Singapore

I have decided I will start blogging about some of my courier trips. See if there is an interest in them.

It was Sunday, and just finished making a nice breakfast, usually Sundays there are no trips, so we were making plans on the day, then the phone rang, it was the courier company asking if I was available to fly today, as they had two trips, one to Los Angeles and the other to Guadalajara Mexico. I said sure I am available and would prefer the trip to LA, since it is a shorter trip, and the pay is the same for both of them.

About an hour later, got the call that the job was confirmed, and to be at the airport for 4:30. Met a guy from the company who had my shipment, fortunately it was just one small box, really makes things easier, I don't have to check it in, and can just carry it on board.
Also met the guy who was going to Mexico, he was going to be on the same flight to Hong Kong with me, first time that has happened, it was nice to talk to him for a bit, and trade some stories about some trips.

I was flying Cathay Pacific to LAX via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific or (CX) is part of the OneWorld Alliance, and unfortunately I do not have status with them yet. All that really means is I have to use the regular check in line, and don't get access to the lounge, and am unlikely to get a decent seat. The check in line was actually quite empty so there was little wait, and after no time I had my boarding passes for my two flights, and happily they were both Aisle seats, even though they were way in the back of the plane, I was happy with getting an Aisle Seat.

First flight CX716 SIN-HKG. As with all flights on this route the plain was full, it was a decent Boeing 777 and had a personal video screen, I was in 55C, and had a couple of nice ladies sitting next to me, they were Asian, and part of a tour group, but what was unique about them as when they spoke they had really strong scottish accents, weird hearing a scottish accent out of an Asian lady. The meal on the flight was nothing memorable, as I can't recall what it was exactly, not great, but not bad, filled the gap. All in all it was a pleasant enough 3 hour flight to Hong Kong.

Checked in with the company at Hong Kong, as was told the client needed a copy of the invoice I had with me faxed to them, normally this is not a problem, as I can go to the lounge and use there fax machine, but since I did not have access on this flight I had to find a lounge that would let me use there fax machine. Oddly enough the other courier had to receive a fax for his entry documents to Mexico, so we set off together looking for a lounge. The first lounge said no fax machine, but that there was one near Gate 24, which was an internet kiosk place, and they did indeed have a fax machine, but alas they were closed. So set off looking again, and found a pay per use lounge. I have used this chain before in Kuala Lumpur to send a fax, so I asked if we could pay to send and receive a fax, they said no they don't have a fax machine. I then pointed to the fax machine sitting right next to them, and they said, oh yes but can not use it. I said ok, what if we were to pay for lounge entrance, can we then use the fax machine, and they said sure. Fortunately a manager over heard the conversation, and said it was no problem to pay for just a fax, and instructed them on how to do it in there system. After some time we sent and received our faxes for a total cost of $4usd, much cheaper then the $50 lounge entrance fee.

I then had to rush to my gate to board my flight, the other courier was on a later flight to San Francisco.
Got to the gate, went through the second layer of security where they checked my backpack for bottled water, and inspected my box of microchips. Boarded flight CX716 HKG-LAX. It was another Boeing 777 but had the strange capsule type seats in a 3-3-3 configuration, which is my favorite configuration if I can get a middle aisle seat, which I did, 65G way in the back of the plane, but doesn't bother me. it was a pretty full flight, and had two guys sitting in the other two seats, but fortunately the guy in the middle seat found another window seat that was free, that he took instead, which made for a much happier flight. The flight was delayed nearly an hour, as they were waiting for passengers from a connecting flight that was late, I believe it was from Manila, and there were about 20 late arrivals, fortunately none of them were sitting in the window seat that the guy sitting next to me went to, so had the extra space for the flight I have mixed feelings about these seats from Cathay Pacific, they don't recline, instead the bottom of the seat slides out to make it like a recline seat, however this really cuts into the precious legroom pace, the plus side is that the person in front of you can not recline into your space. I don't find them that comfortable, but they are very solid, and I did sleep well, so well in fact that I did not watch any movies on the nice in seat screen. 2 meals were served, the first meal since I was at the back of the plane, I did not get a choice as all they had left was some fish in a sauce with some rice and vegetables, that was quite disgusting actually, but I wasn't that hungry, as it was after midnight, and I was wanting to get some sleep. Woke up, with about 2 hours left in the 12 hour flight, found out that there was some great tail winds, and we were going to be 30minutes early, even after our hour delay. Breakfast was then served, had a choice between some chicken noodle dish, or omelet with bacon and sausage. I don't really lke omelets, but was not in the mood for noodles, so took the omelet, was surprised that it was a nice chunk of real bacon, and tasty sausage, the omelet however was super salty, and only had a couple bites. before moving on to the fruit and yoghurt.

