Sorry for the lapse in entries. It's been a rough week.
This rough week ended this morning (though I had thought it ended yesterday...).
Matt flew off to America last night, and I went to sleep, as normal, with my little Kitty on my feet. All was well and good. Usually when I wake up, she is right next to me, or she comes meowing in when she hears my alarm. This morning my alarm went off at 6:15, and no Kitty. I went looking around the house, and no Kitty. All of the windows and doors were sealed other than two - she could have jumped out of our bedroom window, but usually when she tries to do that, I hear her, or she could have climbed up a grate we have in our laundry room and jumped out of the top...as there is a shower curtain pegged up there to block her from jumping out. (It's a windowless window with a grate that is in our laundry room, and the shower curtain keeps rain out, Kitty in, and it hangs from the second rung, so there is ONE area on the top she could get out - but it's about 8 or 9 feet up in the air. You can see it in this picture.)
I had to leave for class at 7 (yup - on Saturday. Yuck! This is the only one...), so I didn't have a ton of time. After searching our entire house, I looked all around outside. I walked around our complex shaking her toys and crinkling a bag of kitty treats. No Kitty. I went down to the parking garage, and I called her and called her. I looked up on the ledge that has our air con units - that is outside of the window with the shower curtain. No Kitty. I did hear some meowing, but then I saw that it was another cat.
I realized that I would have to shower and go to class, and I was feeling extremely guilty, because I have class until 5:30, and then we have a party tonight, and I don't anticipate getting home before 1:30. That's a long time for a Kitty to not be able to enter her home! I showered, and then I looked more for her, and it was then 6:50, and I realized I would not be able to make the train, and I would have to take a taxi.
I did hear some meowing, but we have a lot of cats in our complex. I thought it might be coming from outside, so I looked, but the meowing stopped. I went back in the house, and I could hear it, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
I went back down to the parking garage, and I looked up at our air con ledge again, and I saw the Kitty's cute little scared face peering from behind - at me. I told her to hold on, and I RAN up the stairs, basically had to break off the shower curtain, open the grate lock (without a key...), and I climbed out of the window and onto the ledge (which was scary!). I couldn't find her again, but I hoped she wasn't stupid enough to jump, and the ledge is small enough, that I had to find her. Finally I saw her behind a air con unit. She would not come to me. She was scared as hell. She just sat in the corner and shaked. It was sad. Finally I reached my arm in, and I was able to grab her face and pull her out.
I asked her to please never do that again. Especially when Daddy is out of town.
I knew to look on the ledge from this experience. Remember when Lisa's cat, Rocky disappeared?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Bali Part II: Lovina and Sanur/South
After my last posting, we spent one more day in Lovina.
A story:
When you walk down the street, the beach or anywhere else, you have one person every five or so seconds that asks you if you want transport (taxi service somewhere), boat service (snorkeling or to see dolphins) or trying to sell you something (sarongs, or other art goods are the most popular). Usually we just say, "thank you, but not today." Most of the time they just ask you where you're from or leave you alone. For some reason, one guy asked us if we want a boat ride to go snorkeling, and we asked how much, and we asked his name. We told him we would come back. This one guy was about a 25 minute walk from our hotel, and there were about 25 people in between our hotel and this guy who asked us for the same service, but for some reason we felt we should go back to him when we were ready to snorkel. So we did. We went back to find Agus at some random hut on the beach. We got back there, and Agus wasn't there. One guy claimed to be his dad, and everyone quickly assured us that he was Agus's dad, which made us more skeptical. We didn't know if we should go, but we decided, why not (what's the difference between one random guy or another?). We told the guy we needed two sets of snorkeling equipment (my dad brought his), and he said his friend went to get it. He went to get the boat's motor (not attached to the boat?), and we went to the boat. This guy set up the seats in the boats, and he put the motor in, and then he left. Some other guy, Dan (you know, like Dan the man - is how he described it) came and told us he was taking us. Okay - whatever. We were a bit suspicious - they don't even pretend to have life preservers, we don't give them our names, we didn't know where we were going, etc., but we just headed out from shore, and after about a half hour, we stopped. The guy said we can get in the water, and when we did it was a GORGEOUS reef! It was snorkeling like diving. We loved it. On the way back, the guy just checked with us to make sure we didn't want to get up to see the dolphins at six am. We didn't think so, but for some reason, we said yes. We didn't give him any money, we gave him no assurance, but for some reason, we showed up at five to six am and went to see the dolphins.
