Wah Lau Blog by Maik

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Counting up and down for Xmas

2008-12-13T19:07:00.003+08:00

(Something that cannot be seen in Singapore: a chocolate filled Christmas- or Advent Calender)

SANTA IS BACK IN SUPERMARKET

Exactly 1 month ago something changed. A familiar taste of lifestyle was back, at first not fully noticeable, but that blurry moment passed quickly. The music was self-explanatory and the red hats with bells marked the familiar decoration that can only come with Christmas, which usually starts now beginning of November (here in Singapore the wide agreement seems to be that decoration before 8th Nov is not prudent). Santa seems to be in good agreement with the local stores to brand public life around that time now with his distinguishable colors, artifacts and (especially) the ubiquitous Christmas songs.

ABOUT COUNTING UP AND DOWN

This is the third time I actually spend Christmas in this tropical metropolis. There are two particular things I'd like to highlight. Counting down: It is common to do a countdown in pubs even on midnight to Christmas Day (24th to 25th December), a practice that caught me totally by surprise 2 years ago when I shared drinks with a German friend at Chijmes when the croud suddeny got loud shortly before midnight; who would imagine that a venerable, supposedly rather quiet family event gets the people to celebrate it in the same way as New Year's Eve or Chinese New Year? The normal answer: 'Well, Singaporeans like to count down on everything'. Fair enough then.

(Cool? Only because of AirCon. Green? Always! Stating the obvious here..)

The second and much more important 'counting issue' is that the concept of Advent Calenders is unheard of here. While kids all around Germany anxiously open a new door on their Christmas calender each day from 1st to 24th of December to find some piece of yummy chocolate or toy (it supposedly makes the waiting period before opening presents more bearable), most of the Singaporeans I met are not even aware of their existence.

Why is this so? Christmas as an event has conquered Singapore almost fully...if it was economically and scientifically possible the country's leaders would surely try to let it snow a few times to give its people also some taste of White Christmas. But we are limited to hearing 'Rudolph the Rednose Raindeer' all around Orchard Road and enjoy the endless buying spree plus one public holiday on the 25th of December. If every possible economic niche has already been exploited, why then are there no Advent Calenders around to be sold kids?

(A Closeup. Santa's face is number one, the chocolate house next to it was in number 8. The order of numbers on the calendar is random to add some additional fun for kids of all ages. Those basic calendars are rather cheap and can range from 1-2Eur/2-4SG$)

AT THE MELTING POINT

Well, after finally receiving 2 Xmas calendars from my family in Germany via post I found out quickly why it is a hopeless venture to find any in Singapore...Letting a chocolate filled calendar hang on the wall for more than 3 weeks is simply no fun because:

1) the chocolate remains in a constant, but semi-melted physical state, where it is impossible to dig it out of the seperate 'windows' without causing a sweet little mess. No way to retrieve every last nugget of chocolate without forcefully working into the plastic form with the available and (supposedly) clean and hungry fingers

2) Due to 1) it is understood that it is virtually impossible to clean out a window completely from chocolate. What will inevitably happen to the gracefully hanged calendar? An army of well-trained Singaporean ants is going to spot an incredible feast, attacks the new target by quickly laying out a perfect supply chain between calendar-chocolate and wherever-the-nest-may-be. Singaporean ants are of course as efficient as the rest of the country and sniff such a 'free lunch' opportunity (gracefully provided by an ignorant German) in an instant, to be mercilessly exploited.

Especially fact 2) is not really desirable and should be avoided, as the ensuing ant party would spread the word quite quickly within the ant kingdom and the small guests are not likely to wait before the 24th of December to penetrate the door with the same number and the biggest piece of all.

The bitter but for Singaporeans self-explanatory solution? Off you go, to the fridge or freezer. Which takes all the fun away for me who just wanted to have a little piece of childhood back. No big red Santa hanging around in the home giving away a piece of sweetness everyday. What is obvious to the locals, is of course painful to me. Somewhat gone the previous naive feeling of excitement, replaced by one thought: Can it be that I just looked in the wrong places previously? Maybe I should go back to the stores and look in the frozen-food areas of the supermarkets...?

Wishing an enjoyable 3rd Advent!

-Maik

(Xmas Card by your friendly Investment-Banker)

A completely uncritical pledge to my new home

2008-07-10T06:50:00.002+08:00

(The Singapore flag - Red color standing for universal brotherhood and equality of man whereas white signifies pervading and everlasting purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the ascendant. The five stars stand for the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. - Shame on me, but when I first saw it in high number during the advent of National Day 2006, I thought there was an 'invasion' of Turkish people in Singapore...no comment)

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A BETTER WORLD?

"We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation."

This is the pledge every Singaporean knows and (according to what a friend told me a few days ago) is used to perform on every single day during school career. As I am about to move permanently from Munich to go back to the place I grew so fond of, I take the chance to revive this blog, which was always meant to illustrate the small, little anecdotes and facts I found worth mentioning from my Caucasian point of view in this 'Asian Switzerland' (as read on FT recently).

Let me therefore start by dissecting the pledge above a bit and looking at every line from a very subjective German pair of glasses.

(The pictures in this post all belong to one huge, beautiful wall painting which is open to the public at Raffles MRT station; this part depicts nicely how unity is lived in Singapore among different culture groups...Malay in the background, Chinese Singaporeans and an Indian Lady can be seen)

"We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,

It is still very interesting for me to see that a heterogeneous society such as Singapore, where the citizenry has every skin color imaginable, can work out without clashing into some sort of violence. It can be regarded as one (maybe the most) important achievement of this tiny place that it manages to integrate most culture groups and races without producing hatred and racism. My simple guess is that a society that is based on racial variety (such as Singapore or the United States) has to enforce strict rules in law and public culture to enable a spirit of tolerance; in comparison, the mostly homogeneous society of Germany with a lived so-called 'Leitkultur' (leading culture of the majority) of Christian-Caucasian-Western heritage has a hard time integrating a good number of immigrants (for example from Turkey) and struggles finding a way for many years.

to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality

Obviously, Singapore found its very own way of leading its people into at least economic prosperity. Some things such as the defacto rule of the People's Action Party (PAP) and certain aspects such as freedom of assembly (missing) or freedom of the press (well under control) do not match Western understanding of how things 'should' be run and draw regular attention and criticism in the Western press. Certainly, Singapore built a society that is based on justice (one very stable piece of infrastructure that contributes to the steady growth of Singapore) and equality especially across the culture groups and races. Would Germans or other 'Western' societies call it a democracy though? Most likely not, but it can be easily overlooked that in this grown-up, but young society people don't want to be educated by the West to become like them, but instead actively seek their own way to establish 'order, stability and security'...things Singaporeans clearly value much more than living with more 'freedom' to self-express or facing the higher uncertainty of very liberal societies. The classic trade-off between freedom and security has found a different, stable equilibrium in Singapore, I would say.

(clearly this picture depicts the sides of progress, [military] strength and solidarity...all intended pillars of society in Singapore)

One thing I found out by talking to many Singaporeans over the past years is that people in this country often see it rather as the place where they live...without necessarily having the deepest emotional bonding to it. From my perspective there is quite a 'utility view' present towards state and government...'Dear PAP: Give me a good place to live in, a safe environment, my yearly tax payouts then I will not bother you and you can live in peace with me'.

This means in essence that Singaporeans are quite a pragmatic people who expect from their government mostly to 'deliver'. However, if this kind of unspoken arrangement works quite effectively using a 1-party-rule which can provide economic prosperity without the nastiest corruption affairs, why the hell not? 'Never change a running system' is probably what many people think and live...and which gives them no serious reason of ever supporting the opposition which would only add an unstable (unknown?) component/variable to daily life.

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation."

Singaporeans clearly achieved more prosperity and experienced progress in many ways during the past years. Does this have an effect on happiness though? This is the troublesome part...as we all now, having 'something' finally will only induce happiness itself for a short time and then will leave you back wanting more. As anywhere else, prosperity and progress can provide for a foundation of happiness, but it's up the people to make the best out of it within the framework they live in. It's those same old values of friendship and family...well-placed in a modern society which can round up the package and turn it into something 'whole'...

Thomas Jefferson once said: "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." From that perspective, Singapore is doing a good job and I am HAPPY to come back!

Enough of politics today ;)

Cheers,

Maik

(Singapore's MRT....Mass Rapid Transport)

Crazy Hong Kong

2007-12-21T16:54:00.000+08:00

(HelloKitty and the Olympic Games...what could be a better joint venture? The craziness of China's biggest ever event is spreading. So if you don't see a problem in spending a mere 2000€ on the golden kitty above that heralds the Olympic fire in nice fashion..)

ASIA'S WORLD CITY

HongKong branded itself as 'Asia's World City'...designated to strengthen the already good name it has grown into a very powerful financial hub in Asia and found its place in the big world out there. Using the bus to go into Kowloon (which is north of Hong Kong Island, but is itself integral part of this so-called special administrative region in China) I was astonished by the never-ending, quite run-down skyscrapers that were placed into the rugged landscape of Hong Kong merely to house all the people. The better part of Hong Kong's surface is hard to cultivate as it represents hilly and rugged landscape, so one can see big houses all along the way into the city, apparently built everywhere the land was flat enough to allow housing. This keeps me wondering where this enormous city plans to expand into. Also, a few years ago Hong Kong and Shanghai outstripped Singapore as the world's biggest ports, giving it even more clout than it already has. We spent a few days just stretching our legs in this city and in nearby Shenzhen...Let me lose a few words on some things that passed on the way.

(a normal day in busy Kowloon..this jungle of signs is very characteristic and gives Kowloon a very distinct, buzzing outlook. The north of Hong Kong Island in comparison is much more like glitzy Singapore, just with the added spice of being placed into a wonderful, hilly landscape in which you can climb up or even use the famous 'longest outdoor covered escalator in the world' to carry all those tourists up the hill; it is about 800m long with about 130m of vertical climb)

VIP PLEASE

After arrival in our hotel, we were upgraded right away to VIP class without even asking..giving ourselves the splendor of a much better room than in Singapore (who would have thought...supposedly, Hong Kong rooms are smaller most of the times than anything you would get in Singapore) and even wireless Internet (although nothing to use it with). Was this another instance of Ang Moh ('Red hair people' widely used Singaporean expression for caucasians) superiority that can be so often observed in Asia? I do not know, as I did not dare to confront anyone. A good contrast and good start indeed. Next important item on the list is of course the food, whereas Hong Kong has a cuisine that quite differs from what you would get in Singapore. Some things appear outright wrong to me in the first place...such as mixing coffee and tee together with lemon into one drink, or boiling coke with ginger. There are however numerous desserts everywhere in town that have to be tried, as well as such wonderful things as 'hairy crab' (not this time) or a kind of humongous prawns that take some mastery to open and cannot be found in Singapore in most places. My favorite dish became a simple fish soup whereas the noodles where made of fish themselves...therefore the easy name of the dish..'noodles made of fish' :-)

(very important details on the public train...please don't accidentally lose saliva, especially not in a noisy fashion. Also, previously famous things such as Ghetto blasters have also been replaced by phones that are frequently used by very young people to let everyone on the train participate in their music adventures. Of course, everybody MUST like your music and the people who play it loudly always seem to be under the immense illusion that they are the only one's who are listening to it...according to their glassy looks. I am sure this is just a new expression of altruism that I am too stupid to get..)

EXPENSIVE OR CHEAP?

I tried to buy a gadget ...a hand phone that is sold widely in the world, brand SonyEricsson. Not wanting to endeavor in something like a Chinese 'Sang Ericsson' (no joke), I wanted to have something I can even use back in Germany. Hong Kong's prices are competitive, but why oh why does their warranty only apply locally to HongKong and China through their only distributor of choice? This smacks very bitterly and strangely..and gives me reason enough to mention an article that I have read on German news a while ago. Feelings aside, China is very well-versed at copying things and not caring much about copyright infringements. Cases documented earlier that whole factories have been copied by Chinese which produced for example Canon cameras at the same quality as the originals, but were not supported by the original vendor's warranty as they were never licensed to be produced. I don't want to say here right away that most of the products in Hong Kong are counterfeit. Maybe there is even a law that the local dealers have to follow, so not to harm more expensive markets around. Will try to search further..

(here Western and Eastern cultures collide a bit...at least for me. The more China you go, the more the people seem to love food that is as fatty as possible. Ordering some pork stew will give you 3/4 of deep fried fat with some meat as bonus)

WINTER, I ADORE YOU

One very noticeable thing about Hong Kong people: Fashion and outlook. Especially the fancy female population craves to be individualistic, which shows itself in daring hairstyle and actually incompatible clothing combinations (miniskirts, winter coat and flipflops worn on the same person). Summers tend to be very hot and winters only mild. Still, one can perfectly distinguish locals from tourists as the tourists will go around in December wearing t-shirts and shorts, while the locals must feel determined to show off their fancy winter clothes...coats, nice cardigans to snuggle into, branded jackets and so on. This is quite funny to see as there really seem to be two worlds existing side by side and one can easily see people in shortest summer look (dressed according to weather) standing besides arctic-dressed and bundled up people (dressed according to calender) waiting on one traffic light to be shooed over. This is apparently perfectly fine and expected behavior..also in Singapore I see that sometimes young people pack out their cardigans as soon as the temperature drops noticeably below 30 degrees to fight any possibly upcoming goosebumps.

