how long it would take to get back to my hotel so I decided against it. I got out the door for the low price of $45. Not looking like the cheapest dinner after all. You can get American food here but you forget it is clearly a specialty item and they are gonna make you pay.

I got a cab and got back to my hotel much easier than I expected. As I passed by the Carls Jr. next to my hotel I had an idea. Ding Ding Ding. I will make my burger and then run down to Carls Jr. and get some fries. Seemed like a stroke of genius. Everything wasn't as it seemed though. I started by cutting up the watermelon (it clearly said watermelon on the sign) and it was green on the inside. Not green like it wasn't ripe but just green. If it was seedless I would hate to see the watermelon that has seeds. There were plenty of them but at least they were about half the size of the ones back home. It tasted good anyway but was a little more like a honey dew than a watermelon. Next I unwrapped the ground beef. It kind of fell apart into a hundered little pieces. What the heck! Isn't it supposed to stick together? I made a patty, sort of, and was a little nervous that it was just going to fall apart because it looked loose. I had only used half of the meat and from somewhere deep in my mind I convinced myself that I had read that you could mix an egg white in with ground beef and would make it stick together. I cracked open an egg with the meat that was left and mixed it all together. Apparently I was wrong, it just looked gross and I imagined tasting fried egg on my burger. I decided that I had to stick with the first patty. It actually worked out pretty well and didn't fall apart too much once it started cooking. I cooked the meat and decided that I would turn the eye off and throw my cheese on while I ran down to Carl's Jr. Surely it would still be warm enough to melt the cheese while I was gone. I got my fries, which they deliver with chili packets instead of ketchup by the way. I asked for ketchup and hustled back to my room. It was defintely still warm enough to melt the cheese. In fact, the cheese melted so good that it ran almost entirely off of the burger and into the pan. It also got really crispy and as it cooled it stuck to the burger and kind of looked like a big sunflower. Not so good. I had plenty of cheese so I threw some more on. I had to perform some delicate surgery with a butter knife to remove the burger from the center of the brown crusty cheese in the bottom of the pan. In the end the burger wasn't all that bad. Nothing really tasted like I am used to but it was close enough. I decided just to stay in tonight and watch a couple of expisodes of Dexter and head to bed a little early. The interupted sleep from last night has left me feeling a little tired. I am trying to decide what to do with my weekend. I need to get a little laundry in. There are a number of weekend things I want to do. The zoo is supposed to be really awesome with some animals you don't see as much outside of asia. They are supposed to have a really big Hila Monster and a freindly chimp who has been in lots of local movies. He is so tame that you can actually go and have breakfast at the park and the chimp will pull up a chair next to you. I might skip that part. I also want to go to an island just off the shore of Singapore called Sentosa Island. The locals say it is a big tourist trap but hey, I am a tourist. They also have a long tram that takes you from mainland to the island high above the water. I think I want to try that. I think I might stay close and do my laundry and swim tomorrow. Maybe even catch a movie down the street. On Sunday I might try heading over to the tourist trap. I also want to check out Chinatown here. They have a 'wet' market that is supposed to be a sight to see. It is basically a big food market with lots of fruits, vegetables, and meats. It is called a wet market because the floor is always wet. Some of the animals might be pets in other countries! Sounds a little gross but it is a part of the culture here and I would like to have a look around.

So anyway that was my 4th of July. I definitely missed being at home and hanging out with everyone. Hope you guys have a good and safe 4th of July. Have a burger for me.

Day 5 - Yummy Indian Food

I actually did a little training at work today. Not a class but some one on one time with a student. It made the day go by a little faster which was nice. I got up early and actually made it to work by 8am today. Nobody seemed to care so I might not be in such a hurry tomorrow.;)

Next to our office building there is a big construction site. I have mentioned the workers before and every time I go in there I can't help but watch them. I somehow find it entertaining. I was talking to someone at work about them today. Like I said most of them are Indian. They come here from India just to work. The construction company provides them housing and food and a small salary. The small salary is no doubt much more they than can make in India. There is a building at the top of the picture is made with a tin roof and tin siding. That is the housing the construction company provides for the workers. Not so nice. It must be tough living right on the construction site like that.

