Lions and Tigers and Flying Squirrels

...and hippos and rhinos and tapirs and...

We went the to Singapore Zoo last night for the Night Safari and it was great. I am usually pretty ambivalent towards zoos but I really liked this one. The animals seemed to have a pretty good environment and as visitors, we got to see them up close.

Unfortunately, I don't have much for photos since it was night time and they wouldn't let us use a flash. The first photo is of babirusa--there were a litter of little babies in the group. The second photo is Thad and Mike on the suspension bridge. I was actually in this photo also but I looked soooooo horrible that I cut myself out. If you are interested you can go to their website (which isn't isn't very good considering who well they run and market the whole thing): www.nightsafari.com.sg

It's HOT out there.

Yesterday was my big sight-seeing day. I wound up getting a slightly later start than planned but in the end, that was fine.

I met up with four of our five Carlson School undergrads who are studying here this semester. I had only met one of them before so it was a nice opportunity to get to know them, and to hear about their experiences here. My lunch wasn't very good but the company more than made up for it.


After lunch, I started wandering. First, I walked along Orchard Road, a well-known district and came across a really lovely little park. It was small, maybe only size of a long skinny city block but in that area they managed to get in a little rain forest, a pond complete with goldfish and lilys, and flowers galore.


From there I headed to the Botanical Gardens which were nice but not spectacular. The most interesting part was the roar of noise in the the jungle section. Between the birds and the bugs it was LOUD--and that coming from a woman who is half deaf! I had expected to see more exotic flowers and plants and instead they seemed to have devoted most of their efforts into perfectly manicured, more formal spaces. It is a huge Garden and it is possible that I merely missed the flashier parts.

It isn't easy getting to the Botanical Garden and I was out in the near-midday sun. From the subway station, it is about a mile walk and keep in mind that it was about 90+ degrees with comparable percentage of humidity. I have noticed that the locals survive by staying out of the direct sunlight as much as possible. They make a point of walking on the shady side of the street, most of the buildings have a portico to provide a shaded walkway, and in certain areas, they have lovely flowered arbors to provide a little relief.

Most interestingly, I noticed that the local pedestrians do not go right up to the corner to wait for the light to change. Right at the corner, there is no shade so everyone hangs back a few yards in the shade of the building or the shrubbery and doesn't move out until the light actually changes.

Of course, at first, I moved right to the corner because that is how we would do it and standing there in the glare with the heat rising up off the asphalt, it felt like being baked. It didn't take long for me to figure out that there was probably a reason why nobody else was standing out there with me exposed to the elements.

After the Botanical Gardens I ventured over to Chinatown and bought a couple more gifts for people. I am so happy that Greg's condo deal looks like it is finally going to go through since I bought a couple little things for him with that property in mind. For the most part, I didn't really try to haggle--everything was so inexpensive anyway, it just seemed rude. I did haggle aggressively with one woman because I didn't appreciate how pushy she was being and in the end, I think I got a pretty good deal on that--she wound up coming down about 80%. I would feel bad about it but I am sure this woman wasn't going to sell at a price she wasn't comfortable at so she was surely still making a profit.

Chinatown was quite interesting and has an older, more authentic feel to it. So much of Singapore is brand new and a little sterile that it was nice to be in an area which felt a bit more ethnic. I had wanted to see the Sri Mariammam Temple but it was being worked on and covered with a tarp, but some of the cow figures were still visible.



Finally, after about 8 miles of walking in the heat and humidity, I decided to call it a day. I had dinner with the Mikes, Thad, and Eric Welch at the hawker center--I did try to pay for my meal with Hong Kong dollars which caused some confusion...what can I say, world traveler that I am, it is hard to keep the money straight.

Tonight we are going to the Night Safari at the zoo to see the noctural animals!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

I wrote a very clever blog entry last night but I accidentally deleted it and couldn't be bothered to re-write it at the time. I assure you that there was no cursing or ranting & raving...no beating on the keyboard. I accepted my hours' worth of lost effort with great grace.