(When we were there, Hong Kong experienced quite a high pollution index of way above 100 , which is already going into the hazardous range. The city was under a thick haze comparable to what Singapore experienced end of 2006 after rain forest burns in Sumatra. Many locals ran around wearing mouth protections and the general taste was not nice...but after taking a ride with a tuktuk through the streets of Bangkok one can take ANY kind pollution!)

Singapore Dreaming Again

2007-12-14T09:08:00.000+08:00

(yes, there was coffee-on-the-house for 2 hours at one afternoon in all Starbucks' coffee houses around the city; the usually rushing crowd suddenly seems to have the time to spend for waiting in a long queue; but wait...don't forget that 'EXTREME QUEUING' is an unofficial national sport)

Faster Faster! More Singapore Sling!

Finally back! Now that is the third hot december I experience in a row in this lovely part of the world. It is nice to get the chance to spend a whole month at the place of choice. This town has me back for a little while and i am amazed by the buzzing development of this tiny Asian corner. What has been going on?

A famous news was to hear that the city will get the chance to host the first and only Formula 1 night race in September 2008. Fancy lighting in a metropolitan area will allow the race to take place without any compromise. Not surprisingly, hotel prices have rocketed around the track and can reach many thousand Singapore Dollars (roughly 2 Singapore Dollars = 1 Euro) per night, while the Singapore government takes the liberty to eat a considerable part of it as a special tax at the same time..

(welcome to the city of elevators and escalators. no way you should ever encounter the need to walk too much. MRT...coming your way!)

The city now really is covered with free wireless lan ('wireless@sg') almost all around the city. This comes together with the announcement to start the rollout of highspeed internet around the city from 2010 on...which will be about 10 times faster than todays fastest available DSL. Of course the rich city is subsidizing this to a good extent (700m SG dollars of a total estimated cost of ~2billion)....after all, here one really can see the advantages of being a small city, which has a lot of cash and lives a metropolitan monopoly in the region.

Also, one huge casino will be built just along the nice view of the Singapore river as the city clearly cannot see all that gambling revenue going away to cities like Macau. At the same time Singapore copies the famous london eye and places a huge skyline-changing ferris wheel (the 'Singapore Flyer') also near the river. Last but not least the proudness of the people here should be noted when the A380 took off for its maiden flight to Sidney this October, bearing the symbols of the national icon of Singapore Airlines. Singapore economy is of course also buzzing as usual (~8-10% growth a year)....so is there a catch in all that beauty?

(the waving cat...brings luck in every biz environment)

FREE LOVE IN EXPENSIVE HOUSES

All the buzzing goes along with a steep increase in anything that has to do with property. Offices space rents increased by 80% only during the year 2007. Private housing also sees steady increase of at least 20% per year...This does of course not entirely apply to state subsidized housing such as HDB (Housing Development Board), but means that living in this city becomes more and more expensive and many locals cannot keep up just like that. The official inflation rates (1.0% for 2007 and 0.4%) are a joke and must be based on a basket of goods from the year 1980, which can be a reason why they not increase. Everything gets more and more expensive and the people generally get very snuffy when that happens (despite contrary announcements by government).

So what do the people do to counteract? They conduct another national sport besides 'extreme queuing', which would be 'Extreme Job-hopping'. Generally, salaries in Singapore seem to increase by more than 10% per year, but this is rarely payed out when you stay with a company. What do the people of course do? Constantly observe the market and own value, then run off to the the next best offer as soon as the current year bonus is paid out. That's understandable human behavior I think, but this makes the local job market for professionals unpredictable and volatile. Companies seem to find it increasingly difficult to establish a continuous and stable environment where their company can flourish. Can this be negative? Singapore experiences quite a remarkable buyer's market regarding labor and some foreign companies might think twice before investing in a place where infrastructure prices are doing quantum leaps every year and your employees can jump off the boat at every second just to not miss another one which runs even faster.

Last thing I want to mention here is that despite a lot of worth-mentioning uproar against section 377 of Singapore's Penal Code, this not-so-shiny part of traditional society has not yet been abandoned. What does it say? 377 states "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" which includes even consensual, private, adult homosexual acts (377A). The penalties are either life imprisonment or imprisonment for up to 10 years with or without a fine. Interestingly enough, 377 itself has been repealed in October 2007, so that now consensual anal and oral sex is not been seen as mere bestiality by law anymore and not treated as such. It has been replaced by a law criminalizing sex with dead bodies, which was apparently not punishable before.

377A however still remains, which means that homosexuality in Singapore still happens outside the law. Facing the modern world, Singapore has announced to not follow through with criminal prosecution in these cases, so the law shall not be actively enforced. However, this still does shine an odd light on this city as the law has apparently be kept due to widespread discontent with its impending abandonment (heard a number of 70% on the news). Therefore, I personally think it's a step in the right direction with respect to public sentiment in this Asian society. This is again typical Kaizen...gradual improvement using small steps. Let's see how this progresses further...

-Maik

(the Singapore dream....your own home in a condo. Just please be prepared to dig dig much deeper in your pockets so you can afford the downpayment...)

Crossroads

2007-11-15T04:50:00.000+08:00

(where should you go?)

Lost in Bavaria's metropolis

Munich's slogan to greet people has apparently recently changed from 'world city with a heart' to 'München mag Dich' (Munich likes you). Does that mean you have to like it back right away? I guess it's like with every relationship: some click right away, some do after a while and with some you just have to realize where your limits are.

One can think what he or she wants...Munich, as beautiful and livable as it is, remains strange to me, even after more than 8 months in this Bavarian island of good food, best beer in the world and unheard-of life quality. Salaries are high here, so comparatively high that whole convoys of cars and weekly commuters travel from their distant homes in the rest of the country (predominantly the East, I guess) to work in Munich for the week and then head back to their homes on the weekend. Indeed, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the best salaries are paid in Frankfurt, Munich and Wiesbaden (all deep in the West), the worst in Zwickau, Cottbus and Schwerin (all 'famous' East German cities). Even my wider family and countless people in my home village live this odd ritual...leaving family on Sunday night to go on your weekly journey into the golden cities of West Germany, especially Bavaria's capital to earn a decent living.

Let's talk about the weather

Why strange? why odd? It could be that you have to be Bavarian and grow up here to really fall in love with this city. Or do I lack the attitude? Maybe I just don't take the time to look around and see the wonders around, maybe work keeps me too busy. Why did I not fill these pages continuously in the last year? Because the one thing happened that was almost expected and is quite typical to Germans to I guess: Going back home from a long time abroad, it all is so familiar that there does not seem to be much noteworthy. Although there would be...

Life in Germany does to great deal take place behind doors, anyway. Weather makes it impossible to have all-year open restaurants, food stalls etc. on the street, to sit around outside all the night as in Singapore. Germans only have that experience for a few precious months in the year, usually from around June to August, when people seem to suck in life, sun, especially the gorgeous beergardens and the blue sky...everything to make up for freezing months earlier in the year and to prepare for the terrible moments (my personal view of course) when you have to take the big jackets out of the wardrobe and the season of cold feet starts again. Mood generally swings a bit around in October and November when days get shorter and colder and night seems to follow you throughout the whole day the shorter the days get.

The famous German cosiness just cannot have a place outside, but has to be lived inside. Maybe that's also why privacy and the holiness of your own homes are so very sacred here. One has to be protected against the odds out there...

(cold beauty of a different kind)

The Undiscovered Land

What comes next then? After a crazy, almost finished first year of work in a new job, it seems to be finally time to start breathing and to look around in this city of quite homogeneous beauty and attractiveness. This all sounds stupidly melancholic? Welcome to the German soul...no wonder, the word 'Weltschmerz' has been invented here. It describes perfectly the state of mood of many people in autumn and winter, but also lays the foundation to the eventual and (my view) most beautiful time of the year..spring.

So this post was very much only about weather, a topic one could say is not worth intelligent talk. But coming back from Singapore, it showed me that the mere fact of changing seasons and unreliable weather does not only provide for constant source of smalltalk-babble, it is much more: constant complaining about the weather is part of the German soul, mood swings, desires (give me palm trees and a beach and I am happy) and even enough reason to move away.

To answer Wilhelm Busch's famous question whether the educated cannot talk about the weather anymore without any inhibitons?...yes, in Germany they can! Everyone can!

-MS

Time for prescribed FUN! It's Carnival...

2007-02-27T02:39:00.000+08:00

(A very mediocre looking pseudo-Mexican punishing his air-filled-guitar)

CARNIVAL?

I've always been suspicious of Carnival, or any event that tries to produce happiness just by setting a date for it to happen. Fair enough, it works with parties in general and therefore is merely a function of relaxation, present people and mood (possibly certain narcotic beverages as well). But Carnival was a closed book for me and actually still is. But one after another.

Carnial (or 'Fasching') has a long traidion in Germany, but luckily enough it was not contagious enough to spread into every little corner (I could grow up relatively undisturbed in my home village in Saxony). It is most widespread in North Germany and refers to the days before the 'Fastenzeit', a time of fasting and penitence by the church (indeed: the word 'carnelevare' is Italian for 'take away meat', an imperative for catholics to renounce meat for 40 days). It is mostly a catholic fest and celebrated with exuberant parties, processions with decorated wagons that proceed through villages and cities. Carnival usually begins on Nov 11th, 11.11am and ends on Ash Wednesday (this year 21st Feb 07). The Monday and the Weekend before that last day usually feature the biggest parties and processions. My friend Nantha decided to go visit a friend in the small village of Königsbrück (near Dresden), I decided to join him for the weekend and especially a supposedly great party on Sat night. You hear me saying 'supposedly'...

BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Of course, the weekend had to start with Nantha's luggage getting lost on a ridiculously short flight from Munich to Dresden with FLYDBA (yes! you deserve to be negatively highlighted here!!) Unbelievable..After we had arrived on the airport only 30min before departure and did make it on the plane still on time (puh), we were foolish enough to feel safe. But of course, Nantha's great just-bought-for-110€ Admiral-of-the-sea costume waited patiently in a neat little suitcase that somehow had been forgotten in Munich (as the ONLY piece of luggage on the plane, of course!). Well, blessing in disguise: Nantha's friend Marco could provide him with an even better solution...a fantastic black/white nun costume that just looked gorgeous. Time to move on!

(isn't she/he/it gorgeous?)

On Saturday then we had the 'luck' to board one of the open-top, decorated procession wagons, enjoy free-flow booze (of course just only sipped ;-) and throw kilos of confetti on the grimmest looking grannies that we passed on our way to the market. Of course, the V-belt of our traction engine had snap only after a few minutes, so a dozen weirdly dressed people had to push the heavy thing right to the village market, where we were then surrounded by the wagons which boasted loud thumping techno, folk and pop music. However, the 'Finale' was still to come..

LOOKING FOR BAD PARTY IN SMALL VILLAGE

I guess everyone of us knows the feeling of being at a party where one suddenly realizes that there is total and absolute incompatibility between the humble self and almost all the rest of the present people. I could have hardly felt more displaced than during this night at the official carnival-party in the town hall of the village Königsbrück. Me, who is fond of clubbing in the great venues in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, who has had the luck to experience nasty, loud, smelly and pitch black three storey clubs in Jakarta, was suddenly stuck in a surreal German country village party picture without the ability to interface with the people. Weird games, even weirder carnival-committee rituals were only interrupted by the most undancable music that I personally can imagine: Discofox (a social dance that evolved in Europe seventies according to Wikipedia and is widely popular in Germany and Switzerland)! AAAAHHHHH.... Nantha observed the scene as 'interesting', since as a Singaporean, it was the first time he saw something like this in his life and still could take some pleasure in it. But I felt lost, had to give in and admit that I had to get away as soon as possible to remain sane. Of course, it is not fair to even start comparing an Asian metropolis' club with this, but I simply could not stop. And it made me mad.

Isn't it weird that some gatherings of people just disgust us and trigger our instincts to sit alone in the corner or just run away? Guess, that is human nature and I have been away for too long to appreciate something like this (have I ever..?) Luckily enough parties and clubs in Munich are way more international..usually there is less chance of an unfortunate encounter with an evil discofox ;-)

Thanks God this Carnival is OVER!
...
see you next year..

Maik

(The drunk Singaporean nun...a very special custom-made costume ;-))

Back To Life

2007-02-12T17:21:00.000+08:00

(Figure 1: Reality shock, shows the disparity between aimed workload and bitter reality when writing a graduation thesis..everybody who as ever done a thesis should know exactly what I am referring to..)

Why?

Some time in November my diploma thesis opened up in Word 2003. She (of course female) was angry: 'Listen Maik, you want me to evolve in a beautiful way, see me flourish, thrive and prosper? Now, get DOWN AND DO IT!' The problem is (as laid out in Figure 1) there's always less time than work (same as there is always more month than money). And even IF there is enough time to conduct something as a thesis in 6 months, the typical student's brain seems to be conditioned to auto-compensate this overabundance of time by finding ever more elaborate ways to procrastinate. What happens? Acting busy and the unavoidable consequence of riding the angry blue curve above, whatever best intentions one might have had in the beginning (same as in the beginning of every semester anyways..).

