Singapore Story....

Singapore Diary

18-10-2007



Here I am in a Foreign Country for the First ever in my life. I landed sleepy eyed at the airport. Airport was too different than what you find in India …well how different can a airport be….Soon was facing the immigration official..routine questions answered, custom checks done, I was speeding away in a taxi. Nothin seems than what you have seen in India, It only seems better. The pockets of neatness, order and greenery which you see in India are spread over the place. And what beautiful roads….they would be such a pleasure to drive. No one even shifts lanes without using the indicator. Traffic just zooms about, yet very silent. It was so long but I was yet to hear anyone honk. It took a vehicle blocking the road to elicit a few honks. Buses were comfortable and orderly and zoomed with an abandon yet unseen by me.

So many Indian faces around, more so tamilians……the taxi driver was blaring tamil FM and tamil songs. Soon we were in the hotel. Nothing different here. Same as you find a 5 Star hotel anywhere in the hotel. The most boring place was the hotel room . It was luxurious, was great to have rest. But that was not why we were here.

So we went out. Amazing orderliness. Iam yet to see a cop around this place. Traffic is managed with such amazing efficiency. Signals are so cool , Especially pedestrian signals. Everyone follows the rules. The cars stop to let the pedestrians go at certain yellow signals. Skyscrapers were amazing. We sat at a café at roadside in a busy traffic junction at a prominent office point here. Yet silence reigned around. Cars just zoomed past silently. Winds keep blowing giving such a calm feeling. Had some tasty Chinese food. Had my starbucks debut. Realised that my office is just a few mins walk from the hotel. And there is food plaza sort of place near my office. It had all kinds of food- Japanese, Chinese, Thai Indian, Western …and so on at very affordable prices. We would be having a food festival over the time of our stay.

That’s for the day..Lets see how the tour shapes up . Office starts tomorrow… 

19-10-2007

The First day in Singapore office. Wherever you go in the world, office does not change ..rt?? ..  Anyways it did manage to make a difference, it was not as good as the Bangalore office. Iam yet to make sense of the coffee machine and the tea bags over there. Only thing I could get right in the pantry was the Coke. Rest all the attempts to make coffee and tea went haywire.

The lifts here send your ears buzzing when they go down. At that speed it is natural, when you have to go some 20 floors in less than a minute it is almost like a free fall.

Today tried some Chinese dishes at the Food place, iam yet to register its name. Food was not too great , not too bad either. Work was cool, well it always is when it starts. Then after some time it starts strangling. And you lose interest in maintaining the same enthusiasm and would want to finish it off as soon as you can. Anyways lets see how this turns out. People at office were quite cool.

Lets see how the weekend goes about.

20-10-2007



Hey here is the first weekend in a foreign country… the urge to party was tempered with an apprehension about the unknown……and the fact that I watched movies late into night did not help matters. So by the time I got up it was lunch time. So had lunch and spilled out into the city.

Decided to explore “Little India”….. And landed up at the nearest Metro Rail Transport station…. It was really cool….. very neat, organized and pretty affordable and fast. Reminded me of Delhi and its Metro…... pretty much the same in fact.

Landed in Little India. Well felt like I was back in India… seems like in all respects…even saw a cop for first time in Singapore ….he was givin a parking ticket to someone looking like of Indian origin…  …anyways it had everythin like India ….more like south India….temple all Indian restaurants.,…..visited Musthafa shoppin centre……it had everythin….except a place to sit…by the time we were done goin around it…we were exhausted with all the walking……so wrapped it up with some food and were on the way back……

As I go about this country, I have noticed a lot of things…people are very cordial….everyone is treated with respect irrespective of their profession…manners is adhered to…….

Everything out of line is fined…and fined heavily…….that may go a long way in ensuring things are in order…but lot of stuff is internal as well..people do have the internal motivation to adhere to rules…..its more a respect for the rule rather than the fear of fine on violation which seems to be driving the orderliness….

Anyways a day of weekend as gone by….lets see how tomorrow goes by……

21-10-2007

Second day of the weekend…..Its a Sunday and we realized that most shops are closed here on Sundays….So decided to goto Paulo Ubin….Heard a lot about it….its island off the Singapore coast…..and renowned for its natural beauty ….

So we hired a taxi and went to Changi village….From there took a ferry to Paulo ubin……it was quissentially an dtropical island…..and it remined me so much of kerala…..well nothing much difference here between the two places…..

We hired a couple of bicycles and went about exploring the place…….it was quite fun goin around cycling and also taking our snaps…..Had quite some fun….but it was not a new discovery …felt like we were back in india…….spent some time sitting at the beach…..but this was not much of it when compared to beaches back home .,....Anyways the tiring journey had its toll..soon we were in a mood to land back home….The taxi driver while goin back was the talkative sort….He kept harping on about good stuff in singapore…was quite the informative sort……..

Anyways the fun has ended …it is time to get back to work from tomorrow..lets see how the week goes by……………. 

