And then I headed west...

Family + Christmas time... (San Francisco and Orange County).

Cousins and siblings!  

Declan, Me, Liam.

T, Mari, Me, Chris

no longer the east side of the world, but the east side of the USA...

I live in Singapore.  I own no "winter" clothing.

I visited the states for the holidays.  First stop:  Boston.

I transitioned from 90 degree heat + humidity to 30 degree cold + snow. 

I walk out of the airport in a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals at 7pm.  I watch the snowfall.   I feel my body stiffen.   The body sure does respond to contrasts, let me tell you.

The reason for my Boston trek?  One simple answer...

Kelong fishing!

The weekend following the KL trek, a few of us journeyed back to Malaysia for a kelong fishing trip! A kelong is a large offshore wood platform designed for fishermen. The kelong we visited has now been modified to accommodate people looking for a fishing getaway. Imagine a very rustic open-air cabin with a lot of bunk beds (not sure how else to describe it), but just in the middle of the ocean. Awesome. There was a solid group (30+) from my school who went along with their families. I caught several smaller fish (I have no clue what kind), but subscribed to the catch-and-release strategy.

The ocean breeze and salty smell quickly evoked feelings of Pacific nostalgia. I can't wait to soon visit you my friend, Mr. Pacific Ocean.

Beautiful sunrise.

Mahjong! I got an introduction to the game, but I really want to learn it well.



Night fishing.



Pretty excited after my ocean swim.



Dan's got one!

mysterious graffiti in KL...

I don't have any good explanation for this, but I consistently found perplexing and disturbing graffiti around Kuala Lumpur. I don't know all too much about the current events and local youth culture of the city, so I won't comment and will simply share some photos.

If you have any insight, please let me know.

KL

I recently ventured off to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. While the city is certainly more decrepit and unorganized than Singapore, it has plenty of character. I had a great time exploring the Batu Caves, scavenging for christmas presents, checking out the tallest twin towers in the world (Petronas), again mingling with local artists, and simply wandering the city.

The Batu Caves were the highlight of the trip, simply incredible. It's home to one of the largest Hindu temples outside of India. Many of the shrines are dedicated to Murugan -- the God of war, who also always comes to the aid of his devotees.

One note on the Petronas towers: they are currently the tallest twin towers in the world. They once were the tallest towers period, until Taipei 101 was built in 2004 in Taipei, Taiwan. I feel pretty lucky to have visited both Petronas and Taipei 101 over the last few years!

Murugan and the steps leading to the main temple within the caves.

The patterns of candles that lay on the temple floor left me gazing for a loooong time.

The colors of the temple ceiling also demanded my gaze.

I don't know much about this guy, but I loved the statue!

Petronas Towers.

Giving thanks, Singaporean style.

Who? Princeton-in-Asia crew + friends.
What? Thanksgiving potluck feast.
Where? La casa de Greg, Dan, y Kevin.
Why? "Thank you, thank you, thank you." And feasting.

Our gathering had a familial touch. It was precious. Everyone in our group went around the table to express one aspect of their own personal thanks. I have countless things to be thankful for, but on this evening, I gave specific thanks for "exploration." As I've touched upon in this blog, I've been afforded the invaluable opportunity to explore new culture(s), geographical landscape(s), friendships, a rewarding job that consistently challenges me, and deeper probing into emotional, intellectual, and physical dynamics of myself. This word, "exploration," summarizes the general breadth of my personal aspirations for this time spent in Singapore and beyond.

In addition to this one single word, I say thank you to all of you. It's beyond words to even attempt to express my gratitude for what you -- my friends, family, and even acquaintances -- mean to me and have provided for me. It's with eager excitement (understatement of the year) that I look forward to seeing many of you in California and the special someone in Boston over the holiday season.

Juice. Running.

One quiet weekday afternoon found me working at my desk and drinking my fresh apple juice. As an aside, my love of juice has now become an addiction. It's available everywhere, it's cheap, and it's fresh! Literally juiced right in front of you. How can I resist? I can't. Really, I'm addicted. My standard is straight green apple, but I often mix it up with apple-orange, apple-pineapple, etc. I actually have an apple-orange juice beside me right now to go along with my pad thai.

So where was I? I was working at my desk and drinking my fresh apple juice. I get a visit from from a friendly colleague. Several minutes later, I somehow have become the "lead" runner for the business school's relay running team. Huh? How did that happen? My thoughts exactly. When was the last time I went for a run? Maybe a year ago in DC with Sam or EJE -- the running maniacs. Before I know it, I'm "training" with the captain -- a really sweet middle-aged Singaporean man named Sonny. Apparently, there is a schoolwide relay running that incorporates student, faculty, and alumni teams. It's casual for some, competitive for others. All in all, it's a great way to connect all the different demographics of the school together.