This is a long story, but it's all just to show the randomness of all of the people who offer you things - and sometimes you even say yes. We also got some random guy to drive us down south. After TONS of people offered us transport - we decided to say yes to one random person. You can never quite explain why you choose the guy you do.
Anyways - Matt had a GREAT day of diving in Lovina, and the rest of us relaxed. The following day (Thursday), we headed down to Sanur. We stayed in a place called the Swastika Bungalows. Swastika for Buddhism/Hinduism - not Natziism. It was MUCH more simple than the other places (my parents weren't too pumped). We walked on the beach, and headed over to Kuta beach (the place for young partying fun people in Bali). That was one of my favorite beaches I have ever seen - goes on forever, and huge waves, and beautiful sand, and it was even clean! We walked for a few kilometers up past Legian and up to Seminyak. A bit of frisbee, and then we met up with Nicole and Paul, our friends we met when they stayed with us in Singapore a few weeks ago.
The next day Matt and I went diving - I was nervous, since my sinuses still had gunk in them, but it worked. The only thing that didn't work was the mola-molas. We basically went to the places to see the mola-molas, and we went down for two dives where we just waited at their cleaning stations, but apparently they didn't need cleaning! None came. :( The second dive had FREEZING water (21 deg C - which is the coldest I have ever dived in), and also a crazy huge current for a few minutes that felt like it would take my regulator right out of my mouth! Luckily, we survived. The third dive was super - a strong current, but a good one, so it was a nice drift dive.
Mom and dad walked everywhere. That night we went for a fancy Italian dinner.
Saturday we relaxed all day - at the beach, and we headed out to see a temple on the beach - Pura Tannah Lot. It was GORGEOUS, but kind of far away. It's a temple in the ocean. Then we went down back to Seminyak and walked on the beach to a beautiful restaurant and sat and had a beer (and played euchre of course - which we did nearly everyday at nearly every meal). We walked more and more and finally had a good Japanese dinner (go figure!).
Today was another relaxing day - Matt got a massage, I had two banana juices, my parents walked and walked, and we all were pretty sad to leave Bali.
All in all, we absolutely loved Bali, and Matt and I can't wait to go back. We liked Ubud the best, and we can't wait to dive more.
A story:
When you walk down the street, the beach or anywhere else, you have one person every five or so seconds that asks you if you want transport (taxi service somewhere), boat service (snorkeling or to see dolphins) or trying to sell you something (sarongs, or other art goods are the most popular). Usually we just say, "thank you, but not today." Most of the time they just ask you where you're from or leave you alone. For some reason, one guy asked us if we want a boat ride to go snorkeling, and we asked how much, and we asked his name. We told him we would come back. This one guy was about a 25 minute walk from our hotel, and there were about 25 people in between our hotel and this guy who asked us for the same service, but for some reason we felt we should go back to him when we were ready to snorkel. So we did. We went back to find Agus at some random hut on the beach. We got back there, and Agus wasn't there. One guy claimed to be his dad, and everyone quickly assured us that he was Agus's dad, which made us more skeptical. We didn't know if we should go, but we decided, why not (what's the difference between one random guy or another?). We told the guy we needed two sets of snorkeling equipment (my dad brought his), and he said his friend went to get it. He went to get the boat's motor (not attached to the boat?), and we went to the boat. This guy set up the seats in the boats, and he put the motor in, and then he left. Some other guy, Dan (you know, like Dan the man - is how he described it) came and told us he was taking us. Okay - whatever. We were a bit suspicious - they don't even pretend to have life preservers, we don't give them our names, we didn't know where we were going, etc., but we just headed out from shore, and after about a half hour, we stopped. The guy said we can get in the water, and when we did it was a GORGEOUS reef! It was snorkeling like diving. We loved it. On the way back, the guy just checked with us to make sure we didn't want to get up to see the dolphins at six am. We didn't think so, but for some reason, we said yes. We didn't give him any money, we gave him no assurance, but for some reason, we showed up at five to six am and went to see the dolphins.
