When in Rome. . . Don't eat Mexican

First, thank you all for your emails and IM's and such as related to the recent events in Japan. Needless to say there is a lot of coverage here in Singapore. Kellie and I were conducting some environmental beverage reconnaissance (pub crawl) Friday afternoon and learned of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan upon heading into an Australian bar. It was a strange type of feeling as the amazing pictures from Japan were on 1/3 of the televisions, and Rugby and Cricket on the others. Singapore sits surrounded by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines, which shelter this country from these such tragedies. My guess is the heavenly breeze felt by Singaporeans was about the extent of the affects the incident had on us.

Friday afternoon also provided us with our first opportunity to experience Singapore's effeciency in Goverment agencies with our trip to the (wait for it) Ministry of Manpower. I know this sounds like either A.) Club in San Francisco or B.) some kind of agency in an Austin Powers movie, but it's where we had to go to obtain our Employment Passes which serve as our identification here in Singapore. I guess I can leave my Mass License in the wall safe. Great process, however it did serve as a little shot to the man-parts that my ID will be that of a "dependent."

On that front, my first week of "job-looking" was less productive than I would have liked. I reached out to 8 recruiters referred to me by EMC - from this I have one meeting tomorrow - which I'm very much looking forward to aside from the prospect of wearing my suit in this heat. Hopefully this recruiter can give me some advice on making some things happen. The other recruiters that did actually respond to me said basically "we don't have anything for you but we will keep you in mind." Somewhat discouraging, but then the job sites have 1,000's of listings so I just have to keep moving.

The other tough aspect of our first week in Singapore is that we have no friends. Granted, this doesn't come as a surprise, but that doesn't help us in digging up fun things to do. With the exception of other expats and those in the service industry, this is not an outgoing population. Most citizens go about their day with the quiet focus and dedication you would expect. Most people are often so engaged with their phones, mp3 players and PSP, that a passing "Hello" from the giant in the baseball hat, either aren't noticed or are flat-out ignored. It's not me, though, as you'll seldom here a Thank You, Excuse Me, Bless You as you make you're way around the city.

And then Saturday afternoon happened. To quote Kellie, "I got served up a softball." Allow me to set the stage. We'd just come from viewing the second perspective apartment of the day (and I think we're going to go with this building, so we're close) and we were quietly sitting enjoying some lunch. And then, the door to the shop opens and in walks a couple - the gentleman proudly adourned in the favourite head-dress of a Bostonian (a Red Sox Hat) and his lady in a matching BoSox T-Shirt. I mean, did I just say it's hard to meet people. As it turns out he is from New Hampshire, and she hails from a town in England not far from where I lived when I studied abroad. He also lives in our favourite apartment complex that we've seen so far. Did I mention he works for a company based in Waltham that's hiring, and that his girlfriend is a recruiter here? So he gave us his card and I've been negotiating with Kellie for 24 hours on at what point it's OK to email him. 3 day rule? I mean, we don't want to look desperate - but come on. I don't want to lose them either, I mean, do you think he'll remember me?

We've had the chance to eat some amazing food in the last 3-4 days. One of the staples here is called Wantan Noodle(s). It's basically fresh ramen type noodles with miso broth and some BBQ pork and pork wantans. We also had some soup dumplings that I loved. Eating here is overwhelming if you abandon the comfort and safety of a restaurant, with servers and menus, and venture out to the Food Halls and Hawker Centres where most Singaporeans eat. These are often open air venues with rows of stalls occupied by dozens of chefs de cuisine. You generally order from looking at the pictures, and food from such stalls is MUCH cheaper than a restaurent ($3-6 versus $20-30). It's also where you can get into sampling some really remarkable dishes. We're getting a little more comfortable with this environment which is super imtimidating. . . and crowded like everywhere else in Singapore. I had a stall owner who was adament that I try his Sting Ray. I'm just not there yet. Being served Shrimp (Prawns here) with the heads and legs on, is also something that takes some getting used to. I've started taking pictures of meals and I promise to get these and other shots up very soon.

Oh, right, the title. One of our stops was at a Mexican spot not far from where we are going to live. They had decent prices for Happy Hour Margaritas. Mozzeralla cheese on a burrito. We won't be going back there, suffice to say.

Car nuts - this place is amazing - today: 2 Ferraris, 2 Bentleys, 4 Lambos, 4 Astons, lots of Maserati's and every 5th car is a gorgeous product of Germany, tween Porsche, Beamer, Benzo, and Audi.

Off to enjoy a homecooked meal (thank you Kellie).