Nothing says celebrating our troops like Singapore

(I started writing this way back in May, but got a bit sidetracked. Oops! But, I'm back at it now, so let's get to it!)

Memorial Day weekend. It's a time to reflect and give thanks for the sacrifices the men & women of the military have made, and gather with friends & family for classic American traditions like backyard BBQ, fishing with Dad, road trips, and in our case, a trip to Singapore. Yep, nothing says America and saluting the troops like a trip to tightly controlled, regimented SE Asian island country where chewing gum can get you thrown in jail (seriously). In honor of our American holiday, we decided to be as touristy as possible and hit up a couple of the main sights in Singapore: The Gardens by the Bay and of course, the most American spot we could find: Universal Studios. First up, the gardens.

The Gardens by the Bay are a set of ridiculous parks and gardens right in Singapore. There are indoor and outdoor portions of it. The outdoor parks feature several wide open spaces and art sculptures.

It's not a real garden without a giant floating baby sculpture

One of main attractions here are the Supertrees. What are the Supertrees? Glad you asked. Per Wikipedia, "Supertrees are tree-like structures that dominate the Gardens' landscape with heights that range between 25 metres (82 ft) and 50 metres (160 ft). They are vertical gardens that perform a multitude of functions, which include planting, shading and working as environmental engines for the gardens."

Supertrees: Faster than a speeding bullet! Able to leap...wait, no. That's not quite right.

As I said, the trees are impressive. Initially we planned to climb the trees and walk the skywalk that connects them, but then we realized we were in Singapore and it was sweltering hot. So we chose to focus our efforts on the indoor parts (yep, we're wimps). So we snapped a few pics and headed for the indoor conservatories. 

Conservatory: Latin for air-conditioned glass dome

In my opinion, the two conservatories (the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest) are the real stars of the gardens. Per Wikipedia, both were designed to be "an energy efficient showcase of sustainable building technologies and to provide an all-weather edutainment space within the Gardens." The two structures are unique because neither has internal support columns, while still covering an area of about 2.5 acres each. From an architectural standpoint, this is really quite amazing. In fact, the structures won an award as the World Architecture Building of the Year in 2012. 

Check out that sweet, sweet lack of internal support columns. It's science.

Also, as part of the efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the buildings: "Rainwater is collected from the surface and circulated in the cooling system which is connected to the Supertrees. The Supertrees are used both to vent hot air and to cool circulated water." So the buildings look amazing, win awards, and are environmentally friendly? Well played Singapore. Well played.

We started our visit with the Flower Dome. It has flowers, succulents, and other growing things (that's a technical term) from various regions (Mediterranean, SE Asia, California, etc). It's basically a huge greenhouse tucked away right in the middle of Singapore. A very nice break from the hot, muggy city.

Desert plants

Funky furry cacti 

Even full sized trees!

Gloria loves her succulents

As we were walking around, we kept seeing signs for a rather odd warning/request.

Apparently gravel shenanigans are quite an issue in the Flower Dome. Damn tourists flinging the gravel everywhere!

In all seriousness, the Flower Dome is pretty spectacular. Tons of beautiful plants, flowers, and it is amazingly well kept. Much like the rest of Singapore, it is in perfect working order.

No garden is complete without a metal rooster sculpture thingy

I'm not sure why, but I think these bikes in the flowers looked cool.

Honey Possum don't give a shit

Baobab. Hehehe baobab. 

Just like being home...

After the Flower Dome, we headed over to the Cloud Forest. Epic names right? Anyway, we had heard that there was some kind of waterfall inside the Cloud Forest. And possibly a forest of clouds? Only one way to find out!

WATERFALL!!!!

Yep, that's a waterfall all right. It's the first thing you see and it pretty much dominates the entire space. After standing in front of the waterfall and getting blasted by water mist for a minute, we made our way around. The rest of the path through the cloud forest encircles the waterfall, with various exhibits and things to see.

The backside of the waterfall. Notice the little girl playing in the foreground.

Alligator boat flower pot at the top of the waterfall. Naturally.

The view from the top of the waterfall

That pretty much finished up our day at the Gardens. So we headed back to hotel to rest up for a bit, because we had evening plans. Oh, did I forget to mention? In addition to the touristy stuff, we also went to a fancy dinner and a show. This was not just any old dinner and a show. Oh no. This was a ridonkulous dinner at Cut, which is Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse at the Marina Bay Sands. Everything about the place is top notch. From the drinks,

I don't know what they are, but they look delicious!

to the ambiance, to the food. Oh the food! After not having a good steak in almost a year, I was in heaven.

Mmmm plate o' beef

Just after taking my first bite. That is the face of a happy man.

Even the bread was outstanding. Always the mark of a good restaurant in by book.