This is a long story, but it's all just to show the randomness of all of the people who offer you things - and sometimes you even say yes. We also got some random guy to drive us down south. After TONS of people offered us transport - we decided to say yes to one random person. You can never quite explain why you choose the guy you do.
Anyways - Matt had a GREAT day of diving in Lovina, and the rest of us relaxed. The following day (Thursday), we headed down to Sanur. We stayed in a place called the Swastika Bungalows. Swastika for Buddhism/Hinduism - not Natziism. It was MUCH more simple than the other places (my parents weren't too pumped). We walked on the beach, and headed over to Kuta beach (the place for young partying fun people in Bali). That was one of my favorite beaches I have ever seen - goes on forever, and huge waves, and beautiful sand, and it was even clean! We walked for a few kilometers up past Legian and up to Seminyak. A bit of frisbee, and then we met up with Nicole and Paul, our friends we met when they stayed with us in Singapore a few weeks ago.
The next day Matt and I went diving - I was nervous, since my sinuses still had gunk in them, but it worked. The only thing that didn't work was the mola-molas. We basically went to the places to see the mola-molas, and we went down for two dives where we just waited at their cleaning stations, but apparently they didn't need cleaning! None came. :( The second dive had FREEZING water (21 deg C - which is the coldest I have ever dived in), and also a crazy huge current for a few minutes that felt like it would take my regulator right out of my mouth! Luckily, we survived. The third dive was super - a strong current, but a good one, so it was a nice drift dive.
Mom and dad walked everywhere. That night we went for a fancy Italian dinner.
Saturday we relaxed all day - at the beach, and we headed out to see a temple on the beach - Pura Tannah Lot. It was GORGEOUS, but kind of far away. It's a temple in the ocean. Then we went down back to Seminyak and walked on the beach to a beautiful restaurant and sat and had a beer (and played euchre of course - which we did nearly everyday at nearly every meal). We walked more and more and finally had a good Japanese dinner (go figure!).
Today was another relaxing day - Matt got a massage, I had two banana juices, my parents walked and walked, and we all were pretty sad to leave Bali.
All in all, we absolutely loved Bali, and Matt and I can't wait to go back. We liked Ubud the best, and we can't wait to dive more.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ubud, Bali
Today is our fourth day in Bali, and we are loving it. We're loving it so much that we're even staying in a place called LOVINa right now. :)
Our arrival was seamless - all flights were on time, we had a person with a sign with our name on it at the airport, all of our luggage made it, etc. No problems at all. We arrived in the mountains of Ubud at this GORGEOUS hotel with four people to take our bags to our rooms. I will post pictures when I upload them, but my parents' room had a balcony looking over a gorgeous stream, the architecture is amazingly gorgeous, and Matt and I had a room that overlooked a huge view of rice fields. The hotel itself had gorgeous buildings, statues, streams, and of course, little beautiful offerings of leaves and flowers and incense all over the place. We absolutely loved it and recommend it to anyone coming to Bali.
The first day we walked through a bunch of villages and next to rivers and through rice fields. The highlight of our (or really my dad's) day was sitting at lunch on a balcony of a restaurant that overlooks a river just on the outskirts of Ubud. Two ladies went to the side of the river and proceeded to take a shower. My dad loved it.
