Did I say hot and humid??

OK - I have a few mintues to blog and I'll just have to tell you more later. I can't even BEGIN to describe all the sights, smells, tastes, textures, colors that I saw today. I had a great time. I'll write till my dinner companions call.

First, I must comment on the weather. There should be another word for "humid" because that just doesn't adequately describe it. Take a shower, walk outside, and you will still get wetter. Yesterday I would get out of the car or the building and my glasses would fog up. (Not a little, tiny fog, a huge thick layer.) Yesterday it was 96% humidity. That's just plain wet. Today it was (still is?) 90 degrees with around 70% humidity. That means it feels like around 100 degress with the heat index. You just dress knowing you're gong to feel damp all day. Unfortunately I saw that "Singapore will be 85 and sunny" and brought a few short sleeved shirts. I had no clue.

Last night we went out to dinner and I got to visit the Singapore national emblem - the Merlion. Afterward we took a long walk by the Singapore river. There are VERY strict fines here for breaking the law - and there are a lot of laws. If you ride your bike on a sidewalk designated for walking there is a $1000 fine. Chewing gum is less. Jaywalking is more. So what did I do on my first day there? Jaywalked. Ummm... twice. We didn't get caught though :-)

Here's a picture of my Japanese coworker, Kumakura-san, overlooking the Southern part of the city. Please excuse the hairdo. My hair definitely does not like Singapore.

Today we got a tour of just a small part of Singapore from my coworker, Dennis Sim. He and I have been working together for over 6 or 7 years I think - and I finally got to meet him! He.showed us around the Thai area and had an authentic Thai lunch. It was very good - a little spicy but I could handle it. There was one soup that I had - I took a bite and it was a wonderful sweet and sour flavor. I took another bite and then the spice from the first bite hit. It was like a little time bomb - a delayed reaction! Quite interesting. The green curry chicken and pineapple rice was also amazing. (I can't even beging to write about all the foods I've had over the last few days - but at least I can say it's all been cooked.) Here is a picture of Dennis and me.We walked around all day long - of course during the hottest time of the day - from about 11:00 AM to just now - 6:00 PM. We saw the Thai area then went to Sim City - a 4 floor mall just for electronics. I tried to buy something, really I did, but my research showed it was really no bargain buying it here. I was told there would be a big price difference but found that not to be the case for the items that I had my eye out for. So, no electronics to bring home. Side note for Andy... all that cash you see me pulling out is mostly for taxis - 3M will reimburse me. It's just a pain to do cash on the corporate card. Taxis, yeah. That sounds good.

Toilet update... squatting. No TP and no soap in many places. Paid to do that in some locations. Oh - and I saw this place but didn't eat there. I'm sure the translation is accurate but it doesn't sound tasty to me.

We headed down to Little India and it was amazing! Sights, sounds, open markets, lots of spices! We went to several wonderful Hindu temples - old buildings set in the middle of the skyscrapers. A few picutres... The first is one of the temples (see the buildings in back?) and the second is the Monkey God guarding another temple.

There was a lot do see and do. I'm off for dinner now - I'll doubt I'll have time to fill in the gaps here. Yep - it's a lot of work to play this hard!