Korea & China

I finally downloaded the rest of my pictures from my trip to Asia. After Singapore, I was off to Korea for a day of meetings. I didn't have much time to do sightseeing but managed to squeeze in a traditional dinner and walked around the neon city. After Korea, I headed to China. Shanghai was a huge surprise to me, it's a lot more modern than I thought it would be. I've only been to Guangzhou (a city in southern China) and the two are completely different. Shanghai has many western looking buildings due to intenational settlements back in the 19th century. I visited our China office and explored a couple univerisities in the area. One of my old co-workers is on a 2 year expat assignment in Shanghai so he took me around the city which was really nice of him. All in all, it was a productive trip but I'm so glad to be home!

Seoul, Korea/Shanghai, China (People's Park)

Shop (and eat) til you Drop

One of my colleagues was gracious enough to invite me to a local-style Singaporean dinner on Friday evening. "Hawker" shops are open food-courts with no a/c and many vendors selling various local dishes. We had hainanese chicken rice, bbq stingray, and an oyster omelet followed by shaved ice desserts with coconut milk and fruit toppings. All of these dishes are inexpensive - around $3-5 SD ($2-3 USD) and very tasty! I spent the rest of the weekend checking out different areas of Singapore using the MRT (mass rapid transit) which was very clean (of course!) and highly efficient. I love the subway, I wish we had a better public transportation system in San Jose. I visited Sentosa - Singapore's island resort where there are beaches, an underwater world, butterfly park, golf course, and many other activities suitable for a family on holiday. After exploring Sentosa, I walked around VivoCity which is one of the newest shopping complexes here. You would not believe the amount of shopping and eating to be had in this country. Everywhere you turn there are stores and places to eat. I also had the opportunity to go inside a Hindu temple, which was an interesting experience. It was neat to see the different statues and priests performing rituals/prayers. Tomorrow I'm off to Korea, but only for a day so I won't have time to do any sightseeing.

Land of the Merlion

I'm currently on a two week business trip in Asia to visit our local offices and various universities in Singapore, Korea and China. It's an exciting time for us as we expand our programs into the AsiaPac regions. I've been in S'pore for 5 days now and am having a wonderful time. Everyone here is so nice and the city is very organized and clean as you would expect. Weather's in the 80s and humid, with on and off rain showers. The KT office is located in the north part, which is about a 30 min taxi ride from downtown. Since English is the main language here, I can get around easily. :) So far I've been able to squeeze in a little shopping, lots of eating and a nice relaxing spa treatment. I'm looking forward to the weekend where I plan to explore the city.The photo on the left is of a Merlion (cross between mermaid and lion) - Singapore's national landmark statue and tourism logo.

View of the city/Singpore's famous Chili Crab (yum!):









Foot bridge/Boat Quay: