Singapore

I've had the lucky opportunity to take a business trip to Singapore. I'm still here and I can say its a nice "change" to TEDA.

I think living in China brings its challenges, especially around the language and culture. Whereas Singapore feels a lot more western and more diverse.

After my first week, I've already gotten a good feeling for the city and its people. All you need is a couple full weekends and you really get the hang of it, especially if you've ever been in bigger cities like New York, London or Beijing.

First, I love the diversity. After a couple months in China, surrounded by other Asian ethnics in Singapore is nice. There are still many Chinese, I believe about 70% make up the total population, but you also have a mixture of Malays and Indians. And what I didn't know until I arrived, a good amount of Filipinos! I can hear people speaking Tagalog everywhere. From my colleagues, to the people that work in the service industry, to the people that pass you by in the street.

Second, I love the food. Its good and its cheap. I love the Hawker centres! You have your traditional Singaporean food, and various different other varieties of Asian food that I've never tried before until this visit. I absolutely love the Laksa, Tutu kueh with peanut filling, Bak Kut Teh, BBQ Stingray, Chicken satay, and of course Chicken Rice! The expense of beer is another story though. Not so cheap.

Thirdly, there are too many shopping malls! I've never seen so many high end shops spread out through the city in my whole life. Usually you get your high end shops in one concentrated area in big cities, but I see Louis Vuitton and Gucci everywhere! The city comes off like everyone is making so much money!

Lastly, its so clean. Its probably because the fine for littering is pretty steep. Last I checked, it was SGD 300 (150 GBP) just for littering cigarette butts or candy wrappers! And you can't even eat in the train. Eating/Drinking on the train is a SGD 500 fine! I grabbed a quick snack before going sightseeing and started to eat my scone before entering the train. Bad idea! Luckily I saw the signs and stuffed my snack back into my backpack!

I've had a few more impressions, but those are the ones that stick out the most. Would I move here? Maybe. If the right timing and opportunity came along, I think me and my better half would consider it. For a couple years, I'll deal with the fact that there aren't any real seasons, but I wouldn't mind. After all, the rest of south east Asia would be at our doorstep! As London is a hub for Europe, I think Singapore would be the same for Asia! Maybe one day.

Beijing, Xi'an, and Pingyao

The big tour began today with the better half. Gotta love the bullet trains. 1 hour to Beijing from Tanggu Station. Great Wall tomorrow and hopefully another robot video to add to the vast collection. Stay tuned for updates.

Mental and Emotional Toughness

I think this is probably the toughest day I've had since the start of this trip. Don't get me wrong, I've kept myself occupied all day, making my way to Tianjin again for more sightseeing. Things can get a little tough mentally and emotionally when the day winds down and you have that little moment to yourself.

A few things come into mind whilst I ponder alone:

1. I could be in London right now watching the Olympics.
2. Its my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday sis!

I was fortunate enough to win the raffle to get Olympics tickets in hopes of having the family over in London but things obviously didn't work out. But luckily my better half is experiencing this unique experience. Its a medal ceremony too!

Also its my lovely sister's birthday today. I have a bad memory, but its been a while since I got the chance to celebrate with her since I moved to London. Maybe next year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, my experience thus far has been unforgettable. But sometimes its just nice to be surrounded by family.

5 more days.

Tianjin Cab Ride

My second weekend was interesting.

I made my way to Tianjin via the Jibin Light Rail, but unfortunately it doesn't exactly get to my intended destination, Xikai Church.

The week before I took a random bus and walked a fair bit, so this week I was a bit lazy and decided to take a taxi.

Once I got to the end of the line, Shiyijing Road, I exited to the street level and I found a whole rank of taxis waiting for me.

Perfect. A bunch of drivers soliciting their services. Since I can't speak a word of Chinese, I show him a picture of the church sign in Chinese I took last week.

He agrees and gestures a "3" sign to me. Don't know what that means, so I just nod yes. I get into the taxi and another couple sits in the backseat. Strange. I guess that's what he meant by 3.

He pulls away, and the first thing I notice is that he doesn't start the meter. Not a good sign.

Then he proceeds by taking an indirect way to the church. At first I question this, but then realise its a way to avoid traffic. Fair enough.

We turn back into the main road after a couple minutes and I start to pull out some cash since the destination is approaching. The taxi driver sees my ¥20 and starts waving his hand, indicating some negative connotation. Is this ride for free?

Right before we get to Xikai, he drops off the couple on the corner before. The couple pays ¥13. Okay cool. I guess that's about right. And they've paid for me too! No wonder he was waving his hand in such a negative matter! The couple exit the taxi and we proceed about 300 meters down the road, when he stops.

I try to give him my ¥20 and he continues to wave his hand! So I try to leave but he points at my wallet. So I take out another ¥10, thinking it should at least be that much. With ¥30 in hand, he smiles. (So that's what he meant by his hand gesture "3"!) I complain that its too expensive in English. (Of course he has no idea what I'm saying.)

He then proceeds to take the money from my hands!! And then to top it all off, in English, he goes:

"BYE BYE."

I exit the cab, shaking my head, almost laughing to myself. I couldn't believe I was scammed. I paid 3 times more than I should have!

But then its all relative I guess. =) Compared to London prices, that's dirt cheap.

Lesson Learned - In China, don't take taxis that are parked along side a bunch of other taxis, soliciting your service. You are better off hailing one off the road that's passing by. =)

Haircut

I went for my first haircut today. I didn't know what to expect.

