reading (& writing?) is for suckers. but TV sure is awesome.

john k viacom the 3rd. john oliver is brilliant (even though i'm convinced his accent is fake).

...and yes, i know these random video posts are not why you're reading my blog of life in asia, so i'll bring it home for you (literally):
at my apartment we have a really nice plasma-screen TV. but we hardly ever watch it. instead, we spend our time, on the couch or dining table, hunched over a laptop watching grainy streaming video of american TV, thanks to slingbox (we can login to kat's brothers TiVo back home in the US). and we're often watching the daily show when we stay in + cook dinner. this has all gone to crap given the recent writers strike. and while i side w/ the writers here, i wish the networks would hurry up and given the writers their due, so kat and i can get back to watching American TV out here.

i'm now going home to catch a cab to the airport. next stop, Bali (Indonesia)*.

*where we hopefully won't be kidnapped and held for ransom. we're hoping that our ethnicities will guard us from any rampant anti-Americanism (after all we have a Singapore patch on our backpack)

wow.

geez. this guy actually has me not just excited about the upcoming election (well the fact that we are getting someone out of office ALONE also has me excited), but inspired about the potential change that America can bring (hopefully). the cynic in me says, "how much of it is just charm and good politicking?" but the guy comes across as genuinely honest...not afraid to state what's on his mind (unlike quite a few others in the race who are simply playing the game).

early on in the campaign (Feb 06), i paid to see Obama at a fundraiser in Cincinnati so i could make up my mind amidst all the hype. he was that good. while tired from the initial canvassing of the country, he came off as frank and good-natured. and i like to think i have a pretty good BS meter. unfortunately, that which makes him so appealing could also be his downfall in the media swirl that has befallen our country.

regardless, i know where i plan to throw my weight this election season. hopefully this year my vote will actually count/be counted (2000 in the RED state of Alabama/2004 in Ohio, respectively)

thanks to my buddy Surya for pointing this one out.

351 pictures from Malaysia, truly Asia.

click an above picture to goto it's respective album. top 2 for Malacca, left middle for Kuala Lumpur. and the final 3 for Penang. eventually i'll get around to writing the grand entry, but for now, enjoy the pics - sans smarmy captions - courtesy of Nikon and Mark Zuckerberg...

random malayasia...truly asia?

it's getting late, so rather than blather on with the full ramblings of our 4 day sojourn into Malaysia* (Malaca, Kuala Lumpur, and finally Penang), i have instead selected some appropriately random pictures that can be found by clicking below:
*i'll get to a more robust post/set of pics eventually, but there are 2 things called sleep and work that tend to get in the way of my updates here.

happy diwali, from malaka.

eat fresh.

just a random thought before i leave for Malaysia.

if you want to successfully spot Americans in Singapore (they are the rarer Caucasians here), and don't feel like going to the US Embassy, head to Subway.

seriously. if you were thinking McDonald's, KFC, or some other popular US-brand store, forget it. there is enough critical mass of the local Asian population to make the Americans hardly but a drop in the bucket. thinking about a western style bar/pub? chances are the Australians and Brits have run it over.

so eat fresh.
OR as they say at Subway Japan: "enjoy the healthy option eating fresh vegetables."

...and btw, Mom + Liz made it back from Bangkok in one piece, with lots of stories to tell. while they didn't heed ANY of the instructions we gave them, and mom felt the need to bring back all of the free water from the hotel in her checked luggage, both of them had a great time, and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

they left their guava and lau apple with the reception at Dream Hotel.

be vigilant?

...some random thinking, spurred by this poster seen on and around the MRT:

while i often tell my mother (who's still visiting, returning from Thailand tonight, we head to Malaysia tomorrow for a long weekend) to not worry about me in Singapore, as "i'm safer here than you are in the US" (proven by recent events), i found this small piece of a larger government ad campaign quite interesting.

Singapore's means to attaining a relatively safe society, are accomplished in a very controlled fashion. the fines and/or punishment for ANY crime whatsoever are infamous (after all, as many novel souvenirs say "Singapore is a FINE city") and quite severe (let's not forget Michael Fay).** but does that lead to a safer society? well, i've seen 10 year olds riding the MRT into the late hours of the night, so sure, no doubt.

