Singapore

One of my first entries to this blog was a list about the 60 signs you've been in Singapore too long. Now I came across another list about Singapore. The Time Magazine is listing "10 Things to Do in 24 Hours". They start of their article by stating "Singaporeans moan that besides shopping, dining and the movies, there's not a lot you can do here." So let's see what they recommend and is not about shopping and eating:

1. Visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens and then have a "traditional local breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, coffee and toast slathered with coconut jam." I have to admit that I still need to visit this place, I never managed to drop by there.

2. Artwork at the Ritz-Carlton: Since I am not into art, I shall not comment here, but this is not about shopping or eating, so I award 1 point.

3. Chinatown Heritage Center: Valid choice, but it is located in the middle of Chinatown. Which is mostly about souvenirs and food. Wonder why Singapore has a separated Chinatown while most of the people in Singapore are of ethnic Chinese...

4. Plastic Surgery: That is certainly a must-NOT-do for me on my next stop over. I find even the idea of this crazy. "And then adjourn downstairs for snapper pie." Great, get your Botox fix and then eat.

I think this was the first time that i was in Singapore without seeing many of the usual places or new buildings. the feeling was simply being back at a familiar place, even though in some areas a lot of changes are happening. It was really good to have only one agenda, meeting friends. This round, I managed to see quite a lot of them, but not all yet. There are still a few must-see and must-talk-to people that I did not see.

Yesterday i spent most of my day packing and doing a little bit of shopping for snacks. I think I should have asked my host in advance where the next supermarket is, then I probably would have saved a lot of time walking around.

In the evening, i met Elaine for dinner at VivoCity and had later a look around St. James Powerstation. But since we really spent a lot time talking instead of eating our dinner before, there was really not more time for anything else but having a look around. After all, I had to get up early today for my trip to JB and to get to the airport in time.

Compared to all the other times, it was really relaxed to get to Senai airport. Only between the Woodlands and JB Checkpoints, I had to stand with my luggage on the bus. At other times, I has been much worse, I have seen hordes of people waiting to get through immigration, flooded roads that needed to be crossed and patches of water so deep, that the water was actually getting inside the bus when driving through. And they are still working on the new immigration checkpoint on the Malaysian side. Does anyone know when they got started on that one and when they are supposed to finish?

But oh well, my journey today was so smooth, that now I have to kill a lot of time at the airport here, still roughly one hour before my plane leaves.

Sleepy.


PS: My new number here in Malaysia is +60 12 7262790

Yesterday was the first that I could celebrate my birthday in Asia. Actually saying that it was celebrated is a little exaggerated. For me, my whole trip is my birthday present and as usual, I am not good at announcing this special day to my friends. After all, I feel that good friends do not need to remember me on that day, good friends are defined by other characteristics.

But anyways, for lunch I met up with Ker Ying and his colleagues again and they made sure that the staff at the restaurant new about my special day, so lunch ended with a little surprise desert. After that, I basically walked around the Orchard Road area. A lot of construction is going on there at the moment, a big facelift as it seems. I wonder if there will ever be a time, when not something big and new will be built in Singapore.

For dinner, I went to Lau Pa Sat, a place where I had been lots of times before for many AIESEC welcome and farewell dinners. I was not sure, how many people would turn up, but in the end, it was a good crowd. And good to know that many of them also have not seen each others for quite a while since they entered the working world, so there were a bunch of small reunions.

Today I will be mainly packing my bags, traveling to Malaysia will be a bit stressful, as I will be going to Johor rather early during the day. Hope that rush hour will not be a problem.

Yesterday was a rather relaxing day. After working in the morning, I went to have a sushi buffet for three hours at Sakae Sushi. I was so stuffed afterwards that when I went to meet Jessie, Alvin and Pang Sze Fei (Stefan) at NTU for dinner, I was still too full to eat anything.

Now when writing this, it really feels rather uneventful, but I had a lot of good talk and it was good to catch up.