Long story short: Made it, sent the final softcopy from Melbourne while I was already on leave, handed the Diplomarbeit in on time (thanks to the kind help Ronny and Sandy, who printed and handed it in for me in Dresden!!) and was awarded with 'Very Good' :-). A good end at last...but that's WHY I did not have the free brain capacity in November and December to produce anything on this page that would have made much sense..

When?

This first period of time in Singapore ended after a fantastic 14 months on Jan 3rd. Thesis finished (at least almost), future job in Munich mainly secured, I headed to a four week vacation in Asia and Oceania to finally touch down on Munich soil at the beginning of February...my new home for probably the next years. This week should see my first day at work and hopefully the signing of a rental contract for my own flat..

Where?

Time passes by more quickly than one can imagine...This is just a short roundup of what happened..There are many things to tell about places such as
- Jakarta (quite Indonesian..clubbing in the craziest, darkest, drug-infested places I have seen in my life, quite before the current devastating flood of course..)
- Krabi and Koh Phi Phi Island (Thailand..Krabi as an authentic Thai village, where one can have fun dancing with the locals and Koh Phi Phi as an outpost of the well-known looking English booze-machos and countless similar-and-sorry-but-boooring-looking blond Finnish girls..'The Beach' with Leo DiCaprio was shot there, by the way..)
- Macau and Hong Kong (where the Winter fashion somewhat seems to be to wear thick coats and flip-flops at the same time in the subway..a colorful combination that left my mouth wide-open when I saw it..)
- Melbourne (Australia, where we found out that there is a crossing between Kangaroos and Wallabies, called a Wallaroo!!)
- New Zealand (where the 2nd most favorite food in the world comes from ;-) See pic at the end!)
- Dubai (United Arab Emirates, where according to some friend's information 70% of all cranes in the world do their work right now...apparently a dubious number spread by the German Infotainment show 'Galilio', but the visual impression came close..)
- Paris (obviously France, where everything is so ridiculously expensive that you wonder how the normal Jacques-Le-Francais can afford his daily breakfast wine-shot..at least I did not suffer from the Paris-Syndrome!)
- Munich (where the public escalators in subway etc. are running at about 50% of Singaporean speed..and the request for spicy Chili sauce in a Burger King is greeted with the most repulsive look one can imagine..)

The blogs name has to change as well, I guess...

Maik

(Chili mussels with cheese crackers and edam cheese, freshly squeezed Feijoa and Orange juice, plus my favorite assorted nuts..could not be happier!)

About living in a picture

2006-10-30T11:29:00.000+08:00

(Rawa island impression...wooden chair, coconuts and ferns...I should just have just stayed there)

WHAT THE... IS GOING ON?

Long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a blog to be written. It seems like eternity when I last managed to continuously write for a few consecutive weeks. Too many things have been happening simultaneously and successfully kept me away from doing anything but writing emails or blog entries. Mainly, I started to realize that a graduation thesis does not write itself, especially when you are situated in an exciting area like South East-Asia and that it indeed involves plenty of work (I might not be the first one to have this grand and unique realization, nevertheless the treatise haunts me now). Some visa hassles that I will not detail any further needed attention to be resolved, which took away much time and increased my heartbeat. Additionally (and unpreventable of course) the weekends were busy with lots of really exciting trips that I have not yet come down to talk about. Stay tuned for more in the upcoming days :-)

(Where are we? Located at the East Coast of West Malaysia, Rawa island is a tiny piece of land)

TURN THE AIRCON ON!

I am just now writing this from Munich, where I am for Business for a few days. Chrissi was so incredibly kind to let me stay in her flat. Thanks a lot, IOU! Maybe the evenings this week do give me time (what a gentle wish) to process all the photos and experiences. Munich is in deep autumn now...streets are filled with colorful leafs, the air is wonderfully fresh and cold (like somebody switched on the AirCon outside...how great would that be in Singapore? ah..few more years down the road the Asian buzybees will find a solution for the heat. unfortunately, one cannot order the temperature down). And it is a great pleasure to finally get into a pullover and a jacket again and not to transpire heavily after only a 300m quick walk. Naturally, Caucasians are suddenly everywhere (I miss the Asian faces) and I was devastated to find out that I arrived on a Sunday when ALL shops are closed. One cannot even get some bread...

(Rawa island on a Saturday morning...never been to a model island like this, Mom you would have loved it ;-)

RALA? RAVA?

Well, I will shortly go back to a few highlights of the last months. Rawa was certainly one..my new friend and Qimonda-colleague Herbie and me went there for just the typical intern-weekend (means Friday afternoon to Sunday). It is a tiny island located somewhere between the city of Mersing and the bigger island of Tioman. Strangely enough, 99% of Singaporeans would not know Rawa and were questioning my sanity when I told about the upcoming trip then ('Rara? Rala? huh? are you SURE you know where you're going?'). I was close to thinking that it was an 'intern-only' island to be inhabited by semi-poor Germans, Dutch and Englishmen only. Luckily, I was proved otherwise. However, our resort was mainly occupied with a large Singaporean (female, but not our style) Tai Chi common interest group, some couples and elderly people. Yes, very exciting. We had a lot of -fun- with them playing bingo.

(peacocks were everywhere...exercising roof-hopping, giving short screams and running around the beach area. beautiful, colorful creatures...)

The island could only be reached via a ferry and was so small that the accessible beach could be walked from one end to the other in less then 5 minutes. Two hotels (Safari and Club Rawa) exercise perfect price discrimination in that they jointly offer rooms from one end of the price spectrum to the other (although it's still not cheap in Club Rawa, which was supposed to be the budget place). So what to do here? Drink the beer and wine that we had brought with us (too expensive on the island; staff was pretty angry at us after two days of continuously requesting ice cubes ;-)), trying out all the different hammocks that were available; becoming wanna-be experts at pool billiard and of course letting the white sand play with the skin while practicing the sport of extreme idling on the beach.

Some more pictures can be accessed via the the Rawa-Foto-badge on the right side pane. Not an exciting trip, but a fantastic chillout place that could have been taken from the catalogue.

Bummer that this small, very romantic island could hardly offer us any female company to clink the glasses while sunset. It is definitely a place to remember and should be revisited with the romantic partner of choice (sorry Herbie, but it did not quite work out with us ;-))

Maik

(me at Mersing harbor while waiting for the ferry to Rawa)

Anniversary Thoughts

2006-10-02T21:12:00.000+08:00

(am back, yes! graduation thesis and other things eat up plenty of time..future posts will be shorter but more frequent, I hope ;-)) (children's physical education cannot begin early enough...not a niche market in Singapore)

SINGAPORE FLING...

Singapore has seen quite some events during the past weeks of my not-writing. The IMF meeting that took place here a few weeks ago let the world see what can happen in a country where the assembly or procession of 5 or more people in a public area is considered an offence under the so-called Miscellaneous Offences Rules. Some organisations were not let in at all, which made Singapore face a lot of criticism..Sometimes Singaporeans who I tried to ask about their opinion here just decided not to answer at all...maybe that's safer than blabbing out something that could eventually fire back. At least the bright side was that the country flourished in all possible ways to give a nice picture. Little India's Deepavali festival preparations were brought forward because of the event..therefore that part of the city is already now an ocean of lights and colors.

Also, the city is under a thick haze these days, which is due to large-scale rain forest clearings in the close Indonesian island of Sumatra. Reports say that some people are already experiencing small health problems...I only realized the slight smell of smoke after a friend told me today and I had a very deep breath around lunch time ;-) Not so bad...Singapore's still the cleanest spot around in Asia...also, one more reason to sit it a safe AirCon'ed office all day..

(yes, this does exist. Not so often, but to a certain degree tolerated by the officials)

...IS OVER? NOPE

I find it quite remarkable that I have been in Singapore for one year now (except of course all the trips that I did including the one break in Germany). But on paper it does say one year...and I do feel a change happening. I am currently passing the honeymoon time...the initial Singapore fling is over and I feel that I gradually see this place more from the eyes of a resident. This includes that I begin to take formerly odd things for granted and that I have to really convince myself to go to the tourist attractions that I have not yet seen. And then one tries to distinguish from the 'normal' caucasian tourist (which is a nutty and stupid behavior, but it does happen). Even the 8 months that I spent studying and travelling in New Zealand in 2003/04 look like a distant tourist trip in comparison to how I feel adjusted to this city now. I start thinking that one has to go beyond a certain threshold of time to feel this...a growing intuition to know a place but never being able to really be part of it.

Do I want to stay here? Maybe...as time passes, the growing social net of friends and colleagues makes it more and more difficult to finally turn away...China and especially Beijing do still look very appealing for my first real employment next year, but have I really seen all of Singapore? Or have settled down and got infected by the standard sickness of not exploring the place where you live but always travel somewhere else?

(A chinese shrine just outside an open clothes shop...goods to be offered to the gods)

THE SMALL THINGS...

These days two friends from Germany (Ronny and his girlfriend Nicole) are visiting me here...and just by realising how they see Singapore for the first time do I understand how I got accustomed to so many details. The eternal fight to find cabs at rush hour, the crazy mugginess and heat every day, the hot spices and chili that I don't care about anymore, the Mandarin chitchat everwhere that is so funny and enlightning, the incomprehensible bus system that stands out in crass difference to the flashy MRT trains, the latest bluetooth headsets Ipods slimphones pdas that everyone seems to have, the nature of singapore as being one big wifi city hotspot, the crazily overprized starbucks-cafés that became my second home, the endless range of gleaming flashy shopping malls, the street cafes and hawker centres that are overcrowded almost the whole day, the cleanliness and rule-obedience that easily meets German standards (if this is now good or bad..), the escalators that can be found everywhere even in dance clubs, the big German limousines that one can see on the highway just next to a load of Indian workers who sit on a truck's loading space, the always slim Asians despite a diet that sees so much unhealthy fried food, the friendly looks of some people who automatically think one has to be important to live and work here as a Caucasian...

to be continued ;-)

Maik

(Singapore...land of escalators, pic taken in a MRT station)

Fine Feathers and Tibetan skin boiler

2006-09-04T22:55:00.000+08:00

(no, I will not abandon this blog...no worries :-) my recent -and only recent- infrequency here merely marks my growing understanding of truly busying Singaporeans..do I turn into one?)(a very late Football world cup addon: two originals...one from Bangkok, bought by my friend Christoph for the incredible amount of 5 Eur and the one from Germany, where you can add another 55 there *sigh*. There are slight differences recognisable though...but one can see that they spent some effort on making it look right...but to differentiate enough to prevent ANY copyright discussions, of course..)

FINE FEATHERS MAKE FINE BIRDS

I feel quite blessed to work in the IT department of my company. It enables me to show up in a very casual look most of the times...which means t-shirts (mostly Infineon or Qimonda-branded of course) and Jeans. Only yesterday I decided to wear my best combination again...finest Bangkok custom made trousers and shirt with cuff-links to impress some HR Ladies I was supposed to meet for lunch :-)

(what a nice way to hang out during the day...just take an armchair, place it somewhere in the landscape and enjoy slow Malaysian lifestyle; Pictures in this post are still mostly impressions from Malacca, MY)

Well, my tired brain already noticed a change in the morning when I was on my way to office (tired because with shirt one has to leave a bit earlier than normal...arriving only at 9 in office would mean to show considerable sweat marks because of the omnipresent heat). People suddenly look different and even longer than normal and I can almost see the question in their eyes 'What position might he have?'.

Entering the MRT at 8.15 in the morning is like being among Managers only..all men are in nice shirts and trousers...90% of the women still have wet hair from their morning showers and keep checking themselves so eagerly as if this was the first day in a new job. It was only in Singapore that I became aware of how wonderful and sexy Business look can be. Fierce competition indeed produces incredible outcome. (ok, but this is still nothing against a typical Singapore mall on Sat afternoon, some of which often act as public stage and catwalk at the same time).

(well...I am sure something would definitely come up on a brainstorming about what a HOT BLAST therapy might be..I definitely do NOT know..)

It was crazier in the evening when I decided to have a little walk after work to a food stall, still in my finest combination. I have not felt so scrutinised in a long while (ok, it is flattering..but considering my real position as a student and intern it is ridiculous at the same time). This amplifies and suddenly I catch myself walking down a pedestrian crossing in a played statesmenlike stride just to see what happens. And yes, women's looks are suddenly like glue and I wonder how more superficial this can ever be...it felt simultaniously hilarious and sad..

INHALING THE EXPERIENCE

Still back in Malacca (Malaysia) about two weeks ago I decided to go for a foot massage on one evening (I do have knee problems while running since then..maybe it was not soo conducive after all). It was already 8.30pm that night and I caught the 40ish year old Chinese heritage guy just leaving the place. Good Business man as he was, he quickly decided to reopen and ushered me in.