**[a brief tangent: most of South Asia + the Middle East take it to an extreme - the penalty for possessing and/or trafficking illegal drugs is DEATH - no ifs, ands, or buts. versus the US, Europe, and/or Latin America, where drug-related crime + violence is rampant. in the US specifically, drug-related charges merely lead to jailtime, and jails are becoming overcrowded with particular disenfranchised segments of the population that seek out the commerce/comfort of illegal substances to make ends meet. i'm not saying one is better than the other (but read between the lines), but the results DO speak for themselves.]

but how safe is it really here in Singapore? to the poster's point, nature abhors a vacuum. what's more interesting though, is this PERCEIVED notion of "absolute safety" that is indirectly perpetuated in the media by the government. YET such notions are countered by advertising similar to that which is seen here (that's the more interesting point). while i find the TV + print news here to be FAR more comprehensive and world-inclusive than that of the US (not a difficult task), the one thing that IS lacking is any honest critique of the local society and/or goverment. yet crime IS happening here, it just goes largely unreported. word of mouth carries it, but only to a moderate degree.

to be clear. it IS actually super-safe, clean, and nice here (and i'm not just saying that because i don't want the government to revoke my work visa :). but this lack of, or more specifically, discouragement of critiques (which leads to a perceived "safe" society), leaves many citizens here apathetic. and that is the more dangerous thing for which we should be vigilant.

l'amour Nescafé

as seen [previously] on a train in Bangkok. do identify with it? no, (though i do envy the the guy making the "moves" at the bellissimas of the office), my "relations" with Nescafé is far more complex (see below video):

dear Nescafé:
i know i shouldn't. but i must profess my addiction to you. whilst i normally only save coffee for those moments of extreme fatigue, since moving to Singapore, i find you free and easy to indulge in at the office. and so delicious. it's like someone took the best of toffee and chocolate and pounded it into the powdry goodness that is found within each slender, rogue packaging. so easily poured in my cup. so delightfully savored in my heart.

you have become a fundamental part of my afternoon, nay my existence in Asia, and i don't know what i would do if you were taken away from me (or if the company stopped fueling us with free caffeine). neither Lipton nor Coke Lite can sate my desire for your taste. sure, i have my infidelities from time to time (iced Green Tea DOES sate my other desires out of the office), but nothing gives me the satisfaction that you give me day in and day out.

i know you are available in the US. but it will not be the same. for our love is something so pure to the isle of Singapura, that having you elsewhere would be a disservice to the memories of our time together (that I will cherish forever). but let us not get to far ahead of ourselves, let us savor each and every moment together, as if it were our last.

ah l'amour...

and, NO, this java-laden ode was not inspired by Sara, this fire has been burning in my heart (belly/throat...acid reflux kicking in, ew) for far too long (or at least the ~8 weeks i have been here to date).

my mom comes to singapore.

mom + her friend liz came to singapore for a visit. we took them out and about for the first few days (night safari, harborfront, mt.farber, sentosa, and little india), before sending them off to bangkok for a few days. links to pics are below. click each photo to goto the 2 albums:

drinking & drawing - part VIII

not even a complete shut down of the MRT north/south line could keep the ladies (4:1 ratio, not bad!) away from WIR during what could have been it's final week...

benny lava, wherefore art thou?

kudos to my esteemed marketing colleague + buddy Nitin who shared this with me yesterday (he, in turn, got it from some other folks i vaguely know in the office):



yea, i know, real mature, but the "transliteration" is phenomanal. this happens in the streets here. daily.

really.*

after all, it is diwali season here, and 8% of the population is indian (even though this video is apparantly in Tamil, a south Indian/Sri Lankan language).

in other news, my mom arrives in Singapore tomorrow (Friday). i expect to hear how i need to brush my hair and clean my apartment better :)

*(no, not really)

royale with cheese.

not one, but TWO interesting food anecdotes to share from the other side of the world, both of which prove my theory that more often than not, the great food isn't at the swank restaraunt (which are still provide atmosphere and sometimes humor), but rather the dives (providing similar, but superior benefits at an inferior price).