Last year in Singapore, I got to know Grace from China, who is working now in Singapore. Her company actually sent her over to Taiwan the last weeks, but we did not manage to meet up there. At least now we could catch up having lunch together with Hui Fun in VivoCity. That place was very crowded, after all it was a Sunday so most Singaporeans were actually free to go out and eat and shop (which covers about 80% of all free time activities for Singaporeans :p).

I had Chicken Rice first and second a big portion of Beef Hor Fun. I was very hungry. Later then I got my prepaid number for Singapore (+65 8364 6784) and started to plan who am I going to meet the next days when.

In the evening then I met up with Ker Ying and his friends for dinner. It was a good thing that I got used to eat more seafood in Taiwan. And for dessert we sort of traveled across town (yes, I am a bit exaggerating, but it feels comparable to no. 19) for cheesecake.

Even though it was not really a long day and I almost met everyone that I wanted to meet that day, when I arrived home, I was seriously stressed out. Having a headache, maybe even a fever and a not so good feeling of having either eaten too much or simply something bad made me rest rather early.

Luckily, I am ok again today.

My time is finally coming to and end here in Taiwan, I have a little more than a week left. But still will be travelling around in Asia a little more. After a lots and lots of planning, I finally came up with the best route to fly to visit my friend here in Asia. Surprisingly, it is sometimes indeed cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket (two flights) than a one-way ticket (one flight). And I do not mean that the round-trip ticket is cheaper than TWO one-way tickets, no, a single one-way flight is more expensive. Crazy.

Anyways, here is the way that I plan to be traveling, giving me the option to visit a few places twice

Oct 28 Taiwan → HKG → SIN → Malaysia → SIN → HKG → Taiwan, TPE → FRA

Tickets will be booked on Tuesday, latest on Wednesday. Then it is all confirmed.

A study by the British Council last year determined Singaporeans to be the fastest walkers among a survey of 32 cities.

Yet, there seems to be a large group in Singapore that does not like to walk at all. At least one editor of Channelnewsasia.com must feel that way or why else you he advice: [...] so walking will be something you might eventually end up enjoying. (Source: see #6)

Now there is also a Working Holiday Programme in Singapore: Contact Singapore WHP

At the moment it still seems to be vry open and flexible, but it is limited to students from Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

But I really do wonder if the pay of the typical working holiday jobs can offset the cost of living in Singapore. Anyone in need of a qualified IT Butler?

Just came across this video recapping Singapore's history in short:



For all those that might not understand everything or those that just want to know more: Here is an explanation (click). Interestingly enough, I found the very same explanation in some blogs of other Germans which are in Singapore, but never proper credit is given, so I am not sure if I got the original source.

"Ah Bengs love Modern Talking" - that would explain why I all of a sudden heard Brother Louie on the market once in Toa Payoh

Last monday there was a socalled Global Village organized by AIESEC as one of the many projects of United Nations Millennium Development Goals. I help out with the Singapore booth (and had the impression that I had more stuff from SG and all the other Singaporeans (Ying, Denise and Yizhen) together. But as typical Singaporeans, they were more worried about the food I guess :-p and maintained a constant flow of Kaya Toast and adapted Pork Floss buns.

My pictures can be found here: Global Village Pictures

Also collected a few new pins. And never thought how much thought was put into the Taiwan-logo. Luckily there was a little piece of paper explaining what the artist wanted to express:

The 'T' represents the sheltering eaves of Taiwan in a symbol of the island as a warm home.
The 'a' represents the host of this home, ardently welcoming travelers to Taiwan.
The 'i' is the traveler who has come to visit and is being received by the host.
The 'w' is the two people, host and visitor, shaking hands and greeting each other happily.
The second 'a' and the 'n' represent the two sitting together, drinking tea and chatting casually.
In the upper right corner of the logo is an image of the island that expresses Taiwan's earnest and sincere desire to "Touch Your Heart."

... I think I know why I did not persue a career in arts or graphic design...