I love Indian food and I started to feel like I needed to get some for dinner. I jumped on the MRT after work (I took the wrong train for the first time!) and took it to Little India. It is an interesting place the streets are lined with small stores that sell really cheap and really low quality stuff. They have lots of gold stores and they sell the cheapest, gaudiest looking jewelry that you have ever seen. You can find just about anything in these little stands. Fruits and veggies, liquor and medicinal supplies all in the same store, and booth with these flower rings used for religious ceremonies. They are sort of like a hawaiian lei. There is also lots of Indians. There is a big grass park in the middle of the area and it is filled with Indian's sitting on the grass. I am not really sure if they sleep and live there or just like to hang out. I had read about a couple of good Indian restaurants on the internet and I went to one called Mushu's Curry House the last time I was here. I figured I would walk around for a while and see if I could find a new place. I didn't really find any of the so I went back to Mushu's. It was really awesome. The food was great, I had some butter chicken, some vegetable pakora's, a green dish and lots of naan, rice, and mint chutney. It was delicious! You get your food on a tray that has a large leaf from a banana tree instead of a plate. You are supposed to eat everything with your hands, your right hand in particular because you are supposed to use your left to go to the bathroom. I wasn't really all that interested in getting messy but I noticed that just about everyone was using a fork and spoon so I did the same. The Indians believe that desert will help with the digestion process. Since I need all the help I can get digesting Indian food I splurged and went with the desert. I had the best homemade Indian strawberry flavored ice cream. I could have gone for seconds even though I was absolutely stuffed. Of course I washed it all down with a Pepsi Light.;) It was the most expensive meal I have had here but it was also the best. I plan to hit it up at least once more before I go.

Afer that I came back to the hotel and watched a horribly corny Singapore game show, kind of close to a Japanese game show knock off with a team of guys from Singapore Idol vs The Girls From Deal or No Deal. I realized that even natives here find it hot. It was all outside and over the course of the show I noticed that the host got sweatier and sweatier. His shirt was literally soak and I found it a little odd because you would never see that in a US game show.

After I got back to the hotel I noticed that my AC is broken. I don't feel like having a repair guy around now so I will tough it out and ask them to come during the day tomorrow.

Day 4 - Rainy and slow

Not too much going on. My camera battery ran out so I don't have any pictures. I wasn't anywhere very interesting to take pictures anyway. Had a couple of meetings at work and didn't really do too much. Helped a guy out with some software problems and I was a little bored so I spent some time working on some Harry Potter 6 stuff they are doing here.

After work I walked down to the California Pizza kitchen for dinner. It wasn't really all that great but it was pizza. While I was eating it started to absolutely pour outside. My umbrella was...in my hotel room. Note to self, bring umbrella to work. I went with some people to a local place for lunch. Not local like the hawker stands, it was a proper sit down place with napkins and the food was good and not overly expensive. We went by a big Singaporian military base. It kinda looked like a prison to me. We were right next to the coast and I guess it was a location were the Japanese were obliterated by the Singaporians when they tried to invade a long time ago. Rumor has it that there are lots of ghosts in this area. The people I was with said at night the area was popular with boys who like to dress like girls. They suggested that I might not want to come back for dinner unless I was into that sort of thing.

Singapore is full of contradictions. When I was leaving for work this morning I was hungry and decided to swing by a Carl's Jr. that is close to see if they had breakfast. I had noticed earlier that they had a big sign in the window that said 'Open 24 Hours'. When I got there I saw a closed sign on the door next the 'Open 24 Hours' sign. Ironic.

The government wants to keep the filth from the western world out. They censor movies and tv shows so there isn't any nudity. They wrap the Cosmopolitan magazines in plastic so you can't open it and see the scantily clad models by accident. Yet they allow prostitution. Ironic.