It looks like another lovely day in Singapore. It is only 7:40 am here and while I have been up for a couple hours catching up on emails, I am just getting ready to start my day and wander about.

We have been busy! There is far less free time than I thought there would be. Yesterday, we went to this place called Fusionopolis which is a collection of buildings housing state-of-the-art research facilities related to the physical sciences, engineering and IT. The Singapore government is recruiting top researchers to come here and their hope is that there will be a lot of cross-pollination of ideas and great things will be developed.

Personally, I think there are difficulties and flaws with the plan--any plan which tries to carefully coordinate and control invention and innovation but it is a pretty cool place.

They wouldn't let us take pictures inside except for in the garden on the 23rd floor but that was pretty amazing.

Last night the boys and I decided to try to recreate our Tuesday night study night and we went to a German restaurant for beer and brats. Normally, it might seem weird to have a German restaurant in an Asian city but downtown Singapore is so western that it is almost difficult to convince yourself that it is not Southern California.

It is such a young country. They are only 44 years old and while it is amazing what they have accomplished in that time, there is a part of me that questions if it is sustainable. I guess I now understand better how the Brits and Europeans feel about us---I am happy that everything seems to be working out but I also think they are being naive to think that they can continue this.

Talking to people around here is a bit like talking to Pod People (Invasion of the Body Snatchers---the old one, not the stupid remake). It is like they have all been brainwashed to believe the exact same message. Everyone one you talk to gives you the exact same facts and figures, the same history, the same examples of success---they all have partaken of the Kool-Aid. But it makes one wonder about the power of the government which can broadcast a single marketing message so effectively to so many people.

OK...enough for now. I am going to get ready and start my day. This morning I am going to go to the Botanical Gardens and wander around. I am taking a bunch of our Carlson undergraduate students who are studying here out for brunch and then after a couple more hours of site-seeing, I am going to come back and work on my capstone for the rest of the day.

Food, Friends, and New Shoes - Greetings from Singapore

Hey Everyone, we had another good day in Singapore. We met with the American Chamber of Commerce and the Singapore Economic Development Board in the morning. Very interesting presentations and it was particularly interesting to get the two viewpoints of doing business in Singapore.

With a break in the mid-day, we set out in search of food.

There is a hawker center about a block away from our hotel which is sort of an outdoor foodcourt with just local vendors. I opted for an Indian lunch and it was delicious and my very filling tray of food came to about $3.80US.

After a tasty lunch I went shopping--first for groceries (no $0.45 beer here!) and...tangerine colored shoes...I couldn't help myself.


Shopping is like a national past-time here. Just judging by the business one passes it seems everyone must be wrapped up in eating, drinking, shopping. Granted one could probably say the same about downtown Minneapolis.

In the afternoon we went out to the National University of Singapore to meet with their group that commercializes the technologies developed at the school. This was particularly interesting to me since my capstone project is to look at some of the factors determining the volume of start-ups spun out of universities. It was really interesting because they haven't been doing this very long so what US universities have been struggling with for 30 years, Singapore has condensed into 5 years.

In the evening we had a group dinner down at Clarke Quay. We had butter crab and all got to wear matching bibs.

I have never had crab (or lobster) where you have to get the meat out of the shell and I must say, a person could starve! Not to worry though, I managed to find more than enough food to sustain life...and then some.


It was 91 degrees and 94% humidity on our first day, but much cooler yesterday. I think it is supposed to be warmer again today.

Greetings from Singapore!

It has been a busy couple days but I am back with a quick update.

I had a really nice final day in Hong Kong with Meredith. We wandered around HK in search of a souvenir from the Rugby 7s for Ian and while we didn't find anything to buy, we were able to steal something!

We went out towards the stadium thinking maybe there would be a gift shop but, alas, there was none. There were, however, a bunch of posters taped to the box office window--on the outside--and we decided that was an open invitation. Normally, I do not condone thievery in any form but desperate times call for desperate measures.

