I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had too much to tell you about. The life of a bachelor is pretty boring.
Go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat.
Other than work, the only thing really going on right now in Singapore is that we've got some new friends. A colleague from the Houston office has been transferred to Singapore to work with me here in the engineering department. I've known Dan for about 11 or 12 years in Houston. We started working at ABS within about a year of each other. The interesting thing about Dan joining the office out here is that he seems to be following me around the world.
When I met Dan for the first time in Houston, we discovered that we'd actually grown up about five miles away from each other, just on different sides of the town line. When we met in Houston, it was nice to have another Red Sox fan around to talk baseball with. It's even more so now that he's followed me to Singapore. Singapore isn't exactly what you would call a "baseball town."
I've been showing Dan and his wife Jessica around town a bit and doing what I can to help them get settled in. Other than that, I've pretty much just been eating poorly and drinking beer.
I've found that while I like cooking, making a healthy dinner-for-one when you don't get home from work until almost 8:00 isn't all that fun. Leftovers, hotdogs and take-out from across the street have been high on the list of menu choices these last few weeks. On Tuesday night, I decided to make a big pot of meatballs and sausages in tomato sauce that I could eat for the rest of the week. It turned out well and instead of drinking a beer with my meals, I switched to wine. See...I can be sophistocated.
I don't have much else to tell you about in Signapore, so I'll give you the update from the rest of the family in "the States".
Melissa and Jack got back to the US almost three weeks ago now. They started at Melissa's Mom's place in Virginia. After a while, they go an invite to join her brother Andy and his family in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They all shared a great house with Andy's family and spent a ton of time on the beach playing in the waves.
After that trip, they headed back to Virginia to pack up again and jumped onto a plane to Houston to visit our friends there. They also used the trip back to Houston to catch up on doctor and dentist check-ups. (Everyone is healthy and no cavities.) Jack got to go to Vacation Bible School at his old school and was very happy to see a lot of his old classmates.
This weekend, Melissa and Jack will drive up to Austin to visit her sister Tory and her family for the weekend. So many cousins, so little time. After that, it's back to VA to wait for me to arrive in the middle of July.
I guess that's all for now. If I do anything interesting, I'll let you know.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
On the ground
Just a quick post to say that Melissa and Jack are on the ground safely in Norfolk, VA. Her mom picked them up at the airport and they're on the way home.
Melissa said that the flight was uncomfortable, but Jack behaved very well and the flight was OK.
Melissa said that the flight was uncomfortable, but Jack behaved very well and the flight was OK.
Friday, June 5, 2009
A few loose ends
It's hard to believe that my son has completed 1st grade.
Thursday was the last day of the school year for Jack and the last few weeks have felt like we've been tying up the few loose ends of our first year in Singapore.
We had our last meeting at the school to see Jack's progress through the year. It was kind of neat the way they had set it up. The students were in charge of showing their parents all of the things they had learned. There were a few different stations in the room that the kids would take their parents to. They got to show off their improvement in areas like reading, math and writing, as well as what they learned in their special classes like music, art, and Mandarin. The teachers did a good job of hanging onto work from the start of the year so that you could compare it to the things they're doing now and see their progress. When Jack was showing us his favorite parts of the library, we took a quick picture.
The other thing that finished up recently was Cub Scouts. Jack has now officially completed his year of Tiger Cubs and has also received his Bobcat Badge. He worked very hard to complete all of the required activities as well as completing a bunch of electives and 8 different belt loop awards.
When the bobcat badge is awarded, the kids go through a short ceremony on stage where they get their face painted with different colors that represent things like honesty, courage, and respect. Don't ask me how face paint does this, but the kids all seem impressed and are all very proud of themselves.
You can't see it in the picture, but Jack's smile is starting to look like all of the other kids in the primary school. It's got holes in it. He now lost both of his bottom front two teeth and his top two are loose. Here's a picture from after he lost the first one on the bottom.
