A Course? In Singapore? Of Course!

Following right on the heels of my trip to Pattaya, Thailand, I flew to Singapore. Now the last Peoplesoft course I took was paid for by me ($5,000) and it was in Mississauga where I also paid for my own hotel. Now, if you're from Heathcote, Ontario, that may seem like a big deal. But I'm not from any where near Heathcote, not any more anyway. So when my boss (did I tell you she was also my friend?) asked me to take another course that was offered in Singapore, paid for by the college including a five star hotel and a generous per diem allowance ... well you can guess it didn't matter where I was from, never mind Heathcote.

The only down side of this trip was that I'd just spent 9 days in Pattaya and was running a bit low on energy and probably dangerously low on protein. Anyways, a week in Singapore after a week in Pattaya is like going from total disarray to absolute organization. Singapore is beautiful and so clean and organized ... eat your heart out Toronto.

My hotel was the Pan Pacific in the heart of Marina Bay, Singapore. Very nice ... had a room on the 31st floor with the outer wall made of glass ... no peeping Toms at that elevation. The view was spectacular overlooking the harbour and the world's biggest ferris wheel called the Singapore Flyer.

To give you an idea of the scale of this marvel, the Flyer is 536 feet high, takes 30 minutes to take a one revolution 'flight' ($30), has capsules that hold 28 people, and is capable of holding up to 784 passengers! And no, I didn't partake of this wonderful opportunity ... if I didn't ride a 7 foot camel, I'm not riding a 536 foot high ferris wheel that calls rides 'flights', never mind that it doesn't have a nasty disposition or bites the clients.


As for the course I took, it was delivered by a local Singapore resident originally from Hong Kong. We had a great time as I was the only student and he loved to chat. I learned more about Singapore from him in four days that from anything else.

You might wonder how I got along with language while in Thailand and Singapore. In Thailand, I couldn't speak a word other than to point to myself and say 'Singha', which is the local beer ... very good by the way. Eye contact and a big smile pretty much gets you anything else you want, if you know what I mean. For everything else, enough Thais speak enough English to get you by. In Singapore they primarily speak a form of English, known there as Singlish which isn't too hard to understand. When I get around to going to Malaysia, they apparently speak Manglish, which by the sound of the name, might be a tad hard to understand ... much like my fellow workers from Newfoundland 'mangle' their English.

Overall, the trip to Singapore was terrific. I learned some useful stuff on my course, had some great meals (hopefully restoring my lack of protein), and took in the sights of one the world's premiere cities. I'm pretty sure I need to take a couple of more courses in the near future.

Off to Thailand - yeS_I_AM

Near the end of April I had my first days off work ... holiday time for a week. One of the things I decided when I took the contract in Qatar was to take advantage of the generous holidays and travel, primarily in Asia. My first such travel was to Thailand, formerly known as Siam. After a 7-hour flight from Doha on Qatar Airways (great airline), I arrived in Bangkok. Finding transportation to Pattaya where I was booked to stay was easy ... lots of independent taxis to take you there ... only 1000 baht (about $30 CAD) for the one hour and forty-five minute ride on the motorway.

Pattaya is a popular beach resort area close to Bangkok, but better known for its nightlife. Pattaya has more bars than any other place on earth, and Walking Street is the most obvious example where the fare is more than just beer ... girls, boys, even girls that are really boys ... only you really can't tell.

But Pattaya is not all nightlife, only the most exciting part.

 During the day, whenever you can drag your butt out of bed after a night on Walking Street, it is a tropical paradise with beautiful beaches to relax on and regain your strength for the coming night. At the south end of Pattaya over a hill, is Jomtien Beach which is far nicer than Pattaya Beach because there are not many motorized vehicles in the water. Umbrella's line the beach where you can sit and relax all day on a beach chair for 50 baht ($1.60) and be served drinks, have a manicure, a Thai massage and eat some great food. My favourites were fresh steamed jumbo shrimp and barbecued squid cooked right on the beach

Getting around in Pattaya is easy. It has one of the most efficient transportation systems I've ever encountered. They are small blue pickup trucks with two facing benches in the back and buttons to push when you want them to stop ... which they will about 6 feet after you press it. They are everywhere and come along about every 3rd vehicle on the road. The are called baht buses because they cost 20 baht (about 65 cents).

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