(a signboard found inside a foot massage place -YES, only foot massage-; the left and right character means 'careful', the upper and lower 'cheater'...so it says: 'BE CAREFUL, CHEATER'!..The owner told that once a nicely dressed Arabic guy came in to book massages for 6 wealthy customers who where waiting down the street. They wanted to go for dinner first though and could not pay because the restaurant would not accept any credit card. So the owner 'borrowed' him 100 Ringit..about 20Eur and the guy never came back..)

The place had enough space to serve 5-6 customer simultaniously, but I was the only one then. It felt a bit weird in the beginning but I decided to follow my still positive belly sensor. He did not even want me to clean my feet before (was he into smelly odour?), but I insisted. It was still a relaxing thing...and the fact that he was a guy and only doing a foot massage minimised the danger of inappropriate offers (minimise, but not avoid..I have to add. Of course, he wanted me -as a fine and of course happy customer- to come back the next day and receive a special full massage skillfully conducted by one of his female associates).

A special add-on for the massage provided my final approval on using a miraculous, green tibetan powder on my feet and legs. He was so excited about it that I finally had to try..However, I was not so sure if they were from Tibet though..for a price of approx 2 Euro this could still be, but I guess that's just what I paid for the little Placebo. What it finally caused was to heat up my skin after he wrapped my feet and legs in seperate towels...felt like my outer skin was boiling and made me wonder whether there would be any skin left below my knee to massage the next day.

(We are in Muslim Malaysia after all...prayer rooms can be found in many places. Please mind that there is strict gender seperation)

Finally, I really had to insist on my NO (with an easy heart) regarding his repeated offer to provide me with pure oxygen during the foot massage..I already had to bite on my lips when he tried to persuade me by telling about Michael Jackson's habit of sleeping with pure oxygen all the time (yes, this guy is indeed a positive example!). But I could not believe my eyes when I turned around in my seat and looked at what he pointed with his finger so encouragingly: a McGyver like 1.8m high gas cylinder...badly overpainted with beige color and saying in thick, blue handwriting 'O2, REAL PURE OXYGENE'. Would ANY sane person put on the oxygen mask that leads to this tank? Good Lord, I wonder whether I would have discovered a black/yellow skull, if I only had scratched a bit on the bottle where the paint looked extra thick...

Funniest thing though was that he always claimed that his BOSS was watching all the time (via numerous cameras in the room...which I thought were all fake). That was probably to make his customers feel safer, but even more to give himself a good excuse why he could not do any price negotiations himself. After my request to see his boss he only replied that he was very shy and did not want to see customers tonight...haha...I limped home then with my pulsing, boiled legs.

Maik

(the door to a tiny tatoo studio in Jonker Street, Malacca)

Malaysia vs. Singapore

2006-08-24T20:02:00.001+08:00

(A Malaysian resting near the stinky water around 10 o'clock in the morning in Malacca. Life is generally much slower and more relaxed here than in Singapore. Of course, the people know that their productivity is way below Singapore's...but I see here that it does not necessarily lower their life quality. To put it in other words: Being a Singaporean buzy-bee with a packed week schedule does not necessarily make you happier)

MALAYSIA-TRULY-ASIA

I spent a few days this week with my friend Vikram in the Southwest-Malaysian City of Malacca, a beautiful outpost of Malay culture which is just 3 car-hours away from Singapore, located on the Strait of Malacca (ca. 80000 inhabitants). While he was on Business trip, I went to explore this historic city, which was first taken by the Portuguese in 1511 and then by the Dutch in 1641, before it became part of the then almighty British Empire in the early 19th century.

These diverse influences can be seen all over the city. The outlook of many houses is very different from what I’ve spotted in this country so far (alas, I HAVE NOT seen too much of 'Malaysia-Truly-Asia' yet on the other hand ;-)). The big role Chinese culture plays in this country is still a surprise to me, as it contradicts the strange and wrong imagination I had before of a mainly homogenous society. A considerable part of the people is of Chinese heritage, which can be seen by the numerous Chinese temples around the city and traditional Chinese characters that mark and ‘guard’ entrances and windows of many houses. And of course, the available food is a nice blend of all mentioned heritages…I also had my first ‘Asam Laksa’ in Malacca, which comes without (!) coconut milk..A more sour (='asam') sensation than expected but still yummy!

YOU LIKE SINGAPORE?

I found it very easy to connect with the locals. It helps a lot to discover a city like that alone and some Mandarin breaks the ice with the people right away (there is no ice anyway, not only because of the tropical temperatures..). I soon realized that my mentioning of my workplace sparked something in them and let them talk quite freely. Apparently, most Malaysians do have their opinion about Singaporeans and don’t hide that there is indeed some love/hate relationship (with a slight emphasis on the latter). It boils down to an almost typical animosity between the two states whose history is so strongly intertwined. I have been to a local museum which portrayed Malaysia’s long way into independence. Singapore’s secession from the newly founded Malaysia in 1965 was justified by the ‘avoidance of conflict due to deep-seated political differences and to safeguard peace’.

Was there almost a war looming then between the two states?!

(A feature that I like in both Singapore and Malaysia..the simple measure of showing the remaining seconds for traffic light phases smoothes traffic and your own nerves so much. PLEASE, Germany! Adopt this very simple thing. It increases safety so much and helps to keep cool)

MALAYSIANS ABOUT SNOTTY SINGAPOREANS

So what do Malaysians think about Singaporeans? I had a long talk to one intelligent and witty old Lady in a craft shop at famous Jonkor street. I will only reproduce what she said, which does not necessarily reflect my own opinion..I just like to explore this little animosity in more detail. There may be a lot of biased generalization but this is exactly what I heard on so many occasions that I can almost take it as public opinion. Well, I myself know examples to prove exceptions to the rules ;-) Don’t take it too serious. However, I would be happy to get comments..

Due to the mere economic facts (Singapore’s GDP per capita is about 3 times as high as Malaysia’s) the city outperforms MY by almost any measure. And according to the Lady many Singaporeans apparently make no attempt to hide their superior position by looking down on other, poorer nations in Asia..and Malaysia is of course on of them. A stuck-up, snooty-nosed attitude is what most Malaysians mention when it comes to the way Singaporeans usually talk to them.

Well, I myself cannot confirm this, which of course may be due to my nature as an Ang Mo (Caucasian white), which (to be very honest) puts me on the highest step of the ladder in this country, whatever I do and say. There is simply no way for me to experience the mentioned impressions first-hand.

(colorful Rikshaws can be seen on many places around Malacca. It is usually a sweaty old man who charges 10 Ringit [2€] for a ride...which is actually quite expensive. They can be seen in Singapore as well, but are more a relict than part of daily tourist life as here in Malacca. However, both country versions are strinkingly colorful, sometimes come with loudspeakers that scream Malaysian music out in the streets and a whole range of rainbow-colored LEDs glow on them in wild disco-rhythms at night..some vehicles do look like a screeching, marvelously slow Christmas tree and let you wonder what kind of integrated power station provides for all these gimmicks)

THERE MUST BE ORDER IN SINGAPORE

On the other hand, Singaporeans are perceived as very efficient in most things they do and are often taken as good examples to show how things should be run. They are organized, follow rules to an extent that even let my German eyebrows rise (you know..our national saying is ‘Ordnung muss sein’ = ‘Order must be’). Since they have success, they look for ways to show off with what they have. That starts with small things..like the fact that a Singaporean usually has to be superbly dressed for the holy act of shopping (which is not the case in Malaysia). It goes further in the way that many Singaporeans buy uselessly big luxury cars, which can only function as status symbols in this small, speed-limited city. It is almost tragic that the ever present buzy-bees spend all this huge amount of time in office just to being able to hand over their hard-earned money and receive goods which further support representation in public.

THE 5 Cs

Which brings me to the well-known concept of the 5 C’s, which actually have been taught to me by Singaporeans only very recently…five things that represent the very desirable lifestyle in this tropical city:

Cash
Condominium
Credit Card
Country Club
Car
(with exchangeable order)

Material wealth, self-sacrifice for the job, almost no time for leisure…all apparently chapters in the same book. Is there a way out? Join a French company to enjoy ‘Savoir Vivre’? Leave Singapore for Australia? Or is it just a needed change of the very own state of mind to decouple yourself from public opinion? Is this even what the Singaporeans want?

What I have to add as a last point here is that many Singaporeans seem to understand that very well and can even point to the above facts. They often crave for a change in corporate life.. However, public expectation seems to put many in one big peer pressure boat. I am not even sure if a change is really desirable here..is that one facet of culture I failed to notice or interpret?

(A side street in Malacca's old town..this city and especially the region around famous Jonkor Street is so diverse. Although I was told that Kuala Lumpur also has traditional quarters, this is the first time that I somehow had the impression to 'feel' a more real version of Malaysia, leaving aside Kuala Lumpurs hard-bitteness for example. The narrowness of the streets, the abundance of shops that sell wonderful local craft (not only the usual kitsch) and food, as well as numerous small bars are there to be discovered..)

MALAYSIAN ABOUT MALAYSIAN

Malaysian Shop Owner: ‘So where are you from?’
Me: ‘I’m from Germany!’
Malaysian Shop Owner: ‘So you must be Hitler grand grand grand son, haha!’
Me: ‘…Ha..Ha…...’

(quoted from the old lady)
Malaysians might live a slower life, are according to her self-proclaimed less efficient but they see themselves as more humble and friendly than their Singaporean neighbors (supported by a friends testimony that she rather flies with Malaysian than Singapore Airlines). They admit with a bright smile to be 'extremely' lazy, as if this was a pillar in their life that can never be moved and has therefore to be taken into account when we talk about future development. Jealousy is there of Singapore's success and Malaysia would love to surpass their little neighbor better yesterday than tomorrow. But on the other hand they see the Singaporean orderly lifestyle and know to somehow that they can only catch up to them if they virtually become them.

I really try not to bash on anyone here, and this might have been a harsh post that polarizes. Having the nice friends/colleagues and acquaintances in mind that I know here I can hardly imagine that the above mentioned allegations are more rule than exception. Nevertheless, I felt that I had to write about the uniformity of Malaysian opinion about Singapore and the honest self-reflection I got from the old Lady (however little objective it might be).

I enjoy this country and people very much, that's why I extended my stay. However, I have the subtle impression that because of my nature as a Caucasian there will always be facets of culture that I simply cannot experience myself.

Do I only see the bright side of Singapore?

Maik

(Then what the heck is it?! Has Veggie been the name of the cow that is behind this treacherous act? Hiding this not sooo important information in fine print can be dangerous..Dear Malaysian McD Manager, if you EVER choose to go to the United States, the wonderful customers there will probably read this, eat kilograms of the yummy Veggie Burger and then sue you to the bones because of mental cruelty. You've been warned!)

Where are all the Nationalist Turks?

2006-08-18T17:34:00.000+08:00

Well, a few days have past since my last post. I am honest: mood was in the way. That's it. No white lies anymore..

(When I really noticed this flag for the first time a few months ago, I thought that the family owning it must have been a Turkish one. Big mistake..It was only a few weeks ago that the amount of flags suddenly mushroomed in town and I started to wonder where all those Turkish people came from all at once ;-))

Turkish Invasion

Singapore's most important day passed just 9 days ago..on August 9th this small young country became 41 years old. Not an incredibly long time that has passed since the independence from Malaysia in 1965, but quite a considerable and visible change that this place must have gone through in the meantime..(for example a street called Beach Road, which used to be located somewhere close to the water according to what I heard...but now is quite in town..all due to massive landscaping since then..). I wonder what it must have been like to walk around Raffles Place or Orchard Road in the 60s..(did they even exist then? Or are they just an invention by the tourist board to please mall and glitter-hungry tourists/locals?)

(as one can see, Singapore does not have a problem showing the national colors. The density and completeness on outside walls increased considerably the closer one gets to the National Day and the nearer to the National Stadium, where the big parade was held..)

Shops in town filled with red 'Singapore' shirts and I was told that on National Day most schools let their students show up in red shirts to respect the importance of the day. Also, the streets were marked by big election-like billboards announcing the NDP..which (as as German) I always but only for one second mistook as an ad for the German Far Right National Democratic Party (which definitely does not deserve any further commentary due to the mere stupidity and backwardness of their neonazi-agenda). According to firsthand information, I was not the only German who had to face this little psycho-effect. We are apparently pretty conditioned in this respect and that is also the reason why I always associated something ugly with the billboards. It is something one cannot influence..like upmarket shops that influence the mood and stay time of customer with special music and smells. And by the way, NDP of course stands for National Day Parade.

(Laksa...the wonderful dinner I had while watching a few minutes of the parade on Wednesday evening. This particular Laksa has been consumed by me in Katong in the supposedly oldest and most genuine Laksa stall in town. Thanks for showing me, Mabelline! The coconut-sauce is extra-thick and the meal is served with a Chinese spoon only..the noodes are cut in such a way that there is no need for chopsticks. Also, the color is brighter than the EastCoast Laksa, since it is not 'preloaded' with lots of Chili...absolutely YUMMY and certainly remains my favorite dish here in Singapore!)