The last loose end to tie up is packing for summer vacation. Melissa and Jack are flying out of Singapore on Sunday leaving Daddy behind by himself to work for the next six weeks while they go the visit friends and swim at the beach. Melissa has been working on packing for about a week and a half trying to sort out what to bring and what she wants to buy in the US. Jack has outgrown more than half of his clothes. The kids clothes here aren't of the best quality, so Melissa plans on just buying most of Jacks new wardrobe when she arrives in Virginia. Even so, she and Jack will be checking-in two big suitcases each, as well as a carry-on. One of the suitcases is actually empty with another suitcase in it so we have extra room to bring more stuff back with us.
Melissa is not really looking forward to the flight. We just found out that the nice people at United Airlines changed the brand new Boeing 777 they were supposed to fly on for an old 747. What that means is, no in flight entertainment system in the back of the seat. Just a movie up on the wall. Not good times with a 7 year old when you'll be in the air for about 24 total hours. We've been preparing DVD players, computers, iPods and the Nintendo DS all week to make sure we have batteries fully charged.
Wish Melissa luck. She needs it.
Thursday was the last day of the school year for Jack and the last few weeks have felt like we've been tying up the few loose ends of our first year in Singapore.
We had our last meeting at the school to see Jack's progress through the year. It was kind of neat the way they had set it up. The students were in charge of showing their parents all of the things they had learned. There were a few different stations in the room that the kids would take their parents to. They got to show off their improvement in areas like reading, math and writing, as well as what they learned in their special classes like music, art, and Mandarin. The teachers did a good job of hanging onto work from the start of the year so that you could compare it to the things they're doing now and see their progress. When Jack was showing us his favorite parts of the library, we took a quick picture.
The other thing that finished up recently was Cub Scouts. Jack has now officially completed his year of Tiger Cubs and has also received his Bobcat Badge. He worked very hard to complete all of the required activities as well as completing a bunch of electives and 8 different belt loop awards.
When the bobcat badge is awarded, the kids go through a short ceremony on stage where they get their face painted with different colors that represent things like honesty, courage, and respect. Don't ask me how face paint does this, but the kids all seem impressed and are all very proud of themselves.
You can't see it in the picture, but Jack's smile is starting to look like all of the other kids in the primary school. It's got holes in it. He now lost both of his bottom front two teeth and his top two are loose. Here's a picture from after he lost the first one on the bottom.
The last loose end to tie up is packing for summer vacation. Melissa and Jack are flying out of Singapore on Sunday leaving Daddy behind by himself to work for the next six weeks while they go the visit friends and swim at the beach. Melissa has been working on packing for about a week and a half trying to sort out what to bring and what she wants to buy in the US. Jack has outgrown more than half of his clothes. The kids clothes here aren't of the best quality, so Melissa plans on just buying most of Jacks new wardrobe when she arrives in Virginia. Even so, she and Jack will be checking-in two big suitcases each, as well as a carry-on. One of the suitcases is actually empty with another suitcase in it so we have extra room to bring more stuff back with us.
Melissa is not really looking forward to the flight. We just found out that the nice people at United Airlines changed the brand new Boeing 777 they were supposed to fly on for an old 747. What that means is, no in flight entertainment system in the back of the seat. Just a movie up on the wall. Not good times with a 7 year old when you'll be in the air for about 24 total hours. We've been preparing DVD players, computers, iPods and the Nintendo DS all week to make sure we have batteries fully charged.
Wish Melissa luck. She needs it.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Summer Schedule
We've been getting a lot of questions about our travel schedule for the summer.
Go get a pen.
June 7th - Melissa and Jack fly to Virginia
June 18th - Melissa and Jack fly to Houston
June 29th - Melissa and Jack back to Virginia
July 15th - Matt flies to Virginia
July 17th - Drive to Hershey, PA
July 18th - Hershey Park
July 19th - Drive to Sag Harbor, NY
July 26th - NYC
July 28th - Drive to Massachusetts
Aug 2nd - Drive to Virginia
Aug 5th - Fly to Singapore
See you soon!
Go get a pen.