Homosexuality is more than frowned upon in this part of the world. In neighboring Malaysia there is big scandal because a high ranking government official was accused of hooking up with a male aid. The punishement? 40 years in prison, even if it is consesual. I don't know what the penalty is here but I would expect something of the same. Yet Singapore is well know for have a large community of boys who like to dress up as girls. I have seen several of them, not in the seedy areas but just around town. Ironic.

Random observations-

The cab drivers here are ALL men, if you call them uncle it is considered a sign of respect.

They don't have take out food here they have take away.

McDonalds delivers.

They don't have diet soda's here they are called light. Coke Light.

Many middle and upper class people have live in maids. You can hire one for 300 to 400 a month. The Phillipino ones are usually higher priced because they have a basic education and speak the best english. They work 6 days a week and the nice family will give them Sunday off. You have to provide them a place to stay and all their food, etc. You also have to pay for them to go back to their home once a year. I have seen an English family or 2 out around town with their Maid following behind them.

Maylasia is right next door and there is a long bridge connecting them to Singapore. Things are much cheaper there especially gas. You cannot cross he border with less than 3/4 of a tank of gas. If you try they will send you back. I guess they don't want people spending all of their gas money in Malaysia.

I got some gelato from a roadside stand tonight and they had Red Bull flavored gelato and the ever popular Choclate and Red Pepper gelato. There was a large red pepper on the top of the gelato in the display case. Yuck.

There was a guy on the MRT tonight that wouldn't quit staring at me. I don' know why. I couldn't tell if he was just wondering why I was there or he was mad that I was there.

Alot of people ride motorcycles here. It seems to be common that the motorcycle riders where a jacket...backwards. I guess it keeps the bugs off of their shirt but I still don't know why they don't put in on the right way.

Most of the construction workers here are Indian. It kind of reminds me how many of the agricultural workers in California are Mexican. It can't be fun being a construction work in this heat.

It sucks coming home to an empty hotel room every night.

Did I mention that it is really freakin' hot and humid here?

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Day 3 - A trip to the Hawker stands

Last night I ventured out for dinner and decided to walk a little further from my hotel to see what was there...more people and more malls. Singapore is heavily populated and there are people everywhere. It is more like a really big city than a country. I have decided my hotel is just in a big upscale shopping area and everything around it is nice and expensive. After looking around some of the big malls for a place to eat I picked a food court called the Food Republic. Just about every place I could find that wasn't fast food was about 25 or 30 dollars for dinner. I ended up at this food court that was just a little bit cheaper. I had a bento box and some sushi at a Japanese place and it was so crowded that I ended up eating at a table with strangers. They sat me at a table for 4 with a young Japanese couple...akward! They didn't seem to mind and they spoke Japanese the whole time so I had no idea what they were saying.

Work was pretty uneventful but it seemed a bit easier getting there since I had a better idea where I was going on the MRT. Tonight I decided to strike out on a little adventure and go where the locals eat. Last time I was here a cab driver recommended going to a place called the Newton Food Center for some cheap food. For some reason I thought it was within walking distance but after getting directions from the hotel desk I realized I had to venture out on the MRT again. It was only one stop down so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find. It was only about a 1/2 mile or so from the train stop to the food court.

