South-East Asia Followup

Honestly, it all seems like a fast blur to me now. I'm trying to recall details of my "week" in Asia, and although it was only 2 days ago that I returned it is difficult. So I've taken advantage of access to photoshop and seeing my pics on the big screen at home. Here are a few stories in picture form, to make up for the lack of verbal acuity.

The food was special. Most of the time it could give you an opinion itself. They call that "fresh" although my stomach and brain often rebelled against the "fresh" hot innards dripping out as my fingers fought to remove bits of shell, legs, and heads.In Singapore, I also found the night images far more breathtaking than those of the day. Here's my hotel and some of the things to see just outside it.

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I thought it was cool how these lamps looked completely different depending on the angle. The mosque was interesting from every angle.

I'm really surprised by some of the photos possible through a camera phone!

And last, but not least, many aspects of my time were dominated by thoughts of Starbucks. For those not in the know, Starbucks has for years now produced a collection of collector mugs. Every major city in the world that has an outlet has a collector's mug available there an no where else.







A friend's friend is collecting... all of them. And so I was tasked to pick up some of the local varieties while away. For example, I'm really happy with my Kuala Lumpur (new edition) mug as pictured here. I came back with one bag more than I had left with and it was packed full with 6 new mugs.

FYI, I think I've now started to collect these silly things. So far I have one from Singapore, one from Kuala Lumpur, and rarest of all, one from Amsterdam. Amsterdam has only one Starbucks outlet and most people have no idea where.

Singapore City

I had two posts to the blog from KL before my first 24 hours were done. So it felt completely wrong to wait until the last night to post from Singapore. But it felt equally wrong to post a blog entry from Singapore while I was having so much fun here! Get busy living or bet busy blogging. You can't do both.

Speaking of wrong... is this not the wong place to go for changing currencies? Apparently it is, and they are PROUD of it!


I've complained, but no matter what, they won't let me pour my own beer. Okay, I haven't complained a LOT. But honestly... isn't she pretty?

And speaking of pretty, this city is BEAUTIFUL! So much culture, so much diverse architecture, so much much! It's a mostly budhist country but islamic style dominates as the coolest part of the place.... Although perhaps the most striking is the mix of old and new....

So let me end with," Singapore... Wow!" KL was kool, but this is krazy! And to top it all off, there's more exotic excitement here than any where else I've been! But best best best of all, not only is the place comfortable and friendly, and not only did I not need to bring TP along (just in case), but they have some of the nicest washroom facilites I've had the pleasure to enjoy!

Yeah, I travel too much.

Tomorrow, I have a morning meeting and an 11pm flight. Uhg. How to fill the 8 hour gap is currently unknown. Rest assured, I'll take pics. I'm truly looking forward to landing at 5:30am in Amsterdam and hoping (praying) I can get to sleep in my own bed before the sun rises at 8ish.

Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

To paraphrase from Austin Powers III," Hi everybody, I'm going to Kuala Lumpur. Isn't that weird?"

I've been thinking of today and this next week as one more business trip. The passport dealio didn't leave much time for other thoughts. And work's been busy. But last night my buddy who travels constantly was genuinely impressed by going to KL. I have no idea why.

I still see it all as a hellishly long flight and strange new plumbing. And in preparation there's much to do.

If you'll bear with me, I have to enumerate my to-do list. I feel like I'm forgetting stuff. It starts with laundry and clothes to pack. There's stuff to fold, shirts to iron, and then all of it needs to get squished into a suitcase. I need to email the landlord about the change of contract that needs to happen ASAP. I intend to write a blog post before I go... when I will get the time for that I know not! As I'll be gone for a week I really need to clean up some stuff too, such as the network cable strung across the floor. Or should I pack the network cable... just in case? And what kind of plug system to they use there? Which adaptors do I need for my computer and cell phone charges? I'll have to go to the World Fact Book and look that up.

Well, there's about 5 hours left between this word, right .... NOW, and the time I have to get on the bus to the train to the airport. Let's hope I remember to pack my cough medicine (good medicine!), toiletries, etc. Do I need a tie?

And speaking of strange new plumbing... do I need to pack my own toilet paper? Oh God I hope it's not one of THOSE business trips!