Entertaining Southerners

I always appreciate exploring a city for the first time with a local friend playing host and showing me around a little. Some local insights during my first visit to Denver, Dallas, New York City, Portland, and Seattle gave me a good initial feel of the city while spending time with friends.

When two friends from Oklahoma / Texas decided to visit Singapore, I was more than excited to put on my (amateur) tour guide hat and give them a taste of this Lion City. While this island country is small (ie. 719.1 km² / 277.6 mi²), it proves to be challenging trying to plan an introductory 3-day itinerary.  

Leaving Home for Home

Living in two time zones is surreal when it is literally night and day between my two homes at any given point in time.

Spending time between the United States and Singapore has become a new reality in the past year as I find myself traveling across continents and overcoming jet-lag.

Having spent most of my adult years in the United States (over sixteen years to date), coming back to my home country of Singapore feels weird. While there are things that I am familiar with on this tropical island country, I just feel a little out of place.

I Fly Away…

No matter how many trips I make to the country I grew up in, the first wave of humidity, the first smell of an air-conditioned cab, the first sight of my parents’ 12-story apartment block, and the first taste of mom’s herbal chicken soup are never dulled by repetitions.

And prior to arriving at the metropolitan city of Singapore, I enjoy flying through the troposphere and time-zones while most people would cringe at the sound of a 24-hour journey across continents.