However, once your captain starts bragging to the other faculty members in the locker room about the business school's "foreign talent" (a.k.a. me), feelings of pressure start to creep in. Granted, I am significantly younger than the members on the team, but that doesn't mean I'm an all-star runner! Despite the somewhat awkward situation of being touted as a running talent, it was refreshing to revamp my implicitly competitive spirits.

At the end of the day, the race was terrific. The cohesion of students, faculty, and alumni was something I hadn't seen since high school. It was refreshing to see. Also, our team did very well! We even got trophies! Honestly, I really impressed myself (and apparently my teammates as well) with my run. I never knew I could run (relatively) well... maybe this whole running thing ain't so bad after all.

Our team! My boy Sonny to the left of me.

The director of my department finishing the race!

Our staff team with the business students' team (1st place)!
Note the trophies :)

the trek to Malacca...

Last weekend marked another new stamping on my passport: Singapore's northern neighbor, Malaysia! Several of the other "international fellows" and I made the 4-hour bus ride up to Malacca, Malaysia. Malacca (or Melaka in Malay) is historically a colonial state. The Portuguese ruled the region beginning in the early 16th century, and then was later ruled by the Dutch and then the British. The post-WWII era yielded anti-colonial sentiment in Malaysia, and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia declared independence of Malacca in 1956.

Now, the colonial influence is most noticeable in the architecture. The Malacca town has an interesting blend of both eastern and western architectural flavor.

Weekend highlights included:

- Harmony Street. A quiet road, home to a Chinese Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple, and a Mosque. All were within a short walk from each other. It was fascinating to witness the distinctive moods and energy of the temple-goers, all of whom were seemingly content in this harmonious microcosm.

- Dan and I scoring front-row seats to the local Karaoke contest (with hundreds in attendance). Most of the performers sang modern Malay songs. However, our favorite was the Malaysian Frank Sinatra. He owned the crowd.

- My conversation with Charles Cham -- a local artist. I wandered into his gallery (the Orangutan House) and struck up some small talk with the man, eventually realizing that he was actually the artist. We discussed the themes of his art -- largely dependent on the philosophy of Yin and Yang-- which I just loved listening to. I bought one his Orangutan t-shirts as a memento.

- Wandering the night market! My one purchase from the market? Chocolate covered grapes on a skewer. Yum!

A portrait: Princeton-in-Asia crew in Malacca.



A guitarist at the ruins of St. Paul's Church (Portuguese).



Charles Cham (the artist) and I.

Buddhist temple, Cheng Hoon Teng.



Just a wee bit of western influence.



Karaoke!



Night market.



This walk made me smile.

"Good morning Mr. Shaw!"

Several of you have asked for more clarification about what it is I'm actually teaching out here. Well, here ya go.

Technically, I'm an International Fellow in the School of Business and Accountancy at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. This simply means that I'm a full-time lecturer (the term "professor" isn't used over here), but at the very bottom of the totem pole. Mind you, as I described earlier in my blog, Singaporean polytechnics are similar to that of American junior colleges.

I'm teaching five microeconomics "tutorials." They each meet once a week for two hours. They are supplemental to the lectures and are broken down into groups of 20 students. This is similar to the American university system, except that even the senior lecturers also teach these tutorials. As many of you know, American universities usually pluck graduate and even undergraduate students for teaching these tutorials (I once was one of these indentured servants; yes, I'm looking at you UCSD) .

I also teach two "Business Communications" workshops that meet twice per week for two hours each. What does a Business Communications workshop mean? Well, these classes are simply designed to improve written, oral, and listening communication skills within a business context. It's essentially a remedial applied communications course. This is especially important for these students as most are bilingual (in English and Mandarin), but are not completely confident in their English communication skills when approached with the tasks of speaking in front of an audience, writing a formal report, etc. Our department has witnessed many of its students excel in the quantitative and analytical arena, but struggle when faced with the challenge of internship/job interviews and well, just communication in general. This course hopes to help remedy this dilemma.

Originally, I didn't know what to think about teaching a "Business Communications" course (they actually surprised me with it, "surprise!"). However, it has proven to be a refreshing contrast to teaching microeconomics. I enjoy and embrace this contrast as I'm able to implement distinctive teaching styles and strategies in each.

So, if you want to do the math, I'm teaching five micro classes (two hours each per week) and two groups of BComm students (who meet twice for two hours per week). "Now class, what's (5X2) + (4X2)? 18!? Correct! Very good!" No, that's not what I sound like in the classroom. But yes, I'm in the classroom 18 hours per week while the other 55% of my workweek is spent making lesson plans, grading, dealing with admin bulls@!t, and going to department meetings.

All in all, it's a great job and I've really enjoyed my time so far here at Ngee Ann, especially when I'm in the classroom. An no offence to you Fed folks (I know you're out there), but the classroom excites me more than FAME ever could. And for you non-Fedites, I'm not referring to "fame" as in great renown, but rather, umm... let's just leave it at that.

just a simple weekend getaway.

