Canting Zai nar!? (Where is the Cafeteria?)
Blog #2 is upon you and get excited, we have tons of hawker food, a pool day at Marina Bay Sands http://www.marinabaysands.com/, my many attempts and failures trying to use the Mandarin I have learned in class out around Singapore, my new buddies from China and India, bubble tea and much more.
School: I am in week three of my program (5 days a week, 4 hours a day) and I feel like a bi-polar mess. One day I feel like I am making great strides and am the king of Mandarin and the next day it feels like Mandarin turned into my big brother Derek when we were younger and he would pin me down and torture me. You feel like you have the ability to do something about it but you actually are powerless to the much more dominant force.
I have been attempting to use my Mandarin out and about in Singapore. I literally have been saying xiexie (thank you) to everyone (even if there is no need to thank them). After about 200 times of saying it, I think I might possibly kind of have the tone and pronunciation down. I am actually getting responses from some people. This is where my success ends, I met the father of one of the students where I live the other day and he is from China. I attempted no less than 8 different sentences said at least 4 different ways each time with almost zero success…..it felt like the first time I parallel parked. No matter how many times I tried to get it right, I just couldn’t make it work.
There is a bright note in my Mandarin. There are a few guys from China (Kevin, Bowen and Sora) in my place that are working on their English so they love coming to chat with me. They are all under 18 but are the nicest guys you could ever meet. We meet for dinner once a week and chat it up at night some times. They have been working with me on my Mandarin and I help them with their English. My other buddies from India, VK and Mayank also join in on the conversations. The diversity is great and it is really cool to hear from all of their perspectives on their governments, Singapore, life, America, etc. I think this is what Rotary’s Ambassadorial Program is really about, making friends and growing lengths through the process.
Last weekend a buddy of mine that interned at Lehman Brothers with me came to Singapore for work. He was put up in the Marina Bay Sands. Upon hearing this I got real pumped. Yep, if you have Googled Singapore Marina Bay Sands is usually the picture that comes up. Attached is a picture of us in the infinity pool overlooking the Singapore skyline. You actually can’t get up to the pool unless you are a guest of the hotel which costs a hefty sum of money to stay at, so this was quite the perk. Yep, it’s good to have friends in banking. Thanks Dick Fuld (old CEO of Lehman Brothers)…wait never mind. Safe to say we had a great afternoon hanging out by the pool. I even tried a Singapore Sling for the first time, actually was pretty good. I recommend it to the ladies….it’s a big red drink with fruit in it so not the most masculine choice of drink but had to try it.
Most importantly the food section (Singapore is known for its food):
1) I tried Pearl Milk Tea for the first time (also known as "boba milk tea" in America), which contains small chewy balls made of tapioca starch, called "Pearls". Honestly…..not a fan, they were too many of the pearls and legitimately felt kind of sick after drinking half of it. It is very popular over here though…not my cup of tea though….(key bad joke drum set sound “bad-up chiiiii”) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea
2) Have eaten maybe 3 “western meals” since being here. The food is great. Been eating a lot of Indian food (Prata, Chicken Masala, etc.), lot of Chicken Rice (staple dish in Singapore), Korean food and Thai food (e.g. red curry, phat tai). There is an Indian restaurant serving Southern and Northern Indian food called Mr. Prata where I live and I eat there most nights. For some odd reason they seem to dislike everyone, I feel like they are mad every time I order food and even more mad when I pay them…..makes no sense to me. I originally thought it was me but I have been told they treat everyone like that. It’s not even a cultural thing, its just those guys at that restaurant. Pretty good food though, convenient and cheap.
3) Hawkers are where I typically eat. Hawkers are cheap food that you can find nearly anywhere. The hawker food is just as or close to as good as the expensive food here. Not sure the food is very healthy but man it tastes good.
Other news: Finished two more books (Same Kind of Different as Me and Millionaire Teacher) and almost done with two more books one is called Asian Godfathers which is a historical breakdown of Southeast Asia and the men who run it and the other is a biography. I have been running with the author of Millionaire Teacher Andrew Hallam. He is a high school teacher in Singapore that has amassed almost $2 million in investments (he is only 40) just on a teachers salary and describes his extremely simplified investment strategy focusing on index funds. Oh and at one point was one of the 3 fastest runners in Singapore for 5-10k’s. Safe to say he paces me when we run.
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