June 7th - Melissa and Jack fly to Virginia
June 18th - Melissa and Jack fly to Houston
June 29th - Melissa and Jack back to Virginia
July 15th - Matt flies to Virginia
July 17th - Drive to Hershey, PA
July 18th - Hershey Park
July 19th - Drive to Sag Harbor, NY
July 26th - NYC
July 28th - Drive to Massachusetts
Aug 2nd - Drive to Virginia
Aug 5th - Fly to Singapore
See you soon!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The coolest pictures you'll see today.
If you think your job is cool, you've got nothing on these guys.
How about a glamorous career in telescope repair?
How about a glamorous career in telescope repair?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Mannywood
If you know what's going on with Manny Ramirez right now, this is worth a read. Maybe this is me, Jack and my dad this summer.
"Bill Simmons - Confronting my Worst Nightmare"
"Bill Simmons - Confronting my Worst Nightmare"
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Airplanes, Sushi and Beer
It's been a while since I posted anything. I've been keeping pretty busy at work. In the last two weeks, I've been to Kochi, India, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Yokohama, Japan.
The trip to India was interesting. We've opened a small office there doing work supporting my department in Singapore. I've got one of my guys stationed out there training and supervising a few Indian engineers. They've been operating for about eight months now and we're finally at a point where the office is paying for itself.
Visiting India was a first for me. I arrived at the small Kochi airport late on a Tuesday night. I was told that a driver had been arranged to take me on the 35 minute drive to my hotel. As I walk outside, there is a guy standing there holding a sign with my name on it. It turns out that Tuesday was a holiday, so the usual ABS driver hadn't been sent. The replacement driver wasn't exactly what I expected.
When I said 'Hello', he took my bag and smiled the, "I don't know English" smile. We started walking across the parking lot, right up to a 25 year old Datsun that was about the size of a large doghouse. He tried to put my small suitcase into the trunk, but it doesn't fit because the huge speakers he'd installed take up so much room. Thankfully, he kept the radio off during the trip. If Indian music came blaring out of those things while I was in the back seat, my head may have exploded.
So, I squeeze into the the back of this clown car and we start our way toward the city and my hotel. The roads (and I use that term loosely) that we took we not exactly the main roads in town. We're driving at 11:30pm through deserted old neighborhoods and construction sites. I'd like to ask my driver if this is the only way to town, but of course, we can't communicate. After about 20 minutes of this, I start to wonder if I'll ever see my family again. I never thought I'd die by getting mugged in India, but at least my obit would be interesting.
Out of nowhere, we pull out of an ally into a bustling town center type of intersection. Not two minutes later, we pull up to a metal gate in the middle of a large brick wall. Thankfully, the sign says, "The Gateway Hotel" on the wall. As we pull through, the car is stopped by two very serious looking security guards. They check with a mirror under the car and in the trunk for bombs and weapons before they let us through. It turns out that the Gateway is owned by Taj Hotels. That's the same company who's hotel was attacked by Pakistani terrorists in India a few months ago. They take security very seriously now.
The hotel itself was actually very nice. The service, room and food were all wonderful and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.
There's not much to say about the office there. It's an office with engineers in it. If you've seen "Office Space" just imagine the same thing, except everyone is a bit darker in color and talks kinda funny.
As far as a country, I can't say I was impressed. The major impression you get after you visit India for the first time is, "Gee, it would look a lot nicer if everyone would just spend 20 minutes picking up the garbage." It's not that there were any huge piles of trash laying around, but everywhere you looked, there was trash on the ground. If it wasn't plastic bags, or papers, it was broken concrete pieces. I can't quite describe it right. I've been in places with worse poverty. It wasn't just that there wasn't enough money available to fix what needed fixing. It was that it seemed that no one cared. If I owned a storefront on the main street, the sidewalk in front of my store would be clean. All it would take is 10 minutes a day. Pick up the trash, sweep up, maybe a coat of paint every few years. Not here. It was kind of depressing. India just struck me as a country with a lot of potential that will never be realized. All of the best motivated people get out as soon as they can. Guess what that leaves behind.
