July Goodbyes

It's been nearly 2 months since my last post, so I'll use this entry to quickly recap what transpired during the month of July. I went traveling throughout August, so I'll write a separate post dedicated to my travels.

Many people left Singapore throughout July, so that month was filled with a bunch of going away 'parties'. I say 'parties' because it's better to celebrate someone's time in Singapore than to become sad and depressed that everyone is leaving. Erik (Holland), Anne (Denmark) and I had a semi-communal farewell party at Loof Bar on July 31st. It was a nice evening and also a great way to celebrate the successful completion of my internship at BLUE!

July was supposed to be my 'month of discovery' here in Singapore. The time I was supposed to become a tourist in my own city and visit all of the attractions I had yet to visit. I was only somewhat successful in achieving this goal: I made it to the Singapore Discovery Centre, the Singapore Zoo, and the Bird Park.

I have made it my goal to visit the Asian Civilizations Museum, the Housing Development Board Museum and go to the Night Safari during my 3 days back in Singapore. Let's see how successful I am in achieving this goal!

One event I forgot to mention. "The MRT Pub Crawl: Purple Line"! Singapore has 3 MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) lines. At the beginning of the semester a group of exchange students organized a pub crawl on the green line, starting in the eastern end of the island, and stopping at every second stop for a drink. Reisegruppe Alkohol decided to re-create this adventure for the remaining exchange students and interns on July 22nd. This time we rode the purple line, starting at Punggol and ending at St. James Power Station at HarbourFront. It was a great time, although I exchanged words with the bouncer at Movida (a bar in the 'St. James Power Station' complex) because he wouldn't let in the 3 guys below the age of 23 who were in our massive group. Ladies had to be 18 and guys 23. Oh how I love equality.

I can't think of anything else monumental that occurred in July, aside from the fact that everybody left and I realized that my time was coming to a QUICK close. Look for the entry detailing my August Adventures in Asia. Coming soon.

Canada Day in Singapore!

Or should I say 'No Canada Day in Singapore'. That's not totally accurate, as they DID have a celebration on May 19th. That's right folks, way back in May.

As the good expatriate school children that we are, Kristin and I decided to go and celebrate our great nation's 140th Birthday, Asian style. In the morning I jumped on Google frantically searching for something interesting to do. I discovered that some international teams were having some sort of Dragon Boat competition, Canadian teams included. After that we planned to watch the "Changing of the Guard" at the Presidential residence, then head somewhere for a celebratory 'white' dinner.

As per usual, nothing happened as planned. We showed up at the Dragon Boat offices, not the actual place they were racing. So no dragon boat racing. BURN #1. Still in good spirits we headed over to the Presidential residence to wait for the changing of the guard, but guess what?! Nope, not today. There was a 'special function' so the guard's won't change until next month. Excellent. BURN #2. Now I'm getting pissed off, no surprise. Trying to keep calm, we took a stroll over to the movie theatre where thankfully we got seats to Transformers! Totally corny movie, but fun on a Sunday afternoon. We have this habit of going to emotionally draining and tragic movies, so this was a pleasant change.

About the only thing that did go right was our dinner. To close off our evening, we headed over to Clark Quay, which some of you may remember me talking about in prior posts. It's basically 'Whitey heaven'. We ordered our WMF like any good Canadians on Canada Day. I had a Falafel burger (healthy) with about 2 pounds of fries (shut up). Kristin had what seemed like an entire lamb, which I helped her finish. Gracious, I know.

It was after 11p.m. by the time we finished, so we jumped on the MRT for the ride home.

A messed up day turned out allright after all.

Another Successfull Weekend in Bintan, Indonesia!

Reisegruppe Alkohol decided, jet again, to ferry ourselves off to the resort island of Bintan, Indonesia! When you are looking for a quick getaway, there is no better place. Just 55 minutes off the coast of Singapore, it is easily accessible, has great beaches and is loads of fun. Instead of staying in a dilapidated shack on the east coast like last time, we booked into a resort in the north called the Mana Mana Beach Club. It was a bit expensive, everything was listed in Singapore dollars rather than Indonesian Rupia (which I dislike), but for a 2 day weekend away we couldn't have asked for more.

We managed to book all 13 of us on a ferry and secure accommodations, even though this was only 2 days before we left. We were very lucky considering the size of the group. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed for the Tana Merah Ferry Terminal close to Changi Airport. We checked ourselves in, had some breakfast at their overpriced cafe, then got on board. Joelle, Kristin, Arno and I rode in first class comfort (that's the only way we could make it work on the initial booking) and relegated the others to coach. To bad for them. It was WAY to cold, but at least we got a free puff pastry and drink!

