a bird's eye view

Sands SkyPark in Marina Bay

Singapore Flyer

Singapore was my initial destination choice when I decided to relocate to Southeast Asia. In the US, we heard all the hubbub about the American that got sentenced to caning for chewing gum (in reality, his offense was for vandalism and not chewing gum). In hindsight, I technically broke the law as I had some months-old gum in my wallet that I had purchased from some kid after a late night club hopping (it takes a village (part 1)). I expected cleanliness and organization, but did not quite expect the diversity, forward planning, fresh air, and practically any other positive attributes that are usually missing in congested metropolitan cities.

Singapore does get a lot of attention for many of its laws but there are a lot of thought in enacting such laws to increase the efficiency and betterment of the population. The gum chewing ban saved billions in cleaning public places as well as maintaining equipment and mass transit systems. The standing water periodic checks and related fines have minimized mosquitoes in a place that constantly has rain. Begging is practically nonexistent, even if the individual is selling tissues on the street. Subsidized housing and/or low-interest mortgages make home ownership affordable. Bidding to get a car ownership license and ERP tolls help manage the traffic patterns.

For a country that continues to expand based on reclaimed land, I was surprised that it had such interesting topography. When a friend suggested that we go hiking, I figured that if construction workers can work in flip flops in Vietnam, I can definitely hike in flip flops - our destination was the tree top suspension bridge at the MacRitchie Reservoir. Almost 3 hours and approximately 12 kilometers later, my friend commented on the lack of monkeys since it is very common to see families of them throughout the trails. We were not disappointed as there was a family (with baby monkeys) hanging out at the end of the trail.

We also lucked out with the Singapore Arts Festival in town. While kuu (emptiness) by Yoshito Ohno was not the greatest modern dance performance I've seen, it at least represented the variety in arts & cultural events that I miss after living in NYC for over 20 years.

Yoshito Ohno

100 days

Today marks the completion of the first 100 days of my adventure. In some cases, my learning curve has been steep, and then there are the occasions where the old dog, new tricks saying comes to mind. I still procrastinate - I still haven't unpacked since moving into my permanent apartment three weeks ago. I generally don't like schedules or time limits, and therefore, do not wear a watch.

Although most of my travel nowadays require going through immigration, I still try to push the time when I arrive at the airport. Prior to 9/11, I got away with a lot. This included a flight to Las Vegas where the gate and airplane door had been closed, but the agents had both re-open just for me to make the flight. A friend used to get very stressed traveling with me, even though he was on a different flight at a later time than my flight. He would stress that I would miss my flight and would generally grab my bag and start speedwalking towards my gate while I continued at my normal New York pace, which is faster than a stroll. Being 6'3", his legs took him further than mine. Of course, he would give me dirty looks when I arrived at the gate, and as I continuously pointed out to him, in 'plenty of time' to make the flight.

The company driver took me to the airport today so I was forced to be early. All this does though is make me putz around. In this case, the 'putzing' was catching up on blogging. My flight was at 4:30pm with boarding time at 4pm. My last blog post was right at 4pm. As I was shutting down my computer, I heard my name over the airport intercom announcing final boarding call for the flight to Kuala Lumpur. In my defense, the flight was fairly empty so all the organized people (everyone but me apparently) were already boarded and ready at 4pm.

Then there are things that do change. I don't know if my Vietnamese has improved. At times, like when in Bangkok, my immediate response is in Vietnamese rather than English. I still don't pronounce words correctly and speak like an 8-year-old. The additional challenge is that the language has changed from French-inspired to Chinese-inspired. My vocabulary is frozen in time to circa 1975. I noticed that my parents struggled a bit with the language as well when they came to visit. For example, bank is now 'ngân hàng' rather than 'nhà băng'. On our way to Siem Reap, my friend told the taxi driver something that sounded like 'son bay'. I somewhat dismissed his attempt at Vietnamese and told the driver 'phi trường'. However, when my Vietkieu friend said something similar on our way to Hanoi, I followed up with her. It turns out that my Siem Reap friend was correct and that the new word for airport is 'sân bay'. How embarrassing that a Canadian white guy is teaching me Vietnamese. Sigh!

werd up!

Thai is based on the Khmer script which is similar to Sanskrit. When the language is transliterated into the Roman script, the phonetics of the words could result in different spellings, such as Chatuchak or Jatujak market. My friend pointed out that by overlapping that with the English language, this results in some interesting/vulgar uses of certain words. Intermix that with the Thai culture, where most are Buddhist and place higher value on tolerance - hence, the acceptance of ladyboys and openness of the red light district.

With that context, it becomes quite easy to turn innocent words into something that English speaking cultures would find humor in - Wat That Thong (temple), Mo Chit (transit stop), Phuket (city), Bangkok (city), Krabi (city), Asok (transit stop), etc. In addition, many Thais have 'porn' somewhere in their names. Names tend to be long since surnames are required to be unique to a family. I was told that one can distinguish old Thai families from relative recent and/or blended families based on the length of the surnames. Short ones are usually indicative of families that can trace their ancestry fairly far back, as the newer ones would have to add to the surnames to have unique family names. Depending on the context, 'porn' could mean powder, fruit, mix, or beads, to name a few.