#1: on my manager's last night in town, we took her to a swank/trendy Chinese restaraunt on the Espanade/Raffles Place called "Our Humble House." it was anything but. the food (we enjoyed a few dishes, the highlights being the Singapore Peking duck + a few Tiger beers) was good, not great. but if anything, the menu more than made up for it. read the title of each dish (underneath the Chinese):

SERVER: "what would you like to order, sir?"
RAMAN: "i'll have That Happy Feeling, In the Heat of the Moment."
SERVER: "very good sir, i'm sure you will."

#2: further supporting by above theory, last night we met up w/ one of kat's DISTANT cousins here, who just happens to work in my building (though not for PG, but rather the Ministry of Homeland Defense...uh oh).

anywho, they took us back to Little India (which retains it's title as "Raman's favorite place in Singapore") for dinner, at a hole in the wall South Indian place, where everyone was having masala dosa. though i opted for the classic raman favorite, Channa Bhatura:

no that's not a donut/pastry. that's a MASSIVE bhatura. i made sure the glass was in the picture so you could see it's relative size. and it's served on a beetle leaf, so you know it's fresh!

the other thing this proved is that in the record of delicious meals eaten in Singapore, Indian food is totally kicking Chinese food's butt. boo-yah!

now if you'll pardon me, i have to go to a Fragrant Meadow, because Morning Has Broken.

it's a zoo out there!

this past weekend we took it easy and stayed local, opting to head up north to the infamous singapore zoo (at the strong reco of my visiting manager mandy, who grew up here).

quite possibly the coolest zoo in the world.

on banks of the island's main resorvoir, the singapore zoo makes you feel like you're on an island (cue jurassic park music). with few exceptions, NONE of the animals are in cages, rather they are separated from the main path via a deep moat. so you can get really close. anywho, 2 albums worth of photos (just click the pic above to be taken the first, and the one below to be taken to the second), which can do most of the talking...

dubya tee eff?

the news is what happens.

too bad nobody cares to show up. well, unless of course you're dating me...

what i do at work.

get on a whiteboard, scribble away, do my song and dance, and ask someone else to help me make it happen. i'm an idea guy.

oh, and sit in meetings, drink nescafe + coke light, and play scrabulous.

i'm not just selling soap. i'm touching lives, improving life.

singapore is training their children to kick our ass*

LOOK! i have stealthily-acquired photo-evidence to prove it:

every few days after work, i walk by their training compound, or "community center," as they call it, where i see the local youths being trained, with martial bows in the fine art of ass-kickery.

as if that wasn't enough, all local males are conscripted to serve a few years in the military in their latter teenage years (seriously). and through further personal observation (people watching on the MRT) i've concluded that much of their precious time between the youthful days of combat training and the elder years of military combat are actually spent honing their mind in digital combat, as they are constantly wielding Sony PSPs (rather than the more innocent and docile Nintendo DS the rest of the world is so enamoured with), no doubt playing their war-games.

we must begin to prepare our defenses. before it's too late.



*this post was written in absolute sarcasm, and i appeal to the Singaporean government to not arrest and/or cane me. please. i'm delicate.

thailand redeemed. raman amazed.

today was, by far, my favorite day in Thailand, and unfortunately, my last. that being said, i do plan to return sometime very soon.

given i was on holiday, of course i chose to sleep in once again (big surprise). we quickly packed everything away in the the backpack, since i would be leaving on a jet-plane later that evening (a day earlier than kat. after all, SOME of us have to work.

we hopped on the skytrain, switching lines at Siam Station, and rode out of the city, where the towering city structures became less frequent, giving way to more parks and residential areas. we eventually reached the end of the line, at the main river, where we bought a day pass for the river bus-boat for 100baut (not sure if this paid out, VS having paid as we were going). for what little of a day we had, we had a pretty solid itinerary, to spend the afternoon seeing just a few of the MANY temples along the river, then for me to rush off to the airport.

