Singapore/KL Bangkok Stuttgart Washington DC Toronto Colorado Springs San Francisco

I've been back over a week now and things are starting to fall into place. I'm over the jet lag, though I won't stop using that as an excuse to leave work early yet.

I'm slowly getting to see people again. Yesterday I had lunch with Ethan. Saturday I met up with Linh, and will see him tonight. I'm hoping to see River next week before I take off for Chicago (yes, a little travel again, but only for a couple days, and David, can we meet up??).

Stan and I ran an 8K race Sunday. It was his first race ever. last year, this particular race was my first step toward the marathons later in the year, but Stan doesn't plan on marathoning. Actually, until he visited the doctor Monday, he wasn't sure he planned on even walking. I think I may have pushed him so hard that he hurt himself with a touch of tendonitis. Oops. But he's feeling better now. And he looks pretty cute in running clothes.



I'm missing my Singapore friends greatly, but I'll need to write about that later, as right now I'm about to miss my bus.

Labels: Friends, Running, Travel, Work

Sitting in Chicago now. One of the reasons I like using the airline lounges is they tend to be a little quieter than sitting at the gate but today I seem to be followed by annoying people with no social skills who like to talk in very loud voices (so far, I've counted Americans, Canadians, and Russians). I think my patience is worn a little thin following the 13 hour flight or whatever it was from Tokyo. My flight to DC has been delayed a little bit but not enough to be a big problem...poor Stan is tracking the flight changes from home so he doesn't have to sit around the airport waiting for me, and I feel bad because he gets up for work very early and so goes to bed very early, and will be up kinda late tonight because of me. But yay for seeing him very soon!!!

Oh, and I'm resetting my blog clock to DC time, so that may throw things off a bit. hope it doesn't make my computer explode or create a time travel paradox or something.

Labels: Travel

I've been in Tokyo the last 4 days and really enjoyed it. I've met some interesting people and learned quite a bit about the gay culture here as well as Japanese culture in general (yay for Harajuku girls and free hugs!!). The food has been good, though I pretty much have no idea what I was eating (except when I was at Mos Burger, of course).

I don't know that I'd call the Japanese "anti-foreigner," but they are somewhat "anti-non-Japanese-speaker," so I think I should learn something beyond "konichiwa," "arigato, " "sayanora," and "iko iko" before returning.

This was, I think, just a taste of Tokyo for me, a chance to get some idea what it's like and then come back for another visit when I know my way around a bit better and know what to expect. I only managed to handle the train system yesterday, and frankly, I'd also like to come back when it's warmer outside...Tokyo in March is cold!

In about 16 hours my academic exchange will officially be over when I touch down in DC. It's gonna be a long flight...yay for business class. Despite missing my SG friends already, it'll be good to see folks there again!!!

Labels: Travel

If I've timed this right, and if United Airlines is running on time, then this should be posting as my plane is pulling away from the gate. I'm off to Tokyo today, then home to DC on Tuesday. This experience in Singapore has been far greater than I imagined, and while I'll certainly be introspective and retrospective later, for now I'll just say thanks to everyone who made these 4 months so wonderful.

Labels: Life, Living in SG

So far, I've been pretty good. No "This is my last Tuesday in Singapore!" or "This is my last trip between Tanjong Pagar and Tiong Bahru!!" or that sort of thing. I've pretty much kept it together while meeting up with folks to say goodbye, though I'm sure I'll be a blubbering idiot at the airport tomorrow (sorry in advance to Ed, who's graciously agreed to take me there at 5am, and Joshua, who will meet us there). As DanielHenry pointed out, it's not like I'm never coming back.

But I did just get back from my last gym workout, and Monday was my last training session, though Mattew did sit down with me today for about an hour to go over the program he's had me working for the last 4 months. In the process of those 4 months (or at least, since Dec 15, when I first did a body scan at the gym) I've gone from 138 pounds to 146 pounds. In the meantime, my fat mass dropped while my muscle mass increased by 8 pounds. So basically, all that increase was muscle. My body fat percentage, meanwhile, dropped from 10.4% to 9.4% during those 2 1/2 months (which did include a marathon, of course).

This is nice, because while I was worrying last year about losing weight, I always said it wasn't the numbers I was concerned about, it was what they represented. When there was too much fat I wanted the weight to go down but with the addition of this muscle I'm more than happy for the numbers to go up. My improved fitness was evident during the Hong Kong marathon and I definitely feel better every day.

There is a strong sense of personal satisfaction coming out of my gym experience. And not only because I was getting cruised more as time went by. :P

Labels: Health, Living in SG, Running

As DanielHenry pointed out to me on Facebook, it's not like I won't be back. But when it comes to living in Singapore, this is in fact my last weekend.

I gave my final exam last Monday and it went OK. I only got my research paper grades turned in that day so I decided not to grade exams but instead take the afternoon off from grading and resolve some other administrative things. Grading kicked off Tuesday and lasted until Thursday evening, so it did go faster than the research papers but not by much.

As Friday rolled around I went into school for my final day there. That morning I wrapped up the last of my paperwork for grades, turned in my keys, took some final photos, and headed out around 1pm. My experience at the university was really a great one, and the feedback I got from students (except for the one who was crying about her grade) made me feel really good. It's not often in life that you KNOW you made a difference, but this is one of those times.

I'd already had one farewell dinner earlier in the week, but heading into my last weekend I had a few more final meetups planned. First, though, I needed to have dinner with one of my students...I wouldn't normally spend my last Friday in town at a dinner like that but he's a diplomat here and I figured it was good for keeping up good relations between our countries. Plus, he was one of my more interesting and challenging students and I thought we'd have some good conversation, and I was right. I figured I'd head out for a drink afterwards but I drifted into a nap onto my couch after getting home and woke at 1am. I took that as a sign and went to bed.

Saturday was a gym day, followed by lunch and a movie with Derek. I said it last week and will say it again: I'm really happy to have finally gotten to know Derek in person after following his life for years online. We expect to see each other when I visit here again later this year.

Afterwards I met up with Ed, who took me to the Night Safari. After 3 times in Singapore I still hadn't been so he wanted to make sure I experienced it. Unfortunately it was raining, so the shows were cancelled, but we got to take the tram ride and see plenty of animal who were out enjoying the rain, and once the rain died down a bit we also walked some trails, and did not get eaten. We headed back to town, dozing in the back of a taxi, and grabbed some nasi lemak before heading to DYMK for a bit to meet some friends. I called it a night about 1.

Today I met up with Jasen for breakfast around 10:30 and we got caught up on what's been happening since we saw each other 2 weeks ago, and had a chance to say our farewells. A second friend cancelled out on me so I got some work done before meeting gary the Bubble Tea Guy, who's been running the stand at school that I visit everyday. This was the first time we hung out away from the university and it was pretty fun, even though the sudden rain made things a bit messy.

Tonight I'm out to dinner with my trainer from the gym, then am hoping to go clubbing later (though if the rain doesn't stop I don't know how excited I'll be about going out again). Starting tomorrow I need to be settling things around town, visiting with more friends, and doing anything I have been meaning to do but haven't done yet.

I'm also learning that Chinese people don't like long goodbyes, and I'm OK with that.

Labels: Bars, Friends, Living in SG, Teaching