The second day we joined a bike tour which took us near the north most part of Bali, and we basically cycled down all the way back to Ubud. We learned about what they grow, how the people live, their temples, etc. The most interesting part was seeing a kampung - which is where they live. All of the families live in a little compound that is surrounded by a wall, and on the inside are a bunch of kitchens, places to sleep, places for the animals, and also a space for their work if they do work. They also have a temple in the middle. Also, they bury their placentas - as they think that they're sort of the evil spirit of the person who is born, so if you don't take care of the placenta, it will haunt the person for their entire lives.
Day three we hired a driver to take us up to Lovina, and we made a few stops along the way. Basically this day is a super big prep-day for all of the people in Bali. Today (Wednesday) is a huge holiday - Galingan, where good fought evil and good won. Everyone was preparing these gorgeous bamboo poles that they put on the outside of each kampung, and they were also shopping and cooking and decorating the temples. It is just gorgeous to see. It's like the day before Rosh Hashana or Pesach at Strawberry Hills or Fairway.
We stopped in a silver village (where most things were closed in preparation!), we stopped at a temple on a lake, at a market, we had a great Indonesian lunch of fried rice, soup, chicken, vegetables with peanut sauce, etc. So much yummy food and of course tons of fresh fruit juice. We saw a waterfall that looked like it would be fun to swim in if the temperature outside were just a bit warmer. It was FREEZING up there! (for me...)
We arrived to our beautiful villa that we're renting in Lovina - and we're enjoying the total slowness of the town. Matt went diving today (I am STILL sick, so I couldn't join him), and I walked around with my parents to see all of the people in their beautiful dresses for the holiday. All of the ladies are wearing a sarong, a gorgeous top with a sash, and they are all carrying baskets filled with offerings. The men are all wearing sarongs on the bottom and a white shirt with a white thing wrapped on their heads. It's amazing to see families of four - all dressed in such fancy clothes - on a motorcycle.
Our arrival was seamless - all flights were on time, we had a person with a sign with our name on it at the airport, all of our luggage made it, etc. No problems at all. We arrived in the mountains of Ubud at this GORGEOUS hotel with four people to take our bags to our rooms. I will post pictures when I upload them, but my parents' room had a balcony looking over a gorgeous stream, the architecture is amazingly gorgeous, and Matt and I had a room that overlooked a huge view of rice fields. The hotel itself had gorgeous buildings, statues, streams, and of course, little beautiful offerings of leaves and flowers and incense all over the place. We absolutely loved it and recommend it to anyone coming to Bali.
The first day we walked through a bunch of villages and next to rivers and through rice fields. The highlight of our (or really my dad's) day was sitting at lunch on a balcony of a restaurant that overlooks a river just on the outskirts of Ubud. Two ladies went to the side of the river and proceeded to take a shower. My dad loved it.
The second day we joined a bike tour which took us near the north most part of Bali, and we basically cycled down all the way back to Ubud. We learned about what they grow, how the people live, their temples, etc. The most interesting part was seeing a kampung - which is where they live. All of the families live in a little compound that is surrounded by a wall, and on the inside are a bunch of kitchens, places to sleep, places for the animals, and also a space for their work if they do work. They also have a temple in the middle. Also, they bury their placentas - as they think that they're sort of the evil spirit of the person who is born, so if you don't take care of the placenta, it will haunt the person for their entire lives.
Day three we hired a driver to take us up to Lovina, and we made a few stops along the way. Basically this day is a super big prep-day for all of the people in Bali. Today (Wednesday) is a huge holiday - Galingan, where good fought evil and good won. Everyone was preparing these gorgeous bamboo poles that they put on the outside of each kampung, and they were also shopping and cooking and decorating the temples. It is just gorgeous to see. It's like the day before Rosh Hashana or Pesach at Strawberry Hills or Fairway.