Landed at Los Angeles and turned on my phone to find my customs entry # and contact info for the person I am meeting at the airport. Had to take a bus to the terminal, and since I was at the back of the plane got on to the last bus and had to wait for all the people in wheel chairs to get loaded on as well. About a 10minute drive to the terminal where I got off and zipped down the immigration line, which was quite long, had to wait about 30 minutes or so, then off to customs, and fortunately there was no line and they found my paper work quickly, and I was out of there in 10minutes. Made contact with the driver who would take the box to it's final destination, and job was done!

This trip I had an overnight stay, so I booked a room at the Holiday Inn LAX, a decent hotel close to the airport, since it was late in the evening, around 10:30, not much else I could do, hopped on the shuttle bus and checked in and got upgraded to an executive room, as I am a Priority Points member, but no status with them yet either. Room was nice, on the top floor, opposite side of the airport, so less noise. I was a bit hungry, and not really tired, so I headed to the Taco Bell near the hotel. I am not sure what it is, but I really miss Taco Bell! There must have been a high school basketball convention going on as there were tons of super tall teenagers roaming the hotel, never seen so many 7' tall kids before, I felt short!

Got a few hours sleep, and watched some TV, my flight back was not until 2pm, I could have done some shopping in LA but I was lazy and didn't really think of anything I needed. After another couple Taco's I headed back to the airport for my flight back. The flight back was with Singapore Airlines or (SQ). They are part of the Star Alliance network, where I have gold status with Air Canada, and United. However SQ doesn't really seem to do much for other airline partners members. The night before I tried to check in online, and saw that I was in a middle seat on a completely full flight, so I was kind of dreading the flight back home. Got to the airport, and the check-in line was massive for economy class easily 1.5hours! But I went to the business class and gold member line, and was immediately checked in. I was prepared to start begging for an aisle seat, when the check in guy said, we got you an exit row aisle seat! I said wow thats great. 39C for LAX-NRT-SIN on SQ11. Went through security, which took about 20minutes, and then zipped up to the super nice Star Alliance Lounge, where I had a couple beers, and watched a bit of some baseball game. It was then time to board the flight, again the line was very long and chaotic, but the joys of having status, I just waltzed in the business/gold line, and was at my seat in no time. It was as usual with this flight, which I have done several times, the old boeing 747, with crappy old screens, and old uncomfortable seats, but since I had unlimited leg room, I was not complaining.. A few people even commented how lucky the 3 of us sitting in those seats were, I had two guys next to me, a Singaporean, and an Indian guy, nice quiet small guys, always nice to have as neighbors on a long flight. The drawback with sitting in Row 39 is that the middle section is where they place the families with the small babies, and this was no exception, fortunately they weren't that loud, and only a few small outbursts during the flight.

The service on SQ is really great, CX is also very good, but SQ is just one step above, I don't recall the first meal, I do recall the desert which is always a favorite of mine on SQ flights, some yummy Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I was getting a bit tipsy, after 3 beers on the plane, and 2 in the lounge, normally I don't drink when I fly, but I really wanted to try to get some sleep, and wanted to see if drinking would help. It did, I slept quite well, except for being woken up a few times by the kid sitting behind me who for being so small seemed to kick the seat a lot! And her mom would grab the back of my seat every time she wanted to get up to the bathroom, and shook the seat violently each time, I complained once to her, but not sure she understood me. Oh well back to sleep, the 11.5 hour flight to Tokyo was ok, I got some sleep and awoke just in time for the next meal which was a choice of some Japanese Eel dish, or Beef Lasagna, as I was quite hungry, since I slept through the snacks SQ provides during the flight. I didn't want to risk the Japanese dish, and went with the Lasagna, it was ok, not great, not bad, filled the gap. We then landed in Tokyo for a 1.5hour stop over. Left the plane, went through security and was in the nice ANA lounge where I had a couple glasses of Perrier, and a few snacks, while checking my email and surfing the web. Re boarded the flight SQ11 NRT-SIN, which is just over 6 hours. Had a japanese seafood rice dinner, and watched some funny Korean Movie, and slept an hour or so, before arriving back in Singapore, at Changi Terminal 3. I love Changi Airport, and wish all airports were as efficient as this one, got off the plane, and got the immigration, where there was no line, it was 1am, but it is usually always like that, very small lines if any. Then if I had luggage it would likely already be there for me, then went to the taxi queue, and immediately hopped in a taxi for the 20minute ride and was home 30 minutes after the plane landed!

All in all an easy trip.

Posted by Jason Willock

Well recently I have flown across the ocean a fair bit, and most of that time it has been in economy. If your lucky enough to fly in Business Class or 1st class all the time, then you can ignore this.

Airlines are cutting back now, for the most part Asian and Middle East based airlines are a bit better than N. American based airlines, in the way of comfort, and service, and European airlines are in between the two.

Before you buy your ticket, check to see what kind of plane the flight is on, sometimes the same airline will have different planes for the same route. And some airlines have recently refreshed there older planes cabins, for example I recently flew Philippine Airlines, on a 747 from Manila to LAX, and it was brand new inside, and quite nice, much nicer than the old 747's that Singapore Airlines flies, even though Singapore Airlines is generally a much nicer airline, I enjoyed the Philippine Airlines flight more.
Seat Guru or Seat Expert are both handy sites to tell you what plane the flight will be on, and what features that plane has, like in seat entertainment, and power ports. It may be worth paying a small price more for a nicer cabin.