The next trip was to Malaysia. This was a quick one day visit for a meeting with an oil company. They are planning on building a new offshore facility and a few of us from ABS had a meeting with them to talk about the project and explain our services. The meeting went well and I expect that we have a good chance at getting the job. One thing I was looking forward to was getting some local food while I was in Malaysia. We were only going to have time for lunch, but our Country Manager was taking us out to eat. The great local lunch I was looking forward to turned out to be....The Hard Rock Cafe. At least it was a respectable burger.
The last trip was to Japan. It's the third time I've been there this year. I really know my way around Narita airport at this point. Kind of like the trip to Malaysia, this was another instance of trying to win a contract for a new project. I could go on about the business parts of this trip but it would be boring for just about everyone (including myself). The only thing I'll say is that this would be one of the biggest single contracts that my company has ever signed and it looks like we're going to get the job.
On the way back toward Yokohama (the meeting was in Tokyo), the Japanese business manager I was with asked if we wanted dinner to celebrate the successful meeting. "Sure," I say. "What do you have in mind?"
"How about the CEO's favorite sushi restaurant? It's not a fancy place, but it's good."
"Let's go!" I say.
It turns out that this place is in the middle of the Yokohama fish market. It's tucked into a little spot and seats about a dozen people. As we're sitting down, my host says that reservations usually require 2 weeks. We just got lucky and they squeezed us in because we're good clients.
As this place is in the middle of the local fish market, they get the best selection in the city. Trust me, if you like sushi, this was good stuff. We started out with a small, mixed sashimi plate and moved on from there. Maybe a dozen different items. We washed everything down with a few bottles of sake and needless to say, this was a great meal. I was thoroughly impressed...until I saw the bill. Quality doesn't come cheap, my friends. But it's definitely worth it for a one time treat.
After the late flight back from Japan the next day, I had plans to go to "Beerfest Asia 2009" in Singapore. I wasn't quite sure what to expect because beer in Singapore tends to be overpriced and short on quality. While Beerfest wasn't exactly like the movie (which I loved), it turned out to be a pretty good time.
I met my friend Kris at the entrance around 4:30. I was supposed to be there by 4:00, but I'd taken the subway and it took longer than I thought it would. Kris had already bought tickets, so in we went. The set up was basically a huge tent with beer vendors all around three of the walls. The 4th wall had a pretty big stage set up for the concert planned for that evening.
Kris and I wandered around before we settled in at a table with a beer. After about 3 more, we decided it was time to take a walk and see if there was anything else going on at the other side of the tent. After he'd kicked my butt at a very quick game of foosball, we stopped at an Austrian vendor to see what they had. Of the 9 or 10 beers they had listed, I picked the one I thought looked the most interesting. I should have looked at the prices first. She quickly opened and poured it for me and then told me the price. S$26. Yup. That's about $17usd. For one beer. When I opened my mouth to complain, she told me she thought I knew and pointed at my hand. It was sitting on the price list that I hadn't even noticed. S$26 in big red letters. Damn. At least it was good. At 12% alcohol, it was more of a barley wine than a beer. A bit too sweet though.
After that experience, Kris and I decided to sit back down and drink a few cheap local beers until the concert started. I was looking forward to the concert because the band was one I'd actually been to see before in Houston and liked. Vertical Horizon.
Later, on the way back from recycling some of the beer I'd been drinking, I saw the band making their way toward the stage from behind the tent. I took the opportunity to work my way to the front of the 'standing only' crowd, right in front of center stage. I got there just as they dimmed the lights and the band took stage.
The show was awesome and I (after 4 hours of beer) was feeling like a college kid again. I was singing along with the band and jumping around like an idiot (and like everyone else) in the crowd.
Let me tell you what I learned the next day. I'm not a college kid any more. I'm an old, old man who can't handle his beer and should be in bed with a nice book by 10pm. I can't believe Melissa puts up with me. I was basically luggage for the remainder of the day on Sunday. It took a lot of effort to keep from climbing back into bed. Instead, Jack and I did some errands and went for a swim. I guess this is a good reminder that there's a big difference between being 25 and 35.
