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!

Georgetown
Food in Penang
Jewish Cemetery in Penang
Driving to Penang Hill
Penang Botanical Garden
Penang by Night

Also, new photos have been added from walking and sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur as well as photos from my last weekend in KL.

The full moon over the Batu Caves on Thaipusam

In my three weeks of travel now that Tamar has returned to the US I planned to visit Malaysia, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. When I told my Malaysian friend, Vannitha, that I was in the process of making plans she told me about the Hindu Thaipusam Festival that was to happen in and around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, the weekend of February 8th this year. She described it as an “unforgettable experience” and “a very out of this world sort of thing”. That certainly sounded interesting enough for me so I planned to arrive on February 7, the day before.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrating the deity, Murugan, and is marked largely by Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius. Malaysian Tamils created the shrines at the Batu Caves just 13km north of Kuala Lumpur in the late 19th century and, although Thaipusam is celebrated in many states in Malaysia, these caves are the primary location for the festival in the country. Devotees take part in a procession originating in Kuala Lumpur and ending up in the Batu Caves. They shave their heads and carry out acts of kavadi, or burdens, ranging from carrying a pot of milk to piercing of the body flesh, tongue and cheeks with metal hooks or skewers.

As soon as I landed, Vannitha told me that Thaipusam had already started that day and she suggested that we take a short nap and then go directly to the Batu Caves that night. This would be to both avoid the hot sun and also to observe the highest procession traffic before dawn the following day. We set out on our own little pilgrimage around 10pm from the train station in Kuala Lumpur where we found ourselves already among several hundred people crammed into the train’s cars. We then got off a few stops later to switch trains and the crowds gathered at this junction were even larger than before. We squeezed into the very end of the last train car where some young dudes were smokin’ weed (not officially part of the Thaipusam ritual) but made it to the Batu Caves rather quickly.

Once at the caves we joined the thousands of worshipers and other tourists who came out for the festival that night. Over a million people were expected to visit the Batu Caves over this holiday weekend and I felt like I had seen or felt all of them around me. Just walking to the caves was a fascinating and time consuming process. We witnessed all sorts of worshipers bearing kavadi and dancing in a trance-like state with musicians playing all around. We were nearly run over several time by approaching processions of people and the only thing we could do was to just keep on moving forward towards the caves.

272 steps up to the entrance of the Batu Caves

Before climbing to the top of the 272 steps we got a bite to eat first around 3am. I tried my first roti canai which is a thin doughy bread and is known for being both delicious and fattening. We dipped this into some sauces and we were fueled up and ready to go.

We started to climb the steps at at about 4am but the traffic flowed constantly up and down the steps at every hour throughout the night. The beginning of the ascent was slow and it reminded me of being on a roller coaster as it just begins to pull out of the boarding station to make its way up the first incline. We were surrounded on all sides and so it really was like being locked in one position and being forced to move in only one direction. The climb itself proceeded at a moderate pace and so it wasn’t too tiring but I was focused on always looking at the step in front of me and only occasionally did I turn around to see the view behind me.

From the top of the steps the view was spectacular and there was a feeling of accomplishment as an individual and also as part of a group. Of course, you couldn’t really stand at the top of the steps for long because hundreds of people were still making their way up the stairs by the second and needed to land somewhere too. We then spent the next hour or so wandering through the caves, resting and enjoying the cool breeze since the top of the cave is open and air flows freely.

The view from inside of a canopy while descending the stairs

The way down was also exciting and I went so slowly, enjoying the view and taking photos that, at one point, I was overtaken by one of the canopies and I found myself actually underneath it! That was strange and exciting. After we reached the bottom I had so much energy I felt like I could do it all over again but, this time, in the heat of broad daylight…NOT! But I did feel a sense of accomplishment even if it was to climb up the steps carrying only my Nikon D40 as my kavadi. While some of the people around me were in a trance, helping them to endure the pain, I myself was in a trance-like state commonly referred to as “sleepwalking”. I was so tired by about 5am that it was painful to think about the long journey home: walking through the crowds, waiting in line to buy train tickets, waiting for train #1 to arrive, taking the train, buying the next ticket, waiting for and taking train #2, the taxi to Vannitha’s car, driving to her home, riding the elevator…zzzzzzzzzz.

It took both of us a good few days to get back on a regular sleep schedule but when folks asked me, “What do you think so far of Malaysia?”, boy did I have a story to tell. For me it really was a mind-blowing experience to be part of something so huge that night. For Vannitha, she likes to refer to it as a “once in a lifetime experience”, meaning, she really doesn’t see herself doing that again. So, that was my first night in a new country and it was certainly a sign of all of the great things that were to follow.

Hainan Association and Temple

Today was my first day in Penang, Malaysia. I actually started my visit to Malaysia over the weekend but I’ll have to write more about that exciting weekend in another post.

I woke up much later than I usually do in Asia because the guesthouse I’m staying in has no windows. It turns out that windows in guesthouses in the center of Georgetown, in Penang, are somewhat of a rarity. I’m staying at the Banana guesthouse and besides the windows situation it’s very clean and conveniently located in the middle of the backpacker strip, complete with a travel agency, cafe and free WIFI.