We stopped in a silver village (where most things were closed in preparation!), we stopped at a temple on a lake, at a market, we had a great Indonesian lunch of fried rice, soup, chicken, vegetables with peanut sauce, etc. So much yummy food and of course tons of fresh fruit juice. We saw a waterfall that looked like it would be fun to swim in if the temperature outside were just a bit warmer. It was FREEZING up there! (for me...)
We arrived to our beautiful villa that we're renting in Lovina - and we're enjoying the total slowness of the town. Matt went diving today (I am STILL sick, so I couldn't join him), and I walked around with my parents to see all of the people in their beautiful dresses for the holiday. All of the ladies are wearing a sarong, a gorgeous top with a sash, and they are all carrying baskets filled with offerings. The men are all wearing sarongs on the bottom and a white shirt with a white thing wrapped on their heads. It's amazing to see families of four - all dressed in such fancy clothes - on a motorcycle.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Back by Popular Demand: DAD!
If I had known Melanie was going to ask me to do this, I would’ve paid more attention.
It has been ten months since we were last here. Last time NWA only charged 60,000 miles each. What a bargain. This time it cost twice as many miles for one ticket (“rule-buster” option) and a ridiculous amount of $ for the second. (>2000). I think we’re competing with all those flying over for the Olympics. There were about 5 families on our Detroit to Tokyo plane coming over to see family members compete.
Sue made the mistake of ordering vegetarian. Very little was edible.
In the days before computerized seating they used to make an announcement on the speaker system asking for “passenger smith who ordered the .____meal to please identify himself”. I think it was comedian Don Rickels or David Steinberg who used to spoof: “Will the Jew who ordered the kosher meal please stand up”.
Sitting in the last few rows of the 747 (ancient, without indivdual TV screens) allows us to take advantage of the plane’s narrowing and to not have strangers on any side. Unsociable we are. (Seating pattern is 3-4-3, but in the back it’s 2-4-2). Plus, I have extra foot space AND an extra foot of space on the side of my window seat to leave my trashed NYT, NewYorker, BusWeek and WSJ articles. I’m slowly catching up. Not really. Flight attendant was one of the best ever. Always smiling and offering stuff—like extra wrapped cookies from other’s trays. When she saw me reading a dental journal she said it looked familiar—her husband’s a dentist in Colorado.
Two hour layover in Tokyo. Olympics on all the TV’s. Boarded A330 aircraft for Singapore. Much more modern—but I didn’t watch any of the movies.. 2-4-2 pattern throughout. We always try to get one of the “two’s”. Though it almost 1 a.m local time, Melanie’s smiling face greeted us through the glass partition of the luggage claim. Our eyes watered. Mostly Sue’s.
Matt was also up! Both will only get a few hours sleep before work/school.
I still need 2 bags (Sue’s down to one). I had so much room in bag #2 that I shlepped my fins. And extra bridge (card game) reading. I’ve been playing lots of duplicate with friend Clarke C.
Great night of sleep, then walked the somewhat familiar East Coast Park waterfront. Cheap tasty hawker food. Taxied to Mel’s school. Very impressive. Souvenier hat—I’ll wear it @ Michigania next year. Ask me…
We walked and snacked. In a restaurant/food court setting we watched Table tennis match—Singapore ladies team made the finals. It was like watching the Tigers or Lions at the Lodge back home. Lots of cheering and hometown crowd spirit.
Met Matt for drink and view from 70th floor of Swisotel. Impressive. Yummy Laksa for dinner and trek to claim some Levain cookies (it’s another long story).
Today we leave for Bali. Will be staying in 3 different locations. Mel has never been there. Matt has spent mucho time in Indonesia. I’m looking forward to relaxing, reading, snorkeling, etc.
Next time Mel, give me more warning.
Life is goo .
It has been ten months since we were last here. Last time NWA only charged 60,000 miles each. What a bargain. This time it cost twice as many miles for one ticket (“rule-buster” option) and a ridiculous amount of $ for the second. (>2000). I think we’re competing with all those flying over for the Olympics. There were about 5 families on our Detroit to Tokyo plane coming over to see family members compete.