After that busy two weeks, I'm looking forward to things quieting down. Unfortunately, next week is my company's annual technical meeting and it's in Singapore this year. This means next week is full of meeting and business dinners. In an effort to try to relax a bit, Melissa, Jack and I are going to take long weekend vacation starting on Saturday. Jack's school has Monday and Tuesday off, so we're jumping on the ferry to Indonesia and spending the long weekend at Club Med. I have to head back a day early for meetings, but I'm looking forward to three days of umbrella drinks and sandcastles.
The trip to India was interesting. We've opened a small office there doing work supporting my department in Singapore. I've got one of my guys stationed out there training and supervising a few Indian engineers. They've been operating for about eight months now and we're finally at a point where the office is paying for itself.
Visiting India was a first for me. I arrived at the small Kochi airport late on a Tuesday night. I was told that a driver had been arranged to take me on the 35 minute drive to my hotel. As I walk outside, there is a guy standing there holding a sign with my name on it. It turns out that Tuesday was a holiday, so the usual ABS driver hadn't been sent. The replacement driver wasn't exactly what I expected.
When I said 'Hello', he took my bag and smiled the, "I don't know English" smile. We started walking across the parking lot, right up to a 25 year old Datsun that was about the size of a large doghouse. He tried to put my small suitcase into the trunk, but it doesn't fit because the huge speakers he'd installed take up so much room. Thankfully, he kept the radio off during the trip. If Indian music came blaring out of those things while I was in the back seat, my head may have exploded.
So, I squeeze into the the back of this clown car and we start our way toward the city and my hotel. The roads (and I use that term loosely) that we took we not exactly the main roads in town. We're driving at 11:30pm through deserted old neighborhoods and construction sites. I'd like to ask my driver if this is the only way to town, but of course, we can't communicate. After about 20 minutes of this, I start to wonder if I'll ever see my family again. I never thought I'd die by getting mugged in India, but at least my obit would be interesting.
Out of nowhere, we pull out of an ally into a bustling town center type of intersection. Not two minutes later, we pull up to a metal gate in the middle of a large brick wall. Thankfully, the sign says, "The Gateway Hotel" on the wall. As we pull through, the car is stopped by two very serious looking security guards. They check with a mirror under the car and in the trunk for bombs and weapons before they let us through. It turns out that the Gateway is owned by Taj Hotels. That's the same company who's hotel was attacked by Pakistani terrorists in India a few months ago. They take security very seriously now.
The hotel itself was actually very nice. The service, room and food were all wonderful and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.
There's not much to say about the office there. It's an office with engineers in it. If you've seen "Office Space" just imagine the same thing, except everyone is a bit darker in color and talks kinda funny.
As far as a country, I can't say I was impressed. The major impression you get after you visit India for the first time is, "Gee, it would look a lot nicer if everyone would just spend 20 minutes picking up the garbage." It's not that there were any huge piles of trash laying around, but everywhere you looked, there was trash on the ground. If it wasn't plastic bags, or papers, it was broken concrete pieces. I can't quite describe it right. I've been in places with worse poverty. It wasn't just that there wasn't enough money available to fix what needed fixing. It was that it seemed that no one cared. If I owned a storefront on the main street, the sidewalk in front of my store would be clean. All it would take is 10 minutes a day. Pick up the trash, sweep up, maybe a coat of paint every few years. Not here. It was kind of depressing. India just struck me as a country with a lot of potential that will never be realized. All of the best motivated people get out as soon as they can. Guess what that leaves behind.
The next trip was to Malaysia. This was a quick one day visit for a meeting with an oil company. They are planning on building a new offshore facility and a few of us from ABS had a meeting with them to talk about the project and explain our services. The meeting went well and I expect that we have a good chance at getting the job. One thing I was looking forward to was getting some local food while I was in Malaysia. We were only going to have time for lunch, but our Country Manager was taking us out to eat. The great local lunch I was looking forward to turned out to be....The Hard Rock Cafe. At least it was a respectable burger.