A shuttle bus picked us up from the ferry terminal in Bintan, and took us to our resort where we were able to promptly check in. This was especially important because we were, oh, about 5 hours early for check in. After ditching our stuff, we went and sat our butts on the beach and tanned (or tried to in my case) for a few hours, before having a quick lunch at their cafe. A quick word about that, and sorry for you people who think I talk to much about money! The prices were OUTRAGEOUS! You were paying S$11 for a hamburger which came with about 5 french fries. Jesus. I bought 'pizza strips' which was a very thin crust and a spattering of baked on pizza sauce and chili. They didn't even have my dip. Oh well, life goes on. It's only one weekend, right?! I had fish later that night in a small town just outside of the resort. That was nothing short of amazing. Fish, rice, chili sauce and lemon. Nothing is healthier and more tasty than that! At least in Asia.

In the interest of time, we sat our asses on the beach, drank beer and ate for the rest of the weekend. Saturday night was precious because I got a bit tipsy and jumped up on the platform at the beach bar and started bustin a move. I now realize that 'Alcohol makes fat people feel skinny and ugly people feel pretty.' I look disgusting in all the pics. They're up on Facebook for all to see if you are so inclined.

That's about it for now. Today is Canada Day, so Kristin and I are going to find something exciting to do in order to celebrate! Look out for that!

Kuala Lumpur: Vesak Day Long Weekend

First of all, no I do not know what Vesak Day is all about. I should look it up and I will. But if you really want to know, there is always wikipedia!

Conrad, Rudy and I left Singapore Wednesday night, May 30th on the night bus destined for Kuala Lumpur. I must note that this was no ordinary bus, but a luxury coach. This is like traveling in business class on any major airline. Well minus the food. We only got a bottle of water. Needless to say, it was the best an overnight bus could be. Even though I didn't sleep because the oncoming traffic kept shining their demonic headlights into my eyes. We arrived into KL around 5a.m., phoned up the hostel we wanted, jumped in a taxi and slept for a few hours.

The next few days we putzed around KL trying to see as much as we could. We managed to visit the 'Petronas Twin Towers' on more than one occassion because it's just that magnifiscent, and because you can see the damn thing from everywhere in the city. During the day it's spectacular, but at night it is magnificent. Some of the brightest lights I've ever seen.

Another impressive building is the KL Menara Tower, which is the communications tower finished in 1996. Both the Petronas Towers and the KL tower are part of Malaysia's master plan for complete development by 2020. I'm not sure if they'll reach that goal, but Malaysia isn't the third world country I was expecting. The highways rival ours in terms of quality and the number of petrol stations throughout. 'Petronas' is their national oil and gas company, by the way. The cities, on the other hand, could use a few more sanitation workers (a.k.a. garbage men). There are piles of rubbish on the streets, but any seasoned traveler looks past that toward the good things the city offers. Take France for example. Nobody cares that there is dog poop in front of the Chanel store because, well, there is a Chanel store!

Aside from these two 'major' attractions, we visited a the KL Butterfly Park, the National Mosque, Main Train Station, and the Central Market. Also smoked some shisha and ate some excellent Egyptian food near our hostel. We enjoyed it so much the owner gave us a 10MR discount. Usually you give them EXTRA money when you like something, but he was so happy we were happy, so he gave us a discount. The three of us as like kings for the equivalent of C$6.00 each.

Coming home was an adventure and a half. A word of advice: Don't listen to people when they tell you booking buses in Malaysia is no problem on long weekends. It absolutely IS a problem. It took us 11 hours to get home, when it should have taken about 5; we had to take 3 separate buses AND cut out Malacca (a colonial city) on our way home. The funny part was it only cost us about C$10 for the entire return journey. How they make money like this I don't know...

Until next time!

Shakespear in the Park Singapore Style

On May 27, 2007 a couple of friend's and I went to see Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at Fort Canning Park here in Singapore. It was closing night and the house was packed. What made this performance especially interesting was the venue; it was outdoors! It looked as if it would rain, but the director made us all will the rain away, and stay away it did. The show went off without a hitch!

The play was a modern rendition of Shakespeare's classic play. One obvious modern touch is when Hermia went frolicking in the woods with her pink backpackers sac, runners and small booty shorts. I think she was trying to hook up with Lysander in the forest; they say they were try to 'elope.' They even managed to incorporate modern music into the script, although the exact titles slip my mind.