Sue made the mistake of ordering vegetarian. Very little was edible.
In the days before computerized seating they used to make an announcement on the speaker system asking for “passenger smith who ordered the .____meal to please identify himself”. I think it was comedian Don Rickels or David Steinberg who used to spoof: “Will the Jew who ordered the kosher meal please stand up”.
Sitting in the last few rows of the 747 (ancient, without indivdual TV screens) allows us to take advantage of the plane’s narrowing and to not have strangers on any side. Unsociable we are. (Seating pattern is 3-4-3, but in the back it’s 2-4-2). Plus, I have extra foot space AND an extra foot of space on the side of my window seat to leave my trashed NYT, NewYorker, BusWeek and WSJ articles. I’m slowly catching up. Not really. Flight attendant was one of the best ever. Always smiling and offering stuff—like extra wrapped cookies from other’s trays. When she saw me reading a dental journal she said it looked familiar—her husband’s a dentist in Colorado.
Two hour layover in Tokyo. Olympics on all the TV’s. Boarded A330 aircraft for Singapore. Much more modern—but I didn’t watch any of the movies.. 2-4-2 pattern throughout. We always try to get one of the “two’s”. Though it almost 1 a.m local time, Melanie’s smiling face greeted us through the glass partition of the luggage claim. Our eyes watered. Mostly Sue’s.
Matt was also up! Both will only get a few hours sleep before work/school.
I still need 2 bags (Sue’s down to one). I had so much room in bag #2 that I shlepped my fins. And extra bridge (card game) reading. I’ve been playing lots of duplicate with friend Clarke C.
Great night of sleep, then walked the somewhat familiar East Coast Park waterfront. Cheap tasty hawker food. Taxied to Mel’s school. Very impressive. Souvenier hat—I’ll wear it @ Michigania next year. Ask me…
We walked and snacked. In a restaurant/food court setting we watched Table tennis match—Singapore ladies team made the finals. It was like watching the Tigers or Lions at the Lodge back home. Lots of cheering and hometown crowd spirit.
Met Matt for drink and view from 70th floor of Swisotel. Impressive. Yummy Laksa for dinner and trek to claim some Levain cookies (it’s another long story).
Today we leave for Bali. Will be staying in 3 different locations. Mel has never been there. Matt has spent mucho time in Indonesia. I’m looking forward to relaxing, reading, snorkeling, etc.
Next time Mel, give me more warning.
Life is goo .
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Overmedicated
So...I finally went to the doctor. I felt like five days of crazy amounts of mucus warranted this visit.
Basically my symptoms were of a cold (the flu part is gone, I think).
When I went to leave, they gave me the following medications:
antibiotic (for sinus infection, which I believe I have) - I took this one
some medication for fever and head ache - I denied this one
some medication for decongestant - I denied this one (we have at home)
cough syrup - I took it just in case I can't sleep at night
some steroid for my lungs - I took it because I have a hard time fighting chest infections
ventalin in pill form (which isn't as extreme) - I took it - why not try this one?
That's SIX medications. Whoa.
Basically my symptoms were of a cold (the flu part is gone, I think).
When I went to leave, they gave me the following medications:
antibiotic (for sinus infection, which I believe I have) - I took this one
some medication for fever and head ache - I denied this one
some medication for decongestant - I denied this one (we have at home)
cough syrup - I took it just in case I can't sleep at night
some steroid for my lungs - I took it because I have a hard time fighting chest infections
ventalin in pill form (which isn't as extreme) - I took it - why not try this one?
That's SIX medications. Whoa.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Business Foundations
This week I have been in business foundations classes - which is essentially math, accounting and finance camp. We have three classes during the days, and then we do work in the afternoons evenings. The only catch is that I have been so sick since Sunday (much worse starting on Monday), and I haven't gotten enough out of the classes, and I have been absolutely no help in the group work! I have only contributed germs, snot and some deep coughing.
