Lots going on

Well, keeping with my Chinese New Year resolution, I’ve been trying to keep very busy in Singapore.

Singapore has one water park, and I went there over CNY with my American co-worker, his family, and some of the other families from our building. It’s a pretty small park – nothing compared to Wisconsin Dells, or even Valley Fair for that matter. But, it was a nice get away for the day.

They have 3 water slides, a lazy river, and a wave pool (well, it’s kind of small… let’s call it a wave pond). It’s kind of hard to get excited about a wave pool when you can touch bottom in the deepest part. :-| The slides were fun – one was completely dark, so you had no idea when the next turn was going to be. I spent most of the day floating in the lazy river, chatting with the grown ups.

The water park is near the far Eastern end of Singapore. The next day of CNY, I went to the extreme Northwest corner. I went up to see the Sungei Buloh wetland reserve. It was set up by birdwatchers, because it’s a major stopping ground during migration. But, right now there isn’t many birds to see. I did see a number of very large water monitor lizards up there – up to 6 feet long! They mostly went about their business, but one of them got a little curious about me. I got within 6 feet of it, and it slowly started moving towards me – I backed off. Not something I’d want to tangle with – they’re not venomous, but they’ve got a lot of nasty bacteria in their mouth.



Part of the reserve is a mangrove forest. When I got there, it was high tide & all the trees were poking up out of the water. A few hours later, the water was down & you could see the huge root structure. There were also a bunch of tiny crabs running around everywhere.
You can also see Malaysia from the reserve. There are big barb-wire fences along the shoreline, trying to keep people from sneaking into Singapore (or, maybe from sneaking out) :-)

Last week, I went out to a Lou Hei dinner with a big group of people that I know through windsurfing. (Here's a random video of Lou Hei that I found on youtube - it's not from our dinner) Anyway...I met a guy out there who’s got one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever heard of. He told me he was a diver, but he didn’t seem like the SCUBA-dive-tour-group leader type. So, I asked if he was a professional diver for the petroleum industry (since there’s a lot of that in Singapore). He said yes, and I asked if he had to do a lot of decompression diving (that’s when you go really really deep & have to decompress when you come up to the surface). He said no, because he doesn’t dive in the ocean – he dives in storage tanks full of petroleum distillates, like benzene!!! Whoa! He has to wear a full chemical suit when he dives. I guess he lives up to his name… it’s Hercules. He also kite surfs, rock climbs, and repels for fun. I guess when you’ve got a job like that, you’d better live life to the fullest, ‘cause you’re not going to live very long.

The final event for Chinese New Year (at least for me) was the Chingay Parade. I went last year, and really enjoyed it. This year I wasn’t as impressed – not as many fireballs & other spectacular things. There was one highlight though – before the race, they had an F1 racecar drive through the parade route.

Singapore is going to be hosting a F1 race this September. I wasn’t really that interested in it, because I’m not a NASCAR fan at all. But, I have to say that seeing this car was really exciting. It screamed through the streets at an incredible speed – and I emphasize screamed. It had a very unusual sound – very loud, and very high-pitch. It made several passes, and came within 20 feet of me. I think that F1 would be more exciting than NASCAR, since they race through city streets instead of on a track. I kinda wish I was going to be here to see it now… Oh well.



So, I’ve been doing Dragonboating with the American Association’s team for the past few months. It’s pretty fun, and I’ve met some really nice people there. We’ve got a race coming up in a few weeks, which should be interesting. 500m of paddling, with 20 people in the boat.

Last weekend, we had a big BBQ after practice. We grilled up hamburgers, hot dogs, and had all the beer & pop you could drink. Definitely the best BBQ that I’ve ever had in February. I miss grilling out regularly – I can’t wait to have some BBQs when I come back this summer.

Yesterday, I took a trip down to the Singapore National Muesum. They have an exhibit of Greek masterpieces from the Louvre going on right now. There are over 130 pieces of Greek art here, including several life-size statues. It was a fascinating exhibit – it was incredible to be able to see the statues up close. And, it was fun to listen to the guide try to pronounce the Greek names (Apollo = Ah puh lo; Socrates = So cra tez)

100 degrees

Well, my trip home has come & gone. It went by really quickly this time – I should have come home for 3 weeks, but I only did 2. While I got to see almost everyone that I wanted to, there were a few that I didn’t. :-( But, the next 5 months are going to go by very quickly, and then I’ll be back in July. And, as several people asked while I was back – yes, when I come back in July, it will be permanent.

It was pretty warm in Singapore right before I flew back to MN. And, as most of you know, it’s been pretty cold in MN this year. So, over the course of a couple of days, I experienced more than a 100 degree temperature drop. Lots of people commented that I chose the worst time to come back, but I enjoyed it! When I got off the plane, and saw my breath – I got a big smile on my face.

Two friends from Singapore were also in town during this period of time. They didn’t seem to enjoy the weather as much as I did. :-) But, one did admit that 32F felt pretty good after experiencing –10F.

Of course, there were other good things about coming back in January, other than the chilly weather. I got to celebrate my Grandma’s 86th birthday with her & most of the family. I haven’t seen some of my Aunts & Uncles for a long time, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with them again.

I got to go snowboarding with J & Brian one day, and enjoy a season other than year-round summer. Apparently the cold weather scared people off, because the slopes were surprisingly empty.

It was also time for the annual guys weekend up at the cabin. It had to be one of the coldest years that we’ve done it. It was –10F when we went out to the lake to play broomball, but that didn’t stop us. We were out there for over 2 hours. The rest of the weekend was spent drinking, eating, watching movies, and playing Guitar Hero (finally, a video game that I don’t totally suck at).

It was fun to come back & meet the new babies in friends’ lives. I met Dan & Katie’s new daughter, as well as Matt & Wipa’s new son. Both were very cute. And, it was fun to see the other kids too. I got to shoot Nerf rockets with Ryan, and make monster faces with Elizabeth.

And, of course, let’s not forget the food!
Full turkey dinner, since I missed Thanksgiving
Pizza(s)
Tater-Tot hot dish
Chili
Burrito Loco
Buca
Pepitos
Lasagna
etc...

I got back to Singapore just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year. Last year, I was out of town until New Year’s Day, so I missed seeing the festivities down in Chinatown. I went down there this year, and was amazed at how many people were trying to fit into such a small area! I started out in the early evening – wandering around the streets, trying food (all the food vendors were trying to clear out their stocks), and people watching. As the evening went on, more & more & more people kept filing in. By 11:00, it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to see the stage (despite the fact that I’m quite a bit taller than most people here). I decided not to get stuck in the crowd trying to leave after midnight – so I went home & caught the countdown on TV.

Welcome to the year of the rat. Gong Xi Fa Cai! (I’ve finally learned to say something in Chinese!) :-)


Singapore has pretty much shut down for CNY. The streets are like a ghost town – there are barely any cars driving around. It’s pretty weird to see.

Being the new year, I’ve decided to make a new year’s resolution. I’ve only got 5 more months in Singapore, and there’s still a lot of things that I want to do (both here & in other countries). So, my resolution is to have some kind of story to tell after every weekend. I’ll have time to rest when I get back to the States.

Stay tuned…