The biggest and most important event on that day was a parade that took place in the National Stadium. Unfortunately, I only lerned about its existence when all tickets were already given away, so I could not even attempt to find a way in there (would have been odd anyway for an Ang Mo to be inside, I guess.). The ticket issueing process was basically a lottery with not much chance to get in except you're lucky or have the right connections, of course. The usual Singaporean is used to watch it on TV at home anyway.

The event itself (I had a glimpse at a few minutes while I ate my Laksa at a street stall) felt like a proud combination of the presentation of all army branches in finest service dress (plus a multitude of tanks, etc..) and the opening of the Football World Cup. Colorful lightshows and the presentation of Very Important VIPs were accompanied by a uniform mass of red-clothed spectators at the grandstands who fervently waved flags and pennants and even had the flag painted on the cheeks (as I said, like World Cup)..I found the effort taken quite impressive, but I still cannot understand why there is no way to let this parade use the streets of Singapore.

Fortunately enough, this has been a public holiday as well. :-)

Maik

(The picture above is somewhat a probable sneak preview to my next post..I will head off to Malacca in Malaysia for a few days which is a centre of rich peranakan-culture. What you see on the left is a typical Nyonya (= peranakan expression for female) Baju Kebaya dress, which actually gave inspiration to the current uniforms of the Always-Pretty-Always-Smiling Singapore Airlines cabin crew)

Plans For The Future

2006-08-05T00:42:00.000+08:00

(Finally, Ronald McD offers a new and yummy Mc Cockroach…to be fair, I have to add that this is not a familiar sight in Singapore McDs though. And no, I will not the reveal the location of the branch..no need to ruin the lives of the employees yet…as long as my ‘Oreo McFlurry’ is still of tolerable quality and does not come with insect leg flavor)

WHERE ARE THE BABIES?

Just a few weeks ago, I attended a friend’s housewarming party. He and his girlfriend had recently moved in to a new apartment, a so-called HDB flat, which stands for Housing Development Board. These are usually flats in apartment blocks, provided by the state which are then sold or rented. As opposed to the more sought after Condominium apartments, they don’t come with any facilities, like gym or pool. ‘Government provided’ does not necessarily mean here that they are of bad quality though...it is not synonymous for poor people's housing. The standard ranges from low standard to Condo-like apartments..it is just a matter of price which can reach mind-blowing ranges (they ususally start at about 300.000SGD)

It is widely popular here in Singapore to buy apartments right away and not rent them. However, young people are only allowed to purchase an HDB flat if they are married. As a single this permission to purchase is dependent on the age..one has to be at least 35 years old. I guess this rule is to some extend an example of basic government family planning, which from my point of view fails quite miserably. The current total fertility rate in this country is tremendously low with about 1.05 children born / woman (in 2005), which is even lower than Germany with its current 1.38.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF MODERN LIFESTYLE

Apparently, this is an attribute of a society where the usual 'carrot and stick'-approach (as mentioned in the last post with regard to the army) does not quite work. The Singapore government introduced tax reliefs and for example a range of educational subsidies, but as one can see with only little effect. A female friend told me that the working environment in Singapore is still not quite family-friendy. Maternity leave is very limited (if accepted at all) and most companies seem to have a 'Gentlemen's agreement' to sustain a highly inflexible working environment (no way for different working hours).

Then there's the yuppy concept, which of course lets young people pursue their personal goals (including career) first...usually kids come last here and to be honest..I am not even remotely an exception, since it is exactly the same case in Germany. Last but not least, it is also a contributing factor that single mothers are not entitled to the same tax incentives as married couples and still scorned upon by many..a social stigma as my Singaporean friend put it.

(Dengue fever [or breakbone fever, dandy fever] is a disease caused by a virus carried by a certain kind of mosquitoes. Symptoms are mainly joint pain, stiffness, pain behind the eyes and a characteristic rash. Patients also should be isolated in the first three days, when the mosquitoes can pick up the disease from them. Usually, it can be ‘only’ lethal to young, elderly and sick people. Mosquito prevention measures are widespread in

Singapore

, mainly focusing on the removal of any stagnant water. Well, most ‘stagnant water’ in this concrete town stems from condensation puddles of the beer glass in your hand..and I did not get one mosquito bite in my whole time in

Singapore

….just for the record...)

Ok, I can guess it is an eternal truth that the wealthier a nation and the more business and career-focused its citizens are, the less children there are around (‘because there’s never the right time for children anyway’). However, my friend told me that many Singaporeans don’t know if there will be a bright future in their country. Some fear that the low number of children, the non-existence of raw materials and the uprising of China / India etc. will eventually put an end on Singapore’s economic thriving. Personally, I am more concerned about the political side…especially what is going to happen after Singapore's holy mentor Lee Kuan Yew (currently 83 years old) will eventually not be here anymore and somebody else will have to take the helm and use the admittedly very concentrated power in an equally informed and hopefully sane way. Good luck on your further way, Singapore!

LONG-TERM STRATEGY

One thing that strikes me most about buying any apartment in Singapore is the fact that most of the time one does not really BUY it, in the sense of obtaining in exchange for payment. Basically, when one ‘buys’ a flat, it actually means the purchase of the right to use it for the next 99 years (there are also contracts available that go for lower amounts of years, but it is usually ‘Double 9’ for apartments). When this near-century is over, the place will go back to the state automatically and one has the right to rebuy it.

The starting point of thinking here is, that the state in fact ‘owns’ the whole country and therefore all premises. Space is very limited here on these 683sq km (Denmark for example is about 60 times its size), which was the main reason for the decision to remain in control. The state then decides (depending on region and importance) if an apartment / house can be rented for 99 years (‘double 9’), 999 years (‘triple 9’), or if one can even purchase a ‘free-hold’ license, which never expires. Of course, the prices differ from scheme to scheme. If a flat costs you 400.000 Singapore Dollars (~200.000Euros) for the 99 years, it will easily go into a high 7 digit value for 999 years.

Even 'free-hold' does not automatically mean that you can build your own castle including trench and live totally on your own. If the state thinks that a new highway has to be built right through your living room they have the right to take it back (of course compensated).

(A styled-up car with an impressive rear spoiler that is surely of very good use for the sprint to the next traffic light)

I don’t think I would feel very comfortable, knowing that I am actually gratefully allowed to use the place for a long, but limited period. This might come from my German point of view that property rights and the ‘holiness’ of the own home should be secured in a basic law. Although I can absolutely not imagine to buy an apartment or house (feels like dropping the anchor, or should I say putting on shackles?) I would not want to miss the feeling to really OWN my place…usually, when Germans build a house they build it for eternity, hoping that their children would take it over years later. I think this is just different here, with the common acceptance that the state is the only big real estate manager.

THINKING AHEAD

Hmm.. I don’t know when the scheme was introduced in the first place. The generation that bought the apartments will most probably not be on this earth anymore. Will this lead to a clash between their descendants and the state? After all, one could get the impression that this is just another way to collect a death duty, whose introduction would be unthinkable in a still family oriented society as Singapore's...

I just guess that some 50 years down the road there will be a massive and steady new inflow of cash into the treasurer’s casket as this source of income finally opens up. I call this insidious future planning on the true assumption that people in these fast-paced times just are not able to think even years ahead in the future, let alone a century.

Maik

(Auntie sells home made Hakka food on the streets..The social system in

Singapore

does not really provide the elderly for any stable flow of income from the state (edit: wrong, see end of post), so one will see many working around the city..selling small things or working in street stalls)

Edit (2006-08-08): I was wrong with last picture's capture: According to Mabelline (thx!) each Singaporean aged 60 years+ is entitled to receive money from the Central Provident Fund, a comprehensive social security savings plan for citizens.

How to effectively prevent household mishaps

2006-07-29T15:15:00.000+08:00

(This Wednesday, the so-called Chinese ghost month started...a traditional Chinese festival that is usually celebrated on the first and the last nights of the 7th lunar months. The offerings that can be seen on the picture as well as the burnt 'hell money' are supposed to help pleasing the ghosts and spirits that come out of the lower world to visit earth that very day...)

DO YOU BELIEVE?

Last week, I met the owner of the condo apartment I currently live in for the first time. He moved to Shanghai only recently to join his girfriend there and just rented out the place to my flatmate and me. I was already told earlier that some of the items in the apartment are basically off limits and should not be touched, let alone moved. Hmm...why, you ask? They are at the same time carefully placed items according to Feng Shui laws, which I already outlined to some degree at the last post. At least I'd like to portray the more visibile results of the 800$ worth consultation that has been conducted by a local Singaporean Feng Shui Master in my apartment.

Well, I do not quite believe in superstition and directing the flow of chi with coins, bricks, flutes, vases and plants is really not the first thing that would come up my mind while moving into a new place. However, I generally try to understand motivations for certain actions here in Asia and although many people shake their heads when they hear about Feng Shui, it is apparently still an integral part of a good number of building projects not only in China, but also in Singapore. The application of Feng Shui (which means the careful placing of artifacts and application of certain 'rules' regarding the architecture and the alignment of buildings) follows more of a practical wisdom: If I cannot be absolutely sure that it is total nonsense, why don't I just pay the little money and arrange a few things in my flat in a certain way and thereby eliminate the residual risk and enjoy a good night sleep?

INFLOW OR OUTFLOW?

Unfortunately, the depicted door above is not a very supportive one for the successful and healthy wallet development. Actually, one should stay away from this one, because as a 'TIGER'-door it lets money flow out of the flat. How lucky the family must be just opposite our flat, since their 'DRAGON'-door enables them to collect just the money that flows out of our apartment. How to differentiate? It is dependent on the way the door opens from the outside. If it does to the left, you are facing the purring felidae. Luckily, the Feng Shui Master found a countermeasure by suggesting to place a red brick in a box just behind the door (within the red marked circle). Good. I am not sure what a superstitious insurance would have said if we missed out on placing that brick and were subsequently robbed ("So sorry Sir...but isn't it obvious that your little Tiger has been toasted by a greedy Dragon...?")

THE EVIL KITCHEN

According to Feng Shui, every apartment is divided into 9 equally sized squares and each of them does stand for a different meaning. The Feng Shui Master would have been really horrified by my uninformed decision to place the fruits I bought just at the marked corner next to the sink. Why? The architect of the flat must have a had pretty bad taste of placing the kitchen in square 5, which is the one to avoid, because it means bad luck. The Master apparently even had some kind of gauge which enabled him to easily identify not the cause (it is unpreventable) but the centre of the evil kitchen spirit. Of course, the place where I used to store my fruits happened to be the very spot that radiates the most bad luck and should therefore not be used for anything (except for some countermeasure of course...some small vase filled with grains I could not identify...not to be seen on the pic)

A HOME FOR MY WALLET

Where there's darkness, there also has to be some light. So despite the actual fate of coping with a TIGER-door and an evil kitchen, there is still hope, especially to be found in the Wealth-spot just between window and TV. Some Chinese are quite superstitious with numbers and even pay horrendous amounts of money to purchase mobile phone numbers that contain as money 6s and 8s as possible (the literally deadliest choice would be 4, since the chinese expression 'si' for four resembles the word for death). So there is no wonder that there are exactly 6 flowers with 8 leafs on the upper level, which is also placed exactly 68 inches above the ground. The flowers have therefore no specific meaning, they just stand for luck. The ship below is directed to the inside of the apartment; it carries wealth back from the sea into the home port (and is therefore very welcome). Why not place the ship on top? No clue...one might have to ask the Master. I wonder if it helps to place the piggy bank on the glass table just below..

WATCH OUT!

According to the Feng Shui Master, the placement of AirCons just above doorways all over the aparment is a complete failure. Everytime one walks through, one has to expect that the own soul is sucked directly into the device. Atrocious imagination, but at least my soul won't have to sweat in hell then..:-) It is also quite relieving that one can remedy this threat easily by placing a specially blessed coin inside the Aircon. If all things in life were just that easy..

DON'T LET THEM SLICE YOU UP

The picture above partly shows the not-so-pretty view from my master bedroom. Just try to guess for a minute what the attached stripes could be there for before reading on..
Well, one can see that other building's corner apparently points directly into my room. The obvious effect is that it slices me up, splits me in two parts which of course cannot be too healthy...When and how this could happen I don't know, but the remedy is already in place and therefore guarantees my undisturbed good night sleep. The three stripes do not stand for 'san' (which means the number 3 in Mandarin), but are a Chinese symbol for wood. Hence, both my windows have been fortified with thick wood and block the vicious corner that tries to find it's way into my home and castle. No chance! I just forgot to ask what would happen if I opened the windows...do I have to wear a helmet?

Ok..enough with Feng Shui for time being. I will try and see if it has some effect on me on one way or another. But how could I know anyway? I have no way to compare..maybe it does at least limit household accidents, but then it is a very bad sign that the kitchen had to reveal its evil nature...

A confused Maik

(Please note that it is not allowed to carry any Durians on the MRT-Trains, but there is no fine for doing so..Isn't that weird? Looks like the Singaporean officials have to conduct some Realpolitik here. And last but not least: Think twice before letting yourself being seen peeing in a lake. The fine may involve 5000$ (~2500Eur), as well as 1 year of prison and 3 canings)

Edit (06.08.2006): The fine for peeing in a lake is not just 5.000$ but 10.000$. And no, I did not commit it to find out ;-)

With a carrot and a stick

2006-07-20T18:58:00.000+08:00

(Chili-Crab...one of the most delicious and very Singaporean dishes...hmmm...)