we rode several stops downriver, passing a wide array of river boats - of the bus, individual ferry, and tourist variety. like the river Kwai from the day before, the water was brown and muddy, definitely not something worth jumping into.

our first stop was Wat Pho ("Wat" meaning "temple" in Thai). upon entering the gate, we were greeted by imposing stone guards towering over us. we paid for our tickets, and immediately entered the temple of the Reclining Bhudda. covered in gold, the Buddha rested on his arm, a few stories high. we walked past the columns, peering around them for a different angle of his body, which lain in a temple constructed around him, ran an immense length. you have to wonder what the original artists were thinking. i bet it went something like this, "y'know, Buddha's always sitting upright in the ol' lotus stance looking so serious, why not we try something a little more...relaxed? perhaps something a little more ...inviting. a little something that says 'hey, come on, join me, Buddha, on the middle path. it's just this easy.' "

the nice thing about Buddhism is that there's no hell for me to go to. my life is now just subject to a really sucky set of kharma. so long as it's more of the comedic, rather than tragic variety. ha.

outside of the temple, we walked the grounds of Wat Pho, which were even more impressive than what we had just seen. everywhere around us were intricate, towering spires covered in colored tiles. the photos taken, as with most of my photos from the day, can hardly do the experience justice. there were smaller, similar spires, as if the temples constructors had just gotten tired, but wanted to keep going. Wat Pho had me humbled and amazed.

outside, we quickly stopped for quick lunch, at a small restaurants on the street i had seen earlier. a fresh stir-fry of chicken, chiles, basil, and rice for me, and some form of egg noodles for kat - by far the best meal during my stay in Thailand. since our next destination was only a few blocks away, rather than get back on the boat, we decided to walk it.

along the way, we deflected several offers for taxis and personal tours of the area. there were also merchants sitting on their small rugs on the ground, selling their small wares. i wondered how these citizens eeked out their existence from such meager commerce, as what they were selling was hardly appealing or interesting to the passers by. the monks, in their orange robes, peppered the streets, simply waiting patiently for a bus to come by.

the one thing i'm not sure has come across in any of my recount/commentary of Thailand, is the aching similarities to India. i find Bangkok to be a bit more modern and cleaner than India, but this is not saying much. the India i came to recently know is a colorful and chaotic place, not much unlike my experiences in urban Bangkok, as well as the more rural surrounding areas. but though the Thai share the overall rushing quality of all of south Asia, they seem to do it in a much more...considerate, east-Asian manner. though you wouldn't be able to tell this by all of the street merchants and hawkers clambering for your attention and money, which is yet another similar trait to the streets of India. so the reminders were subtle ones, but all to familiar. and just like India, i didn't speak the language.

back to our day's adventure though. our next stop was the Sanam Chandra Palace. upon entry to the palace, where Kat, and many other visiting tourists were forced to detour into a small office to rent "more appropriate" clothing to view the temple. Kat rented a skirt to cover her ankles. it was just to either drop off your identification, or leave 100 baht deposit (~$3). it was a pretty red little number, and given the minimal investment (and difficulty to return later in the day), she wound up deciding to keep the skirt :). i only hope she's not now a fugitive of the Royal Thai police.

further in, we entered gates into the old palace grounds (only dating back to the 1700s), where we were flanked by by more elaborate, colorful, yet menacing figures for guards. the palace grounds had several temples and spires covered in gold, from which you could immediately feel the heat radiating. it took some time to cover all of the ground, but every detail was so refined and ...shiny. if it was only the towering spires and intricate colors of Wat Pho that had just earlier impressed us, here it was the sheer opulent and elaborate design of the inner grounds that had me amazed. there was even a replica layout of the temples of Angkor Wat, which gave me a preview of things to come (i plan to visit Cambodia to see this in November).