For breakfast I picked up a steamed bun with vegetables in the middle. I’m not sure what they call them here but they’re called bun bao in Vietnam. I was still hungry but I didn’t want to delay my walk around Georgetown since the day was already hot and was rapidly getting even hotter. I walked down a small street called Love Lane which leads into Chinatown and I passed several other guesthouses and homes. My first stop was to the Hainan Cultural Center where I was the only soul to be found. Even the person tending the desk at the entrance was off on a break somewhere. It’s always nice when you can wander into a place, snap some photos and hear the sound of silence around you.

Cheong Fat Tze Mansion

I then walked over to the Cheong Fat Tze Mansion which is a beautifully designed and decorated mansion turned hotel that was originally commissioned by a wealthy Chinese entrepreneur in the 1880s. I considered spending a few nights there (they have windows) but I think I’ll just take the tour they offer at 11am and 3pm each day.

Re-creation of lodging at the Kota Cornwallis

From there I passed many colonial buildings leading to the waterfront on the Straits of Malacca including two churches, a school, the Supreme Court, Town Hall and City Hall. It’s amazing to see these impressive European structures just minutes from equally impressive mosques and temples and from Asian cultures. On the waterfront I spent a good hour at least hanging out at Kota Cornwallis (kota means fort) which was built by Captain Francis Light in 1786 for the East India Company. The fort features a chapel, gunpowder magazine, lighthouse and an historic gallery. What I enjoyed the most was the recreation of two tents under a huge tree where I sat for a while to rest and read up on the other sites in Penang.

I went to lunch at a typical eatery between Chinatown and Little India where I ate char kway teow, a sort of stir fry with rice noodles, egg, veggies, shrimp and Chinese sausage. I shared my table with an older Chinese man, a lawyer born and raised in Penang (educated in London), who had some encouraging things to say about inter-ethnic relations and tolerance in Malaysia. In contrast, he held a less positive view towards the current education system offered to students today, particularly the level of English which, in his view, is quickly going downhill. I really enjoyed our casual chat and his particular insight into Malaysian society.

I then walked through Little India passed the garment shops and food stalls and snapped a few more photos. I stopped at the Kapitan Keling Mosque where I received a very nice tour and explanation from one of the administrators there. Read all about my visit to this beautiful mosque in my other post: A Tour and a Talk at Penang’s Kapitan Keling Mosque. I then picked up a SIM card for my phone and I was intrigued by the fact that the store owners recorded my name and passport number in order to register me with the phone number. When I returned to the Banana Guesthouse I took advantage of my air conditioned room and rested there to check email and offload my photos.

Wanton Mee with roast pork

That night I went for a walk and I was lured into a small restaurant by the smell of roasted pork. I ate a very nice wanton mee soup which is a noodle soup with wantons and roasted pork, something I’ve had at least 3 or 4 times already since arriving in Malaysia last weekend (sometimes I get it dry on a plate as opposed to in a soup). But that’s not enough food! I kept on walking until I realized I was already sweating again from the humidity, only 1/2 hour after taking my last shower. I stopped off at the fancy Cititel Hotel for an upscale sushi dinner at Kirishima. I was actually on the way to a seafood restaurant in the back of the hotel but, since it was still Thaipusam, this and several other restaurants were closed that day. The sushi, although at New York prices, was great and it was a nice break from fried food and pork.

On the way back to the guesthouse I walked down the lovely Lebuh Campbell which was a street lit up with red lanterns all along the way. It was a beautiful sight and I’ve since returned to that same street to eat dim sum for this morning’s breakfast.

Restaurants along the Mae Ping River in Chiang Mai

We’ve just uploaded 4 new photo albums of Chiang Mai by Day, Chiang Mai by Night, our one day cooking class and the beautiful 3 Sis Gusthouse where we stayed for 3 nights.

Crab with garlic and pepper

When we arrived on the small island of Koh Mak we were already hungry from the long but beautiful ride by “slow boat” from Koh Chang. After checking into our resort, Monkey Island, we asked the receptionist for a recommendation for local seafood. He said he knew of a restaurant that was open and after one phone call they were on their way to pick us up from the resort!

After about 20 minutes we were picked up by a middle aged Thai woman in a taxi which on these islands is always a covered pickup truck with 2 benches to sit on in the back. She drove us to the restaurant and the ride turned out to be a freebie (to and from the resort). Not only that, but after bringing us to the restaurant the driver then put on a smock and went back to cooking for the other customers already seated at the restaurant.

The restaurant was right on the waterfront and the views were stunning. I was surprised by how clean the water looked just off of the restaurant’s pier since usually water tends to be pretty disgusting around docks and piers. There were only a few other people eating lunch there at that time so it was a really quiet place to eat and chill.