WELCOME AGAIN TO THE ARMY!

Every male Singaporean has to do either military or police service or join the civil defense for 2 years soon after becoming 18 years old. The difference in the drawing-in process is profound compared with the so-called compulsory military service in Germany. Equality is not a big word anymore in my home country, where less then one third of all young men have to face any service because of the army downsizing in the past decade. It is simply not fair when some young men ‘accidentally’ are being drawn in to the army and therefore have a disadvantage compared to those who are lucky enough not to face any service, because there are simply not enough positions.

(What you see here is the Infineon / Qimonda Asia Pacific headquarter in Singapore..I like this stylish building, whose 2 wings are connected via sky bridges..also for the reason that its design has partly been based on some simple Feng Shui rules, that I will outline further down. Feng Shui (which literally translates 'Wind Water') follows ancient Chinese rules and teachings about the correct placement of artifacts in space. To be sure many houses and buildings are constructed according to Feng Shui rules even in Singapore...)

ABOUT SLIM SINGAPOREANS

Well, at least this kind of justice is still present in Singapore, but another regulation marks an interesting difference. Every man is automatically part of the reserve after he leaves and therefore faces the obligation to join the forces for up to 40 total days in a year. My current flatmate, who has done his service with the Singaporean police, had to show up for a shooting exercise just yesterday while he happened to be in S’pore as part of his job with Singapore Airlines.

I was wondering whether this practice meant any danger for the current job, but apparently the Singaporean state fully compensates the respective company with the full salary of the person in question, no matter what enormously paid position he currently has. Understandably, this can be extremely expensive and leads to one simple equation: The better you are paid and the higher your position in your company, the fewer amounts of days you eventually will have to serve a year. This is just a nice, unofficial incentive for the many career-oriented Singaporeans to move up the career ladder even more quickly. Yeahh…

(picture taken from one of the sky bridges of the Infineon headquarter building. The little artificial hill that you can see is supposed to be a mountain...it even smokes from time to time, but this is only design and no function :-) According to Feng Shui, buildings have to be built in a way that ghosts and spirits who live in the mountain and want to reach the sea have to be able to do so without being obstructed by some artifact. If the spirits happen to bump into a building with living beings, this is believed not to be very beneficial to their genereal health...:-)

CARROT AND A STICK

Well, even more interesting is the fact that every man has to undergo a physical fitness test every single year up to an age of 40. If you don’t pass the test right away (which involves for example running the 2.4 km in 14 minutes for a 36 year old man) you will have to take part in 6 weeks of training with two 4 hour-sessions a week to MAKE you pass. Nobody really wants to spend 4 hours after a long working day doing exercises and then again 4 hours during the precious weekend for this.

(a look at the other end of the building. What you see is the water...for a reason that I don't quite understand the evil spirits always seem to be keen travel straight to the water. To support the intention and to win several design awards the building was designed in a way that allowed the spirits to travel from the artificial mountain through the wings to the artificial water. The only thing missing now are artificial evil spirits...where would we get those from...IKEA?)

On the other hand, one can earn from $100 (ca. 50€) to $400 for outstanding performance and is therefore rewarded. For the above example, $400 would mean to run the 2.4km in less then 10.45Min., to do at least 31 sit-ups, 6 chin-ups, do a 4x10m shuttle run in not more than 10.7s and a standing broad jump of more than 215cm. Now, is this one of the main reasons why the number of obese, male Singaporeans is so low? It is striking to see how slim the people here are in general..or is this just another outcome of the ever-prevalent peer pressure and fast lifestyle that penetrates all parts of daily life? I would like to know, how much this system of punishment and reward influences the personal decision of living a healthier life…

(Malaysian Coffee, called Kopi and some hot/cold dessert with soybean skin, barley and gingko nuts. The Kopi tastes way different from Starbucks coffee or any Americano..It is made by running water several times trough something that resembles a sock, but is filled with coffee powder. The final resulting liquid tastes of very fine coffee powder and will be blended with that kind of thick, sugared condense milk that so much reminds me of my childhood...my granny always used to get this for me from the Czech Republic and I feasted on it until nausea..)

Why is something like this not possible in Germany? I mean, not necessarily as part of a follow up to military training, but as a general incentive to live a healthier and therefore at little better life? Government and health insurances could jointly conduct a scheme to pay a certain amount of money for good sportive performance in an optional yearly test (Germans would go nuts if there would be a requirement for this…doesn’t go so well with Bratwursts and beerbellies) This might result in a more motivated society and drive down the costs for the ever-complaining health insurances…huh, am I dreaming here?

And, above all, with some monetary incentive Germany would within no time have the fittest students in the world ;-)

Maik

I never liked Pizza. Really.

2006-07-11T19:41:00.001+08:00

(Pictures say more than words. Please try to derive which team I was cheering for on Monday morning...mon dieu...First picture shows a Singaporean French (or was it French Singaporean? I think that night, she wasn't really sure herself. Unfortunately she rejected my offer for a jersey swap..Second pic shows the Lady who provided my face painting in the tricolore)

PARTY OVER?

Well, Germany lost against the Mafia (sorry, but I'm still cranky), my favorite French team lost against them as well ('MON DIEU'), Klinsmann decides to head back to California (high praise for him to decide against a whole people just like that)....if it wasn't for the fabulous victory against Portugal, it would have been really depressing right now. My voice is still throaty from all the 'ALLEZ LES BLEUS' screams Monday morning (the match went live here from 2am-4.30am). How nice it was to 'celebrate' with all the French at Chijmes that night..

So what are we doing now? Falling in a Football deprivation depression? Do we really have to switch over to the Tour de France? Naaah. It's only 2 years to the European Championship. In the meantime, we can rediscover Football a la Zizou. You know, whatever HE does MUST be cool and have a reason. I like the way a journalist interpreted the incident in the way that Zidane probably planned this all time long to escape his godlike appreciation after the World Cup...so he can live as a normal person. Yes. Sure...

Find out here and become Anti-Champion as well (thx for the link, Sandy!!)

(We are in a Chinese supermarket. What is different for example on the checkout counter? Well, look closer to find out what is sold here as a lastminute good...no...no sweets for kids, it's more or less for pleasing adults. Yes, right. They sell condoms, lubricants and other helpful utilities just next to the checkout for the rushing customer. Gosh, how often I forgot to put them in my trolley. But thanks to this procedure it will luckily never have to happen again...)

UNIQUELY SINGAPORE

It is nice to be back in this lively, clean and small city state close to the equator. Of course, considering the (I confess unexpected) success of the German team, I would have loved to stay longer and inhale the wonderful atmosphere in Munich. It was not difficult to realise soon that even here, in this remote corner of the world, my home country has made quite an impression. Although the matches were broadcast at the most unconvenient time possible (always around 3am...one basically loses a whole night of sleep, if you don't go to bed at 9, which I can't), some Singaporeans jumped over their shadow and swapped their Business clothes with Football jerseys.

I heard that Singapore even has its own Football League (the S League, S=S'pore). I will not start talking about their performance, since I have no clue and never heard or read ANYTHING about Football in this city. However, 100% of the locals I asked describe their style as 'miserable', which speaks for itself. I'll put it that way: There's probably quite some room for development.

(Asians love to eat chicken! That is one fact. By the way, Singaporeans generally don't seem to like the big chunks of meat like Westerners, but more the thighs and small pieces. That way we will never collide and there's one reason less for war ;-) Well, since chicken meat is widely considered healthy, this company 'New World' here sells a product which supposedly provides you with the best essence of chicken. Whatever that is. It's not meat, but a concentrated liquid that somehow resembles chicken soup..a cocktail of predigested protein, that's already disassembled into amino-acids, I was told. Sounds yummy? It seems to be one of the many 'miracle makers' one can buy here to better the health. No, I did not try it and I have no intention to ;-))

Unbelievable also, how many 'Deutschland'-jerseys, hats and t-shirts could be seen on the days around our matches. And isn't it good for the German soul when my Malaysian friend Yong sends me an sms that reads 'Wow! What a game! Germany above all! So glad you guys won!' Go, go, Germany! Head forward! See you in 2008!

(Another example of the already mentioned 'miracle makers'. According to an article I read, these probiotic drinks (like Yakult or Nestles LC1 in Germany) only have a measurable effect if the digestive system...let's put it mildly...is really not working properly anymore. However, Singaporeans never ever even think about changing their diet. "Let's mix some Chicken Essence and Vitagen instead and pour it over the steak, lah" ;-) Well, at least the advertiser admits that the beautiful healty-looking Lady is a 'MediaCorp Artist'. We all know what THAT means...)

This might after all be the last Football post for a while. The jersey will be carefully washed (why on earth does the original cost 50% more in Germany than in Singapore?) and put away until the next big patriotic occasion comes up. Shame on Adidas who rip off the Germans so badly. Ok, it works. I bought it. But this was the last time. Really. Really...

Maik

Bangkok Football Nights

2006-07-03T00:36:00.000+08:00

(Important rule: ALWAYS talk nice about the Thai Royal Family. It is not just deeply insulting to talk in a bad way about their Monarchs, but it can also mean a direct way into prison. Thai people take their monarchy very seriously. Also, people usually kiss (KISS!) banknotes that accidentaly touched the ground, since all of them depict the Royals...)

YOU NO GO

The relationship between foreigners (especially people from Western countries) and Thai females is often subject to discussion...

It is Sunday afternoon. I am already at Bangkok airport to catch my flight with Tiger Airways to Singapore, approaching the security check right before my gate. Two female Thai securities are waiting on my side of the barrier, already smiling at me as I walk down the alley towards them.

Me: ‘Hello!’
Thai female security: ‘Hello Sir! How are you?’
Me: ‘I’m very fine, khorb koon kab (-Thanks-)! And you?’
Thai (brighter smile): ‘Very good! You like Bangkok? Come back soon?’
Me: ‘Sure! Your country is very beautiful.’
Thai: ‘What you like about Thailand? You also like Thai Ladies? Very beautiful?’

(Please keep in mind here that there are two guards with guns standing not too far away. It takes me a second to comprehend…big smile and look directed at me, her colleague starts to giggle while concealing her mouth with her right hand)

Me: ‘Well, you’re right! Thai Ladies are really nice! Very good-looking!’
Thai female security: ‘Have nice body, nice face, right? You have Thai girlfriend?’

(Very direct...hm.I take off my belt and German army boots and put them on the conveyer belt together with my backpack and cell phone. The Lady stops my backpack before it reaches the scanner and pushes it back to me. Her look is serious now, no smile. I ignore the last question for the time being.)

Thai (suddenly): ‘YOU NO GO!’
Me: ‘Pardon?’

(I am a tad confused. Usually, Thai Ladies ALWAYS smile during a conversation. Did they think they found a bomb in my boots? Bummer. )

Thai (still serious): ‘You like Thai Lady. You no go! You must stay! No go to Singapore’

(The three also female securities on the other side of the security gate look at me as if I am a crook, apparently not understanding what’s going on. I smile at the surreal scene, delighted to have this VERY typical conversation at a high security checkpoint at the airport with about 10 people behind me.)

Me: ‘Hey, I’d love to stay! But no choice for me here. Thailand is great, but I NEED to work tomorrow. Do you understand? I can come back though..’
Thai (having my backpack firmly in her hands): ‘You promise come back! Next week?’

(I look at her. She seems more serious than I thought. The way she tries is reminiscent to uncountable, similar and unpreventable occasions during the last two days in Bangkok.)

Me: ‘I might be back soon, but not next week! Is that still OK for you?’

(She does not seem to be satisfied, but has to give way to me. I grab my backpack and put it on the conveyer belt, while she does not move away one inch. I smile at her a last time and go through the barrier…apparently disappointing them. I grab my stuff and smile back a last time. The Thai Lady still watches me from the other side with a look that I just could not interpret.)

The weird thing here was not that the conversation happened in the first place (that is almost standard small-talk-lingo), but the mere fact I was facing guns and Thai Ladies at the same time did not really make me feel comfortable...;-)

(This is not a specific Thai way of drinking. I was deeply surprised in Singapore 8 months ago, when someone handed me a coffee in a plastic bag (and straw!) for the first time. But well, one gets used to everything. It is useful however, to be more inventive in finding ways of 'placing' the bag somewhere, especially in an office environment!)

GERMANY IN SEMI-FINAL!!

One of the best purchasing decisions recently was to buy a DFB Jersey (see TWO pictures below). A total ripoff of course for the price of 64,50€ (as this is what you pay for a full custom tailored suite in Bangkok) and not much surplus value in Germany, but it payed off fabulously in the Thai capital. As soon as I set my foot in an Irish pub on Friday night to watch Argentina lose, I was loudly acclaimed as the only German present and given a premium seat in front of the TV...That's how it ALWAYS should be ;-) Well, the broadcast was with Thai commentary...at least I could distinguish the German names by hearing.

And having a beer for roughly 2 Euros and a meal for about the same price lets even my student wallet stop crying in agony.

