The Oglivy Center building in Singapore

When I first decided to include Singapore on this trip I thought it would be fun to meet some fellow web developers. In NY I belong to a Flash user group called Flash Coders NY and I did a little search online to see if a similar group could be found in Singapore. Sure enough, I found A-SFUG which stands for Another Singapore Flash User Group (apparently they even have more than one!).

By the time I visited Singapore I was already in contact with Shang, one of the organizers of the group, and we arranged to meet for lunch. Shang works at Ogilvy, an award-winning, global advertising agency (based in NY) with nearly 500 offices throughout the world. I met him at the Ogilvy Center a very nice rounded building on a busy corner in downtown Singapore. Shang brought along his co-workers, Ed, Yulun and Danny all of whom are web developers working in either Flash or .Net.

Area near Oglivy where we ate lunch

We walked about a couple blocks away to Telok Ayer Street. The place Shang had in mind for lunch was closed but we found another option on the corner which offered outdoor tables, shade and fish head curry! There was no need for menus since the ordering was simple. We just ordered one big fish head curry which was enough to feed five hungry developers at the table. The curry came out in a big bowl and included veggies, curry sauce and other good stuff all topped off with a big fish head. I don’t know what kind of fish that was but the head was big enough to have a full set of teeth! The dish was served with white rice, some sauteed green leafy vegetable and something that looked like an egg omlette. I picked up my chopsticks but was a bit unsure of how to begin to tackle that dish especially since the fish was staring at me the whole time.

Fish head curry dish

However, Shang put a stop to that fish’s staring! He reached for his spoon, dug out the fish’s eyeball brought it up to his mouth and ate the whole eyeball, spitting out only the eye socket which, of course, everybody knows is not edible. Mr. fish head then got flipped over and I was sure to get my camera out for round two. Same thing…spoon, scoop, gulp, spit, but this time with my camera snapping away creating a stop-motion animation of the whole sequence. Apparently, people say that the eyeball is the most delicious part. I wonder who the brave person was to first make that discovery!

How to, step by step: Shang eats the fish eye from the fish head curry

While the rest of us picked at the flesh of the fish’s cheek we did manage to talk some shop. Shang and the team work on a lot of full-on Flash websites or microsites for their clients. It turns out that most of the development on the team is done on PC and the IDE (for non-techies, that’s just the software we use to do our coding work) of choice is FlashDevelop. Flex is catching on but for advertising work, which still involves a lot of creative graphics and even animation, it’s not necessarily the most appropriate technology compared with straight-up Flash. It seems as though clients in Singapore get Flash and Flex confused just like they do in the US. Clients request Flex since they’ve heard from the Adobe marketing guys that Flex is the latest and greatest thing out there but they really only need their ad banner or micro-site to be built using Flash and ActionScript. For developers in Singapore, there’s no need to pay extra shipping charges for international Amazon orders since all of the latest technical books are readily available at Borders in Singapore. I was happy to see that the dress code for developers in Singapore is casual just like in NY or Tel Aviv and that’s very practical for such a hot country like Singapore.

Developers from the team at Ogilvy. From left: Yulun, Shang, Ed, Danny

A-SFUG is a fairly new group and they’ve only had a couple of meeting so far. But the organizers are enthusiastic and they’re already using tools like their A-SFUG group on Facebook (140 members so far) to manage participation including events with RSVPs for attendance and other announcements and photos of meetings. I know that many FCNY members are on Facebook and I think it would be a great idea for the NY folks to create a FB group to leverage the organizational tools already in place there too.

I asked about the name A-SFUG and the developers explained that there are a couple of other groups in existence in Singapore. But instead of always waiting to see what kind of meetings those groups would organize they decided to just move forward and create their own group. I have the feeling that Shang and his colleagues will be able to really grow the interest and participation of A-SFUG by the time Adobe releases the next version of the Flash Player Plug-in!

Singapore Skyline at Night

I haven’t posted anything to the bog other than photos over the past week because I’ve been so busy during my time in Malaysia and Singapore (over the last three days). Both countries were the two new destinations for me on this trip and I really loved what I saw of both. I had wide-ranging experiences in Malaysia such as attending the Thaipusam Festival at the Batu Caves, exploring the sites in Georgetown and motorbiking to see monkeys, tea plantations and scenic views in Penang and the Cameron Highlands. I also got to hang out with friends, old and new, as well as their family, co-workers and other friends, getting a more authentic taste of life in Malaysia.