A friendly man came to take our order and we later learned that his family owned the restaurant and his wife was the chef/driver. Since this was a seafood place we decided to just point to whatever looked good by name or in photos, some crab, squid and fried fish and some refreshing watermelon shakes (always request “no sugar”) to wash it all down. I got see the assistant chef pick out my crab for me from a cage submerged in the water beneath the restaurant. These crabs are pre-caught and the cage serves as a sort of refrigerator for fresh seafood. The fried fish came with shredded young mango and the garlic and pepper on the crab was both crispy and chewy. The squid was the least interesting but BBQ squid always seems to be about the sauce you put on it (and this sauce was really spicy). All of this was topped off by a roti for dessert, a thin pancake with condensed milk dribbled over it. The food was amazing and we decided right then and there to return to Koh Mak Seafood the next day.

The waiter gave us a big black guestbook to browse and to sign. We noticed that people from all over the world had already endorsed Koh Mak Seafood with glowing reviews in many languages (Thai, German and English standing out) and also creative illustrations and so we added our praise in English and Hebrew. Most people were in agreement that this was “the best seafood on Koh Mak”. The restaurant has only been open for three months and the book was already nearly full.

The next day we ordered freshly squeezed orange juice shakes to start. We got the yellow curry crab and the fried scallops with chili sauce based on recommendations from others in the guestbook and we love the garlic and pepper sauce so much that we got some huge tiger shrimp with that. This second feast was a worthy sequel to that of the previous day and I’m talking Godfather II, not Temple of Doom! I don’t have to go on about the food since I was sure to take photos of all of the great dishes.

This time we had a nice visitor, one who was equally an expert in the consumption of fine seafood and he even helped us to pick out our crab this time (the crab tried to make a getaway). This cat didn’t have a name but he was not at all shy about sitting in our laps as we ate and being very vocal in his requests for scraps from the table. Since our cat, Cuggits, also dines with us, Tamar and I are used to paying our taxes when it comes to meals and so this cat ended up as full as the rest of us.

As we were about to leave the restaurant, we asked the waiter a question about some of the plants they were growing. That explanation led to more information about the restaurant and the pier we were standing on and before we knew it, we were taken inside of the family’s museum just next to the restaurant. This museum was an amazing little find and it detailed the family’s history and participation in the island’s formation and its community. The family was the first to bring tourism to the island by setting up the very first resort, a series of cabins on stilts in the water, the remains of which are still visible from the restaurant. Koh Mak used to belong to Cambodia and once it changed into Thai hands, the family was there to welcome the very first visit to the island by the Thai royal family.

Ake (our waiter) told us how he was just an eight year old boy during a period of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia. One day a Cambodian naval ship docked at the Ao Nid Pier near the family’s resort but the enemy soldiers dismissed this little boy paying him no mind. However, what they didn’t know was that young Ake was actually the one tasked with calling the Thai government in the case of any emergency or any trouble from the Cambodians on Koh Mak!

8yr old Ake manning the radio to notify the Thai government of Cambodian Incursions

Our knowledge of the island and its history expanded as quickly as our stomachs that day and we walked away from Koh Mak Seafood knowing that this was a special place that we’d always remember. Hopefully we’ll have the chance to go back and visit again one day!

Click here to view all photos from Koh Mak Seafood!

A Beautiful Friday Night in Saigon

Today was my last day at MSS, it was sad to say goodbye to people I have been working/hanging out/partying with for the past five weeks. I will certainly miss the energy and smiles all around me. Working in Vietnam has been an incredible experience, one that I will always remember.

The folks at the office wanted to make sure I don’t leave Vietnam before I try every single dish available. The going away celebrations started earlier this week and ended tonight with a feast at 3T (Vietnamese BBQ). I can definitely say I’ve had incredible food in Vietnam with wonderful people and am already lamenting having to say goodbye.

Vietnam keeps changing, every visit here is like a first in a way. There is so much going on at all times, new businesses opening up, new buildings erected, new cuisines offered and new (better) regulations introduced to control the chaos. I wonder what HCMC will be like next time I visit.

I celebrated the end of five weeks of work tonight on a rooftop of a Spanish bar in Dist 1. Sipping Sangria outdoors in perfect weather never felt so good.

I miss Vietnam already!

This week is my last week in HCMC and the going away meals have already begun. Yesterday I went out with a few of my colleagues to have “Bun Ca Ro” for the first time. This north Vietnamese dish consists of noodle, fish broth, fish balls and vegetables. It is incredibly tasty and a good vegetarian alternative to Pho.

Tonight I saw my friend Atsushi (Zeus) for the first time in 6 years. Zeus and I have known each other since San Francisco days, 10 years ago when we both worked together at a little shop in Sausalito. Back then, we used to talk about all the fun places around the world we’d like to live in or visit one day. In the last few years, we both managed to move around a lot and had no idea that the other person had switched continents. A few months ago, Kevin and I discovered that Zeus had moved out to Vietnam of all places and knows a lot of our friends there (here). Turns out he had relocated to HCMC a year ago and started his own business. It was great to reconnect and catch up on the last few years. It’s a small small world!

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!