Richard III

On Friday, I discovered where's the best place to find expats in Singapore - go to the theaters. I have never seen so many expats in one place without a single Singaporean accent in the air. Even the Asians weren't Singaporeans, they were expats from other countries. The play was beautifully done. Kevin Spacey did a superb performance as the evil king - his limp was absolutely impeccable. You actually believed he was a limp. The play's timing seemed to be post-modern given the costumes. 

What made the play truly special, however, was that Kevin Spacey took the time to acknowledge his high school drama teacher post the performance. That was something I have never seen before. 

The stage at the Esplanade Theater was huge - it was fully technologically functional with screens, lights, and movable walls with doors. The seating was stadium seating - all state of the arts technologies and facilities. Richard III was one of Shakespeare's darker works - and Kevin Spacey brought it to life. 

Singaporean Dating Lessons

Singaporean men – the stereotype we all have in mind is the good boy that marries his first girlfriend and lives with his parents until he is married. Actually, that is quite true. All the Singaporean boys I know live with their parents. It’s kind of crazy. Even the ones I didn’t think were so Singaporean live with their family. It’s quite strange. So for them, dating isn’t just dating. They get into relationship with you with the thought of marrying, not just because of dating. For them, a relationship is much more serious than how we take it. If they date you, they will likely marry you. They won’t date you, if they don’t see a future, they won’t even date you. It’s actually quite efficient.

With that said, the dating comes slowly. A friend (Singaporean) is currently taking a girl out on dates. It took 7 dates before there were hand-holding. If there’s no consummation, there’s at least loads of making out already. However, they did discuss that one shouldn’t change facebook status without consult the other one. Really? Facebook status is discussed before handholding? What type of relationship is this, if handholding hasn’t even occurred yet?

What I think of a sign of affection is more like touching or flirting. In Singapore, it’s bumping. You walk next to each other and you accidentally “bump” into each other as you walk. Sign of affection and definite flirting…. Like I said, Singaporean dating is a strange place. 

Every firm in Asia wants to take me to Phuket

It seems that every employer I worked for wanted to take me to Phuket for work. This year, I had the great fortune of going to Phuket again for a retreat with my co-workers. The experience, however, could not be more different.

First - the offsite is during workdays, which means it lasts from Wednesday to Friday, with the option to extend through Sunday with accommodations at your own expense. For banking, the offsite was Friday evening to Sunday, with no options to change anything.  Second, there was actual work involved in the second offsite – we conducted a 6 hour meeting on group strategy, where as in banking, it was strictly a mingle event. The most profound difference, however, was the activities we chose to engage in post work functions. In banking, we continued on the excess partying and drinking in Patong, where groups went to homosexual shows, lady-boy shows, ping-pong shows, the whole host of activities offered in Thailand. See my post about it a year ago. In my current work, we went to Muay Thai fights, had seafood, went to Baba Nest, one of the world’s greatest beach bars, and did a lot of exercising, sunbathing, and the whole host of activities one is supposed to do on vacation.

The view from the Baba

My most favourite part of Phuket this time around was definitely the Muay Thai fight – it was an experience out of this world. We bought the VIP seats for about $80. We got to sit in these grungy La-Z-Boy armchairs and was given cheap can beers. First few rounds, the fighters are so young. Pre-teens. As they got older, it became more violent. The water would drip on you as they are forced against the rings because you are sitting so close. The fight is 5 rounds, 2 minutes each. In the adults, there was a knock-out every fight. The level of violence was something professional sports in western world do not compare to. And the absolute length of the fights was shockingly short. Some would last only 1 round. Surprisingly, a white dude won against a Thai guy in one of the rounds. Pretty fly for a white guy.

Look how young some of the kids are!

Everyone being silly, but in a nice/harmless way.

Overall, while we didn’t stay in five-star hotels like we did in banking, the presence of time made the trip much more enjoyable and fruitful for me. Money cannot buy time. \

Things are different here in Singapore

When I first started working, I needed to take a medical exam and photos for the new job. Standard procedure.  Every firm does it. It makes sense. But in Singapore, they take things to a whole new level.

I went to get my medical checkup. I thought they would just take an urine sample, for drugs. That makes sense. When I went to raffles clinic, I thought I’d be out by an hour. I stayed for at least four. There was an urine sample. Then you got a chest x-ray. Then you had a standard check-up with weigh-in and height. Then there was a blood test, where 4 vials was taken (yikes!). Finally, it came to a doctor’s consultation, where she told me my chest x-rays were clear…. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a comprehensive health check-up. Ever.

That afternoon, I went to a photo studio to get my photos taken for my work pass. I just thought my company didn’t have photo equipment. No big deal. I scheduled the appointment an hour before a meeting. I got in, it was a professional studio. There was a guy who fixed my make-up. A hair stylist who wanted to curl my hair (I told him to leave it straight). I felt like extreme make-over. Granted, the eye make-up was very nice and I wished I knew how to apply it as well as the professional that helped me. Then, the photo shot, the photographer took no less than 500 pictures in over 10 poses! I thought you only needed one for the badge! 

Mysterious Malaysia

This country is seriously obsessed with food. I went to Malaysia for a weekend. While there was not much touring of historical buildings or famous history, food was a plenty from Hainan chicken riceballs to prawn paste to red bean cakes to chendol. As we finished one meal around 3PM, we begun dinner again at 7PM. Americans might be obsessed with alcohol; the Malaysians are obsessed with food.

I must say, Kuala Lumpur was underwhelming. The city is dirty, messy, polluted, and not much to see. It's a great hub to travel Malaysia from, but it's no more than a couple of hours. You can check out the Petronas Towers, the Mosque, and Railway Station, you can pretty much see all of KL in a few hours. Melaka, on the other had, is a beautiful little town a few hours outside of KL. The town has a lot of feelings with heavy Portuguese influence. Great food, Jonker Street Night Market, and the beautiful Melaka River are all a great escape from the big city. A wonderful over night trip if you have time.

After being in Malaysia, I see why Singapore is the way it is. Before I came to Singapore, I always thought it would be like a mini America or Britain, with a hint of Chinese culture somewhere. However, so much of Singapore is much more influenced by Malaysia - the hawker centers, the street food, laksa, everything now makes much more sense with a visit to Malaysia. 

Beautiful Melaka river at night

Petronas Towers

KL Railway Station 

Singapore First Impressions

Singapore is HOT. Seriously hot. Located only a few kilometers away from the equator, Singapore has a sensation of summer all year round. While the temperature might be manageable (around 30 degrees C/80ish degrees F), the humidity is intense. Even if you don't feel hot, you will be sweating as you walk around. It's so intense to the point where avid athletes have issues doing a light run outside - yet the country is much more outdoorsy than HK. Figures.

Singapore is definitively Southeast Asian. You can feel it in the food, the architecture, and the people. Being here, I feel like I am actually part of Asia - a new land to be discovered. Let's see how I do.