Initially I got confused by the spellings as I got a number of recommendations from friends of shopping malls and markets to hit during my trip. For the life of me, I couldn't seem to find the transit stops or neighborhoods that they mentioned, until I realized that the spelling could vary. I finally found the Chatachuck/Jatajuk weekend market, which is a complete maze. I only knew to pay attention to how to get out because a friend had made a point of having me pay attention when I was here two years ago. Despite that, there were times that I still felt as if I was a mouse trying to find the cheese with tons of options as to which paths to take. After stalls upon stalls, I still was able to turn on my sweet tooth radar and found one of my favorite Thai desserts - sticky rice and sweet mango. Great way to end a lovely weekend trip in Bangkok.

got milk?

There are obvious things that make me homesick:

• images of my nieces and nephews on skype
• my niece telling me to hurry up and come home for Christmas
• messages from friends telling me stories of their adventures (and missing their friend/wingwoman)
• messages of encouragement and enjoyment from my stupid blog posts
• messages of concern from family and friends when they haven't seen me on skype, instant message, social media, or blogging in awhile

However, there are also things that on a daily basis, one takes for granted until it is gone. Bangkok is somewhere in between the developed and third world countries. It's got all the amenities of Western lifestyle at emerging market prices. Surprisingly, these are the things that Bangkok made me realized that I miss:

• speed and fast cars - the expressways and wider streets as well as less motorbikes/scooters enable cars to go faster than the 20-30 mph in Vietnam.
• lines/queues - people actually respected this concept rather than squeezing into every nook and cranny that they could in order to get in front of you.
• mass transit - getting a taxi to get around town gets old, and sometimes I just want to be an anonymous person in a crowded car to people watch without having to sit in traffic.
• sweet fruit - there are mangos and all sorts of tropical fruit in this region; however, Vietnamese tend to eat the more sour/bland type fruits, dipping them into chili/salt or chili/fish sauce concoctions rather than eat the riper/sweeter version of such fruit.
• chains - we have KFC, Subway and Dominos, but the regulations, market protection and/or access to supplies, including distribution channel and infrastructure, have increased the entry costs for businesses like McDonald's and Starbucks. Gosh, I sure miss the Mickey D's french fries and sundaes.
• quietness - if you don't pay close attention to the words, the intonation of Thai is very similar to Vietnamese. Yet, it seems as if Vietnamese have a tendency to talk over their counterparts, resulting in everyone raising their voices trying to outdo each other. This makes for a very loud elevator ride. Thai people seemed to have a gentleness about them from their helpfulness in the outdoor markets to their tone of speech.
• array of entertainment - HCMC has a number of bars, restaurants and clubs that can keep a girl's schedule pretty busy; however, there are times where I miss having a nice lounge or places for pure entertainment such as Broadway shows, musical/variety shows and the typical red light district that is for both genders. I haven't found the Patpong of Vietnam yet.

A friend asked me this week if there are things that I miss to put in a care package. I have a wicked sweet tooth so like to bake rather than cook. I insisted on finding a place with an oven, which is not common here. I always hated the taste of milk. Growing up, mom always made us drink a glass of milk every day before going to school, claiming that milk (despite the short genes that I inherited from both parents) would make us grow. We tried everything from chocolate milk to strawberry powder to make me tolerate the taste. Yet, I still would try to find ways to not have to drink it, including pouring the glass of milk that my mother had set out before she went to work down the drain, of course until my brother ratted me out.

So it was a bit ironic that the first thing that came to my mind of what I miss when my friend asked the question was fresh milk. The pasteurized milk with shelf life of multiple months just doesn't taste the same with cereal. My baking recipes also would need to be adjusted - all of a sudden it makes sense why my friend Rae had a tough time with making cupcakes, cookies, etc. while living in France where they also had the shelf milk. I'm going to have to find guinea pigs for eating my creations while I experiment with the local ingredients in my American recipes.

Factoid: Lack of access to lactose products like dairy products has resulted in more than 95% of those in Asian countries genetically being lactose intolerant. Luckily, I can still enjoy my ice cream cravings; however, there are times where I wish my mother would accept her lactose intolerance and not subject us to the repercussions. 😜

a good stretch

In the US, I remember seeing a number of spas offering Thai massages, but never had one. I had incorrectly assumed it was another type of deep tissue based on pressure points or something similar. So I was excited when my friend booked a 2-hour Thai massage after a long day out and about - a good ol' hard deep tissue, relaxing massage where I can fall into a deep sleep.

The place was a huge establishment with great services and very organized. I was confused when they brought my friends (a couple) and me into a room with three mattresses on the ground and no curtains or towel to crawl under. I was more befuddled when they brought in big Thai pants and shirts to change into as I'm used to being in the buff for my massages. Flashbacks to all those times in school when you had boys face one way and girls face another - we quickly changed.

