One week Singapore - F1, new job, nice people ... and still hot!

hej there,


one week is already over since i came here - and it was a very interesting, funny, exciting, stunning, great one. but before i write more, i'd like to give you the link to the first pictures. you can either click on the slideshow or this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mistertausend

the second thing is a funny story that happened monday after work. i was about to go shopping since i realized that one pair of business shoes are definitely not enough. well, buying new ones was not as easy as expected - size 45 is apparently one only few people have down here. the shoes you get in this size usually look - well - let's say NOT what i have in mind. but then, finally ....

i saw this pair of shoes, nice ones, brown, lovely. went into the shop. two shop men came to assist me. i showed them the brown shoe and asked for size 45. "i check, i check", one said, but somehow seemed to be confident about having them. i took a seat, and waited .... waited .... waited. finally, he came back. with a shoe box and a big smile. "seems he found one ...", i thought. well. he opened the box. and took out the black version of this shoe.

"i don't want the black ones, i'd like the brown ones", i told him. "i'm sorry. don't have them. i can check with other shop. you try?". well. i did. checking if they would fit and hoping they would be available somewhere else in this huge city with its thousands of shops.

let's say, i tried to put them on. i did. 30 seconds of one big fight. no victory. somehow, it was impossible - they were simply too small. i looked it them again. then looked at the shop man, disbelieving. "are you sure that this is size 45?", i asked. "oooooooh, is a 43", he said. "i don't have 45". "yeah, but i need 45. how am i supposed to fit into a 43?" - and by the way, why do you bring the 43 in black instead of brown??

"i can check with other shop", he said. "alright", i said, looking at him, hopefully. "i can check", he said, again. "well, would you .... check, please?". "i can check".

he didn't. instead, he was looking at me, holding his hands behind his back, smiling, kind of. no checking. just that "don't make me lose my face" - smile.

i left the place. "thank you siiiiir. come agaiiiiiin." yeah, probably not .... or just for an experiment: maybe, one day, with really cold feet, on a good day, being drunk, very drunk, i MIGHT fit into a 43!

by the way, i later got two wonderful pair of shoes for good money - and was glad to have that previous shopping experience!

beside that adventure, i had nice days here so far. the good news are: i'm less sweating than expected. the bad news is: i still do HELL of a lot, but so do the non-asian people around which keeps me being confident.

and there was the formula1 race, of course. i recorded some videos. however, no matter what i would have uploaded, the result would have been the same: very fast cars, almost invisible ... and a heavy noise - too heavy for my the audio recorder of my camera. anyways. the only thing i can tell is: when you are really close to the track and these "bolides" of a car pass you only a few meters away, your whole body is shaking, your skin is shivering, and your innermost is set out to an enormous pression. it truly was amazing, even it became quite boring after a few rounds just watching the cars for a fraction of a second - the best was this tremendous , noisy sound.

and then, monday, work has started. daimler south east asia. external affairs and communications - a sort of public relations. and it's very nice so far. my boss is a nice dude (and went golfing for charity today - it's ALL for the good business). and lena, predecessor, did her very best to introduce me in all relevant aspects of work. nothing burnt down or collapsed today on my first day being alone in the office - apparently, she did a good job though! the next days will be smooth so i have my time to get involved in all kinds of the job - and have a little time to enjoy the view from the 29th floor, all over singapore.

was is also sweet is, that i met nice people at work. with some of them, i just had dinner after work today. we went to one of the biggest food stalls (or as they call it here hawker stalls), having different kinds of food - from fish to chicken and pork, with different kinds of vegetables, rice, souces ... yummy! imagine a big square with all sorts of snack bars and eateries around. you can choose from the whole asian food range. and of course, for little prices. the whole thing is open-air, and packed with people eating, even after 10pm (which is, in fact, very common for the whole city as malls are also just CROWDED - and so is the subway).

it was lovely - 4 germans, and 4 singaporeans (chinese). we had a lot to laugh and were stunned about each story regarding each cultural difference - or just a funny, stupid story someone was telling. very nice, indeed!

and so was tuesday night (it was a public holiday on wednesday, since the muslims were celebrating the end of ramadan) when we had the farewell party for lena. even the reason to party was quite sad, the people i met very nice and so, it was a very cosy and somehow familiar atmosphere. which is somehow true for the whole singapore experience so far.

it does not feel like home, of course. but it also does not feel unfamiliar, strange, and unfamiliar at all. true, it IS different than home. but then again .... it is very often quite european - just with different looking people and different food. which is again NOT true because there are many things that are stunning, crazy, incredible, very new, different. and of course it is very hard to judge and describe my whole picture after only a week. it just feels so normal to be here. there simply existed no acclimation time - it was the place from the first minute without any uncomfortable moments, no doubts, no questions. everything is pretty straight forward, pretty clear. nothing seems to be new, and there is nothing that has to be really learnt in a new way - while at the same time, the while thing is completely new. i'm not sure if you understand what i mean because you have to experience that. but something like this might happened to many of you when moving to a new place, no matter where this was. (by the way, i hope this "honeymoon time iwll last for ... well ... for a long time!!)

right ... a lot of text again. at least you have the pics. the video upload at youtube seems to take for forever so i post the link later then.

for the moment, it's time for bed ... and the information that in 3 weeks, i will fly to manila, philippines. i have no real idea what i really do and why i booked the flight, but it was cheap and we have another holiday and thus, a longer weekend. sounded like an option, even though everybody today said "wow, that's brave". i rather shouldn't tell my parents, i guess ... (and how good they can't read english!!!).


cheers for that!