Choose your seat. If you can choose your seat, here are my suggestions, if your traveling alone, pick an Aisle Seat in the middle seats, I find 'G' seats are usually best, but check with the sites above, as different airlines put the entertainment boxes on different sides, so you have less leg room. If your 2 or more, some airlines have 2-5-2, 3-3-3 or 3-4-3 configurations, so if you can get two seats next to each other all alone, then your set.

If you don't have a very tight connection I suggest you sit near the back of the plane, not the very last row, as the seats don't recline much, but 3 or 4 rows from the back. The reason is that I find the back of the plane is usually less crowded, as everyone likes to sit at the front of the plane. So your more likely to get a whole row to your self, which is very nice! Who cares if your the last one off the plane, your generally going to be waiting for luggage anyways.

As for what to bring on the plane with you, here is a list of what I bring

1. Refillable Water Bottle - Planes are dry, around 10% humidity! You need to stay hydrated, once your settled in, and the flight attendants are not to busy, kindly ask one of them to fill your bottle up, if you can't fill it before boarding. They will be more than happy to do so.

2. Eye Mask - if you are wanting to get some sleep bring one, some airlines provide them, but most don't in economy. they come in handy because you have no idea if the person next to you, or in front of you is going to want to read the entire flight, and those lights can be bright!

3. Neck Pillow - At first I never flew with one of these, but I borrowed Tan's one flight, and it really did make a difference, especially if you don't have an empty seat next to you.

4. Ear Plugs - Again if your wanting to sleep, ear plugs can be a life saver, who knows how many babies, loud talkers, or snorers will be around you.

5. iPOD - Or other music device, you can use this instead of ear plugs as well. Load up some familiar soothing tracks to help you fall asleep.

6. Contact Lens Case with Solution - If you wear contacts either don't wear them on the day of the flight, and wear glasses, or take them off before you sleep, your eyes will thank you.

7. A Pen - For filling out immigration and customs forms.

8. Some snacks. - If your flying a nice airline like Singapore Airlines, they will feed you like crazy, so you don't need to worry about this, however if your flying an american based airline, you may get a little hungry I love munching into a nice apple when I wake up from a sleep on a plane. Apples, Granola Bars, are easy to bring in your bag.

9. Toothbrush and ToothPaste - Most Asian airlines provide these, please brush your teeth, if not for your own tooth health, for the comfort of the passengers around you!

10. Something to read. - Even if you have an Inflight Entertainment System at your seat, sometimes you can't find a movie you want to watch, bring a book, or a magazine. Often airlines will have some magazines for you to read as well but you have to grab them quick, check at the back of each section, there are often magazine racks.

With these items, your 12 hour flight to Asia will be a tad less painful, if you have your own suggestions, or have any questions about flying, which airline to choose, or need help finding a ticket, shoot me a message, I will do my best to help!

Posted by Jason Willock

Wow, again I will start the message by saying, where on earth has the time gone.. Here it is 2010, 3 years have passed since I first left Calgary. It really doesn't seem that long ago.
The last few months I have been flying a lot, doing the job as a Hand Carry Courier. For the most part it is not all that bad of a job, pick up a box, take it on a plane, give it to some guy at the other place, and head back home. Don't worry it's all legal, usually electronic components for the Automotive Industry.

Although sitting around on planes and in airports does get a bit tiring, most of the flights are trips to the states, which is handy if I can stop off and do a bit of shopping for some items that are expensive here. Guadalajara Mexico is another frequent destination, which I haven't really had a chance to see other than the airport and one hotel outside the city, but nice to eat some authentic Mexican Food! Perhaps one day I will get to check out the old city.. I did although get to go to Porto Portugal for the day. It had been a while since I had been to Europe, and even though it was a rather rainy day, I did enjoy strolling through the old part of the city, Europe does have it charms that are not really available here in hectic South East Asia. I know Tan prefers it in Europe, who knows maybe one day we can figure out how to live there again.

I still have no cravings for cold weather and snow, although some days the heat here can be a tad annoying, always so sweaty, although it doesn't bother me much.
We spent Christmas and New Years in Thailand, it was a nice trip we didn't go to the beaches as usual, but head into the Wine Country, for some nice cooler weather, in the low to high 20's quite enjoyable, plus the wine was quite nice as well. Tan's mom came to Bangkok as well, was nice to see her again, however I think she was disappointed I could not speak Thai, I try to learn, but get quickly frustrated, and give up, I really wish I had learnt another language when I was younger, as I think that may make it easier to learn a third, although Thai with it's 5 tones, and strange characters would still be a challenge I am sure. In ways I prefer Bangkok to Singapore, and perhaps if I lived there I would be able to pick up the language quicker, trying to learn with Rosetta Stone just doesn't seem to work for me, maybe if they had the new version of there software for Thai it would improve things. But I get annoyed at having to repeat 'the boy is under the table' or the girl is on the horse 100 times.