Everything about the meal was amazing. Definitely a special occasion type place, and it was worth it.

Then it was on to the show. Much like dinner, this was not just any show. This one was a dream come true for Gloria.

Yep, Dirty Dancing. For me, it was a decent show. For Gloria, well, lets just say that she was singing along to every song. She knows this story inside and out. She loved it and we both had a great time.

The following day it was time for UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!

As many of you already know, theme parks are kind of a big deal for us. Gloria has always loved them (especially Disneyland), and I grew up taking family trips to Florida to visit Disneyworld. Also, Gloria and I have been to Disneyland together as well.

Mmmm turkey leg...

As you can see, given our history, a trip to Universal was a no brainer. Off we go!

Walking into the park, it looks a whole lot like Universal Studios in CA, except everyone is Asian. Well, maybe that's the same too :)

Now, as I said, we're theme park veterans, and we didn't just walk in all willy-nilly. Oh no, we had a plan. We researched (and by researched, I mean spent 10 minutes googling) which rides are the most popular, and our plan was to hit those first before the lines got too long, then spend the rest of our day on the less popular rides. That way we'd minimize our time spent waiting in lines. Genius right? Right.

We knew that Transformers was the most popular ride in the park, so let's hit that one first. We confidently stroll up to the ride, and are greeted by a sign saying 45 minute wait. What? That can't be. We have a strategy! And just like that, our strategy went out the window. Epic fail. We bit the bullet and waited in the line, which lasted more like an hour. But the wait did spawn a fun new game: guess what the warning signs mean. Ready? Here goes!

No puking off the boat? (always detailed, Singapore even shows chunks)

Smoking skulls not allowed

No dancing in your seat. Holding hands with children is ok though.

This one is kind of easy. No pregnant women, heart patients, or people getting struck by lightning. Duh.

Ok let's see...No running man while laying down? You will not float amongst the clouds?

No miming? Doctors not allowed.

See how easy that was? It's all so self explanatory.

In addition to the oh-so-clear warning signs, there were also a bunch of other Transformers related props and things around to get you in the Tranformery mood.

After the long wait, we finally made it!

Our noble steed to carry us thru the Transformers ride.

The ride was pretty good, except for the girl next to us screaming her damn head off. Seriously. I think she needed therapy after the ride.

After transformers, we tried to ride the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster. There are actually 2 coasters, one for each "side" in the story (sorry, never watched it). Anyway, we picked one and hit the line. After waiting for almost an hour, the ride was halted due to lightning. Son of a ...! So, we decided to hit up hit up The Mummy while we waited, which was awesome. Very similar to the one at Universal in CA, and a lot of fun. The skies were still looking a bit dark after the ride, so we headed over to Far Far Away for a bite to eat.

Two things to note in this picture. 1. This time Gloria has the turkey leg. Mmm turkey leg.... And 2. the sky. Look at how dark the sky is. No joke, lightning struck the castle just after I took this picture. It was crazy loud and you could feel it in your entire body. Kinda freaky.

Anyway, we watched the Shrek movie, and by then the weather seemed to have cleared, so we went back to Battlestar. This time we made it a little further the last time, and then (you guessed it), more lightning and the ride is closed again. Balls! So we headed off to a few more indoor rides (Madagascar), found Gloria's snack shack,

and checked out a few more rides. Eventually we did get to ride the Battlestar coasters (they are awesome!), and we closed out our day with Jurassic Park (that ride got canceled due to weather earlier in the day as well). Keeping with the theme of fun warning signs while waiting in line, here's the one from Jurassic Park.

Note that it says "possibly" soaked. Well, I was that possibly. Entirely, completely, soaked. I happened to be in the one seat that took the brunt of the big splash at the end. Good times!

Those used to be tan, not dark brown

Ultimately, the day at Universal was a lot of fun, and our weekend in Singapore was a blast.

TEASER: Coming up in our next post, we have our most epic trip yet. We'll tell you all about it. Stay tuned...

Stars Wars in Jakarta

A few weeks ago there was a Star Wars convention here in Jakarta. When my neighbor Prateek asked if I wanted to go with him, of course I said yes. Who could turn that down? The chance to see a bunch of Indonesians freak out over Star Wars? Um, yes please. I imagined full on cosplay and people going ga-ga over Leia and Luke and Han... I had to see this.

Now before I get into detail, a bit of background on what Star Wars is to me. Honestly, it's never been that big of a deal. I like it, and I can vaguely remember my Dad taking my brother Jeff and me to see it (I think it was at the Harbor Theater in Lakeside), but I don't remember which of the three movies it was, nor did I have a bunch of Star Wars action figures or anything like that. I've just never been into it the way many guys from my generation tend to be. I mean, come on, Luke Skywalker is cool and all, but he's no GI Joe. Those guys were awesome. I definitely had those toys and I may or may not have strung rappelling lines down the stairs and across the living room of my parents' house. It was so awesome! But I digress... back to Star Wars.

