Too hot for ya?

I see that Minneapolis is going to be over 100F today, and the rest of the country is pretty much baking. Want to cool off a little? Come to Singapore! Yup, this tiny little country on the equator is actually cooler than it is there. It’s going to be in the 80s today.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve changed positions in the company. I’m now a Program Manager, and I’ll be spending the next year living & working in Singapore. I’ll be the liaison between the Product Teams in the Minnesota, and the Science Park design center here. I’ll be working with all of the products that are designed here, and making sure both the US & Singapore are giving each other the info that the other needs. Or, maybe I’ll just be the whipping boy (yes, Singapore is the country where that kid got caned a few years back)

I flew over here on July 21 – from Minneapolis to Tokyo, and then Tokyo to Singapore. All in all, about 21 hours on a plane. I’m actually fairly used to the trip now. I arrived at about 2am, and was picked up & taken to my apartment. The place is pretty cool – it’s very close to Orchard Road, which is one of the most popular areas of Singapore. Lots of shopping, restaurants, and more shopping (I’m amazed at how many malls there are, and how much shopping people do). My place has 2 bedrooms, so if any of you want to come over to visit, you’ve got a place to stay (never mind the extremely expensive flight). I'll post some pics soon.

The first week here went pretty smoothly. I found a gym nearby & joined it. I found my way to work, and got settled in (I’m working with an entirely new group of people – I have never met any of them before), and went out with a few guys who are here from MN for the week.

Over the weekend, I explored a few areas around Singapore. On Saturday, I had lunch in Little India & went out to East Coast Parkway. It seems like this that's where I'll be spending a lot of time. You can windsurf there, cable ski (picture wakeboarding, but instead of being pulled behind a boat, you're pulled behind a cable that's run around pulleys that are about 1 story in the air), rollerblade, bike, and hang out near the water. And since Singapore's such a huge shipping hub, from the beach you get a glorious view of lots of ships that are sitting off-shore, waiting to come into port.

Well, not much to report yet. I'll be adding to this as time goes along. You can see that I'm not an incredibly captivating writer, but hopefully this will give you a glimpse into what I'm up to.

Talk to you soon.

CB