2010 also means it is my 20 year high school reunion, there are a couple events in August, that perhaps I will come to, since I am sure I will have an abundance of Frequent Flyer miles if I keep up the courier job for a while, although it has been rather slow so far this year. I also am unsure if there is really any point of attending a high school reunion, I don't really keep in touch with anyone from High School except for the odd Facebook Message, but perhaps that is the whole point of a reunion right? Plus if they have a prize for the person who traveled the farthest to get there, I am pretty sure I have that in the bag. Regardless, I do hope to make it back to Calgary sometime this summer, even if for a short little visit, but I think I will wait until all that white stuff goes away.

Once again I will make the promise of updating this more, perhaps instead of telling just about travels, I will give some tips on flying, or some of my cooking experiments, as rather surprisingly there are still a good number of people that come to this website often.

Keep in touch!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well today marks one year for us in Singapore. Hard to believe how fast this year has zipped by.
Had a couple visitors, my mom and Mike, which was nice, had a brief trip home, and went on a few trips with Tan. All in all it was a pretty good year.

Living in Singapore is different than Calgary that is for sure, it's much hotter, and way more humid, which for the most part I like, but sometimes it does get annoying to go outside and be sweating instantly!

I think I miss the seasons a bit too, certainly not winter, but I do miss Fall! I was reminded of that when I had a quick trip to Indiana last month, it was quite nice with all the colors of the leaves, and the corn fields.. However the constant green color as in Singapore is also quite nice too, no long brown/white winter seasons.

I am not really a fan of most of the local food here, we eat at home most of the time, the local cuisine is just to oily, and filled with MSG for my liking, and vegetables are over cooked and covered in sauces, but there are some exceptions, crab being the best, Pepper, Chili, or Butter, all very tasty! I much prefer Thai or Vietnamese cuisine and that is usually what we eat when we go out.

I also find myself missing fruit from our area, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries. Now while they are available here, they are insanely expensive, and don't taste the same, I think they are picked way to unripe, for the long shipping. However the pineapple here can be fantastic, and when it is Mangosteen, or Rambutan season, that is great too, however Thailand seems better for fresh fruit than Singapore.

It's much more convenient having a car here, the first half of the year we went with out one, and while the public transport is fantastic in Singapore, it can take a substantially longer time to go anywhere by Bus, and waiting outside for 20mins for the next bus to arrive in the heat can be unpleasant. The downside of having a car is that they are expensive, finding parking can be difficult and expensive in places, and there are speed camera's anywhere, so even when there is no traffic you can't drive fast!

I do enjoy the mix of cultures here in Singapore, and I do like being a minority here, it is nice to feel unique. Tan however feels the exact opposite, she dislikes how everyone assumes she is local, no matter where we are in Asia, in Singapore, they assume she is local, and speak in Chinese to her, same things happen in Vietnam, Philippines, and China, they just assume all asians are local, even though she is Thai.

I am also discouraged how I am unable to find a job here, it's not great for the self esteem!

That being said, we are considering at looking at relocating somewhere else, however that is a big decision, and we can't make it hastily, so who knows where we will end up, or maybe we will stay in Singapore a while longer.

One thing I know is time is just flying by, as my old high school physics teacher warned us, he told us to enjoy our time while we can, as it just starts going by faster and faster! So True!

Posted by Jason Willock

So I have been searching for a job here in Singapore for quite some time now, and not coming up with much, but things seem to be picking up, I am getting more calls, and there seems to be more job postings in the market, so that is a good sign, a couple recruitment companies are actively searching for a position for me.

I managed to get some temporary work as a Hand Carry Courier, basically I take product, (usually hi-tec product like sensors or semi-conductors) as checked luggage on a flight. I have done three trips so far, one to Toronto, which I got to fly business class there, which was quite nice. Then just flew back to Singapore, I can choose to stay as long as I like if I pay for my expenses there, but Toronto doesn't excite me all that much! Next trip was to Chicago, where I then had to drive the product to Kokomo Indiana, where there is a big Delco plant, it was a nice drive through the mid-west corn fields, on a beautiful sunny day. Since I had an empty suitcase to bring back, I decided to stop off at a grocery store to pick up some stuff that I can't get in Singapore, or is very expensive here, so I stocked up on cereal, popcorn, and some spices for cooking, and a few other things, funny thing is on the way out of Singapore airport, I was checked by customs, and my bag had to go through x-ray, I figured for sure they were going to ask me to open up the bag, but surprisingly they let me through with out a word, I think they look out for cigarettes and alcohol, since they are heavily taxed here.