In Singapore I saw sites and ate great food but I also met some very cool people along the way, all of whom were interesting and friendly. I got to see some examples of a really clean, organized and well run city including advanced urban features we don’t even have going on in New York yet. Last night I spent time near the river eating a huge crab, listening to live jazz and taking photos of the city at night. In addition to the photos I’ve posted, I have much more to say about my time in Malaysia and Singapore but I’ll have to play catch up while in Vietnam over the next week. For now, enjoy the photos and I’ll try to post more soon!

I just returned from a fabulous weekend in Singapore. I enjoyed every little street, dish, neighborhood, park, drink and mall (yes, I admit it).

I arrived late in the evening and went straight to my hostel “Hangout @Mt. Emily” which was perfect. The hostel is located in Little India at a top of a hill, right by a beautiful park. It has a great vibe and a gorgeous rooftop deck with beautiful view of the city. It has been a long time since I last stayed at a youth hostel but I was glad to see nothing has changed, not even the browser version on the public computers.

I spent the first morning in Little India exploring the shops, temples and houses. Every alley was so picturesque with quaint houses and lots of colorful shutters. People in traditional outfits were rushing to work or going to temple to offer a gift to the gods.

From little India, I crossed straight into to the Arab Quarter. As I was entering the Arab Quarter, the smell of curry was replaced by a strong smell of coffee. Mmmm. This neighborhood was simply gorgeous. Much of it has been renovated and it is so aesthetically pleasing. Small coffee shops are nestled between designer stores and beautiful mosques. So much of it reminded me of the Middle East, certain streets looked a lot like Jaffa and Neve Tzedek (Tel Aviv). By lunch time, I was so homesick and just had to get Egyptian food on Arab St (Cafe Le Caire), it was excellent. I chatted with the restaurant owner for a bit and got a long list of recommendations of things to see and taste while in Singapore.

I spent the whole afternoon walking around CBD (Central Biz District) and Chinatown. It’s amazing to think this area used to be full of secret societies, opium dens and crime. There is none of that left. Instead, the neighborhood is one of the most colorful ones I’ve seen. The shophouses, the bustling markets and great food make it a great place to visit and walk around. I got to speak a little Mandarin and was able to read a few signs which made me 高兴 (happy).

One of the things I enjoyed most in Singapore is the number of parks and massive greenery everywhere. The whole city feels like a tropical island with luscious green trees, many of which are not originally from Singapore. I spent a few hours on Saturday walking around the Botanic Gardens with friends admiring the plants and great orchid garden.

Getting around Singapore is so easy and convenient. The super clean and mighty fast subway system (MRT) gets you everywhere in no time. Every station name is announced in three languages: English, Mandarin and Hindi (how about that MTA?!). The signage is great and if you still somehow get lost, a friendly Singaporean is always happy to help.

So what’s with the shopping??
Everybody told me that Singapore is all about the shopping (which is why I was hesitant to go). My original plan was to visit Singapore without doing any shopping. I realize that is much like going to Vegas without gambling but given my lack of patience for malls, I thought I’d better skip the whole thing. Shopping in Singapore turned out to be an extraordinary experience. I really liked a lot of the local labels, it is so very chic and reasonably priced! I spent two hours going in and out of stylish malls on Orchard Rd and managed to buy 2 skirts, 3 tops and 1 pillow case, not bad.

Sunday morning I visited the Asian Civilizations Museum which is housed in a grand colonial building. The museum features many interactive displays and screens videos on the floor, doors and screens. It was very interesting and I learned a great deal about this great continent.

Sitting outside the museum by the Quay, I had my palm read by a Yogi. He was a very nice man, he also happened to say a couple of accurate things…

Singapore was definitely a lot more exciting than I had expected. Its multiculturalism is fascinating, the food is a real delight and yes, the shopping is like no other place. I would definitely like to go back and see more.

Check out the three new photo albums for Singapore!

photo credit: rooymans2000

I couldn’t make up my mind whether I wanted to spend a weekend in Singapore or Hong Kong. I posted a question on my Facebook profile and almost everyone said I should go to Hong Kong. One friend, however, brought up the very good point of the weather being much nicer in Singapore (you don’t need to say “cold” twice to an Israeli girl to scare her off) and when you lump that with how much cheaper it would be – a decision was made – I am going to Singapore!

I feel that another good reason to go to Singapore is to learn for myself what this place is all about. If I hear one more person (who has never traveled there) tell me: “oh, Singapore, yes, you know you can’t spit on the sidewalk there and a few years ago some guy went to jail for chewing gum”, I will scream. How can that be the only thing we know about a country?? Here’s a slightly more interesting fact, the symbol of Singapore is the “Merlion”, half-fish and half-lion beast.

The food is said to be spectacular and I am very much looking forward to it.

Anyway, I booked my ticket and am going next weekend!