After that we met up with Steve Tobkin, a Carlson alum working for Citi in HK. It was nice to be able to introduce Meredith to Steve since she'll be interning at Citi this spring, and Steve is such a nice and outgoing person that it made for a fun lunch.

After a leisurely afternoon, I headed out to the airport to fly to Singapore and meet up with my group. After boarding us on the plane, there was a delay and we wound up sitting on the plane for 3 hours before they let us push back from the gate. I must admit I was cursing the travel gods who were messing with my travel plans. While I was supposed to arrive at the airport several hours ahead of my group arriving from MN (valuable hours that I was going to dedicate to capstoning), I was starting to worry that I would arrive after them and miss them. Alls well that ends well and I arrive 10 minutes ahead of them and was waiting for them at baggage claim.

Singapore is very clean and very warm.



Our hotel is very nice and it seems very luxurious after the Bridal Tea Hotel in Hong Kong. Plus, the view is much nicer!



We had a nice free day to get our bearings and I used the time to have lunch with one of my all-time favorite alums, Ben Cohen, who is currently living and working for Merrill Lynch here in Singapore. It was delightful to see him and to see him doing so well!



Besides lunch, I wandered around with a few of my fellow students and I---yes, you guessed it---worked on my capstone. I should just stop mentioning it since it is just a constant. Like I don't tell you that I breathed today, I shouldn't bother mentioning that I capstoned.


I cannot tell you how great it is to have the whole group here. We had a little happy hour gathering last night and it was just fun since we all know each other so well by now, and really, for the most part, like each other.


And now I must get ready for our day's meetings. We'll be indoors for most of the morning so I'll have to dress warm--they like their AC here.

Time Flies

I cannot believe how fast these past five days have gone! I am leaving Meredith and Hong Kong this evening to join my classmates in Singapore. I think Meredith will be relieved to see me go if for no other reason than she is tired of being my model for all my photos.

I spent the entire day yesterday pondering my capstone. I would like to say that I spent the entire time---from 4am to 10pm---writing my capstone but that would be misleading. The stupid thing just does not want to be written so I spent the entire day re-reading all of the research materials, taking notes, and thinking. Aackkk! I just want the thing on paper!

My only outings were a trip to the grocery store and bakery for food for brunch, and a quick evening meal with Meredith before she went out with some friends for the evening.

I wound up getting up at 3:30am to start work on this thing again. I am happy to report that I have actually been writing but it still isn't going as quickly as I would like.

On Friday, Meredith took me on the extensive outdoor elevator system to SoHo for brunch and a little shopping before she had to go to class.
Brunch was delicious at a diner-style cafe and we wandered to Cain Street where our distant cousin lives.


We had hoped to meet up with him this week but it didn't work with his schedule. Next we stopped in a variety of wonderful little shops and I got little gifts for people back home and I annoyed Meredith by taking her photo constantly.

Beer Here! Get Your Free Beer Here! (that is meant to sound like Wally-the-beer-man at a Twins' game)

Well...ok, not free but pretty damn cheap. Meredith was telling me that shortly after she arrived here she met an Australian expat who described Hong Kong as a city of 7 million alcoholics clinging to a rock and after finding out what they charge for beer, who can blame them for the alcoholic part? It's hot and humid, and beer is cheaper than water...it's enough to drive a man (woman) to drink.
As an example, I went to the grocery store and I bought this 4-pack of pint-size cans (that's bigger than our standard size cans) for about $1.80 US. That's $0.45 for a pint of beer.

The pricing of things is odd--beer is almost free but coffee is about $4US for a medium Starbucks drip coffee--almost $10US if you want a latte. Food from street vendors is also very inexpensive, and even restaurants seem reasonable. It appears that most other clothing and goods are about what one would expect. Rent/property is ridiculously high.