My last trip was to Hong Kong, I was to stay one night, and then bring back some product to Singapore, however the product was delayed from China, so I got to stay 2 nights, it had been a while since I had been in Hong Kong, I forgot how crowded and dirty it is compared to Singapore, but I think living in Hong Kong would be more exciting than Singapore, which is kind of dull at times, but I am not sure how I would handle the crowds all the time!

So how the job usually works, is I will get a call in the morning, saying would you like to go to Toronto or wherever, and then I go that afternoon or night, so it is quite last minute. I then have to update the company along the way, until I deliver the package, usually I just meet someone at the airport who takes it to it's final destination.

I get to keep the frequent flyer miles for the flights as well, so that adds up, we will be able to fly back to Calgary for much cheaper now, just have to pay taxes, and I am now Star Alliance Gold, so I get to use the lounges which makes things much more comfortable on the longer layovers.

This is by no means a dream job, as the work is sporadic but it's interesting, puts some money in my pockets (or should I say back into Tan's), and I don't have to worry about leaving the country each month now, as I am always coming and going! I am still able to work a bit on the websites I am working on, and hunt for a more permanent job, and in a strange sort of way I do like flying!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well I just booked my ticket for a short trip home, I arrive on July 30th, and head back to Singapore on August 10th. So hopefully I can meet up with as many people as possible! I look forward to spending time with friends and family!

Booking the ticket was quite stressing, I wanted to keep costs down, but also want some relative comfort. I really wanted to avoid flying American based airlines, since Asian service is so much better.
However in the end I ended up booking United Airlines. Singapore -> Hong Kong -> San Francisco -> Calgary. The main reason I picked this flight was the connection times, no long layovers, and get Frequent Flyer Miles, since it's 9600miles each way, thats a fair bit. My next choice was Philippine Airlines, it was a bit cheaper, but involved a 9 hour layover at Manilla Airport from 4am till 1pm. Now for those of you who have never been to the Manilla Airport, it's not the happiest place in the world. Crowded, not many seats, and no wifi! Apparently the new Terminal 3 is better, but I wouldn't have been in that terminal.

Oh well it's only one day of my life on a plane, each way. A plane with no personal entertainment, but thats what the laptop and ipod is for I guess.

Tan has been traveling for work for the last week, and comes back Sunday for 1 night, and then she has to travel again. So I have been on my own, at least I am starting to know a few people here, and I play volleyball with some interesting people, so it's not too bad. Hard to meet new people in a city, especially when you don't have the office environment, but slowly but surely!

Anyhow, just looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks!

Posted by Jason Willock

My goodness I have neglected this website! Where oh where did the month of June go!

Lets see, some updates, we picked up the car, drove it for 5 minutes and then the Check Engine light came on, so we had to bring it back, they gave us a loaner, and checked it out, it was a bad computer chip, so they fixed it up. Driving in Singapore is interesting, people like to drive in the middle of the lanes, and rarely use there signal indicator. There are speed camera's everywhere, and traffic is crowded. But the roads are in very nice condition. I did manage to get a speeding ticket, doing 91 in a 70, $150sgd ouch.. Have to slow down, just it's such a fun little car to drive. However my license expired on my Birthday (June 12th), so I haven't been able to drive since then.

Went to Thailand for a week, spent a weekend at a little beach town a couple hours drive from Bangkok called Hua Hin, there was a Jazz Festival going on, huge crowds, it was quite fun. Went to the dentist to get a filling replaced and a cleaning, for under $70cdn.

Other than that I have been continuing the job search, promoting our website www.one4sale.net which is a online marketplace like Craigslist only better, we got the website from Tan's friend who is running a Singapore version One2Sell Singapore Also been learning web design, and have started creating a Medical Tourism website, if you need some medical/dental/cosmetic work done, Asia is so much cheaper, and I think the quality of care is much better.

I am planning on coming home near the end of July for a short visit, and to renew my drivers license, as I miss driving the Mini.

More updates to follow, I promise!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well after being here in Singapore for over 6 months, we decided a car would indeed be handy to have. So we took the plunge to buy a car. A first we were looking at used cars. Tan is a bit um picky about what she will drive, so we were looking mostly at BMW's to start, but then the focus became MINI, she wanted to have another Mini Cooper. There were a few for sale, mostly Automatic, and we wanted to get a Manual one, as we figured a car like that would be more fun to drive as a Manual. It seems that Singaporeans don't really like to drive Manual's and there weren't many out there, and the ones that were available, were a funny color, or to old.

So then we did the math, and figured you lose about the same amount of money on a car here if you buy a new one or a used one, if you drive it for 2-3 years. Since we don't really know how long we will be staying in Singapore, that may be all we drive it for.

Let me give you a brief run down on car prices here, for the most part car prices are similar to back home in Canada, European ones maybe a little more expensive, no problem. However they also have a nice thing called a "Certificate of Entitlement" or COE. What this is, is a 10 Year license to drive the car in Singapore, after the 10 years is up, the car is scrapped, or sold to Malaysia or Thailand. That's why it is hard to find a car older than 10 years here, unless it's a classic. Which all in all is a good thing, no smokey oil burning beaters cruising down the road. However, this really adds a lot to the cost of owning a car. I would say on average it adds 100% to the car price!