A Thai massage is one where the massage therapist uses his/her body to stretch yours into various yoga type positions. Too bad I didn't know about these massages during my developmental years as it may have helped me be taller similar to Bobby Brady stretching on the swing set. I did not get my deep sleep but I left with my back cracked.

parisian air

Hanoi is considered the Paris of Southeast Asia. During the French occupation, there were a number of structures built with the French architecture of the time. Coupled with the numerous lakes in the city, the French architecture creates a European ambiance in certain parts of Hanoi.

While I've made a couple of other trips to Hanoi for business, this was the first time I stayed the weekend and experienced more of the social scene of the capital city. Interesting enough, the city is hotter and colder than its counterpart in the south. From a Vietkieu's perspective, I would liken Hanoi to being a beautiful woman (or man) from afar until she (he) opens her (his) mouth.

They are generally friendly to foreigners, and being a city where the government is based as well as primary location for state-owned enterprises, it is generally a more political, serious, structured type city whereas Ho Chi Minh City is more 'chill' and liberal. Although there are a number of Vietkieus who come to Vietnam to flaunt, and in many cases flaunt some wealth that they don't have, there are also a large portion who come to learn more of their history and connect with their birth country. The former though give the entire category a bad reputation though. Yet I have yet to feel any discrimination from the locals in Ho Chi Minh City towards Vietkieus. Quite the opposite...in fact, many are overly gratuitous with their flattery for any Vietkieu trying to speak the language, assuming in most cases that either I'm not Vietnamese or only speak English.

So when my friend (Canadian Vietkieu) and I stayed in Hanoi, we were a bit taken aback by the rudeness to us, including pretending they didn't understand our Vietnamese for something as simple as an order of 'lemonade with ice'. I've taken years of French classes in high school and college. I was excited during my first trip to Paris to practice my skills, but soon learned that unless I spoke with the perfect French accent, the Parisians were snobbish in anyone who tried to speak the language. I have had a mental block for speaking French ever since then. Hanoi has adopted that attitude, and my friend had to remind me when I ordered dessert to just speak English, and sure enough, that was a much easier task.

carpe diem

In a lifetime, one hopes that there are not a lot of moments that would start off with 'where were you when...' The space shuttle explosion, the Berlin wall coming down...and then there was 9/11. That day changed my life for many reasons.

There are always animated discussions when one discusses fate, things happening for a reason, no coincidences, etc. While I don't have the answers to that, I do know that the floors where Cantor Fitzgerald occupied were our firm's floors that were subleased after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Our partners were not keen on coming back to those facilities after descending over 100 flights of stairs. Cantor Fitzgerald lost all of its employees that were in the office on that day (2/3 of its workforce). A week before 9/11, I had decided to change my travel itinerary and decided not to take the first flight out of Newark to San Francisco (United 93) to meet with a client's attorneys, but rather break up my trip by flying to Boise on Monday and then San Francisco on Tuesday. Our new offices were across the street, and my apartment was a block away from the closest hospital.

Everyone there has very vivid memories of the day and the aftermath. For me, living in a 5th floor walk-up apartment with no air conditioner and constantly keeping the windows open, I will always remember the smell of decay the summer after when the wind blew in a certain direction. So a week after the news about Osama, I am constantly asked about that day once people realize I'm from New York. Unfortunately, it doesn't give me closure. I am glad though that New Yorkers do not have to go through all the trials and tribulations of the American court system, and all those that would protest to argue that such individuals deserve a fair trial. There is no fairness or rationale for what occurred, and some of us are still left with trying to figure out why we were spared.

in search of lara croft

I'm not a morning person, but was told that I needed to at least do a sunrise or sunset at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. After a 4:45am wakeup call, we set off for the biggest religious temple in the world. Although it was originally built as a Hindu temple, it was eventually converted to a Buddhist temple. The day we went happened to be a Buddhist holiday so portions of the temple were used for ceremonial purposes. Dusk looked promising until Murphy's Law reared its ugly head when a big mass of clouds decided to mask the sun when it was waking up. Despite the initial disappointment, the lighting and reflection lake of the massive temple were still worth the trip.

Of all the temples though, my favorite wasn't the largesse of Angkor Wat or the many faces of Bayon Temple, but rather the small ruined temple amongst the trees, and what is commonly referred to as the Lara Croft temple since scenes from the movie were filmed at that location. Ta Prohm Temple is about as old as Angkor Wat (~ 200 years), but because it was built deep into the forest, trees have infiltrated throughout - it is unclear whether the temple is keeping the trees up or vice versa. These massive trees had roots that were embedded deep into the temple corridors and in some case, grew from the top of the temple. The tree that was at the spot which was featured in the movie turned out to be two separate trees, with a decrepit one underneath another weblike tree that had taken over the original's spot.

We did come back to trek the steep hills and stairs to catch the sunset at Phnom Bakheng, despite the sweltering heat. It was both breathtaking and peaceful (once you got to the point of ignoring the droplets creeping down your back and the 'swamp ass'). Although we didn't get to catch a glimpse of the sun rising, it blessed us with its presence before it turned down for the evening. Chithin the elephant, who represented his ancestors before him that were used to carry the large blocks that built such temples, escorted me down from the mount.