Singapore is the very first city I’ve visited in Asia, and I am kind of falling in love with the tiny city state.

Granted, I stay at a nice hotel, get carted around by taxis, and eat for free. I’m still in tourist/visitor mode, but the longer I stay the more comfortable I’m becoming with venturing outside of the tourist zones.

Even factoring in the “new guy” rose colored glasses, there’s quite a bit to like about Singapore. The weather is great, the people are warm and friendly, and there is so much diversity and collective enthusiasm here that it’s hard not to get addicted to the undercurrent of energy that seems to be coursing through everyone.

Really.  Gum chewing is also discouraged.

Some background for the uninitiated.  Singapore is a city state – An island off the coast of Malaysia. The two countries briefly joined together  after WWII but Singapore decided to do their own thing in the 60’s. Singapore began as a British colony, but is occupied by Malaysians, Chinese, Indian, British, Australians, and countless other “Expats” from other countries.  There’s a certain level of harmony out here, and you don’t see the type of social strife we do back in the states and other parts of the world.  We talk about the U.S. being a melting pot.  Singapore makes it look easy.

English is the official language of Singapore, which makes it easy for dumb Americans like me that barely squeaked through high school and college French class.  Many international companies have offices here – and as I’m walking around the various office parks I see buildings for SAP, HP, and other household names in the IT world.

Singapore is where HQ is for APAC IT for my company, and I’ve gotten time to hang out with the local team as well as some of the leadership here.  The fellow I’m filling in for has been enormously gracious and has been showing me around, bringing me up to speed on the complexities of the job, and helping me avoid any cultural gaffes.  He’s also been helpful in my food tourism – where it’s really, really hard to be adventurous when you have as many food allergies as I do.

Singapore Flyer and Stadium

English is spoken well throughout the business centers but hit or miss when you get into other areas of the city – Mandarin or Malay are commonly spoken, and I’ve had to use my google translate app a few times to translate “I am allergic to peanuts” into the language of my particular audience that day.  Note: Just because you are in a Korean restaurant does NOT mean that the people there speak or read Korean!  What did we do before google translate?!? Oh, right. We just ate bread and rice and played it safe.  However, as long as the risks are low I always try to get out of the touristy areas and see what the “real” local experience is.

I’m also a seafood nut, and there’s plenty of that here.  the biggest adjustment for me was the prawns. They are quite delicious, but you get them on your plate fully intact, with legs and heads, and staring at you with accusatory, black eyes.  Once you name your food appropriately – my rainbow trout the other day was “Fred”- you get over it and chow down.  Warning: Do NOT use prawns in an impromptu comedy sketch – you will draw strange looks.

World Famous Chili-Crab

By the way, the signature dish out here is the Chili-Crab. I’m allergic to some of the ingredients (surprise!) so I had its distant cousin – the pepper crab!   Delicious.

I mentioned risk earlier. Singapore is one of the safest places in the world to walk around.  It is heavily surveilled and I understand that the legal system is pretty harsh, but you don’t see much in the way of crime, vandalism, social disorder, etc.  I learned that some companies actually provide workshops to their Singaporean employees that are traveling abroad in order to make them aware of the dangers everywhere else.  Singaporeans don’t really think about protecting your valuables, self defense, and would likely walk down a back alley in New York City without considering the inherent danger there.

This has been a challenge for me.  I grew up in a less than prosperous old mill town in Massachusetts and have also lived in the boroughs of Boston . You learn to watch your back, not carry too much cash, never carry all of your travel documents together, etc.  In Singapore – I had to go into a privately secured facility, and they wanted my passport for ID.  “What were they thinking?” I thought to myself. My passport was safely tucked away in my hotel room safe just in case I got mugged and lost my wallet!  My upbringing and travel to other countries – thinking Mexico here – have conditioned me to be wary.

Case in point – My host and I were at a local food court and he left his tray full of food on his table.  He proceeded to walk away to get a drink – OUT OF LINE OF SIGHT OF HIS FOOD!  I instinctively “guarded” his food for him, and he got chuckle out of this. You just don’t worry about stuff like this in Singapore.