I really wasn't sure what to expect here. Would it be small and not that big of a deal, or completely over the top and ridiculous? I was hoping for lots of Asian style geekiness and some good star wars ridiculousness. Only one way to find out...

Walking into a nondescript office building, the first thing I see is this banner, pointing me towards the festivities.

Star Wars Day Jakarta!

From there, it opened up into a series of semi-connected conference rooms filled with paraphernalia, collectibles, and other random Star Wars stuff. The first room was people in costumes posing for pictures.

Looks just like the real Luke Skywalker. No difference at all. None.

Is that a peace sign/gun combo hand gesture?

It's the world's DEFINITIVE imperial costuming organization. Duh.

In the next room we found tons of action figures, huge set props, etc.

This was my chance to turn the tables on all the Indonesians who normally take my picture.

These are all made of Legos. 

More Legos. Seriously.

Then there was the stuff for sale/trade (I think)

He's so dreamy 

Wait, what? Angry Birds Star Wars? Really?

Um, wrong convention?

This picture made me laugh. Yes I know I have a weird sense of humor, but come on, it's a storm trooper eating noodles. It's funny. No? Meh.

Storm Troopers gotta eat too!

So far, it was tamer than I was hoping. Very few people were dressed up except the official parts of the show. I was about to leave, but then Prateek mentioned that one of his friends was supposed to be running a booth and we hadn't seen him yet. So we ventured off and found him. He wasn't just running a booth. He had created an Imperial Academy flight simulator game.

It was the most impressive thing there, and of course Prateek signed up to play it. He was soooo proud he got the high score.

Prateek (in the helmet) celebrating his victory over a group of children.

Once we witnessed the glory that was Prateek's "victory", it was time to call it a day. Overall, it was a pretty tame experience, but entertaining nonetheless. Having never been to a Star Wars convention in the US, I don't have anything to compare it to. But, I'm going to go ahead and assume it was similar, just more Asian. Much like my entire life over the past year. Hiyo! 

Return of the Kept Man

Remember back when we first moved here? Back when I was still trying to get a job in Indonesia? Ah, those were the days. As it turns out, well, actually I'll let this video fill you in:



As you can see, I am making a triumphant return to the kept man lifestyle. Without going into every detail (I'll spare you that GRIPPING drama), here's the deal (as I've learned from the South Park underpants gnomes):

Step 1: Quit my job
Step 2: ???
Step 3: PROFIT!

Seriously though, I am very appreciative and grateful to my company for the opportunity to transfer here and work in management consulting. But, I learned the hard way that I am not cut out to work in strategy. It requires too many unknowns and too many grey areas for me and my brain is more process driven and analytical. I'll use photography as an example: I am not the most creative person, nor do I have the gift of seeing the world as artistically as the most talented photographers do. But, I do understand the processes of how the camera works and I can put it to use to take some pretty good pictures. I'll never be an artistic photographer, but I can still do some really cool stuff with a camera.

There were other reasons as well, but the bottom line is that the job was unfulfilling for me, and every day I came home unhappy. At this point in my life, I'm not going to spend time doing things that make me feel that way, especially when I have the option to pursue other opportunities. It's an option I am very fortunate to have, so I'm choosing that path.

So what does all this mean? I already have an idea of the path that is right for me - something ops/process driven. I've spent my entire life learning how things work, taking stuff apart, etc. I went to school for engineering because I like figuring out how things work, and when I worked in a factory for a summer, I passed the time watching the machinery and figuring out all the steps each one carried out. That kind of stuff is (and always has been) interesting to me. (NERD ALERT!!)

It's been very much a series of "well duh" moments for me as I've come to these realizations over the past couple months, but better late than never. From here, I'll be reading a bunch of books, trying to learn as much as I can about the types of roles that I am best suited to, and then once we know where our next location will be, I'll start zeroing in on potential opportunities for me.

But until then, I'm back to living the life of a kept man. I'll be keeping this blog more frequently updated, playing around with some more photography stuff, reading books on personal development, going to the gym, cooking, cleaning, etc. Gloria's really hoping I don't look like this in a couple months:

Mmmm Zingerman's....

All we know for sure is that I'm done working in consulting, at least for now. I won't say for good though, because none of us knows what the future holds. For now, I'm just going to keep moving forward and try to put myself (and Gloria) in the best possible position for our future. It's exhilarating, frightening, nerve-wracking, exciting...but we're in it together and whatever the future holds, we'll be just fine.