Anyhow, so we checked out MINI, the Cooper is very nice, but at $95000SGD for the base model, not a cheap car. We then looked at a Fiat 500, a pretty cute high tech car, but not really our style. Then off to the VW dealership to check out the new Golf's. I wasn't really excited, they didn't have the new Scirocco's there, which may have been more appealing. Then we headed to Peugeot, I wanted to see the 207 GTI, a fast little car, but it was out on a test drive already, so the dealer showed us a 308 Turbo, it's a 4 door car, with a glass roof, took it for a drive, and wow I was quite impressed, it was fast, and a very nice drive, then we took the 207 for a spin, this comes only as a Manual, and it's quite fast, it has the same engine as the Mini Cooper S, but for $40000SGD less. It was a fun car to drive, but it wasn't as fast I thought it should have been, the 1st gear was quite slow.

Tan really liked the 308 Turbo as well, and now she had to think what she wanted to get, so after sleeping on it we headed back to the MINI dealer for another look, and this time we took a Cooper S for a drive, it is Automatic, but has the thumb shifters, even though it has the same engine as the Peugeot, it's Tuned different, and wow it felt much faster than the 207, even with an automatic, and had a much nicer ride to it then the Cooper. So we negotiated a price, and we got one for $116000SGD ($92000CAD), which pains me to think about what we could buy for 92k in Canada. But it's a price you must pay to drive on the nice roads in Singapore I guess. We also got $3000 in vouchers for MINI, which we are using to add some Chrome accessories and stripes to the car.

We got a Pepper White one, with Beige interior, I will post some pictures when we get it. Which hopefully will be late next week, you see you can't just buy a new car here and drive it home the same day, you have to wait for the dealer to do bidding on the COE (Which is done twice a month), and fluctuates quite a bit, the government doesn't just freely issue these liceneses, there are certain number available each month, so if car sales are good for that period, then it can really drive the price up. Also they have different prices for different car classes like engine less than 1.6L is cheaper than something with a larger engine, I guess like a gas guzzler tax. You can also get a much cheaper one as well called an off peak car, which your only allowed to drive in the evenings, and on Sunday, but that option isn't very popular here.
They also need to install a little box on the dash, this is how you pay for the many tolls (ERP) and parking, which is quite handy, you just insert your cash card, and load the machine up, and when you drive under a toll road, it makes a beep, and deducts the amount, same with parking garages. Saves time!

So now I need to find a GPS, so we will be ready to cruise the streets of Singapore when we get the car!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well my mom arrived early morning on April 1st. We took a quick trip to the local grocery store, It perhaps was a bit cruel of me to start her off there. I had gotten used to it, but I guess for a first timer here it is a little shocking. All the pork sitting out where you can select your own bits, so people handling the meat, maybe not so sanitary. Then the fish section, which had some fish still flapping around, and then of course the frogs, both live frogs, and freshly skinned frogs, which are a tad strange looking.

We then headed to the more civilized Orchard Road shopping district, but even there when we stepped into Plaza Singapura, a rather nice mall, my mom said it smelled. I guess the smell from the durian at the grocery store wafts through out the entire mall.

Then we went to an Italian Restaurant, it was quite nice, but the food was only average, and a little pricey, but not too bad. The $75 for a bottle of cheap australian wine, always hurts though!

It was off to bed, my mom was tired, after her long flight!

The next day we headed to the Botanic & Orchid Gardens, which are very near my condo, but I have never been there. It was really quite nice, and the Botanic gardens are free, it's a huge park which is very well kept, and quite nice. The Orchid garden for $5 for Adults and $1 for seniors, is also a pretty good deal. It was a very hot day, and I was pretty beat after just that, but mom wasn't tired, and need to get some clothes for the hot weather here.

Off to Little India we went, it is truly like being in a different city there, all sorts interesting sights, including the nice Hindu Temple. After checking out the shops there, it was off to Chinatown for some more shopping. There are some good deals there, pants for $10, shirts for $5, but the styles may be a tad lacking. Good enough for just bumming around though.

We just had a simple dinner at home, I was quite tuckered out.

Today we just walked around the area, and hung out at the pool. We are meeting one of Tan's friend and his family for dinner at Clarke Quay, a nice area with restaurants along the river.

On a side note all my precious basil and dill plants got infested with spider mites, so they had to all get tossed. No more fresh basil for a bit. I wasn't sure what to do with all the plants when we head to Thailand next week anyways.

Photos to come soon.

Posted by Jason Willock

Well the job hunt isn't progressing as smoothly as I hoped. I guess it is to be expected that in this economy it's harder to find a job, and having no work connections here does make it a tad harder.
The biggest pain is having to leave the country every month for a few days. I can ask for an extension to 60 days, but I don't want to use that too often as it may cause them to start checking into what I am doing here for so long. Not that I am doing anything wrong, just looking for a job!