Pretty Cool view of the city from the top of Marina Bay Hotel

Tourism

My first real tourist site was Sentosa Island.  There’s a Universal studios, a beach, and countless other attractions there.  There’s an amazing “Festive Walk” down the middle of the island, a boardwalk along the coast, and an indoor skydiving facility near the beach.  It seems like whatever they don’t have here in Singapore, they build it. I believe that there is snowboarding somewhere as well.

Nerd. I’m such a Nerd.

Universal Studios!

I also went on a roller coaster tour of Universal studios and took note of the other attractions.  Certainly not as big as the ones in Florida or California but still impressive.  Also (Nerd Alert!) they have a Battlestar Galactica themed roller coaster there, where you can ride on the ‘Cylon’ or ‘Human’ tracks. So much fun.  There’s also tons of shopping to do, just like everywhere else in Singapore.  Which brings me to:

Shopping

There is a shopping mall on just about every corner. Not just the typical mall, but like EPIC malls.  Everywhere.  All of the luxury brands are represented here, and Singaporeans and visitors alike keep the malls busy.  Heck, I was getting food on a stick (more on that later) from a local food stand, and the guy working the stand was sporting an impeccable, Burberry messenger bag.  People do dress to the hilt here, too. Especially when they are out on the town in the evenings.

More on Tourism

There’s so much to see here, even though the island is quite small.  Most of the city can be reached via a short (15 minute) cab ride, and 30 minutes is considered “so far away” by my hotel concierge.  Some pretty impressive architecture to be seen, as the city does look like something out of the future.  There’s the Marina Bay hotel with it’s three towers and ‘bowl’ on the top spanning them all, to the Singapore Flyer (giant ferris wheel) to the gardens by the bay, and the walking bridge fashioned to look like a DNA helix.  My hotel is also right next to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and I’ve had the privilege of taking my morning run through a UNESCO world heritage site!  All incredibly awesome stuff.

I’m looking forward to experiencing more of Singapore! Stay tuned…

Ernie

Hey Everyone!  This is my first post to a new blog I have set up to document my travels to Asia (and various other places) for work and pleasure.  There has been so much to see and do as I’ve begun to travel a bit more for work, and I’m slowly coming to realize that there’s far more to share than a tweet or Facebook post can possibly show. There are also people in my life that aren’t on social media (Hey Mom and Dad!) and I figured this would be a good way for them to see what I’ve been up to.  So I know I’ll get at least two hits on this!  Maybe one from my wife. Maybe. If she’s bored.

First up – How the heck did this (Asia thing) happen!?!?

Way back in February I was sitting on a beach in Mexico with my wife, her sister, and my brother in law enjoying the last day of our relaxing vacation in Playa del Carmen (see relaxing photo above).  My phone rang, and it was my boss asking if I’d be interested in filling in for somebody who had just resigned in the Asia Pacific region.  My company has a global reach, and we have quite a few active projects in the region.  It was important to ensure that we maintained momentum and continuity out there, and I was happy to help out. Before I knew it I was on a plane to Singapore!

The last couple of months have been pretty amazing.  I’ve spent time in Singapore, Australia, and am currently sitting on a flight bound for Japan.  I’ve learned so much about my company, the people out here in the region, and have had the opportunity to spend time with some of our senior leadership.

As a recent MBA grad, I’m also way more interested in how businesses tick than the average IT nerd.  In addition to ensuring that our IT infrastructure is operating smoothly, I also need to be aware of the needs of the regular business folks – supply chain, operations, manufacturing, sales, etc.   I’ve already learned quite a bit in the short time I’ve been traveling around, and I hope to share my key takeaways with all of YOU!

Obviously, I can’t share specific details about what my company is up to, and names will be withheld or changed to protect the innocent.  However, I expect that my broad lessons learned around technology, business, and culture will be easily transferrable to multiple organizations and industries.

First blog for me.  I am excited!

Grammar nerds. You will be infuriated by this site.  You have been warned.

Feel free to also follow my adventures on Twitter @globalitguy and on Instagram. I also post more mundane things and complaints about airlines on twitter @ernierapoza