(It's FOOTBALL time! The 'World Trade Center' in Bangkok hosted one of the biggest public viewings..England vs. Portugal was about to begin here. What you see above is the comedy warmup for the masses. As you can see, this is done quite explicitly in an appetising way. What a bummer that I could not understand ONE joke. Not sure if they would get a PG-rating in Europe though..)

Going home to my hostel around 1am turned into a triumphal walk...somehow every street stall owner, cook, clothe seller seemed to now about the result, smiled and screamed 'GERRRMANY WIIN!' in my direction (of course also as a way to approach me for a possible sale). One Thai Lady even showed me her 'Deutschland'-armband and tried eagerly to trade it against my Jersey. Nice try. All in all, the Thai people are surprisingly Football-crazy, considering they don't really have a big history in this sport!

(Toilet paper as a tissue in a normal restaurant...nothing unusual)

And by the way, I found it also VERY interesting that a particular Thai Lady always cheered 'GEEEERMAAANYY' during the game France vs. Brazil (2-4am on Sunday!) and she wouldn't listen to anybody who tried to correct her. Apparently, she did not get the fact that 'Les bleu' where in white jerseys that night..or she just loved my home country ;-)

Maik

(Pineapple rice...absolutely YUMMY! Boiled rice, pineapple pieces, some meat, cashew nuts and spices. Got hungry??)

Nothing but the round thingy

2006-06-23T21:47:00.000+08:00

(one peculiar thing about local pedestrian traffic lights in Dresden: As long as I can think back, East German ‘Ampelmännchen’ (traffic light figures) wore a hat; even female ones were possible. The typical German sense of order tried to harmonize the outlook of these figures everywhere in Germany just after the reunification in 1990, which of course meant to apply the non-hat west figures also to the East and abandon our beloved ‘special version’. As one can imagine this highly important issue was cause of a big discussion. To prevent civil war, it was finally agreed that traffic law allowed both versions. Still, you will only be able to find the prettier figures if you travel towards the East :-))

ASIA AND FOOTBALL?

[yes…another post about Football. It’s not over yet..]

You might wonder why there are no Football pictures in this post. Well, I could say that I try to contradict the content and the pictures in an artistic way, that it's all on purpose. But I could also tell the truth that there is not enough crazy Football stuff going on in Dresden...After all, it is not a World Cup city and therefore does not host any matches. The atmosphere is crazy though, especially during the Germany games...but who wants to see pictures of boozing German students going nuts? However, I just arrived in Munich today. Expect something soon....:-)

Well, the moment of my departure back to Asia is closing in. I did not believe that it could annoy me so badly to leave just DURING the World Cup. Well, I am wondering about the atmosphere in Singapore towards the end of the tournament. What team are Singaporeans generally cheering for? Asian teams? Also, might there be a concealed compassion for Ghana because of the compatible climate? I have no clue but will investigate first-hand soon..

(Why do I bore you with traffic lights? Just for completeness: double red lights on some spots in Dresden can be taken as an indicator that someone has died / been run over by a tram at that precise location; might help you some time in the future..)

Frankly said, there are not much of Asia left in the World Cup…Japan is already out and according to what I read the other day on a Singapore newsletter, their brutal occupation of the city state of Singapore from 1942-45 still clouds the mutual relationship and considerably sets a limit to respective smiling efforts. Btw, have you noticed that in the match Brazil vs. Japan, the Japanese fans were cheering for BOTH teams? That is one really polite and disturbing thing…almost too magnanimous for me :-). I guess the term ‘Japanese Hooligan’ will not make it into the news soon (this sad title might to some otherwise tea-drinking nation that does not really want to belong to Europe)

PRODUCTIVITY KILLER

It is generally perceived here that if the German team does well on the tournament, it will boost overall morale or even increase some productivity (and yes, improve all our lifes). By the way, at the Campeon Infineon headquarter in Munich, one should not schedule an appointment at the time of a Germany game, since everybody might watch in on the big public viewing in the cafeteria ('This does not count as working time!' runs through the lower part of the screen though :-))

However, I am wondering about Germany's possible sobering up IF we gracefully allow Argentina to move on without us later this week (Of course, this is just a mind play that WILL NOT COME TRUE). This might especially be followed by the late realisation that the whole class of German politicians currently seems to use these weeks of total media non-presence to rush through with unloved reforms. There could be a ‘rude awaking’ ahead!

(something totally unrelated, but nonetheless possibly interesting: a Dresden student's typical cafeteria food example. What you see are some baked spinach-thingies..(don't ask me how to translate)..with some pasta and cabbage; all in all worth about 3-4Euros...quite affordable and not too bad for a mass production product like that!)

I'm off to the match Spain vs. France now..Will hopefully report soon!

Maik-In-Crazy-FOOTBALL-Country!

-Victory Is Ours-

2006-06-15T16:58:00.000+08:00

(Well, that's it for our neighbors in the East...Sorry, but that's how it goes! ...No, actually I am NOT sorry ;-) --what you see is an electronic display for bus/tram in Dresden)

YEEEHHAAA

Now, Football really takes over daily life here, especially after this grand victory over Poland 14 hours ago. We watched the match in a beer tent on the university campus (yes, right!), full of Football-crazy students. As you can imagine, the atmosphere was awesome, especially after the much-deserved 1:0 in the 91st (!) minute...

Get your audio impression of the atmosphere!

(the place where we watched and celebrated...a big beer tent featuring cheap food and beverages right behind the 'Hörsaalzentrum' (lecture hall centre) of the University of Technology Dresden...now, THAT is what deserves to be called motivational support!)

THE EFFECT ON DAILY LIFE

A few observations:

- Smalltalk about weather has been replaced by Football lingo. Everyone is expert and trainer again for the better part of the next weeks

- A steady increase of DFB-Fans ('Deutscher Fussball Bund = German Football Association) can be seen on the street...following my last post it is finally allowed to be proud of your team (and Germany) which includes the wearing of T-Shirts, flags, face-coloring...

- Even in this country of rules ('Ordnung muss sein' = Order Must Be) there are exceptions :-) As an example, during the days of the World Cup it is not an offence to sound your horn. It would have been impossible anyway to enforce this law, so I guess it is just common sense to lift the ban.

- Suddenly, the share of good news tremendously rose in the evening news. Killings, bombings, invasions, terrorist attacks don't dominate as they usually do and are at least partly replaced by celebrating fans and however-trivial stories about Football. What a blessing...I am starting to wonder whether there is/will be a measurable impact on some crisis or even the so far unimpressed German economic growth..

Short one this time! Just wanted to mark the occasion ;-)

Maik

(Me, Björn and Andi before the start; the match was a first-class fingernail-biter, which turned the present people into a crazy, screaming and of course cursing bunch)

'A time to make friends' with FIFA

2006-06-12T14:34:00.000+08:00

(Hermann posing for his home country in his Costa Rican bar 'Pura Vida' in the Dresden Neustadt...one great place to celebrate this World Cup's opening match. Sorry guys..you played well, but...)

DEAR FIFA,

please don't sue me for using your slogan ('Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden') in the headline of this post. We all know that it is one of the thousands of carefully staged trademarks surrounding this worldcup. However, I am still delighted by the mere fact that only American beer (what a fantastic choice!) is allowed to be poured out in all the World Cup Stadiums and in a 'safe zone' of a few kilometers around them...wonderful idea that paves the way into the very German heart..and protects all guests from the ridiculous idea that Germans have beer themselves. Please make sure with the appropriate measures that no non-German leaves the safe-zones and encounter German pubs!

Also, I am very sorry to hear that your serious attempt to trademark every possible word, saying, pun or picture related to the worldcup turned out to be unsuccessful. Protecting the term 'World Champion' ('Weltmeister') in German was certainly a great idea and should have proven successful. However, I REALLY have to admit that I am shocked to see how inventive many companies are in circumventing your well thought-through rules. One example..Emirates is the official airline sponsor of the cup, but due to the fact this airline has only landing rights on 5 airports in Germany they are simply not capable of shipping all the participating teams around the country. Which brings our Lufthansa in the game, who (how dare they) painted a better part of their fleet with a football-nose WITHOUT PAYING!

And, well...it is a shame for my country that a High German Court finally decided that a word like 'Weltmeister' is too common to be protected and therefore voids many of your expensive contracts with some advertisers. I certainly do hope that you and your fine lawyers find a quick way to prevent hazardous developments like 'Weltmeisterbrötchen' ('World Champion's Buns') that are produced in some bakeries I've seen recently. Evil usually shows itself in small things first.

Please stay on the alert!

Your sincere supporter Maik

(hopefully, we will have a colorful festival here in summery Germany. It's not gonna be a stage for the mindless, brown people...why mindless? A scientific explanation can be seen above (has proven true countless times)! - picture found in a male toilet in the university canteen 'Mensa Bergstrasse' in Dresden)

HOW TO REMEDY BALL-INDUCED FEVER

Yes! Germany is in Football fever. And we managed to WIN OUR FIRST MATCH. Wow..That day, Sandy, Ronny (my two best friends and flatmates here in Dresden) and me turned the fact that we had no TV in our new flat into a tangible advantage by watching the opening game in a Costa Rican pub in town. The place was packed, the atmosphere awesome..'unfortunately' the owner and staff of the pub had to watch their own boys lose. Well, many say that our 11 performed worse than they could and should, but (reciting the common cliché) the Germans do best in tournaments and always adapt beautifully to the opponent's capabilities, be it good or bad. Ok, enough of this warm beer..

World Cups turn even me, a non-beer-liking person (Ok, that changed a bit in my time in Singapore thanks to YOU LEIF!) who is usually not even remotely touched by ANY development in the football world into someone who screams upon missed chances and waves around with the second beer of the evening (Yes, that IS a lot for me). Even plenty of women seem to be drawn to the TV sets (Hey, whatever you might say...it IS a fact that it is somewhat unusual..I have plenty of first-hand experience!). However, it is widely perceived that a female 'Wow, that looked good!' was not in fact related to a clever move in the game but to the awesome hairstyle of one of the players ;-)

Maik

(try to walk a German city wearing a T-Shirt with this picture..you will be delighted from the warm reactions you will get. Germans are nowadays extremely conditioned to linking any feeling of proud to nationalism. World Cups and big sport events are truly the only times when it is 'permitted' by society to be officially proud of the own country. This is when you can walk with a flag in your hand without being automatically associated to rightists and looked down upon. Sad, but true. Our sense of patriotism is a bit distorted as a side effect to all the badly needed campaigning against rightist stupidity.)

About Living in a Go-Area…

2006-06-02T22:11:00.000+08:00

(Die Dresdner Frauenkirche, ‚The Church of our Lady’)

RETURN COMFIRMED!!

Hello everyone! I finally and happily announce that I circumvented all the remaining obstacles regarding my return to Singapore and especially the realization of my diploma thesis. Yippieeehhh…Singapore, I am soon coming back! Flight is booked and I can start complaining about the endless heat again on July 2nd. In the meantime, I will try to follow some positive response and have a closer look at my home, Germany. Which is not easy, because one does not necessarily see the things which would appear odd to foreigners. I will try my best :-) Or just tell me, what you are interested in..

IS IT A PAINTING OR IS IT REAL?

Well, the picture above is indeed real and provides you with a stunning view of last-years finished reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, or ‘Church Of Our Lady’. The original version finally due to intensive heat a few days after the disastrous British-American air ambush on Dresden Feb 13th, 1945. Until the reunification of Germany, it has been decided by the then Communist/Socialist leaders to keep it as a field of debris..serving as a very visible war monument in the heart of the city. The fascinating fact is that as many pieces of debris as possible were reused as material for the 'new' church; computer capabilities in the 90s even enabled the cataloguing and reusing of the old stones where possible. Nonetheless, among local people here the opinions still differ on the very fact of the reconstruction. Some say, the old church can never come back and it should have remained as it was.

However, since its completion, the church has gained a lot of ground in the people's heart and ok, I LOVE this building. To having seen it grow every day from inside the tram on my way to university was fascinating. Now, this specimen of one of the most ambitious projects in Germany after World War Two has changed the appearance of the old city, gave it grace and old grandeur. Negative thing? Too many tourists. I thought I could run away from the Singaporean sport of ‘EXTREME QUEUEING’ and have therefore not managed to get inside yet. What a shame.

(THE people’s car in the former Communist German Democratic Republic, a ‘Trabant’)

DO NOT GO TO NO-GO

These days right just before the beginning of the World Cup in Germany, the media is once again covering a nasty and sadly familiar topic. One former member of the chancellor’s office under Gerhard Schroeder has claimed that some regions in Germany, esp. in the East should not be visited by foreign-looking people, ‘since it may be that they would not leave the place alive’. This surely must be an exaggeration, but racism and the rise of neo-nazism went a long way since the reunification in 1990, and even established on grassroots level in many ‘strongholds’ in East Germany.

