The Best 4 Days

Mike came to Singapore last week and brought the sun with him. It only rained for 20 minutes, which is a rarity here.

We spent the first two days in the city, checking out Deepavali (Festival of Lights) in Little India, drinking Tiger Beer at the East Coast Park, getting shipwrecked at St. John's Island (the pic of the red light signals the failed boat engine), riding 541 ft. high in the Singapore Flyer, and hiking through Fort Canning & its underground WWII bomb shelter.

We took off to Indonesia for 2 days of more sun - jet-skiing in the South China Sea and getting massages from local woman who called us Meesta Brian and Meesta Michael.

The best 4 days...

Office Space

Here's where I spend most of my time: Work.

My office is in the central business district in a section called Raffles Place. Everyone takes lunch 12-2pm and crowds the outdoor plaza (top picture). Two giant tv screens from competing brands blast local television programming and current stock market action.

Companies market their products and give away free crap. That's what it usually is, crap. But that doesn't stop the locals from lining up! This week it happens to be new toothpaste and mouthwash from Japan. Last week, it was Coke Zero. Week before that, bananas.

Singaporean Prostitute

Don't have a picture of this one, but thought I'd share.

Just returned from Melaka yesterday (pictures coming soon) and when I returned to Singapore, on my way to the subway, in a fairly crowded, popular plaza, on a Sunday evening, the last day of Ramadan, a prostitute solicited me!

Happened so fast. I just remember some woman with long hair, a tight pink dress and big heals came up to me and stroked my arm. She uttered, "Where you going?" in a pseudo-sultry voice.

I shook her off and kept walking. Kinda stunned. Needless to say, she was barking up the wrong tree.

As an fyi, prostitution is legal in Singapore and regulated by the Ministry of Health.

Mak's Place

In Singapore, there are two types of places to eat: a hawker stand and a restaurant. A hawker stand refers to small little vendors that are grouped together at a food center. Kind of like NYC's silver carts, except regulated and good.

Fortunately, in my 'hood there is the best of both worlds - a "Hawkerant." Cheap, local food served to you by a waitor. Mak's Place was closed for a Muslim holiday when I took this picture. Usually, tables and chairs of every color, filled with people, spill out onto the street. And the hostess who always seems to work when I'm there, rocks my world.

My typical orders are Kailan veggies in oyster sauce, cashew chicken, lime juice, and some kind of Singaporean noodle dish that I can't even pronounce.

Chinatown Stroll

Today marked the end of Ramadan and also marked my first day off in Singapore. So I decided to spend some time walking around Chinatown-- home to Hindu and Buddhist temples, massage parlors (authentic and erotic), mosques, paper lanterns, hawker centers, the color red, karaoke, as well as most of the city's gay bars.


Not once, but twice, I was accosted by tailors who wanted to shake my hand, find out where I was from, and sell me a suit. I politely declined.

Singapore weather is not tailor-made for suit wearing. Get it, "tailor-made." Ahhh...

Tons o' Buddha

Walked through the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown today. Multiple levels to visit, but I mostly watched the monks light incense on the ground floor and then made my way to the roof.

On top of the temple sits the world's largest Buddha Prayer Wheel, surrounded by 12,000 little shrines of Buddha lights. A very peaceful place... now I just need to learn more about Buddha so I know what the hell it all means.

A friend lent me a copy of Deepak Chopra's Buddha to get started.

The Rules of Parking

99% of Singaporeans park their cars by backing into the space.

When I was riding around the city with my real estate agent, I asked him why. "It takes longer to park your car that way," I said. "Yeah, but it's quicker to leave this way," he replied.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Just funny that all Singaporean drivers are on the same side of this issue.