The entire place seems to be under construction--it's pretty impressive. The I&S Group should open a branch office out here--Chad, you should get working on that. One weird (at least weird to me) thing was that all of their scaffolding is bamboo just lashed together.
It's not just used to get up one or two stories either, I saw a building that was probably about 20 stories with bamboo scaffolding all the way to the top. I wouldn't relish being on the 20th floor of metal scaffolding but I think I would be terrified of being on the 20th floor of bamboo which was merely tied together with plastic strapping.

Home in Hong Kong

I am staying at the Bridal Tea House on Li Tak Street, not to be confused with the Bridal Tea House on Anchor Street just a couple blocks away. Of course, I thought I was booking the other Bridal Tea House Hotel because it is literally right next door to Meredith's apartment. That was the other part of the rough start to this trip--so in case you're keeping track: I had luggage issues, I lost my wallet, and I booked myself in the wrong hotel. I swear to you, I am normally a really good, organized, and competent traveler!

When we arrived at the Bridal Tea House Hotel--the one next door to Meredith--to check me in at 1:30am, they had no record of my reservation, the guy at the desk spoke no English, and after trying to make us understand Chinese for 10 minutes, he summoned a security guard and indicated that we should follow him. We started to but when it became obvious that the security guard, who also spoke no English, was leading us out the door and down the block we got a bit nervous so we refused to go any farther. I was pretty confident that I wasn't being smuggled into the white slave trade but maybe they wanted Mere--she's young and cute and white--it could happen...

But back to the story...as it turns out he was just trying to lead us to the other Bridal Tea House Hotel, the one where I had actually booked a room. While you would never guess it from the street, the hotel is OK and the room is actually quite nice and far more spacious that one would think. I think it is bigger than Meredith's apartment which she shares with another girl.

I'm using one of the beds as my desk and have all my capstone stuff spread out and it works quite well. It's clean, has free wi-fi, horrible TV on a little flat screen TV tucked in the corner, and a big closet with a mini-fridge and an electric tea kettle. Really, what more could a girl ask for?

Well...a beautiful view, I guess, and I certainly didn't get one here. It is an interesting view, but not what I would call beautiful.

The Big Buddha Lives Up To His Name

I really liked the Tian Tan Buddha Statue and Po Lin Monastery. You would think that with my "Chinese in a Week" book and CD that I could tell you what Tian Tan means--and yet, I cannot. For all I know it means Big Buddha. The books all refer to it as the Big Buddha so I do not feel disrepectful calling it such myself.

He is big. Impressively so.

To get up to the Big Buddha, one takes an aerial cable car for almost 6 kilometers (wouldn't that be about 4 miles?) and that in itself is quite spectacular. I was in a cable car with a Chinese family: Grandparents, daughter and grandson. The little boy was maybe 3 years old and clearly was in an english-speaking school because he knew all sorts of little songs in English and he spoke English amazingly well and with an American accent. He was very funny. His grandparents would say something in Chinese that must have been to quiet him down (he sang very loudly and proudly) and he would respond with "What's the matter?" and then go on in Chinese. When you alight from the gondola you are led to a very tastefully tourisyt village, and then on to the Big Buddha.

The quality of this photo isn't the best. The day was not actually quite this grey, although it was decidedly overcast, but a) it was taken through the gondola glass and b) I had forgotten to reset my camera settings after last night's photo taking at the peak. You can see the Big Guy in the background which gives you a litte scale reference and you can see the gondolas.

I really like this photo of Buddha--I really like Buddha to be honest. There is something wonderfully calm and benevolent about him. It was lovely to see how many people were there to see the statue and monastery because of their devotion and not because they were mere tourists.

The monasterey was much the same. Despite the number of people, despite the tourists, it was calm and welcoming and peaceful.

When I got back from the Buddha, I meant to work of my capstone but I wound up napping. I actually am really interested in my topic but I guess that jetlag was catching up with me. I cannot complain though, I have adjusted to the time change amazingly well...I have struggled more with daylight savings time.

This evening I went to the Temple Street Night Market which was much like any market but not during the day. I did get little gifts for Tara and Margaret, and a suitcase to replace my defective one that I brought. That was the other part of the rough start to this trip--I was having suitcase issues. But now I can rid myself of the horrible purple trunk monstrosity and work with the new basic black, faux "Victorinox" which I successfully haggled down to $38.