I usually take my relationship with my barber seriously and its usually a monogamous relationship. If I pick the right one, I'll stick with him/her. Maybe its partly due to my childhood as my aunt would always cut my hair, throughout my teenage years, college year, all the way up until I left for London.

When I arrived in London, after a couple of barbers that didn't have a clue, I found one that I've always come back to for over 7 years.

Now that I'm here in China, I wanted to find a good one. Fortunately, I knew what barber shop I wanted to go to since I passed it everyday when I had lunch with colleagues.

To be on the safe side, I searched on the internet for photos of how I wanted it cut. Given the language barrier, I've learned the best way to communicate is through images. This particularly holds true when ordering food so I thought I'd try it with a haircut.

After finding images that successfully replicated what I wanted, and I ironically, it was one of Chow Yun-fat, I decided I was ready take my chances. What's the worst that could happen? If it goes horribly wrong, I just shave my head!

I get to the barbershop and I try to speak in English. (I'm always uncomfortable when I do this as I always feel like I'm a complete ignorant American that's too lazy to learn their language.) Of course, no one speaks English, to no surprise, but the nice guy communicates that its 38CNY for the haircut. 38CNY!!! That's so cheap. (More or less equivalent to less than £4!)

I show him the pictures of how I want it cut and they agree.

So the first guy leads me to a room to wash my hair. This guy doesn't speak English either, although he does know one word. Yes.

So to check if the temperature of the water is good enough for me, not too hot or cold, he asks:

"Yes?"

Which I respond with:

"Yes."

Eventually my haircut starts and I must say, the guys is a master with clippers. My barber in London scissor cuts what this guy accomplished with clippers. I must say, it turned out pretty good. What did surprise me, and something I haven't experienced before in any barbershop, is that they washed my hair after the haircut! Can't complain about that! I always hate it when my hairs end up on the back of my neck and back side, under my shirt, and it gets all itchy!

After the shampoo guy and I exchange our "Yes's" a second time, I sit down again and the barber, or shall I say hairdresser, blow dries my hair and puts product and hairspray on it like I'm about to walk down a runway for a fashion show.

In the end I can say I was pretty happy on how it turned out. I was so happy that I was speaking to him in English, asking him if he worked on weekends and even asked for his name. He just kept smiling and nodding. I smiled as well, and even said out loud:

"You have no idea what I'm saying! Do you?" as I laughed out loud.

Eventually he gave me his business card and I left him a reasonable tip that he politely refused, but I made sure he accepted it. He was so happy.

I'll be happy to say I'll be coming for another visit.

No, that's not an oven.

I started my 3 month stay at my apartment in China last Friday. I'm slowly settling in and one of the things about moving into the new place is getting familiar with the appliances.

The stove seems simple enough. Turn the knob and eventually the gas is ignited and a flame starts. Perfect.

The washer and dryer seem a bit more complicated. A bunch of buttons in Chinese, but fortunately there is a print out that's given to me that translates each of the buttons. After playing with it a few minutes, I get the hang of it, to prove that its broken and doesn't work at all. Not even the rinse cycle.

The best part was trying to understand how the oven works. I had the lady, who is essentially the manager of the apartment, show me how it works. We both take turns pressing the buttons and the LCD display doesn't make any sense to me. She then started gesturing the action of washing the dishes and eventually putting them into what I understood was the oven! I then responded,

"Oh that's not an oven?"

"Oh no, that's just where you put the dishes!"

We both laughed out loud.

Grocery shopping for the first time.

As I continue to orient myself in my new living situation, I made my way to Tesco today for some grocery shopping.

The name itself gave me a little comfort as there are many Tescos in the UK. What could be so different? I thought it would be pretty straightforward, but I found myself struggling as the store was so big, and I couldn't find anything!

There were a few reasons why I struggled:

1. I couldn't read the overhead signs

I think the main reason I struggled was that I couldn't read the overhead signs that tell you what kind of products are in each aisle. Typically, you can push the grocery cart past all the aisles you don't care about, but I found myself visiting every aisle.

2. I can't read any of the labels.

OK, sure, I can tell the difference between a piece of chicken breast and a slice of beef. This was easy. But I couldn't find things like baking Soda. (I needed it for the fridge) I couldn't tell between soy sauce and/or oyster sauce. So I had to look at the consistency of the liquids. I couldn't find salt! There was such a large selection of dumplings/dim sum. I wanted to buy a few frozen bags, but I couldn't read the labels on how to cook them.

3. Forgot to weigh and label.

I didn't follow the protocol of weighing and labeling the fruit and chicken. I tried to buy some bananas and frozen chicken that I just put in a plastic bag, but apparently I had to weigh and label them first. When I got to the checkout counter, and looked for the label, they asked me, but I then only shrugged and played stupid.

4. Not many western brands

This isn't a complaint. But you know when you rely on a certain brand and you always buy it because you love eating it? I'm going to have to get use to it here. And if you do find a "western" brand, there's a premium for it!

5. Fascinated by the product selection

This isn't so much of a struggle, but more of a fascination. I noticed there was such a large selection of noodles and rice! And in the meat and poultry section, (including chicken feet) they had a very large selection of fresh seafood and Tesco sold frogs! I assume for consumption (the frog legs?) rather than a domestic pet!

In conclusion, it was an interesting experience, and I was definitely out of my comfort zone. I was frustrated at first, but then started to appreciate what I was going through. It really opened up my mind.