Paul Volcker, IMF, Tanjong beach club, monkey’s and parrots

Jintian wo hen mang, (Today I am busy)

I am two months in and time is starting to fly by. I am learning so much and really starting to feel at home over here. I have friends, a routine and get to Skype enough with my fiancé that I feels like she is just as much apart of my world here as going to class. Obviously a long term solution does not include Skype but man it sure makes the short term better.

Over the past few weeks I have had the great opportunity to go attend some great speaking engagements. All of the speakers were put on by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with two of the engagements involving less than 30 people. The more intimate engagements were: 1) Professor T N Srinivasan who had been a professor at Yale since 1980 and advisor to the world bank, he spoke on the relationship between India and China and even signed a copy of his book for me; 2) Mahmood Pradhan- IMF Senior Advisor and Ravi Balakrishan- IMF Resident Representative spoke on the Regional Outlook for Asia, they also spoke on the Eurozone crisis, felt like I was drinking from a water hose of data and economics. Last but not least I got to see ex-Chairmen of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker speak. He was extremely funny and impressive to say the least. I felt lucky to have had the opportunity to hear from such impressive people, the nerd in me loved going, I am going to keep attending as many of these as I can……yeah huge nerd but I really did learn a lot from each of these speaking engagements which is why I am here, right?

Another friend of mine from UF/SIFE Sunny lives in Singapore. We met up one Sunday and went to the Tanjong Beach Club in Sentosa. Sentosa is the one of the big beach spots in Singapore. Sentosa also has Universal Studios and a bunch of other touristy things to do and see. Think of a mini Orlando set in a beach scene. All of the sand was shipped in from another country, I believe we have the Phillipines to thank for Sentosa’s sand…thanks Ferdinand Marcos (old President). This is part of the reclamation process expanding Singapore. http://www.tanjongbeachclub.com/index.php/main

We were just hanging out on the beach and I decided to go for a swim. They had a cove that opens up into the Singapore Strait where all of the cargo boats come in and out. The water wasn’t clear but it looked like there was netting out on the buoy’s so I swam out to them. Upon seeing that there was no net and I was at the entrance to a very dark huge abyss I efficiently swam back to shore……not a fan of deep unknown water. I know sharks aren’t happy about the whole shark fin soup thing so why tempt them, they don’t know I haven’t tried it. We pretty much hung out at the pool and sat on the beach all day. Tough couple of days for me.

Last weekend Sunny got us tickets to the Barclays Open Golf Tournament and we met up with my friend Muja from FAMU out here working for Universal Studios as the voice of Donkey from Shrek. Rain was very prevalent but we got to see some great golf. I went by myself on Friday and walked with a group of golfers. I was the only person following the group so I ended up chatting it up with one of the golfers who was from Ohio. I followed them for around 5 holes but ended up hanging out a lounge at the 16th par 3 green where I met some American ex-pats. They informed me that there was an extremely inebriated group of Norwegian’s that had not only been causing chaos in the lounge but had stolen a golf cart and picked up a golf ball that had been hit in their path. Save to say they were asked not to come back.

I have made a habit of running a 10k the McRitchie Reservoir every Saturday with a group of Norwegians…not the ones from the Barclay’s tournament. One of the girls in my class had invited me to go along with her friends and husband and it has been great. There are monkeys all over the place, a canopy walk and a run through a small path in the jungle. You are up and down and all around. It is a really great run that doesn’t feel nearly as long as it is.

I also had the good fortune to have watched the Rugby World Cup in a suite at the Marina Bay Sands. New Zealand took the match to win the World Cup for the second time, France played well but the All Blacks were just a better team. The person whose suite it was introduced me to a veteran’s cause that I thought I would share, it’s Clarks Veteran Cemetery in the Philippines that has been nearly abandoned by the US government. Take a second to check out this youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV5NyuCK2eg&feature=youtu.be . We can’t forget those who gave their lives so we can live ours to the fullest. I hope this cemetery gets the support it deserves.

My friend Sunny and I had decided to go to Batam, Indonesia one Sunday. Batam is a resort island that is a 45 minute ferry away from Singapore. The morning of, I had been running a little late so I rushed out of my place, it was raining and when we were looking for tickets I realized I had forgotten my passport…..dumb dumb dumb. So we decided to scrap the trip. After not going to Batam, Indonisia, I was pretty bummed. I got home and napped it up, got laundry done and started reading my book. My Chinese buddy Bowen came by and told me I was reading too much and that I needed to get out and walk in the jungle. I kind of laughed when he said that but it was the best advice I had gotten in a while. I decided to go for a run and my day turned around in an instant. While running at Botanical Gardens, I saw these two women holding two Parrots. Being the curious type I approached them to see their birds, this is where my day took a turn for the better. I ended up spending the next couple of hours walking around the park with Angelo the parrot on my shoulder as he made chicken noises at dogs, whistled back and forth with me, spoke to strangers and I helped him feed on the dry branches. Both birds were dancing and singing the whole time. I felt like Dr. Doolittle. Yeah, the 8 year old came out in me but I had a great time.

Finished five more books, The 5 love languages and Asian Godfathers, Dreams from my Father, Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy and Giving (great read for anyone looking to give money or support non profits). All five for the most part are very different from one another but all were great reads. I have started two more books, a book on leaders in history and a book given to me by a friend I have been going to bible study with about a 3 year old child who had a near death experience and candidly talks about how he was comforted by angels as well as Jesus when he was scared and unconscious on the operating table, both seem great so far. If there is one thing I continue on after this trip I hope I continue to read close to this pace for the rest of my life. I feel liked a changed man in some sorts and I really am enjoying this.

Tomorrow I head out of Singapore for the first time. I first am going to Penang, Malaysia to meet up with a Rotary Group Service Exchange from Oregon and California. Sunday we head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I am giving a presentation to the local Rotary club Monday night. Tuesday morning our group of Rotarians head to Siem Reap, Cambodia to help with healthcare and clean water for a local floating village community. Myself and a fellow rotary ambassadorial scholar will be staying an extra two days to sight see around Angkor Wat which has some of the most beautiful temples in the world.

Zaijian!