I hate haggling. This wasn't so bad since the woman was a bad haggler--she started out telling me that she would give me a discount and then, while I was just pondering if I wanted to bother with dragging the bag back to my hotel tonight, she kept lowering the price. I really cannot claim much credit for my dealing skills since all I did was stand there quietly.

Brand New Day

I was so tired last night that I was literally nodding off as I was posting the picture of Mere and the skyline. Here's a couple more photos. I had my baby tri-pod with me so I was trying to play with exposures. I cannot decide which I like better so here are a couple.

I probably won't see Meredith today since she has a class field trip and then an evening class so I am going to wander off to see the Big Buddha--I'm sure I'll have tons of photos.

Hope all is well at home!

Tonight, the Peak. Tomorrow, Big Buddha.

Mere and I just went up to the Peak tonight and it was a lovely clear night so the views were great. Here is Mere:

It really was spectacular--after taking the tram up and taking lots of pictures, we had a bite to eat and now I am beyond tired and am going to go to bed.

Ian talked me off the ledge this morning (evening for all of you)

This morning I went out to the airport to see what I could see. I didn't make poor Meredith go with me since I there wasn't much she could do about the whole thing. After wandering neighborhood for about 40 minutes I finally made it the 5 block distance to the subway station. As it turns out, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention at 1am when Mere led me back from the airport. But all is well that ends well and I made it out to the airport with no major mishaps.

After wandering bleak back corridors of the airport, I gained nothing really. I filed official reports, talked to the airline, had a Starbucks coffee, and got back on the train to Meredith's neighborhood knowing no more about my wallet than I did when I left the neighborhood.

Just let me just say that Meredith's neighborhood definitely has a local feel to it...and I mean LOCAL. I like it but it has a definite gritty feel to it. I think the street my hotel is on must be the "metal working" street. There are a couple tiny little autobody shops, a metal fabrication sort of shop, and a couple metal scrape shops. These places are tiny--they would be about the size of small newstand at home.

When I got back to the hotel, Mere came over and I used her phone to call the bank to try and get a new ATM and credit card sent to me but of course that is not as easy as they make it sound on the tv commercials. Next I called poor Ian, crying and hyperventilating, and God-bless-him, the first words out of his mouth were "why don't I just send some cash and a credit card with one of your classmates who are leaving on Saturday?"

Why hadn't I thought of that?

Because I am a poor, tired, frantic dumbass with only 5.5 hours of sleep in 48 hours who isn't thinking all that clearly. That's why.

So once Ian solved all my problems, I was able to have a nice lunch with Meredith and a pleasant afternoon of wandering around.

Meredith had told me at lunch about the pet-fish market which I decided to check out this afternoon and it was a delight. There is a 2-block stretch where all the shops sell tropical fish in little bags, ready for you to take home and they are beautiful. I like the blue ones the best but there was one place that had the cutest little pink fish. Some of the places also sold tiny turtles.

Later, I took the ferry across the harbor into HK proper and it was an excellent value for 2.3 HK$ which would be something like $0.45 US$ (I think---you all know how bad I am with math-- but the bottom line is that it was cheap). The weird thing is that the difference between Hong Kong and Kowloon is night and day. Kowloon, which is Mere's side of the harbor is a strange and exotic place where I encountered maybe 6 caucasians in the entire day--and HK could be any major 1st world urban center on the planet.

While I was far more comfortable and at home in HK, I think I like Kowloon better.

It is amazing to me how quickly one becomes accustomed to one's environment--regardless how foreign it may be. I noticed this in NYC last week and here today but when I got off the subway at the Olympic Center station which is the one closest to my hotel, I really felt like I was home!

Complete change of subject...I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" on the plane yesterday and I would definitely recommend it. It was wonderful--definitely worthy of all the praise it has received. And Mary Jo, it has an ending you would be pleased with!