Newton Food Center is full of what is commonly referred to here as Hawker Stands. They are more like a road side food stand but squished all together with a common, outside eating area full of picnic tables. I had to take another jam packed MRT ride to get there. It was really crowded this time and I was sharing lots of personal space as I wedged myself just inside the door. The place wasn't too hard to find and it was quite an experience eating there. I counted about 40 different Hawker Stands at the Newton Food Center. All different kinds of asian food, some Indian food, Muslim food and who knows what else. Most of the items there were fish dishes with one of the most common being Oyster Omelets and lots of other things I didn't recognize. When I first walked in and started walking around I was practically assaulted by people wanting me to eat at their stand. I am sure this was compounded by the fact that I was obviously a tourist, there isn't much way for me to blend in here. As I walked around I think all 40 shops had someone out front trying to lure you to their place. Honestly, it made me a little uncomfortable and I didn't want to stop and look too long at anyone place. If I kept moving I could get away from them! I made 2 laps around looking at some of the strangest dishes I have ever seen. There really wasn't much that I had ever eaten before. One of the nice things is that the Singapore Health Department ranks each one on their cleanliness and many of them had their letter rating posted on the front of the stand. An A was the best so that is what I aimed for. I wondered what rating some of them got that didn't have anything posted. I decided to play things safe and get some Chicken Satay which is basically chicken skewers. It came with rice that was made into a strange little square cakes that were sliced into quarters, some cut up cucumbers and some peanut dipping sauce. At home this would qualify as Thai food but I really couldn't tell what kind of food it was supposed to be from the booth. I got a decent size paper plate full of food for $6. You have to buy your drinks from a separate stand for some reason and I decided to go with an extra large bottle of Tiger beer which was a quite reasonable $6.50. After I had ordered I sat down and the other vendors left me alone. Well, except for the really old guy that kept coming by trying to sell me the cheapest looking watch I had ever seen. I entertained myself by watching the shop people at work trying to lure other people to their stands. By the way this is called 'touting' here and they aren't supposed to do it. There was really nobody around trying to enforce the rule though. I thought the food was actually really good. It was hotter than h*ll outside and I found myself sweating just sitting there.

Earlier in the day I learned another valuable lesson, if you take your umbrella out of your backpack it will rain. Most of the day it rained off and on and it was actually pretty nice because it cooled things off just a little bit. Instead of really freakin' hot and humid it was just pretty darn hot and humid.

After dinner I made my way to the train and came back to the hotel area. I stopped off at another odd little roadside stand for dessert. It was a McDonalds Cafe. It is out on the street and all they sell is coffee, sundays, ice cream, and flurries. (sorry, no dippin' dots, no fries, no bugers, no hot food) They had some tables on the sidewalk so I enjoyed a little people watching while I ate my ice cream. I had another little price shock when I got back to my hotel. Because I am in an extended stay area of the hotel, they have a small laundry room downstairs. I needed to do a load so I headed down to throw my stuff in. The surprise was that it cost $5 dollars to do your laundry! Not just $5 but $5 to wash and another $5 to dry. OUCH, I guess the hotel will get you anyway they can. Last time I came I had a little different situation with my company. I saved all my receipts and turned in an expense report when I got back. They said they would cover laundry expenses. I looked all around and couldn't find a laundromat, I don't think they have them here. I asked the other people I was traveling with what they did and I was told to send it to the hotel laundry. The bill came to $150! I was glad is wasn't out of my pocket. This time I have a little different situation and I have a daily per diem so I guess I the $10 doesn't sound so bad.


Gas in Singapore is about $9 and some change per gallon.

Day 2 - The MRT

Today was my first day at work. Of course my sleep is a little messed up so I woke up early. There are 2 ways I can get to work, I can take a cab which is about a 30 minute ride or I can use public transportation which takes about 50 minutes. They have a train here called the MRT, pretty much like BART. Except that it is VERY clean and there are no homeless people or weirdos hanging out on it. There was not a speck of graffiti on this train and not a piece of trash in sight. The cab would cost me $50 round trip and the MRT costs me $3.20. Not really a hard decision because the cab would make quite a dent in my daily per diem. The MRT is a little intimidating. First off it is hard to remember where you need to go when you have stops with names like Ang Mo Kio, Paya Lebar, Tanah Merah, Tiong Bahru, well you get the point. I have to transfer twice and my biggest fear was getting on the wrong train and ending up who knows where. I did pretty well though and didn't get lost once. Where I get on the train is in the main part of the downtown business area. It was PACKED. I mean really packed. When I got on I literally went about 2 feet inside the door because that is all the room their was. Fortunately the farther I got a way from town the more the train cleared out and I eventually got a seat about half way through. Singapore is very populated and most of the common folks live in big government run housing. They buildings are tall and all look the same. I have heard from people who have been inside that they aren't heavy on the amenities. Small kitchens, exposed plumbing, no AC, lots of people sharing one apartment. Still though, no trash and no graffiti. I took a couple of pictures of some I saw from the train. Public transportation is pretty well thought out here and on my walk from the MRT station to my office they have a long covered walkway to protect you from the sun and probably the rain. It sounds simple but I got a strange sense of satisfaction making my way to work and back. The one downfall of the packed train is that some of the people here don't seem to practice the highest level of hygene. Now their clothes look clean and all but I am not sure if everyone had taken a shower in the past couple of days. When I was leaving work walking back to the train I found myself behind this worker who looked like he was from India. He had slacks and a dress shirt on but I could smell him from about 20 feet behind him. I did have a moment where I wondered if maybe I smelled the same. Did I happen to mention that it is hot and humid here and everywhere you walk outside will cause a sweat? I made a mental note to watch where he went on the train platform and go the opposite way. I ended up wedged between 2 ladies on the train and I was thinking to myself that I hope they weren't thinking the same thing about me!