Three observations from my first three days at INSEAD:
1) The profs are so great. They explain things well (even if our Finnish, Israeli and Russian (particularly the Russian!) profs have crazy strong accents!). They use real life examples/ newspaper articles, and they make it digestible.
2) There are really people from all over - and it is so neat. We all have name tags with our names and nationalities, and when I look around the room, I see: Brazilian, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, French, SO MANY COUNTRIES! It's amazing that we get this many perspectives in our everyday classes! Which brings my next point...
3) Group work is essential. For the times that I have been able to join my group, I have seen that we are each able to add content at certain points, and I think that most of us would be stuck without the others. I was sort of dreading all of the group work of school, but I have a really different perspective on it now. Not only will it teach me to work in a group, blah, blah, blah, but it will also help us solve the problems!
Three observations from my first three days at INSEAD:
1) The profs are so great. They explain things well (even if our Finnish, Israeli and Russian (particularly the Russian!) profs have crazy strong accents!). They use real life examples/ newspaper articles, and they make it digestible.
2) There are really people from all over - and it is so neat. We all have name tags with our names and nationalities, and when I look around the room, I see: Brazilian, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, French, SO MANY COUNTRIES! It's amazing that we get this many perspectives in our everyday classes! Which brings my next point...
3) Group work is essential. For the times that I have been able to join my group, I have seen that we are each able to add content at certain points, and I think that most of us would be stuck without the others. I was sort of dreading all of the group work of school, but I have a really different perspective on it now. Not only will it teach me to work in a group, blah, blah, blah, but it will also help us solve the problems!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Blog Transition
I wanted to post a warning to my readers (about 20-30 of you daily) - I think that my blog may change focus from the Singapore ex-pat experience to the business school experience. I do apologize if this doesn't interest you.
I had my first orientation tonight - for the business foundations program. People were great, dinner was sub-par, and in general, I'm excited for it all to get started.
At my dinner table were people from: Belgium, Japan, Brazil, America, UK, Canada, Korea and me. That's just cool.
I had my first orientation tonight - for the business foundations program. People were great, dinner was sub-par, and in general, I'm excited for it all to get started.
At my dinner table were people from: Belgium, Japan, Brazil, America, UK, Canada, Korea and me. That's just cool.
Gold Class
Friday night - in honor of the Sabbath Queen - Matt and I used our gift certificates (that Nicole and Paul got us) to go see Batman in Gold Class.
Just like everything in Singapore - you can even choose to see a movie in a higher class. Its like a first class movie ticket. You get huge seats, they recline, you get a blanket, which is super important here because it's FREEZING in the movies! You get service to your seat, and there is a lot of food. The truth is that it's a bit of a rip off, since we got a small pizza for $17, but it's all for the experience.
We did enjoy it though! You can put out the foot rest, curl up in your seat, and enjoy - or at least watch the movie. I don't think Batman is a movie you enjoy watching, right? It was good, though, and so long. Here is some random person's picture of Gold Class that I stole off the internet.
In other news, our cable provider has been advertising that they have six channels dedicated to the olympics, and I couldn't imagine that it would be that good, but it is!! Right now I can watch tennis, basketball, beach volleyball, hockey, archery or swimming! Pretty amazing.
Just like everything in Singapore - you can even choose to see a movie in a higher class. Its like a first class movie ticket. You get huge seats, they recline, you get a blanket, which is super important here because it's FREEZING in the movies! You get service to your seat, and there is a lot of food. The truth is that it's a bit of a rip off, since we got a small pizza for $17, but it's all for the experience.
We did enjoy it though! You can put out the foot rest, curl up in your seat, and enjoy - or at least watch the movie. I don't think Batman is a movie you enjoy watching, right? It was good, though, and so long. Here is some random person's picture of Gold Class that I stole off the internet.