22-10-2007

Another of those weekdays…but first Monday in the foreign land……was not a great start…rainy day..and we were late to start……perfect settin for those Monday mornin blues…decided to hire a taxi to office…but soon realized..tht in tht peak hours with traffic signals..it would have been quick and ofcourse cheaper to walk..so from tomorrow..strictly walking……to the office I mean…

Office was cool..we were will and truly into work……it was quite fun…..so on tht front it is quite cool till now.,…..we were the last guys to leave from the office……

Today atlast the coffee machine puzzle was solved……..had some gud coffe…( better than the last 2 days..even if not entirely good…..  …. )

This place has got very little dust content…..even the shine on smy shoe has not gone even after a couple of days after polishing…..Clean water and clean air are issues which seem to be given importance….low noise too… 

23-10-2007

Another of those routine weekdays..even being in a foreign country makes no difference…I think it makes it even more worse…no social life..no friends…..no bindas attitude….nothin…work…and come to the room…got to explore this place further..neighbourhoods are done…..soon have to go further……

Lots of work would be fine..opportunity to learn

Lets see how the rest of the week rolls up………

24-10-2007

Funny day..nothin much rolled up today..some work….then it petered out..then it was cool for most of the day…..had some fun with the mails ..and snaps….It was birthday time at office and they got some thai food today…..it was nice…not too good..may be not for a first timer…..enjoyed it………

I observed that here lifts travel very fast…even when there are not many floors to be traveled….also the elevator..its not the comfortable cruise as in India..but it is more of a thing in hurry to carry people to their destinations…even in the malls and not only in the metro rail stations where such a hurry is warranted…..may be it reflects ths style of the people….



25-10-2007

One more day in this land…and life goes on…office and stuff….its all the same……well lemme luk for little things that are different here……people here are nice in their own little ways..for a couple of days running…some one or other comes and keeps givin me new kinds of sweets….iam getting to test new kinds of culinary delights here…..thats nice…

26-10-2007

Another similar day at office…work , mails and stuff……life goes on..weekend has come..lets see if it brings about any difference….. …here I get to go on lots an dlot of escalators..and I broke the record for the longest escalator I ever got on to …so many times over and over again…..I miss driving a bike overe here….may be it’s the longest break I ever had from drivin a bike…for ..wht like 7 years…may be…..and by the end of this trip…may be longest break from drivin I guess…ever since I was a kid…..

I went to a Chinese restaurant today…….and ordered some thing called crispy noodles..what I got was some thing like American chopseuy drowned….in some egg yolk kind of a solution…….it was all in all..some kind of stuff..which I could not even comprehend,……but in any case..managed to eat it..as I cud not afford to be hungry…..had to do with fruit juice..when I returned to the hotel room….

27-10-2007

Today is the weekend …..one more weekend in the foreign land…..this time decided to explore Chinatown here……this was a nice little quaint place….full of shoppin for little items…at cheap prices….more like the sarojini nagar market of delhi…

There was also a Mariamman temple at this place….and we also visited a Buddhist temple….it was quite beautifully built and …was quite a peek into the Buddhist culture and mythology…the stories the tell of Buddha are quite different from what is told in india…..well they do have a much fancier version of the story..but it is expected..everyone does have their versions of same story…what is mythology for one is religion for someone else……..

Then we did some roaming around…and were back soon into the hotel…with some more time to kill…we hit the pool….it was quite a small pool..but we had a relaxing stint at the pool….

End of one day of the weekend..lets see how the next one goes about…….

28-10-2007

2nd Sunday in this foreign land…..today decided to explore the ever famous Sentosa islands ……We took a mrt….and then took a monorail to the islands……..

We headed straight to the beach….lots of people who were having a good time there….but I think we could not find these beaches quite attractive….i realized today that waves are quite the same here….these are very calms beaches…more of the backwater types…..and the heat was also quite oppressive so decided to explore other things….

This island had different kind of stuff…there was 4 d magix…which was a sci fi adventure rides of sorts…….then there was luge ride and skyride……which was a mix of go karting and bikin..more a thrilss fare..then there was images of Singapore which takes you through the history fo Singapore…there was fort silos..which gave a insight into the fort styles of early English people who settled here…….also merlian which was a fantasy of its kind….then there was the underwater world..which gave quite an insight into the water world….it was quite fun with the underwater beings all around you……there was also the butterfly park which had around 1500 varieties of butterflies…….and at the end of it we saw a dolphin show…it was quite remarkable…seeing these sea beings doing all sorts of tricks……jumping through the loop..playing with the ball…kind of stuff…..

We went quite ballistic with the photographs..as usual…..on the way back had quite some good seafood….it was nice experimenting…it was my friends turn to get stuck..with sticky watery kind of stuff….but anyways…..he waded through it…literally

But it was quite a fun day……its back to office from tomorrow..lets see how this week goes about…..