The area around my hotel is a little touristy so the train was the first place I went were I was really among the locals. I was pretty much the only person on all the trains I rode today who was white. I saw quite a few stares but nobody really made me feel uncomfortable. There is a ladies voice who announce the stops. One of the announcements is to report any strange people on the train or anyone doing something unusual. I was hoping that someone didn't report me.;)

Work was good. I found out just before I left SF that they wanted to change my schedule around. I had planned out 15 days of training and they wanted me to cut it down to 10. I was a little bummed but what are you gonna do. So when I got in we met and they basically said I didn't have to do anything in particular the first week. I sitting around people who have already been through training and are working on real shots for ILM. I just have to answer their questions and help them out for the next couple of days. They are really nice here and I think they really appreciate when someone makes the long journey over here. They told me to cut out early because they knew I would probably start fading in the afternoon. Sure enough about 4pm I was starting to feel just a little tired. So now I have a couple of days to work on revising my training plan and getting used to the time change before I have to go into action.

So now I am back at my hotel contemplating what I am going to do for dinner. This is the time I wish I had someone to hang out with. I am thinking is time for some good Indian food so I might head over to Little India unless something else catches my eye.

Singapore Day 1

Well I made it. The flight from Hong Kong to Singapore is about 4 hours. I couldn't find any 'Welcome to Singapore' sign in the airport, maybe that is some sort of sign. The first thing you have to do when you get off the plane is go through immigration. It really is much simpler than I thought it would be. You just walk up to an official looking booth with guards looking on. You present your passport and a form you had to fill out on the plan with your name, address, etc. If you make it past the first guy then you get your luggage and most people are free to go. The customs guys randomly select people and then look through all of their luggage. If you are lucky they just pass it through a big x ray machine but if anything looks suspicious then you are in for a much longer search. I was one of the lucky guys to get some extra attention. I guess everything looked ok in my bags because they didn't ask me to drop my trousers or anything. Going through Immigration and Customs always makes me nervous though. Not that I have anything to hide but I really just want to get my stuff an go.

I am staying in a pretty nice hotel called the Goodwood Park Hotel. It was built in 1900 by some German guy. Because I am staying a little longer they set the instructors up in more of an extended stay type of room. It is really like an apartment. I could definitely live full time in a place like this if it was just me. The lady checking me in told me that they have had people that stay in the room for years. It is actually kind of like a split level with the bedroom upstairs and downstairs there is a living room with a small dining table and a desk. There is also a full kitchen with everything you would need to cook a meal.

After I got into my room I had a quick video chat with the family. I was in dire need of a shower after spending all that time on the plane it was wonderful. It is hot and humid here. I think people who live here get used to the humidity. I on the other hand, just sweat like a pig doing normal things like walking down the street. After my shower the hunter gatherer instinct kicked in and it was time to find a grocery store and get some stuff in my fridge. My hotel this time is in a much more populated area. It is near one of the biggest shopping area's in Singapore called Orchard Road. They love their malls here and there are about 6 of the all next door to each other on Orchard Road. Several of the are pretty upscale establishments and had lots of name brand stores. I passed a Nike store and popped in to see how the prices compared. The first pair I picked up were $25o singapore dollars. That works out to about $183 US. I also looked a Ralph Lauren store and shirts that were $75 at Macy's were$110 here. I guess you aren't gonna find any deals!