From my perspective, the picture is a bit distorted though. It might be a disgusting fact that neo-nazis and esp. the way too national party of the NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) work on fertile grounds in some economically disastrous regions in East Germany, because of their ability to use the fear and agony of some people there. Two negative outcomes of this debate come up my mind: The rightists already started to use this campaign for their own purposes (e.g. issuing leaflets, where they would even like to establish and define No-Go areas themselves to keep away foreigners who supposedly are the fault of everything bad). Also, it will probably scare foreigners so badly that some will not even think of going to the East of Germany as a consequence. Exaggeration and generalization in the media always causes this kind of collateral damage; and this one in particular acknowledges a status that these stupid people simply do not deserve.

(a cooler version of the Trabant, as seen on a German Autobahn)

GO TRABBI, GO

I grew up in the former German Democratic Republic. One distinct feature of a lack of planning economy in this Communist/Socialist state was of course the very limited range of available products. This boiled down to the exemplary fact that there were only a couple of car models available. The normal people’s personal means of transportation was the Trabant, or ‘Trabbi’, which featured a cardboard-made frame, ginormous 25 horsepowers and the trademarke-like, memorably smelly white exhaust fumes. After signing the contract for sale, one had to wait for approx. 18-20 years to get the car delivered. That is why most young parents ordered their offspring’s future car only shortly after the child breathed East German air for the first time, so it would be there right on time.

One thing many people forget is that this car (which most people just smile at nowadays; it can still be seen in the streets every now and then) was top of the line in the 1960s. The design and engineering was outstanding, so that even big car manufacturers from West Germany queued up to have a coser look at it. Unfortunately, the car has not evolved since then and basically remained the same until the 1990s, which made it unsellable when all the new, flashy, western cars flooded the market after the opening of the economy.

It must have been a funny sight then, when a huge crowd of East Germans used their Trabbis to explore the West for the first time after the Wall was torn down. Never in the history again were our origins more visible and audible :-)

Maik

(I had one myself...this is Schwalbe ('swallow'), famous specimen of East German bike tradition, about 50ccm...enough to get to school :-))

The Land of Poets, Thinkers and Affordable Wine..

2006-05-25T06:51:00.000+08:00

(wanna go for some wine? Tastes like the price: impressively cheap)

NOTHING CHANGED…

…but my own attitude. Weird, I am back in my home village Geyer after 8 long months. Remembering my last return from a long trip (it was my 8 month study period in New Zealand then), it felt vastly different this time. After my return from Middle Earth in early 2004, I felt compelled to embrace my home village and Dresden in a special way…absorbing the long-missed smells and view as best as I can. This time, it is as if I have been away for a few weeks only. I expecting this ‘old friend’...the slight melancholy or ‘weltschmerz’ (‘Hach, ist das wieder schön hier…’), when you see places you love again after a long while. Nothing. Could be that this feeling wears off after the first time.

Don’t get me wrong…it’s wonderful to be back, see family (esp. my almost 4 year old sister) and to get proof that in some regions of this planet, the world seems to spin a lot slower and things are steady and reliable. ‘Home is where you understand and can interpret everything’. Quite true.

(here we are this time…somewhat remote to S’pore, Malaysia and Thailand…but beautiful nonetheless)

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE???

Like two years ago, I went around with my camera to take some pics…This is one thing that you only do when you begin to start seeing your home place through the eyes of a common tourist. And to be honest, there are not many here…despite the fact that so much structural help money has been pumped into this region since the reunification of Germany in 1990. Many villages have wonderful town centres, hiking trails have been repaired and monuments restored.

(Klinger Max and his horse..one thing you don’t see very often. He’s an institution and living, local monument)

However, an interested guy roaming around the outskirts of Geyer, taking photos of houses, views and signs seems to arouse some suspicion. I was asked twice by passing peasants what I was doing (not in a very unfriendly way though). Must be fishy and somewhat dubious..and beyond the normal understanding that someone could waste his time photographing a very normal village.

PRICE HAMMER!

One remarkable development can be seen during the last decade in Germany: the uncompromisingly positive attitude to ever-cheaper prices. I guess all this manifested itself years ago when a big electronics chain came up with the famous slogan ‘Geiz ist geil’ (Stinginess is exciting). Since Germans are famous for taking orders, we collectively took this as our main objective, abandoning any sense for quality for the mere sake of price. As you can see on the first wine picture, normal supermarkets (esp. in the east of Germany..where purchasing power is at a record low due to economic depression and high unemployment of more than 20%) will offer you a fantastic variety of finest wines for ONLY 1,99€. Many Germans seem to think that they buy a good wine when they pick a 4,99€ bottle once in a while.

('kompromisslos billig' = relentlessly cheap; my granny used to say ‘Buy cheap, buy twice’...I think this is still true)

This is nonsense. Germany is a No-man’s-land in Europe regarding quality wines in supermarkets. Any producer only gives us the cheapest and therefore a bit different 'quality' wine; anything higher than 6 Euro is considered high quality (this is the starting price level for the cheapest table wine in most other countries from my point of view...). It is a bit of a shame, but has nothing do with the fact that Germany itself is producer of tasty quality wine, e.g. in the Rhineland Palatinate.

Moreover, many consumers start being so-called hybrid consumers…those who buy big cars, expensive mobile phones and ipods, but tend to go to Aldi, Lidl & Co. to buy the cheapest possible food (give a heck on the conditions they were produced). There is a reason for the fact that Germany has by far the cheapest foodstuff in Europe…so low in price that even people from the Czech Republic (who are really not blessed with high wages) cross the border to do their groceries in a German supermarket…

I stop whining here (also typical German ;-) I really feel like I’m finally back mentally)

Maik

(a field of dandelion flowers..very typical in the German countryside…will turn into a ‘blow-flower’ a few weeks later, because the whole head will consist of an array of little parachute-like seeds that can be blown into the wind..preferably by children of ANY age :-))

Back to New Zealand Nature..

2006-05-10T11:40:00.000+08:00

(not really indispensible in the wild, but funny nonetheless..found in K-Mart in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Can you think of a better way to be prepared for Mother Nature?)

SINGAPORE VS. NEW ZEALAND - PART 2

Not really part two, but a continuation. I have been to beautiful Wellington for a couple of days in the meantime and just got back to Palmerston North, to continue my stay with Amelie and Sascha for one last day before I take the overlander train back to Auckland tomorrow. Thanks a lot for all the hospitality, also to you Matt and your flatmates! I will try to make this visit to New Zealand a regular thing. Asia is not too far away, and that is where I am currently drawn to..

5) Supermarket: Surprisingly, New Zealand is more digitised here than Singapore. Price tags in many supermarkets are LEDs and customers can use a self-checkout by scanning the products in the trolley with a small battery-powered reader. How convenient for the store to outsource all the more parts of this value adding chain to the customers. Not suprisingly, New Zealand and Singapore seem to compete in the insanity of using as many plastic bags as possible to pack up the goods. At least in both countries the people have not forgotten how to be served, so there are always people who pack your purchase into dozens and dozens of bags. By the way, wine is a LOT cheaper here..

(New Zealand countryside; have a closer look at the picture...what can be perceived as little, bright maggots are acutally grazing, strolling sheep...this kind of mammal is one of its most important commodities)

6) Money: In the last couple of years, New Zealand seems to have turned into a cashless society. Fascinating. Everything, from the smallest breakfast roll is being paid via EFTPOS (like EC/Maestro). People with big piles of 'real' money are therefore sure to be mostly tourists. I also heard that the 5 Cent coin is supposed to be abolished soon, mainly to make payment even easier. Singapore is not chashless yet, but since the difference between rich and poor in Singapore is way more distinct, many people do not even have a bank account. Cash is more important here and a visible sign of wealth.

(The last weekend, Matt, Rob and me continued tradition by going for an overnight tramping trip in the Ruahines..a mountain range close to Palmerston North. Finally there was a reason to drag around my MUAC [Massey University Alpine Club] polypro-shirt in Singapore during the last 8 months. The rather short trip lead us along the riverbed of a small river, which we had to cross every couple of meters. It was fun and in the end not too cold to walk in completely soaked and dripping hiking boots. The best moment is the one when you have to get in your still wet boots the next freezing morning with hardly dried socks..yummy)

7) Sports: New Zealand is the only country I know where Skateboarding is still widely accepted as being a cool thing. The capital Wellington for example has many young teens and twens who use them as a means of transportation or simply to show off. This feels like a jump into the early 90s in Europe. Besides, Kiwis are naturally crazy for Rugby. No new information here. The belief in the performance of the allmighty ALL-BLACKS (the national team) has more or less a religious character. Singapore? When I think back now..I cannot really remember ANY specific sport that was present in the public and had wide support. I have to check on that again..there must be something..

(a real Kiwi meal: A Burger with Salami, Cheese and Potato Chips [makes it more crunchy]. This tasty appetiser was followed by genuine New Zealand sausages [no comment here...I have to say that these really belong to another world, in a negative sense] and Spaghetti Carbonara. All this with lots of chocolate and a crackling fire in the background turned it into a quiet cosy evening)

8) FOOD: Singapore has all sorts of funny dried fish (sweeted and salted), as well as dried seaweed that can be eaten like potato chips while watching a movie. Disgusting. Sorry. But true. Anyway, I think I do not need to mention that food is one of the many aces Singapore can draw. Its street hawkers alone provide a fantastic blend of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Western food. New Zealand on the other hand can score with fantastic dishes like Mince Pies (not Mint Pies..I had that mixed up in the beginning and therefore got something I did not quite expect) and Marmite (a yeast extract that they put on bread like Nutella...disgusting. Sorry. But true. Zero tolerance here from my side. You have to grow up with this to like it.)

(well..I'm not the big beer drinker. But, 'In Rome do like the Romans do', so there was no way of getting around the Kiwi's irrevocable duty of carrying beer and wine up to the hut and playing cards)

9) Clothing: What do they have in common? Singaporeans and Kiwis love to run around with shorts, flipflops and t-shirts. And, they both don't care about the weather. The difference? Singaporeans do not have to care about the weather, since it's always the same at this location only a few inches away from the equator. New Zealanders do have to face seasons, but they kindly ignore that fact. It is a quite common picture on the street to see a stocky Kiwi with only shorts and t-shirt, walking barefoot on his way to do some groceries, while the woman next to him looks like she's on to a trip to an Antartic glacier.

(Picture of me getting some new wood. It was indeed quite freezing outside..winter is looming around this time of the year. By the way, we were the only ones on the hut that night, but we had to share it with some mice...according to the familiar sound :-))

This was only a very short exploration of Kiwi lifestyle...a glimpse...the tip of the iceberg...an appetizer to make anyone hungry for both places. Get your bite!

Time for bed now...the next post will probably reach you from Germany then...

Good night!

Maik

Kiwis Everywhere

2006-05-08T12:37:00.000+08:00

(this sounds like a good business plan. Anyway, according to what I heard, one of their drivers was caught completely drunk while driving. Risk of losing the license is therefore shifted, but not risk of losing a healthy bone structure…)

SINGAPORE VS. NEW ZEALAND

Hello everyone!

Unbelievable, but I am back in Middle Earth after almost 2.5 years…I was quite shaky when I set my foot back on New Zealand soil after such a long time again..
You want to know about the differences between Singapore and New Zealand? Ok, besides the fact that one basically enters another world in cultural and meteorological terms this is like comparing apples and oranges. Well, here are the most important points from my point of view ;-)

1) Starbucks Coffee sizes: Surprisingly, one has to order a ‘Venti’ not a ‘Grande’ to get the biggest size. Extremely disturbing.

(little Bach-concert in Verandahs-Backpackers in Auckland)

2) People: As soon as I left the shuttle bus in Auckland central (the biggest NZ city with about 1.2 million inhabitants in this 4 million people country), I felt that two essential things were different. First, the presence of people. I found myself looking over my shoulder several times when I stood virtually alone on pedestrian traffic lights. There’s hardly anyone here! I had to ask a waitress in a local (almost empty) bar, to realise that this is indeed normal on a late Monday afternoon in the cbd! No EXTREME QUEUING (THE National Sport in Singapore) anymore. Going from an overcrowded Asian city like Singapore to New Zealand therefore means to go from one extreme to another. In addition, I always expected to look in Asian faces. Being suddenly among mainly Caucasian and Maori and accepting to belong to the racial majority again took a few hours.

(I took the overlander on Tuesday from Auckland down to Palmerston North...including nice scenic views on the way. This pic is taken on a stop..)

3) Temperature: First time in 8 months (leaving aside the trip to Mt. Kinabalu) that there was constant need for long sleeve. AND, the unpleasant feeling of cold feet found its way back into my shoes. Great. I had only one cardigan with me, not even a pullover. No wonder that I felt like catching a cold for the whole first week here. The most positive thing though: Absolutely no need to sweat! T-Shirts can be worn for more than 1 day (Incredible! Absolutely revolutionises my washing rhythm!) and condensation now happens on the inside of building and car windows, not on the outside!

(One thing I do not understand: It is standard in New Zealand to have separated taps for hot and cold water, so it is virtually impossible to wash your hands with warm water..you either freeze or scald your hands. I must be too narrow-minded from my European point of view to understand this. Help?)

4) Asking for Chili Sauce in Burger King only returns a questioning look. Also, although there supposedly is Asian food available, this is more or less westernized like in Europe. Kiwis are best on their own food, like mince pies (yummy!)