In other news, our cable provider has been advertising that they have six channels dedicated to the olympics, and I couldn't imagine that it would be that good, but it is!! Right now I can watch tennis, basketball, beach volleyball, hockey, archery or swimming! Pretty amazing.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Last Day of Work
So...again in Singapore I had my last day of work. This followed my last day of Spanish class.
I am actually sad to leave my job. I really enjoy the people I work with (which according to NPR is 90% of someone's happiness at a job), and I really enjoyed what I have been doing. The admin part I could give in a second, but I really enjoyed business development. Though it is the job that I have been least emotionally involved in, I think I have been happier at this job than any other. Pretty weird, but that leads to me being sad to leave!
Wednesday night I also had my last day of Spanish class. I have absolutely loved my Spanish class. So fun to learn - only for me - once a week. The profesora and the other students were outstanding, and I'm going to miss it! The good news is that since I enjoyed that a lot, I think I will really enjoy learning all day everyday.
I am actually sad to leave my job. I really enjoy the people I work with (which according to NPR is 90% of someone's happiness at a job), and I really enjoyed what I have been doing. The admin part I could give in a second, but I really enjoyed business development. Though it is the job that I have been least emotionally involved in, I think I have been happier at this job than any other. Pretty weird, but that leads to me being sad to leave!
Wednesday night I also had my last day of Spanish class. I have absolutely loved my Spanish class. So fun to learn - only for me - once a week. The profesora and the other students were outstanding, and I'm going to miss it! The good news is that since I enjoyed that a lot, I think I will really enjoy learning all day everyday.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Black Manta
This past weekend (ending about 45 minutes ago), Matt and I went on the Black Manta. It is a live aboard boat that has about 26 divers and around 8 staff. We set out from a yacht club in Singapore, and we sailed through the night towards Tioman. We got in four dives on Saturday, two today, and then we made it back to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal around 8:45 or so.Details...
We went through immigration on a boat (they didn't actually check our faces with our passports...the boat just collected them, looked through them, and that was it).
The boat was sooooo relaxing and luxurious. The dive deck has tons of space, so you're not all crowded around, there's a big area with four big tables plus a buffet table, and that's shaded. There's a room with a flat screen tv and a million and one dvds. There's a sun deck on the top of the boat that even has shade, and lounge chairs. Most people stayed in private rooms with bathrooms. We stayed in the budget accommodations, which was a room with a few bunk beds - you don't spend too much time in the rooms.
The first day's dives were good, but we didn't see anything spectacular other than a sleeping scorpion fish - maybe you can spot it in the photo?
Saturday night Matt got food poisoning. He was the only one on the boat, so it was either a little piece of something icky or just something that his body rejected. He says he nearly died and could barely move, but he didn't wake me up, so I cannot be a witness. :( He sat out the Sunday dives.
Luckily...he didn't miss anything. The Sunday dives had visibility of between three and five meters. For the first dive, we got dropped off by a dinghy, and we all went under, and somehow everyone in our group stayed together - except for our dive master. We looked around for him, but we couldn't find him, so I decided to
go up, but I didn't have a "sausage" - the thing you blow up to show that there are divers below, and then the boat guys know to come pick you up. Anyways, I went up, and I didn't see him, and the current was SUPER strong on the surface, so I tried to go back down to get the rest of the group, but I couldn't find them, so I stayed on the surface and screamed for Gary, and finally the boat guy came to get me, and then the other four popped up, and then so did Gary (our DM). We all went down together and basically swam up each other's asses the rest of the day.There is also a picture here of the biggest eel we have ever seen. It was HUGE! Check out under the yellow coral. (The eel that has his head sticking out isn't the same one)
I wanted to try a live-aboard so that I could see if we could do a longer one in the
Similan Islands or in the Great Barrier Reef...and I did feel pretty sea sick most of today. I took so many pills...I'm not sure if I can do it, but I will definitely do a two day trip with them again. It was outstand
ing service, great people, EXCELLENT food, and the diving would have been good if the vis was better - and that wasn't their fault!Click here to see all of our pictures.
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