Anyway, the bell hop told were the closest supermarket was (they have no idea what a grocery store is). It is called the Isetan Supermarket and it's a Japanese chain store. Now another strange thing about Singapore is there are really any strip malls. Land is precious here so all the malls are 5 or 6 stories tall, kinda reminds me of the Embarcadero in SF. The grocery stores are usually inside of these malls. It is a pain in the ass if you are on foot. Probably even a pain if you have a car because it is not like you can park close to the front door. Apparently people grocery shop on Sunday's here. The store was PACKED, I was having a Disneyland flashback. There were a lot of weird things in this store. I would say about 25% of the store had things I recognized though. The US food was pricey. A 1 liter bottle of Coke was $2.50 which works out to $1.83 US. I got the basics so I could at least make some breakfast in my room. The crappy part was carting all those bags back about 5 blocks to my hotel. I was sweating walking down to the store and I was practically soaked to the bone after the walk back. So much for that shower!

I did stumbling across an interesting fellow in the store, Mr. Scallop. I guess he was promoting a product in the store but I really couldn't figure out how his costume was supposed to look like a scallop.

So anyway I guess I should wrap this up. It is just about 6pm here and I starting to fade pretty fast. The TV pretty much sucks here. You have about 20 channels or so. Discovery, Stars Movie Channel and ESPN are about the only ones with shows I recognize. You would think I would be happy with ESPN but it isn't the normal one. It is something like ESPN Asia and has had soccer on all day. I brought a DVD player and some DVD's but I think I might not have brought the right cables to hook it up, Doh! I can still play DVD's on my laptop so I might have to make do with that. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to take public transportation to work. They have a system kind of like BART called the MRT. It is set up pretty well since most people here don't have cars. I have to change trains twice though so I hope I don't get lost. The MRT is dirt cheap and the highest fare is $1.60 each way. A Taxi will cost me about $22 each way so that would burn through my per diem pretty quick. The main thing I am worried about is just getting sweaty on the way to work. Ok, starting to ramble. I am gonna get my ironing done and try to make it until 8 or so before I crash.

Testing, testing, 1 2 3

Just checking in to see if everything is up an running. I am heading over to Singapore for 3 weeks and thought I would fire up the old blog. Right now I am sitting in the airport at Hong Kong with an hour layover so the plane can refuel and hopefully get some yummy new snacks. I just saw 3 military guys waking around the airport in full gear each holding a machine gun. I guess that is how you know you are in a foreign country. It is just about 6:30am here and 3:30pm back in the US. The flight here was decent. There was about an hour straight of turbulence in the middle of the flight which made sleeping a little hard. I have always felt I could sleep through anything, lights on, TV blaring, but having the plane bounce around is the one thing I guess I can't sleep through. Also, it is a little unnerving that your are somewhere over the middle of the Pacific Ocean probably hours from land. I just kept telling myself that turbulence was normal. Well this is just a quick check in. I don't have much else to do and most of the stuff in the airport is closed anyway. I will post again after I get checked into my hotel in Singapore. Until then, See Ya!


p.s. If you read this feel free click on the comment button and add some comments, that way I don't feel like I am talking to myself.

p.p.s. Food in Business class is really pretty good. Not your usual microwave dinner fare. However, you can definitely see the Asian influence on the menu. For breakfast they start you out with a nice cup of coffee, some juice and nice plate of tropical fruit, delicious. Next you get a nice bowl of corn flakes and a pastry or croissant. Then came the main course. You had 3 choices, a bowl of Chinese noodles with big juicy shrimp, a plate of dim sum with both pork and vegetarian, and a cheese omelet with mushroom, peas and onions with a side of veal sausage. I guess you could make do with the cheese omelet but I figure ‘when in Rome...’ and I went with the Dim Sum. I have never really had Dim Sum but it was pretty good. Peas sound like a really strange thing to have with your omelet.

I am just about to Singapore now and I am pretty sure the seat stopped being comfortable about 8 hours ago.