A good, long walk

I hadn't expected to post much, if anything, while here in Singapore.  The city's about as exciting as a visit to LA, so not much intriguing around here to share.  But it turned out better than expected.

I was lucky enough to be invited by Marine, the representative here from Embraer (the same company that makes SkyWest's Brasilias), on a hike this morning.  Hike?  In Singapore?  Isn't that like going on a hike in New York?

Apparently not.  We met at the hotel at 8 and took a taxi to MacRitchie Reservoir where we met three of Marine's friends.   

MacRitchie is a beautiful nature preserve on Singapore Island with a rich, lush jungle full of monkeys and is Singapore's oldest Reservoir dating back to the 1860s.  The route marked in black above was precisely the route we took. Our walk through the Jungle and around the reservoir was nearly 10 miles long and took nearly four hours. 

Sorry for the blurry pics; it was incredibly humid and my
cell camera fogged up in my pocket all morning!

It was a great way to spend the morning and get some exercise.

Equally as interesting was the time spent with Marine and her friends.  Marine is French, her mother lives in Senegal and she's lived in Singapore for three years.  She speaks excellent English, has been to Africa 20 times or so and considers it her second home.

Her friend Elias is also French and is PayPal's head of Asia Marketing.  After leaving France, he spent two years in Barcelona, five years in Buenos Aires where he married his wife before moving to Miami where they spent eight years before moving to Singapore.  They've spent five years hear and expect to leave shortly for the Middle East (either Dubai or Beirut) before "retiring" in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  They've been here five years with their four kids who each speak four languages.  Perfectly. 

Both of Marine's two other friends had equally impressive global resumes and each spoke at least two other languages.  Just like Chi, who speaks three languages fluently, has lived in both Europe and Asia and has friends all over the world, these people are truly global citizens.  Craig and I have met others just like them in our travels and I couldn't help but think that Americans for the most part are, by comparison, almost reclusive.  And it made me appreciate that much more the opportunity I've had to live in Vietnam the last five months and to see as much of the world as I have.  I'm truly a lucky man.

After our hike, we went to Little India and had some awesome Chicken Tikka Masala.  Then I took a nap.  I am 50 after all!  :o)

An Indian Temple in Little India in downtown Singapore