The last trip was to Japan. It's the third time I've been there this year. I really know my way around Narita airport at this point. Kind of like the trip to Malaysia, this was another instance of trying to win a contract for a new project. I could go on about the business parts of this trip but it would be boring for just about everyone (including myself). The only thing I'll say is that this would be one of the biggest single contracts that my company has ever signed and it looks like we're going to get the job.
On the way back toward Yokohama (the meeting was in Tokyo), the Japanese business manager I was with asked if we wanted dinner to celebrate the successful meeting. "Sure," I say. "What do you have in mind?"
"How about the CEO's favorite sushi restaurant? It's not a fancy place, but it's good."
"Let's go!" I say.
It turns out that this place is in the middle of the Yokohama fish market. It's tucked into a little spot and seats about a dozen people. As we're sitting down, my host says that reservations usually require 2 weeks. We just got lucky and they squeezed us in because we're good clients.
As this place is in the middle of the local fish market, they get the best selection in the city. Trust me, if you like sushi, this was good stuff. We started out with a small, mixed sashimi plate and moved on from there. Maybe a dozen different items. We washed everything down with a few bottles of sake and needless to say, this was a great meal. I was thoroughly impressed...until I saw the bill. Quality doesn't come cheap, my friends. But it's definitely worth it for a one time treat.
After the late flight back from Japan the next day, I had plans to go to "Beerfest Asia 2009" in Singapore. I wasn't quite sure what to expect because beer in Singapore tends to be overpriced and short on quality. While Beerfest wasn't exactly like the movie (which I loved), it turned out to be a pretty good time.
I met my friend Kris at the entrance around 4:30. I was supposed to be there by 4:00, but I'd taken the subway and it took longer than I thought it would. Kris had already bought tickets, so in we went. The set up was basically a huge tent with beer vendors all around three of the walls. The 4th wall had a pretty big stage set up for the concert planned for that evening.
Kris and I wandered around before we settled in at a table with a beer. After about 3 more, we decided it was time to take a walk and see if there was anything else going on at the other side of the tent. After he'd kicked my butt at a very quick game of foosball, we stopped at an Austrian vendor to see what they had. Of the 9 or 10 beers they had listed, I picked the one I thought looked the most interesting. I should have looked at the prices first. She quickly opened and poured it for me and then told me the price. S$26. Yup. That's about $17usd. For one beer. When I opened my mouth to complain, she told me she thought I knew and pointed at my hand. It was sitting on the price list that I hadn't even noticed. S$26 in big red letters. Damn. At least it was good. At 12% alcohol, it was more of a barley wine than a beer. A bit too sweet though.
After that experience, Kris and I decided to sit back down and drink a few cheap local beers until the concert started. I was looking forward to the concert because the band was one I'd actually been to see before in Houston and liked. Vertical Horizon.
Later, on the way back from recycling some of the beer I'd been drinking, I saw the band making their way toward the stage from behind the tent. I took the opportunity to work my way to the front of the 'standing only' crowd, right in front of center stage. I got there just as they dimmed the lights and the band took stage.
The show was awesome and I (after 4 hours of beer) was feeling like a college kid again. I was singing along with the band and jumping around like an idiot (and like everyone else) in the crowd.
Let me tell you what I learned the next day. I'm not a college kid any more. I'm an old, old man who can't handle his beer and should be in bed with a nice book by 10pm. I can't believe Melissa puts up with me. I was basically luggage for the remainder of the day on Sunday. It took a lot of effort to keep from climbing back into bed. Instead, Jack and I did some errands and went for a swim. I guess this is a good reminder that there's a big difference between being 25 and 35.
After that busy two weeks, I'm looking forward to things quieting down. Unfortunately, next week is my company's annual technical meeting and it's in Singapore this year. This means next week is full of meeting and business dinners. In an effort to try to relax a bit, Melissa, Jack and I are going to take long weekend vacation starting on Saturday. Jack's school has Monday and Tuesday off, so we're jumping on the ferry to Indonesia and spending the long weekend at Club Med. I have to head back a day early for meetings, but I'm looking forward to three days of umbrella drinks and sandcastles.
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