The joys of being a 6

Yesterday was funny. I attended my first ever meeting of the 20th Annual ASEAN Airline Group. The meeting was interesting in that I was one of only three Westerner's in attendance (see proof here):

Ok, so it's obviously not easy to see in the picture above who is and who is not a native Asian.  But that's not important.  And that's the funny part.

I know it's hard to tell amongst the 100+ participants and all, but you may have noticed one thing kinda stands out.  Hint: Among the men in attendance, can you pick the one man not in a suit?  Or tie?  Or white shirt?

Yes, that would be me.  Upper right hand corner.  Suitless, tieless and blue-shirted.

It's not like I really had a choice in the matter.  I didn't bring a single tie with me to Vietnam.  And, after four months of not needing or using my blazer once, I sent it back with Craig to the US two weeks ago. 

Apparently, "business casual" hasn't quite caught on here in Singapore.  And for someone who hates to stand out in the crowd, this was just ever-so-fitting.  The best part is, all I could do is laugh. 

The conference itself was pretty, shall we say, "dry".  We did enjoy dinner and the view at the Equinox Restaurant on the 72nd floor of a nearby skyscraper. 

What I didn't enjoy so much was the karaoke afterward.  Being held hostage on the 72nd floor, there was no easy way to escape. 

I joined the Vietnamese delegation in singing the 70s classic "If Living is without you" by Harry Nilsson (which you can listen to here if you're so inclined.  Note the low voiced, high notes in the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATg8CdRD68E And, no, we didn't sing this so well).

I'm going to miss an awful lot of things when I leave Asia.  Karaoke won't be one of them.

Back to Hanoi tomorrow!  (And if you're wondering what a "6" is, Google "Enneagram").