Oddly enough a year ago I left Singapore to be with Tan in Holland, in some ways it seems like it was a long time ago, and then other times I think, wow the last year just zipped by. All in all it has been a pretty good year, and I am happy I made the decision to follow my heart, and be with Tan, and I hope to have many more with her! How romantic of a thing of me to say just before Valentines Day.

There was an interesting Hindu festival last weekend called Thaipusam. They have a parade where they carry a large pot of milk and pierce the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers. It looks really quite painful, but yet they are dancing around and looking like they are having a great time. I took a few photos of that, so I will get them up soon! It's interesting being in such a multi-cultural environment, it always seems there is some sort of festival, or event going on here!

It is just starting to Thunder here, and that made me think that I have never noticed a power failure here, and there is often thunder and lightning, I guess it pays to have all your wires underground!

Another thing I read about here the other day they held a mock terrorist attack on the subway, with a guy running around pouring pretend Kerosene all over the place, and a bomb sound shook through the loud speakers, they really are vigilant about terrorism here. All the time while on the Subway or waiting for the train, they play videos on what to do and look for to spot a terrorist. It gives me a safe feeling, but I also feel it is a tad bit morbid.

Well back to the job hunt!

Posted by Jason Willock

Wow almost a whole month since my last update. Time keeps on slipping. It was a busy month though, after getting back from Vietnam, we had to prepare for a BBQ Tan was hosting for her co-workers and some friends from Thailand. Plus my friend Mike was coming on the same day for a 2 week visit.

We held the BBQ at a national park, right next to the ocean, it was quite a nice setting. It turned out nice once we got the fire going, it seems my skills at creating a fire using just charcoal were some what lacking, the lack of lighter fluid also may have played attribute to it. We got it going though and had some tasty grilled meat. I miss not having a BBQ on my patio, there are some BBQ Pits we can use here at the condo, but you have to book them, and you have to create the fire using charcoal, no quick turn on the gas and grill away here!

Then spent a few days here in Singapore showing Mike around, before heading to Phuket in Thailand for a week. I had never been to Phuket, I was actually surprised how nice the beach in Patong was, since it is a crowded touristy area filled with go-go dancers, and massage parlors. I think Mike was a little scared at first, he didn't care much for the lady boys either. I don't mind them as long as they don't try to grope me! I introduced Mike to Thai cuisine, and things were going great until one night we had some very spicy crab papaya salad, this put Mike out of commission for 2 nights, Friday & Saturday, which was a shame as those were supposed to be the big party nights. Tan even flew in for the weekend for the party.

It was then back to Singapore, Tan had to fly to Europe for work, so it was just me and Mike. I played tour guide, and saw some of the country I hadn't seen, actually there is quite a nice beach here in Sentosa Island, which is only a 20 minute drive from my place. We did some clubbing here as well, and then just like that his time was up and it was time to head back home. He had very nice weather for his trip, it was very hot and sunny in Thailand, and here in Singapore, it was a nice temperature around 29-30 with wind, and no rain. It has been the driest January in many years here, apparently due to some very cold arctic air, and unusual winds. January is usually very wet.

Now I am getting back into a normal daily routine, and focusing on finding a job here. I have to leave the country every 30 days, and I am always a bit scared that when I come back in that they are going to question what I am doing here so much. But so far they don't even blink and just stamp my passport. It's not the best time to be searching for a job, but I am sure there is something out there for me, I can't take a basic job either like a bartender or something like that, as the company would have to sponsor me for a work visa, and jobs like that usually will go to Asian's who don't need such sponsorship.

I promise there will be more updates as well, as I notice people aren't visiting my website so much anymore, I will try to keep it exciting to come back!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well just a quick little note to wish every one a Merry Christmas, and all that jazz.

I will be taking off for Vietnam for 11 days starting tomorrow. Looking forward to it, we are just going to try to relax, and not cover to much ground, just a few places in the south, it's a big country so to try to see it all in 11 days would be very tiring. As Tan has had a hectic travel schedule for work these last few weeks, travel isn't so much fun when it's for work!

I have just been doing the same old routine here, need to start doing more activities, like join an Ultimate Frisbee team, or Pool League. Been practicing swimming, I was never a great swimmer, and slowly getting better, it's nice just to be able to step outside and go for a few laps any time of the day, as the water is always pretty warm.

Other than that not much going on, I do want to say congratulations to my brother and his girlfriend, they recently got engaged! Good it takes the pressure of me..

Posted by Jason Willock

Well last night me and Tan ventured out to Sentosa Island, a nice little island, with resorts and beaches for a yearly Dance Festival called ZoukOut. I hadn't been to Sentosa yet, which is rather silly since it's only 30minutes away, even in the dark I could tell it was quite nice. I will have to go there again during the day.

