Traveling incognito

After a few days of work, meetings and visits, today I decided to travel Singapore incognito. I put on an old Cornell t-shirt, cargo shorts, and tennis shoes and an old back-pack. I believe I now look like a regular tourist and I was secretly glad when a taxi driver asked me when I going back to my country. Perfect.

This disguise allows me to observe the routine lifestyle of this city state since most people simply continue with their normal activities when tourist are present but could be more self conscious of expatriates living among them.

According to Arabian ancient folk stories, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid often disguised himself as a commoner and, along with his Vizier, would visit at night the capital of his Persian kingdom. He wanted to directly observe the lives and strives of his subjects and thus have a better judgment when ruling his people for he knew that some of his advisers were less than forthcoming. He would often find his rulings were not implemented, some serious problems were not reported or some governors were abusing his positions. He would then inform his advisers of his findings or would take swift action against any incompetent or malicious governor.

For me, traveling as a naïve tourist opens that window into Singaporean society’s soul. It helps me better understand the motivations, desires and fears of this incredibly complex and driven multicultural society.

Arriving to the Far East

As I prepare this note in a public internet cafe in Singapore, I am immersed in the Philippino world, surrounded by young women working as domestic help. The unfamiliar sound of Tagalog is everywhere and I certainly feel and seem to be out of place. I am writing in a shopping mall called Lucky Plaza on Sunday afternoon, the preferred time for helpers to meet here. There are literately thousands of people cramming the shopping mall since this is their only day off. Most of them have nothing else to do than to come here, gossip with friends and walk aimlessly before going back to their homes for another week of back-breaking labor. Theirs is a harsh existence to support their families back in their own country, a familiar story in many developing countries.

My long trip here was uneventfull but interesting nevertheless. Before boarding the initial flight out of Chicago I started to see the common cosmopolitan travelers to the Asian land: There were some American business executives in their mid-fifties, a few mixed racial couples (Invariable Western husbands and Asian wives), some obviously adventure travelers and a group of Japanese teenagers schoolchildren. The flight was suprisingly comfortable since I happened to be seating next to an emergency exit and I could stretch my legs during the 16 hour flight. The entire flight happened during daylight and we flew over the North Pole. The frozen Artic Ocean beneath us with its enourmous sheets of ice was an exciting view for several hours. Once again, I was amazed by the vastness and emptiness of Siberia and northen China.

Upon my arrival to Hong Kong I felt a familiar, though unexplained sense of belonging. I know I am an American originally from Mexico but in Asia I feel welcome and at home even though I could never pass as an Asian. It is strange that I lived only one year in Asia but I feel I can call it home. These feelings are not unique to me for I know that, for generations, Europeans and Americans have found the same attraction for this exotic and mysterious land.

Arriving in Singapore only intensified my sensation of belonging. On the way from the airport to my hotel I observed in silence the familiar sights of this nation-state: The multitude of HDBs (Tall buildings where most of the Singapore families live), the state-of-the-art highways and, above all, the ubiquos luxury cars that carpet the streets (Mercedes, BMWs, Ferraris, Masseraties, etc).

After a night of no more than 2 hours of sleep (due to my jet lag), on Sunday morning I attended church where I saw old friends. From there I went to the best known shopping quarters in Singapore: Orchard Road. I wanted to explore again the typical food courts, where unfamiliar foods mixed with strange smells create a unique Singaporean atmosphere. These places are mostly for locals and not very many foreigners go to. I was immersed again in the Chinese culture, where people spoke Mandarin all around me. I actually felt suprised since I could actually understand when people mentioned numbers in their conversation. I have now decided to devote some serious time to learn Mandarin Chinese, I believe it will be useful for the future plus it would be a fun personal challenge for me.

I can't wait to know what my schedule will be for my stay. We have decided to go to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, Manado City in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and Bangkok, Thailand. There will be a dinner in my honor on Monday night to be introduced to the Singapore team of the venture. I am looking forward to that

Spring is in the air

Finally Spring is here! Today we reached 70 F! (About 20 C). It always amazes me how fast the grass changes from pale brown to green. In two days my lawn has become a little green. Also, today I went to my backyard with Daniel, Sarah, Hannah and Christian to play outdoors for the first time in more than 4 months.

However, the weather here in Illinois is not stable and next week we will plunge again below freezing and probably for a few nights we will experience deep freezes. Winter is still here.

Yesterday I went to speak at a career day in a local high school. It was a fun event and I got to interact with the students that are thinking about going to college or joining the work force. I tried to give them a different perspective based on my experiences around the world. I hope it helps someone.

Singapore January 09

I guess I missed Singapore so much that I decided to take a quick trip to visit the city state that was our home for one year. Unfortunately, my family could not travel this time so I went alone. I stayed at a trendy Orchard Road hotel and visited Standard Chartered, our old condo, the kid’s school (International Community School) and had lunch with the team at WBRA and MA (sorry for the StanChar acronyms, I can’t help it). Here are some pictures with some brief explanation.

Landing at Chicago. It was covered in snow and the shore of Lake Michigan was frozen



At O'Hare, preparing to board my long flight (13 hours) to Tokyo



At Tokyo Narita, waiting to board my 7.5 hours flight to Changi at Singapore






I went to Mustafa (in Singapore) to buy a cell phone



Somewhere in the Malacca peninsula, in Malaysia







In Malayisa, we ate the largest Alaskan crab I have ever seen



In Kuala Lumpur



At my old office! Standard Chartered Bank, 6 Battery Road in Singapore.



By the Singapore River



I gave a talk at National University of Singapore (NUS) about turnarounds. Here I am receiving a present



With good friends Erick, Ginna & kids



At the Shangri-la Hotel in Singapore, where I was going to celebrate a Chinese New Year party

I am back

After a few months of hiatus, I decided to retake my blogg. There have been numerous updates in our lives since we came back from Singapore. For one, we had to get used to the cold winter again. Since November is has been very cold, in January we reached temperatures of -16 F, which equals minus 26 C, very cold! Here are some winter pictures

Our house



Sarah and Daniel playing in our backyard



Hannah and Christian playing by the Christmas tree



Daddy and Sarah

Autum nostalgia

It has been more than one month since I started at my new position in Illinois. It has been challenging but good. However, today I felt a little nostalgic about our life in Singapore.

I have been watering my lawn since the sod was recently laid and thus it requires almost daily care. Today I was preparing the hoses when I heard a familiar sound: The powerful honk of geese flying. I said familiar sound since our house is next to a lake and geese stay there for the summer. This time, however, a formation of around 15 geese flew just above me, maybe at 30 feet high. I could hear the flapping of their wings and their honks as they were preparing to land somewhere nearby.

As I looked at them I thought about their freedom to fly. In a sense, at that moment I felt I gave up my freedom to fly when I chose to come back to the USA and leave Asia. Maybe this is what finally means to settle down, I don't know yet.

Gatopardismo and SCB

I titled today's comment as "gatopardismo." For those who do not speak Spanish, the name will not mean anything. Gatopardismo may be loosely translated as "everything changes to remain the same."

I decided to comment on this topic because of something I saw today. I was going to a meeting when I happened to see a homeless person. However, I recognized him because he has been in the streets for as long as I have been in Champaign. He was in the same spot that I remember. It made me think that for me two years have brought significant changes in my life and perspective but for several people things have remain the same. For a moment, I felt as if I were in a time warp and came back to were I have started. What an odd feeling.

On a different topic, I decided to put a picture of my friends from Standard Chartered Bank. For my farewell party we went to a Jazz Club by the Singapore River and I played the piano for them for about 40 minutes. Nohemi and the team of Analytics are here. I miss you guys!