after taking far too many photos and staring at far too much gold, we walked over the adjacent Temple of the Emerald Buddha. we removed our shoes and lined up to enter, taking a brief seat to see the much smaller Buddha literally raised up on a pedestal of ornate gold. no pictures were allowed, but as with everything from this day, pictures would not have done the experience justice anyways. instead, settle for a picture of a cute kid petting a lion.

we exited the inner grounds, out to the outer palace. everything here was majestic and impressive, yet it paled in comparison to the earlier temples and spires we had just seen. we covered quite a bit of ground, but were baking in the heat, especially Kat in her constricting silken skirt. we took several pictures, and found respite inside a small restaurant for tourists, where the Gatorade was only 20 baht (< $1 USD).

back out in the heat, we walked to the nearest boat station, riding back up the river to Wat Pho, where we caught a separate bus-boat to the opposing river banks for Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn. by now it was nearing 3pm, and time was running short. we accidentally wandered into a smaller nearby temple, which was under construction for another brief respite, as the heat was bearing hard upon us. the young monks smiled and continued on with their repairs.

back outside, we found our way to the main entrance of the Wat Arun, which was made of one main spire pushing into the sky, with multiple ones surrounding it. other than aesthetics and purpose (not like they really matter anyways), the key difference with this temple was that we were allowed to climb to the top ...if we so dared. again, every piece of the temple structure was intricately carved and placed. the stone colors were simpler and more subdued, focusing only on reaching the heavens. the steps were thin and steep. and while going up was a task, coming down later would be sheer intimidation. while we only walked up 2 levels, we found ourselves high above the surrounding region, with an easy view of the bustling river, and even some of the other lesser, nearby Wats.

now pressed for time, we quickly ferried back to the other side of the river, and waited impatiently for our bus-boat back into the city. it eventually came, and we jumped on the skytrains back into the city. we briefly stopped at the tailor from a few days before, picked up my newly custom-made shirts, bid farewell to the Sidharji tailors, and rushed back to the hotel. i grabbed a quick shower to rinse off the caked sweat and dirt from the day's explorations, grabbed our pack, said a brief goodbye to Kathryn (since i'd be seeing her the following evening back in Singapore), and jumped in a cab bound for the airport.

as with any international departure in Asia, the process was painfully slow, followed by a lot of waiting. the Bangkok airport was extremely modern (only 2 years old, it rivals Singapore Changi airport). i now sit, typing in the dark on my flight homeward bound, with a full work-week just several hours away.

for even MORE pictures from the trip (3 albums), click one of the pics below, featuring me mocking the majesty that is Thailand:

part 1

part 2

part 3

...but i wanted to see the TIGERS!

today i was supposed to pet a tiger. the fates were conspiring against me.

got up a little later than we should have (but at a boutique hotel called "dream," it was to be expected), and took a cab to the south bus terminal, which was mysteriously immaculate and abandoned. we soon realised the grand opening would not be until the following week, so flagged down a cab and frantically explained our way to the OTHER south bus terminal, which felt more like a south asian bus depot (crowded and dirty). we jumped onto the back of the bus for our 120km ride north into Kanchanaburi.

2 hours later, we arrived ~1pm, and wandered about until we found the tourist office and could figure out HOW to get up the infamous river kwai (where the japanese used POWs + many asian slaves to build a bridge spanning the strategic river), and more importantly, get to the infamous tiger temple. a friend had indicated we might have to rent a motorbike/scooter, a fact that had me excited, and kathryn a bit nervous. (un)fortunately, there was a bus service available. since the bridge/river was nearby though, we opted to hop into the back of truck, which was the makeshift cab of the region.

the bridge was interesting, but only impressive given the historical significance. though we wondered if it would be so had their not been a major literary work documenting it into fame (as many modern historical sites, e.g. the Alahambra in Granada, Spain, where american author Washington Irving, and another of his european contemporaries made it infamous). was traversed the bridge, which was precariously overlooking the river Kwai (ie, you could fall in if you weren't too careful walking along the tracks). on the other sides were some shops, a park, and sadly, a few captured elephants. we took the necessary pictures, and made our way back across, eager to catch our 45km bus to the tiger temple.

