From World Congress of Information Technology (WCIT) 2008 to Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) to the recently concluded Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) International Conference Kuala Lumpur, I’ve joined various international events as a writer.

Singapore International Water Week was the first that physically took me out of the country.

You can read one of the issues here:
Daily_Solutions_2011_issue_3

My last visit here was in 2006, when I came down all the way to watch Phantom of the Opera. I couldn’t believe how much Singapore has changed – and how little I know about it still.

Thanks to my girlfriend Marieane, I had the chance to marvel at the monumental wonder that’s Marina Square, where I bumped into a Penangite at a French-style salon selling Chinese tea operated by two Frenchmen, otherwise known as TWG Tea (visit www.twgtea.com).

Exquisite cutlery …

…and venues!

Some of the most memorable parts of my trip to Singapore were took place in red-light district Geylang, where I:

1. Discovered Lovers Salon, a SGD5 per-haircut salon in Geylang – managed by a blond-haired hairstylist named Andy who hails from … surprise, surprise … Kuala Lumpur. Nearly had a heart attack when he revealed the astronomical rent for his 300sq ft piece of real estate (i.e. half the back of the shoplot). As Andy would put it, “enough to pay the downpayment for a bungalow in KL.

2. Discovered rojak chicken at a restaurant called Liverpool. Alas, i never had the chance to try it.

3. Tried out streetwalker gear at a very ah-lian boutique in Geylang. i.e. everything is either lacy, translucent/transparent or slashed to-the-nethers.

Strangely enough, I didn’t feel unsafe at all. In fact, I think I felt more comfortable walking around the streets on my own here than, say, in Bukit Bintang at the same ungodly hours!

Oh well, it was heaps of fun. I could definitely do this again next year 🙂