Any how, last night was a Full Moon, and I am sure it is no coincidence that the promoters of the show have it on a full moon, to perhaps try to bring the same party vibe from Thailand, Singapore style of course though. This means pricey drinks, pricey food, lots of security, and lots of rules. Oddly enough, even though the party was held on the beach outside, they had the water all blocked off, so you couldn't get your feet wet if you like. I think it's probably to keep the garbage out of the water, and prevent drunk people passing out and drowning, neither of which seemed to be a big concern in Thailand.

It was a pretty fun night for the most part, lots of cute girls in bikini's, and loads of interesting people watching to be had. However there where too many smokers, too many people annoyingly blowing whistles, and plowing through the crowd. Also too many private party functions, it didn't really feel like it was on the beach. Plus I'm not a huge fan of techno, which was the main music on the 3 different stages. The amazing weather was a bonus though, not cloudy so you could see the moon shining bright, and temperature hovering right around 26 all night. Perfect!

The last 2 weeks Tan has had to go on business trips for a few days here, so I have gone to a club called DBL-O during the week a couple times, very large club with two sections, and one pool table. So I have been playing some pool, I missed going out to a club and having a chance to play a few games of pool, it's a great way to meet people when your in a new place. As it would be nice to make some new friends here. I have also started the search for a job, I have mixed feelings about starting work again, it will be hard to get into the grind again, and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep doing the same thing again. However I will give it a try here, it will be neat comparing work cultures from Canada & Singapore, and probably a great way to meet people as well.

I'll keep you all posted on the job search.

Posted by Jason Willock

Well Tan had to go away to Shanghai last week for work, I was tempted to go with her, but decided to stay here and work on getting more settled in at home.
Plus there was a Kanye West concert here that I was considering going to. Even though Kanye is not one of my favorite artist, I read that he puts on quite an amazing show. So I decided to venture out to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and check him out, and attend my first concert here in Singapore. He did arrive a tad late, which was a bit annoying, but he certainly put on a very energetic show, it made me respect him a bit more as an artist, as he really does make an effort to make the pricey tickets worthwhile. I am looking forward to my next concert here in Singapore, it has the advantage of being a main hub for concerts here in Asia, so if a artist or band is doing an Asia tour, it's quite likely they will make a stop here. So it will give me a chance to see some names that I wouldn't probably have gotten a chance to in Calgary.

This weekend was Halloween, although if you didn't know it was Halloween, you probably wouldn't know it was just by walking the streets here. While there were a few decorations up here and there, mostly at places catering to the expat and tourist crowds, most locals could care less that it was Halloween, I guess it truly is a North American occurrence. I don't mind though, as I was never to big on dressing up and going out. I was always to lazy to come up with an idea for a costume, so living here crosses that off the list. I do miss the little treats that are on sale the day after Halloween though. It's probably for the better that I was unable to find any though, as I would just eat them all up, and that would be counter-productive from my workout routine I am trying to get in to.

I am now also starting to try my hand at some Web Development stuff with Rails, if you don't know what that means, then don't really worry about it, just geek stuff. I think it will take a while to get into a daily routine of focused work, but I am trying to get in a few hours a day, and ease myself back into it.

Posted by Jason Willock

Wow time is certainly flying this month. Hard to believe October is nearly over! Been busy getting the condo all set up and livable. Of course for me that requires some gadgets. So I have built a HTPC, it is nice to watch stuff in High Def again, and I am looking forward to doing a little xbox gaming, I know it sounds geeky, but I like it.

I try to cook at home as much as possible, it is expensive to eat out at restaurants here, unless you go to a hawker center, which is like a food court with local little cookeries and a common sitting area, some are outdoors, and the nicer ones are a indoors, but the food is cheap, and very Chinese, or Malay. I don't mind the food once and a while, rice or noodles with some meat and a couple green leafs of some vegetable which is your vegetables. Problem is it is rather oily, and almost always contains MSG. I was quite surprised when I went to the grocery store and saw huge bags of MSG for sale. The love it here, it's a flavor enhancer, and some of the locals here couldn't imagine cooking with out it. Even if it gives them a headache or makes there throat sore. Of course if you go to a proper restaurant you can request to have no MSG. Also have to read the labels at the supermarket, things I wouldn't even think of having MSG in it, like deli meat, often contain MSG.

It will be nice once everything gets settled in here. Tan's stuff from Holland arrived yesterday, and we have a very full condo of stuff, it will take some time to find a spot for everything.

I just came back from a Xbox 360 Gaming function at a mall here, it reminds me that Singapore is a gaming country, very crowded with all ages and both guys and girls all lining up to play the newest games. It amazes me that for such a technological advanced country, where there is free wireless all over the city, and everyone is connected to the net, that most stores here don't have websites, and if they do they are not current, and very basic, it's nearly impossible to buy anything online here, I think it is because they just love shopping too, and going to a mall or a store is a day out, and they like to see the product, and maybe ask for a discount or a free gift or something like that. Even then when you buy something at a retail store if it is large, it's unlikely they have it in stock, and you have to get it delivered anyways.

Well back to unpacking. More later!

Posted by Jason Willock