The set and effects were quite good considering the play was outside. They strung lights through the trees (okay, that part's easy but still pretty) and also had this big metallic box that that opened up from all sides. People come out of there (again, no surprise), but these giant Swiss balls (like the ones you do your ab crunches on), escaped as well. They were the size of two men standing on top of each other, no joke. I still haven't figured out what purpose they served, but they looked cool, that's for sure.

The costumes were great. Everything seems whimsical and dreamlike, which I'm sure is what Shakespeare intended. I often wonder what fairies looked like in Shakespeare's day? OK! I only thought about that during the play, but that's beside the point. It's still a valid question!

Like any good love story, everyone lives happily ever. Man I love it when life is all shits, giggles and rose petals...

Brown...deep down

I am brown, deep down. I really had no idea. Right from the time I arrived in Singapore people have noticed that I am willing to eat pretty much everything known to man, save for puppies, kitties and any sort of blood based beverage. Now don't be mistaken. Those are not popular in Asia, at least not the parts I've been. But if I ever get in with a tribe in Africa, I'll have problems when they slit the goat's throat, mix it with blood and down that shit like it's a fine, aged whiskey. No siree.

My good friend Lorena noticed the same thing when I was in Mexico about 6 year ago. Man, I can't believe it's been six years already. Wow. Anyhow, I ate pretty much everything they put in front of me, and loved every last morcel of it. It was a running joke in her house when her mother would ask 'Are you hungry?' What a silly question. 'OF COURSE I'm hungry!' was my response. That's because I usually was. The only dish I did not like was 'Menudo Soup', which is a traditional Mexican dish made from trip. That is a cow's stomach, for those of you who aren't familiar, and has the consistency of fat. In fact, I spit it out and told her they forgot to take out the fat at which point I got this look 'It's not fat, you idiot...' Oopsy!

I can tell I'm becoming localized mostly as a result of the large quantities of chili and tobasco sauce I can eat. At Sapna's going away lunch, I loudly declard to the entire table that I personally believe that tobasco sauce is MUCH hotter in North America, because I can barely eat any of it back home. I was promptly informed that all tobasco sauce is made in the same factory in the United States, and that I'm eating the same sauce I eat back home. The only difference is that the ol' taste buds had acclimatized to the constant barrage of spice. When I go back home, I think I'll find all the food will be bland.

I can also slurp noodles like the best of them. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing when one of my mates pointed it out, but at according to Miss Martha: 'it's a good thing.'

The remaining challenge: Try 'Pig's Organ Soup.'

If I can shovel that down, I will be 'completely brown' not just 'brown, deep down.' I'm looking forward to it.

Tiger and the Arts + Paulaner Brauhaus

As if I hadn't consumed enough calories in the week prior, Jens, Kristin and I (Canadian Kristin, not German Kristin nor Norwegian Kristin) decided to grab a couple Tigers Saturday night from the 24 hour store, march on top of this damn cool media and design/arts building here on campus, and chat away about life in Singapore and our plans for the future. F.Y.I.: Tiger is a famous Singaporean beer. Just for good measure and to keep myself honest, I picked up a 'Big Bau' AND Potato chips to accompany my beer. I needed neither but craved both. A Bau is a Chinese bun filled with meat/vegetable/red been etc, and a 'Big Bau' is, well, bigger :) A beer would have been fine, but leave it to Sean to go overboad and get some 'extras.' In my defence, I didn't finish the chips. Yea!

As per usual, we were all looking DAMN fine in our best ragged shorts and t-shirts as we sweated our guts off outside in the hot and humid air; even when it 'cools down' at night, it remains hot and muggy. No bother, we came here for a new experience, and new experiences we shall get. I won't get into the niggty gritty of our conversation here because it was a 'you had to be there kinda thing,' but suffice it to say, we connected on a deeper level for sure.

The next day I hauled my arse outta bed relatively early (around 10:15a.m., which is REALLY EARLY for a Sunday), and went downtown to Paulaner Brauhaus for an absolutely AMAZING German brunsch; the Germans assure me this isn't 'fusion' food and that it really is quite authentic. Needless to say, the weekend was a total write-off calorie wise, if you hadn't already figured that out. In good fashion, I stuffed myself with as much German beer, food and desserts as I possibly could in the 3 hours we were given. I had to justify the S$47 price tag. Considering that free flow beer is included with the buffet, it's a price and experience you just can't beat.

Like any good German, I toasted my beers with an authentic toast to the 'apfelstrudel' and 'kinderüberraschungsei' Gods. More on this later.

P.S. When I source some photos, I'll post a few up here.