we made it the street, caught our bus, and rode along. upon getting to our stop (which was more like an unofficial pause long enough for us to hop off), we wandered a dirt path, as our guide suggested, but the dirt path soon ended, leaving us on paved road. we flagged a tour van down for directions, and as they were bound in the same direction, they allowed us to cram in w/ a bunch of northern europeans. we made small talk for some two minutes down the road, and were soon at our destination. it was 3.50pm - this is where the day got disappointing.

according to ALL of our sources (2 guidebooks - lonely planet AND lets go, the regional tourism website, and some personal references), the time to view (and for a fee, pet the tigers) was from 3.30 - 5pm. not anymore.

annoyed, and with nothing left to do, we walked back to the main street. the walk back took significantly longer than our hitched ride, but we used it to curse the stupid monks for changing the time on the main reason we even came all the way out to Kanchanaburi. we waited for our bus, and upon seeing it approach us, flagged it down. it passed us by. figuring we were not necessarily at the right stop, we walked down the road, only to be passed by ANOTHER bus. dejected, we continued walking, and were eventually picked up by a local bus making quite a few more stops.

after 45 mins or so, we made it back to the city center, grabbed a quick bite (pan pizza), and caught a bus back, where kat invented the game "spot the King," basically a "punchbuggy" game everytime we saw an official poster of the King (which is pretty much on any official sign or building here). i started reading my new borrowed book, Prince of Ayodhya (a fictional prose retelling the Ramayan, one of the sacred Hindu texts, which i grew up learning about via comics, a british TV drama, and skits my parents made me participate in). naturally the superhero-like interest had me intrigued.

upon returning we argued with a cab driver to take us to our hotel (no one would go by the meter, but since we knew how much it cost to get to the south bus station from earlier in the day, we were able to negotiate a decent flat rate). we stopped quickly in our room, then caught a cab back out, this time to the night market, where we grabbed a quick bite at a hawker-center type venue (w/ really bad Thai pop singers), some decent Pad-Thai, and some watered down Green Curry. we then wandered the shops, which were 2-3x more expensive than the weekened market from the day before. we grabbed some trinkets (given my current reading material, i was inspired when i found a small Hanuman statue).

all in all, we spent most of the day travelling for something we were not able to see. i blame the monks. stupid monks. but i got to see an elephant and buy a monkey, so the day wasn't a complete waste.

more pictures from our day can be found by clicking the image below...

broad-based explosives.

here's the first set of pictures from thailand. we spent most of our day wandering the streets downtown and checking out the Chatuchuk weekend market (and the MBK mall), after which we had a pretty posh dinner (expensive, by either Thai or American standards) at a Thai/Indian place called Face.

now, you might be asking yourself, "self, what kind of title is 'broad-based explosives?' "

GREAT QUESTION.

one of the things i had planned to do on my inaugural visit to Thailand was to have a few shirts made for myself. i asked around at work for a tailor reference, and a Malay friend said her fiance' had gotten a few made, and gave me a phone # to call before i left Singapore. i called, and talked to a guy, asking for directions to his shop. when i asked for the name of his shop, through his thick accent, what i heard was "broad-based explosives." i found this odd, but was in a rush to get home and get to the airport.

so we're walking around bangkok saturday morning, address in hand, looking for the tailor, and this is what we found (focus on the ACTUAL name for the humorous effect) btw, i just looked at the website, which grossly overstates the look/feel of the actual place, which is nice, but a bit more hole-in-the wall). anyhow,i think this is one of those things i will always find this amusing, even several years from now. i had a shirt made, which was great at fitting, so opted to have 3 more. look for me to be sporting some stylin' threads at work tuesday...

seriously?

ok. this is becoming a broader trend that has been annoying me in my Asian travels. i get online (from MY laptop), go to a favorite site (Google or Blogger), and notice that everything is suddenly in the local language. now that makes sense at an internet cafe or a public computer, but on MY computer? where a webpage (made my people as smart as the folks at Google) can easily detect what version of my web browser i'm using (the US version of firefox, etc). it's not like i magically learned thai as soon as i landed in bangkok.

oh well.