29-10-2007

Hey here is Monday again….but instead of the usual Monday morning blues…I had a good and spirited start to a day……I don’t know why……..but soon all the enthusiasm fizzled out…… because the access deadlock still continues……and it is not quite fun anymore…but are we ready for the other slog…..still don’t know..will manage it I feel when we come to it…..

Towards the end of the day….the team from office invited us to a outing for evening snacks…had some nice satay….and some good chinese dishes……..came back…had a nice bath……and a nice dinner to finish it off…one more day goes by…. 

30-10-2007

Another boring day goes by……..had breakfast for a change…..and then had pizzas for lunch…for a change..again…..and then had dinner by 730 …for a change again……discovered a shop..which had a sorta clearance sale….had good deals all over…gotto visit it sometime to buy somethings…..got a new goggles….it was quite nice…..nice deal…..anyways one more day rolls over……

31-10-2007

After another routine day at office…we decided to goto Little india once again…we hit the Mustafa centre once again…this time we also went to the other side of it……..such a large shopping centre…and so many milling crowds……..

We hit the shopping racks again…and we bought some things this time…Got some good deals…..and we were so exhausted at the end of the day…well after walking all over such a large shopping place..we were bound to….and then we had such a hard time waiting for a taxi…..such a long queue and no taxi was lining up………finally managed to get one….and soon we were back at homer..and soon sound asleep…

1-11-2007

Hey a new day..and a new month..suddenly realized the year is rolling to a close…..this year seems to have rolled by so soon…not many things have sttled down or changed…that’s what it seems surprising that such a long time has passed…thinking of the day…today was a holiday back home..every year I used to cry that I don’t get this holiday in Delhi…and I thought I would get this once iam back in Bangalore or Hyderabad…but no use….nothing this time also…

We met our new boss today..seems like a cool fellow…..

2-11-2007

Another routine day………..at the office…towards the end of the day our boss and some other colleaugues invited us for some drinks…….had to have some beer…and it was too good in any case…..

After that had dinner and went walking …and realized that this place is quite small…we reached Chinatown after just walkin a few paces…….went around the place and came back and watched some movies..before sleeping off……

3-11-2007

Another weekend…and we do not seem to be going to malaysia anyways……so this time we went to Clarke quay….atlast went to a plce which seemed different and distinctly Singaporean…….this was besides the River…and such a beautiful place to hang out.. and lot of nice restaurants and bars……so much of a chic crowd…..there was such a beautiful view across the river…..had a good time….and atlast had something distinctly new……..

Came back to Lao pao sat……..and tried out some seafood..one of my friends ….tried oyster rice,…with some not so good results………..anyways he ate it all……and lets see what happens with him.. :P.. 

4-11-2007

Seems like the last Sunday in Singapore……not much to do…..went to Orchard road …such a nice shoppin place…….lots and lots of malls…with lots of stuff to shop………that is if you have something to shop….if u r really ina mood with cash to boot…here we go…so much of it…

As for viewing pleasure.,..it was good..but not too great…since its all there in India now…..;nothn new..nothin to be astonished at…….anyways….had good fun going around..as sual had problems finding a taxi…..shoppin places…u cannot help…..

Anyways came back tired..and down and out..end of the day….last week in singapore..  lets see how it goes about….

5-11-2007

One more Monday…well today things seem to be moving..a training program…and it took all the day…some progress on the access front…….so stuff moves on…did some shopping at last on the sale thing….spent a quite an amount..lets see how it goes about….


6-11-2007

One more day at training…and it was quite cool…..today by end of the day..there was a twist in the tale…..it seems that we may have to stay longer in Singapore…or may be come back later..lets see ho it goes….

We went to the Fullerton hotel side…..it was besides the river and a lion spewing out water…it was quite a view and we had quite agood time with the photographs…..the scenario was beautiful and breathtaking….. 

7-11-2007

Looks sure that iam gonna return by this weekend…..and boss said he is gonna discuss about the next trip on Friday…lets see how that turns up……

So we landed up at Little india to complete the final round of shopping…..we went around picking up all the things needed…..and lot more unneeded…and anyways after all that….came back exhausted…lucky to find a taxi much sooner than the last time…..the previous outing had braced us well…and today was a much focused shopping operation…
2 more days to go..lets see how it turns out.. 

8-11-2007

Hey its diwali time….and here iam ina foreign country…..they celebrate it here also..but not the cracker show as we have it back there……

Anyways we cancelled the zoo trip..as we were not in the mood and anyways we were gonna come back again……so we will have this later…..Went to orchard road..as my friend needed to have some last round up done…..had some nice Japanese food…..

So onemore day left in this country…atleast for this trip……so lets see how it goes….. 

Last day was as uneventful as it goes...... we planned our return journey to airport as we do back in india..and ended up landin in airport a good 2 hrs ahead of schedule....had an uneventful flight journey.and landed back home well and good and having enjoyed a nice trip to a lovely country....