Or Like Singaporeans say it.... Ni Hao Ma-La!
Anyway, 7 weeks have gone by, yes seven weeks since I first got here! Wow! I never thought I would last this much. The truth is, I miss my family, I miss my friends and I miss my home. Nevertheless, Southeast Asia has been an incredible experience - not including work which has been whipping me! - I think I would rather get caned by the Singaporean authorities instead - actually it has gotten much better - but these notes are not work related, so enough about work.
Since my last e-mail which was about 5 weeks ago ( I apologize for not keeping you up to date ) many things have happened. Some people agree that my Chinese has improved somewhat...other than the simple hello...I have now expanded my vocabulary...and all these thanks to the cafeteria lady at work (by the way, she is about 70 years old, so don't even think about it). You can still manage to communicate if you know English. Just make sure that if you want locals to understand you that you add "-LA" at the end of your sentences. Ok-la? I will take this opportunity to share with you some of the Chinese dialect I have learned-la ( I think it is Mandarin-la ).
Thank you Shi shin.
Hello Ni hau ma.
Goodbye Zai jian.
Take care Bao zhong.
Kiss me. Ching wo.
I love you (informal) Wo ai nee.
Now as you can see, these can be very helpful for someone who is not from the region. However, because of my close ties to my colleagues and teammates in the project - both of which are from Manila, I have to say that my tagalog has become more extensive. Lately, I have been trying to add a repertoire of additional vocabulary in the Thai language. Hey, as some of you may know from my experience in Thailand, it can prove to be very beneficial to know some Thai words.
Well that is my language lesson for the day. As time goes by, I will be providing you with additional language lessons and hopefully one day we can all communicate using Tagalog, Thai or just to keep it simple, English.
Well, since my last letter, I have done most of my tourism within the island of Singapore. After my trip to Thailand about 6 weeks ago, I decided to take a week off and just relax and get to know the city. By now, I have to say that I have become quite a master of the bus system and MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). What initially amazed me about the MRT was that most of the system is underground. Much like the system in Washington DC, although I do not think it is much of a nuclear shelter. The point is that is very well underground. On my first time, I could not believe that people were going about using their cellphones like nothing...I thought to myself is there some "freak" technology in Asia that us in the USA do not know about. I am sure some of us experience difficulties even inside a high rise building, but to go underground and still have reception, unheard of - at least at the point when I left the US. Iridium tried it, and look were they ended up. ( Sorry Braun and Yomi - had to say it!) Well, it happens to be that in the subway system (MRT), they have relay stations for the mobile network. So yes, you can still talk on your phone even 20-30 meters underground. One thing I also noticed here, everyone is an expert of SMS (Short Messaging System). The GSM mobile network here allows you to send text messages from phone to phone. Sometime its cheaper of course, even better if you cant take the call, but these people handle the messaging on their miniature cellphones like it was a typewriter. Try writing a few things on your cell phone using the numeric keypad and you will see what I am talking about. These people can sometimes go for hours - anywhere, anytime. It seems like their thumb has been programmed to do this. I can see the oversized thumb theory in homo-sapiens as the theory of human evolution takes it toll.
Sorry for the diverging comments. Now back in track. Well, after that relaxing weekend, the following weekend a few friends and myself decided to attempt the sport of wakeboarding. I say attempt because even though the guys I went with had done it before and were already able to stand up, I ,must sadly say, wiped out every single time. The next few days, I was unable to write with either of my hands because of the muscle pains on my forehand. Never have I had such a difficult time with a sport, but I have not given up. I will go once again and torture myself to humiliation.
Going on, last weekend was another relaxing weekend. This time I did some traveling outside of Singapore. My Filipino colleagues and myself decided to take the TAXI policy into effect and planned a last minute trip to Bintan. Bintan is located just across the strait/river in Indonesia. Yes, we were safe and far, far away from East Timor. Well , Bintan is not quite Indonesia, even though it is in Indonesia. Bintan is known for its resorts, beach and golfing. We went there for one night on Saturday and came back the next day. It was another relaxing weekend, especially since my team's deadline was approaching. While there, Saturday we spent time in the pool, had buffet for lunch and dinner and at night saw an Indonesian show. After dinner and a few drinks, we all decided to go to the Karaoke bar and try to seek out or longtime dream of being singers. Oh my, I must say, we must better stick to our day jobs.
After that, it happens to be that in the resort adjacent to ours, every Saturday there is a Beach Party. After some dancing and drinking, we called it the night and return to charge out batteries. This weekend, is more of a pack and shop weekend. Pack you may ask, well yes, I am returning home for a week next Thursday, October 26. I will be there until November 5 which is when I will be returning to Singapore until Christmas.
Now that the TAXI policy has come out, there will be more trips that will be arranged. Coming up, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and maybe even Bangkok again. Within Singapore, a visit to Sentosa, going to the Night Safari and possible some scuba diving in the area will be the highlights coming soon.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading this.
Please take care and do keep in touch.
Until then,
Bao zhong.
-Nicolas
For those in Miami, keep me posted on the activities for the coming week. There is a lot of catching up to do.
Maraming salamat sayo.
oops...sorry that is tagalog.... Shi shi