Singapore - hub of Asia

Singapore is truly one of the greatest place to live if you have the travel bug. Kicking off this weekend, I will kick off a crazy tour: Ho Chi Minh, HK or Sydney, Shanghai, Penang, Sibu, Bali, and Dubai. Here's the end of the year rush... of weekend travels. I hope I don't lose my passport along the way.

Zoom Zoom - F1 is here

F1 weekend in Singapore is the single best weekend of the year. #1 out of 52.

1. Paddock club suite tickets
2. Jay Chou, Maroon Five, Katy Perry
3. Swiss Hotel suite parties
4. Beautiful people and good friends in town
5. No one seems to be working

People actually want to party!!!!!!!!!

Zoom zoom. 

Unlimited champagne, Jean-Georges, and everything else you'd want at F1. 

Party drop 

Anyone got a temple they can spare?

If you wish for an all out temple experience, look no further than Siem Reap. The place is crawling with them - Angkor Wat is just one of the 100+ temples available for your pleasure in the complexes surrounding Siem Reap. Seems like the kings between the 6th Century to 14th Century Cambodia were busy upping each other on who can built the most temple. The King who built Angkor Thom, the Great City and one of the key tourist destinations, built over 20 temples in the area. 

You look at all the temples around the area and you wonder, did the people in those times do anything other than building these temples? The structures are huge even by modern standards. Stone had to be moved piece by piece from 70 km away. The temples are also so beautifully designed and decorated, with each border so delicatedly carved. What's surprising is that that 12th century carvings are done much more delicatedly and expertly than the 16th century carvings. It seems that time doesn't actually improve humanities skillsets, even with better technology. Can you see below which are done in the 12th century and which is done in the 16th century? (Hint: it's in the flowers)

Aside from the temple adventures, Siem Reap is cheap, clean, and very easy for tourists to get around. I recommend young tourists to stay around Pub Street at one of the hostels. We stayed at Golden Temple Villa  and they were clean and efficient. There's massage, restaurant, tour booking, and laundry all at one place. Prices are cheap - you can have a meal for US$3 no problem. Beers start at 0.50 per glass during happy hour. Pub street is where all the action is, with Temple Bar popping with ppl on a Sunday Night. My recommendation: go with friends, go have fun, and go enjoy one of the world's greatest sites in the world. Siem Reap is definitely my favorite SE Asia destination so far. 

I finally stood up on a wake-board...

Getting ready to go in. 

... for 5 seconds. But Maggie did manage to capture a nice picture. Excellent concentration given she probably only had a few seconds. So many things to remember! Keep still. Keep the tension of the rope. Don't move. Don't lean back. Don't lean forward. Don't stand up too fast. Keep tight. 

The sport of wakeboarding is fun to do - but extremely painful consequences. While I felt fine in the afternoon and evening after wakeboarding, the day after, I could not move. Every muscle in my body was sore. It turns out the whole concept of just keeping the body tight was physically tiring. All your muscles keeping tight is crazy. Even with all my clumsiness and the soreness, I loved it. Can't wait for the next time.   

Wakeboarding is very accessible in Singapore - you can rent a boat from any of the operators at Punggol Marina Club for SGD125/hour. The boat sits around 8 - 10 people. While we only had 1/2 hour each - it felt like a very long time. We definitely all sored like it was a really long time!

Enabler in Jakarta

Jakarta reminds me of a third-tier Chinese city. One street, there would be the Ritz-Carlton and a multitude of other 5 star hotels of the most extraordinary wealth. One street, there's nothing but poverty. Buses so old that they are crumbling, yet poor Indonesians squeezes into every open space. It reminds me of China 20 years ago, corruption runs rampant to get things done. However, it doesn't mean it doesn't have its perks. 

I got off my flight from Jakarta and to my surprise, the hotel driver, met us right at the exit gate. I never knew people can cross security to pick up guests. My driver told me, "we come to our guests, we don't let our guests come to us." It seems like the Dharmawangsa Jakarta, a local 5-star hotel with excellent rooms and facilities, have an exclusive agreement with the airport. In addition to being able to get into security, he seemed to have had all the connections in the airport. There was a long line at immigration after I finished purchase my visa on landing (in Indonesia, one can buy a 30 day visa for US$25 on landing), there was a long line at immigration. This man, Adun, the enabler, led me to the diplomatic line, where there was no line, asked me to hand him my passport, and told me to go ahead. At first, I was worried: "did I just leave a stranger I just met 5 minutes ago with my passport after blatantly breaking all immigration rules?" 2 minutes later, he came out, showed me the stamp, and said, "your car is right outside." Tips to ALL business travelers to Jakarta, just go stay at the Dharmawangsa Jakarta and get a hotel car, it's worth the 30-45 minutes you'll wait in line for the immigration. 

Full Moon Party in Singapore

I must say, after a weekend of party in HK, partying in Singapore really cannot compare. However, there is one party here in Singapore that rocks HK's socks off - the Full Moon Party at Tanjong Beach Club (TBC). Setting on the man-made beach of Sentosa, the Full Moon Party is a full day/full night event every full moon in Singapore. Against the beach, there are beautiful people, pool parties, cabana, flame throwers, pole dancers, firework. You start in the afternoon if you wish, to day drink. If you're a late one, roll up anytime between 7 - 10, party is alive and happening until 4AM. Dancing, drinking, partying, all with the feeling of sands underneath your toes.

While there's no drugs in Singapore (death penalty is scary here), the alcohol is free flowing, while not much more expensive than most other clubs, while giving you a refreshing way of partying beyond the usual clubs in Asia. LOVE! Also, it seems that all my friends went, given I think everyone I'm friends with seem to randomly show up there one day or another.

Megatron!!!!

Universal Studios in Singapore is FUN. Not the half-baked "reflections lake" at Disney World Fun. But as in some of the coolest rides I've ever been on fun.

Universal Studios in Singapore has one of the most crazy roller coasters I've been on: Battlestar Galaxia. It's two roller coasters in one with a human side and a cyborg side. Both roller coasters are crazy. Unlike the coasters I've ridden before, these are powered. So as you are riding them, it's not just inertia that keeps it going, it's powered so it will twist, turn, drop, and go completely crazy in the ways your body is not expecting because it's not following the rules of physics. It's so crazy that Mo lost his keys during the ride.

What really impressed me about the theme park, however, was the Mummy and Transformers ride. They are thematic roller coasters with some of the coolest effects ever. Mummy was traditional with the props, smoke, and voice overs. There are fake tombs and coffins around. The total darkness of the ride enhanced the absolute feeling of fear in the ride. For the Transformers, it's an awesome combination of 3D graphics, where we are literally driving the car through the battle field, with bumps, pulls, jerks, and lunges timed perfectly to the 3D movie sequence that is being showed.

The park is PACKED with people. The lines for Mummy and Transformers were all over an hour long - unless you go single rider style. Yup, you don't sit with friends but literally it's a 10-20 minutes wait in comparison. That's how you roll up Universal Studios style in Singapore.Thank you Yovan for dragging me there after a huge bender out!

Must go to Transformers Ride!

Wading through crowds in Egypt land