Tokyo can't stop her now...

Brittany BARELY squeaked onto her connection in Tokyo. Her flight was delayed from Seatac, but so was the Tokyo-Sin flight....she lands at 130am. I am thinking we will be sleeping in tommorrow!

Christmas eve out and about, Christmas dinner TBD....then out of town for time on the beach.

Will update things when we get back from Krabi...

Thought this was a really cool scene and got lucky to be ready to capture it....

Sweaty Christmas...

Been a while since I had time to think straight long enough to update the blogosphere....

Spent 3 of the past 4 weeks outside if Singapore and the week in between hosting a bunch of co-workers here for a trade show! Now I finally have a bit of time to think and relax during Christmas/new years...

That brings me to the oddity that is Christmas in SE Asia...
It pretty heavily "celebrated" here but they make no qualms about the fact that it has zero religious/emotional/spiritual element to it whatsoever. Basically, in a holiday sense, it is like the banks in the US, too big to let fail....so in typical Singaporean fashion they do it big, with lighted streets everywhere and shopping situations that unthinkably put normal non-stop shopping here to shame.

Then there is the strange feeling of laying by a pool in 90 degree heat and someone saying "Merry Christmas". Obviously i knew it would be hot here during Christmas but going thru it is strange and makes it hard to get in the typical "spirit".

Anyway, I've been finding good eating options and made good on the volleyball scene somewhat. Brittany gets in late Wed night and we are going up to Thailand Sunday for 4 days so that will be a 100% needed rest and relaxation...

Catchin' up...

Starting the home stretch of a completely chaotic 4 weeks of work....won't get into all the details, but I'll just say I've been VERY "active" in that time frame and still have to go from Malaysia to Perth to Sydney in the next 9 days...

Managing to keep my head on straight though envisioning a Thailand beach and days of nothing but relaxation! Still don't have a TV stand/ent center (TV is on the floor still) but otherwise I am ALMOST fully settled in. Next step will be to pain the walls and hang some artwork which I hope to do starting next week.

Couple random photos, as usual:

Fruit at the market - Taipei

 Meat cuts in Taiwan

 Dried herbs at a traditional market in Taipei

  Singapore's City Hall

Symbolism 

Lady walking through Singapore's City Hall district

Hotel room vintage

Here I sit...

Preparing for a thanksgiving in Taiwan makes it hard to realize it's thanksgiving - or even November for that matter! Really putting in the airport/airplane time Nov/Dec here but I think/hope travel will slow down some for Jan. Haven't booked yet but it's official I will be coming back to the states in Feb and I am going to try to pass thru Bham for 2 days on my way to Louisiana then thru Cincy for 2 days on my way back to Singapore... Keep everyone posted on that.

Next step is just to try to book plans for Christmas... There are so many vacation destinations within a 2hr flight radius it makes it hard to get advice, much less actually choose a place. Given my propensity for delaying action/decisions o that type I've also unnecessarily turned it into a more expensive endeavor...oh well!

updated update

Been a quick 3+ weeks already and my couches/clothes/dishes/etc get here tomorrow morning finally. Couple of lessons learned so far:
1. Don't eat at any "restaurants" whose name contains a US city - might as well get Carl's Jr for 1/2 the price
2. Taxi "etiquette" is complex here. Basically, if they don't stop for you, don't take it personal.
3. Don't underestimate the power of the consumer here...
4. Juice is MUCH better when it is fresh. (i.e. I want a juicer).
5. Lacking air-conditioning in gyms here makes 3 hours of volleyball a VERY damp environment.
6. The sun is hot at the equator.
7. Overcast sky is NOT unique to the US pacific northwest.
8. I need to learn to carry more cash on me.

A couple photos from a pass through Little India...

You can click on this one and then click on the image and zoom in some....pretty cool temple (if a little "tourist-y")

The entertainment value is tough to beat

Pound for pound this was one of the best things I've seen since moving here...just a sun afternoon outside the shopping center....

Elvis?

They opened with and Elvis song and closed in Malay singing something that sounded like Queen or maybe David Bowie after a binger....bless em

View from the back pool looking back up at my apartment building

View from my balcony looking down at the entrance to my place

Front entrance to the National Indoor Stadium

Kallang Leisure park (another shopping center/mall)

Last night's sunset....

Another train ride

For some reason this scene struck me as interesting...

Come on couches...

And rugs...this tile is less than forgiving!

Alas...

Finally made it to the food stand across the road from my place. Wasnt with any locals so I didn't get anything too dramatic (Thai noodles with prawns and fresh dragonfruit/pineapple juice) It was good....there are loads of options and it's all cheap so I will continue to explore and enjoy. Meal was under $5 total....

Another Japanese-style dinner...

Had a really good dinner at a place called The Pines last night. Was another Japanese dinner, but this time was real-deal Teppanyaki. Good thing about the phone cam is no one knows you are taking photos....this thing also has a HDR app that lets you get pretty unique shots that you could never get with regular hand held camera...Friday nights are insane here. Everyone goes out so traffic (and getting a taxi) is a nightmare. Drove back home thru a psuedo red-light district that I hadn't seen before...that was a real scene...no plans for the weekend

Rain storm over downtown...

Pretty cool scene from my office right now

some photos...

Here are a bunch of photos from the last week or so from around town...things that "caught my eye" mostly when I was in transit (train, taxi, etc).

Exit/entrance at the MRT station I go thru pretty often

Baby on the train playing with an iPod touch 

Desmond at dinner

the scene back behind the rigging shop

test bed control unit

work boots in action

Same MRT station escalator down to trains...much bigger scene that it seems like it should be....



Finally got a Singapore based cell #...so this is the test...

Workin'

Well, things are getting under way now. Lots of work this week to keep me plenty busy. I pick up my Employment Pass (i.e. Visa) tomorrow so that is one more step to make things feel even more "real". Movers come on Nov 12th and the following week I likely head to Australia for a long week before a trip to Taiwan and back to Singapore for a tradeshow (where I will be playing pseudo-host)...then another trip to Perth for different efforts. Going to be an insane 3-4 week stretch. After that I will be focusing in on actually getting fully settled in and working more here in Singapore.

Challenge growing...

Also, I will try my best to post a ironic/funny sign or photo of some sort every so often. There are plenty of those around here.

day one (not that there will be a post every day)...

VERY surreal drive over from the airport to the hotel after a 2am arrival. Very few cars out, checking into the hotel made it seem like just any other business trip but it was pretty obvious that it wasn't. Going to have a typical dominating breakfast buffet this morning before going to meet the real estate agent to get the keys to my apartment. Will be pretty busy the next couple days (movers come Wed, biometric testing Thur, internet and TV hookup Thur/Fri, shopping for a bed, tables, dresser, phone, etc etc etc)...

Will do my best by end of the week to post some photos/videos of my new setup so everyone can see what I've gotten myself into....

babies in pouches

A 'roo carrying a Joey...

under the moon

While I was at it...Never really shared this photo but thought it share-able...

Cows

I am officially starting this blog back up in an effort to create a habit that will hopefully carry over into my prep for and eventual time in Singapore...

This...is a test...this is only a test...(and a cow...on a hill...in a farm)