My weekend getaways no longer entail taking the Chinatown bus from DC to NYC, or a quick Jetblue flight from DC to Boston. No no, how about taking a ferry from Singapore to a tropical beach in Indonesia. While those east coast visits with all of you special New Yorkers and Bostonians will forever be dear to my heart, my current weekend treks are now of a different breed.

Cheers to Greg, Dan, and I (the roomies) for a capricious adventure that ultimately led to a relaxing series of:
1. lay on beach
2. stare at palm trees
3. eat delicious fresh fish and crab
4. eat pineapple
5. read book
6. walk/wade/swim to island (depending on low/medium/high tide)
7. drink beer
8. repeat steps 1-7

Our weekend getaway, at low tide. Really low.

the beginnings...

Well, after a busy summer of relocation (DC to CA), studying (take a seat Mr. GMAT!), and travel (Lake Tahoe. Boston. Wyoming. Iceland, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Venice, Florence+Chianti, Rome, Barcelona, and Paris.), I picked up and moved east, far east. My new location you ask? Well, 1 degree and 22 minutes north of the equator, of course.

I'm just about a month into my new life situation here in Singapore. For those of you who are a bit out of the loop, I am teaching microeconomics and "business communications" at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, which lies in a suburban area of Singapore. The majority of my students are first years at this polytechnic (a close parallel to an American junior college).

I'll be living here in Singapore for a year. I live in a 3 bedroom apartment with two of the other "international fellows," who turn out to be very pleasant fellows indeed. The apartment is a 10 minute walk to my office on campus, and a stone's throw from 3 basketball courts, 3 tennis courts, a soccer field, and a "hawker center" -- see below. Much to my joy, there's also an Olympic sized swimming pool on campus which I've happily taken advantage of for my daily exercise.

Singapore is generally well-known for the cuisine. This fame is largely derived from the cultural diversity that exists in Singapore (will get to this a bit more later). Also, it's the casual food that makes Singaporean cuisine famous, and that's perfect for me! I absolutely love visiting the "hawker centers" -- open air complexes that house many many food stalls that serve food (both inexpensive and delicious!) from all over Asia. I eat the majority of my dinners at such places. For example, just tonight I had a generous serving of a curry chicken noodle dish, with a lime juice for about $3 (US). This is quite the bargain for a relatively expensive "city-state" that sports high-end shopping just as naturally as cheap servings of chicken rice. If all you really know about Singapore is to not chew gum or spit in the street, well, let's have a quick lesson. Yes, Singapore is one of the Asian "tigers," or as the Economist recently described, "a developed country that grows at developing-country rates." Check it.

I'm genuinely enjoying the opportunity to interact with a culture that is -- for the most part -- simply different from what I'm accustomed to. Singapore is a culturally diffused locale. There exists a seemingly harmonious blend of ethnic Chinese (over 70% of the population), indigenous Malay, Indian, and yes, some of those Westerners... they seem to be everywhere, don't they?

For all of your other Singapore info needs, Wikipedia is awaiting you. “Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” - Michael Scott, The Office. (In case you're unfamiliar with either The Office or Wikipedia, there is humor in that statement).

I'm several weeks into my classes, and they're going great. Really great. Like I mentioned previously, I really am enjoying the opportunity to teach within a culturally distinct environment. It's still very fresh, but I'm simply excited. I have many initial perceptions, but I will reserve my opinions for future blogs once those perceptions are more refined. But so far, I'm most proud of my head first slides across the tile in my business communication classes (yes, that's plural. I did it not once, but twice. Long story).

Aside from the excitement of the new job and the intrigue of the new "exotic" living location, a newly realized focus and calmness could be the most appreciated development so far in my time in Singapore. I've been leading a fairly simple life: wake up, teach, swim, eat delicious food, socialize, read, think, sleep. As a result of this global transition, my lifestyle has untangled the previous web of constant errands, engagements, and general hustle and bustle. I've been afforded the luxury of time to reflect. I view this year in Singapore as both a cultural and personal exploration. I look forward to my future travel opportunities to peruse the SE Asian region, but I'm also eager to explore my interest in teaching while also advancing my abilities to communicate and lead. Furthermore, this personal reflection I speak of is not without self-derived motivation. While much of the reflection has led to very organic and spontaneous introspections of personal values and unearthed emotions, the reflection has also possessed a self-driven pursuit of what is ahead for me beyond this year in Singapore. That's certainly not yet realized, but it seems that "life" (such a small word for such a big concept) has gotten to be a bit more clear while over here. Of course, that is so very vague... but there's good reason for that. I can't just divulge everything on this site, now can I?

My apartment building (to the left) on the walk home from campus.

Sunset view from my bedroom balcony.



Sleep.



Swim.



Tennis.



View from the bridge (connecting staff apartments to campus).