Hello to Sandy from Kevan

[mikemets]

Hi Sandy,

I've been in touch with Kevan via e-mail as he's away on business in Singapore. I copied part of the e-mail and am taking the liberty to post it below. I know he can read this forum, and will see your responses:


"I wish I could respond (on the forum), but it would be awkward to do so from this office here. Hot and humid here, it's like a bad day in August except it's like this everyday of the year, according to the folks here. Food has been pretty good and get this.. I scored the hotel's president's suite for my entire stay here. Well, I suppose if a real president showed up and wanted it they could bump me, but so far it's mine. My colleague is less than pleased. ;)

Later...oh, and tell Sandy...

Serotta SKevan is in Singapore Sheaven.. Seven oh, whatever! Say "Hey!" for me."

[Sandy]

Make my day!!

Make my week!!

Make my year!!

Make my life!!

Just tell me that the it was a one way ticket!! :)


Singapore Sally

Oops, I meant Singapore Sandy

[Sandy]

Kevan said that he "scored the hotel's president's suite..." Didn't he mean that he scored in the president's suite? Was it the president or was it Singapore Sally?

So Sweet in the Suite,

Sweet Sandy

[Sandy]

Is it possible that they found out that there was going to be an assassination attempt on the president?? :)


Sandy

[Serotta PETE]

Is it possible that they found out that there was going to be an assassination attempt on the president?? :)


Sandy

All a plot to steal his calfee

[Sandy]

No reason to steal his Calfee. After riding and buying a Serotta, he will probably give away his Calfee!! :) :D


Serotta Sandy

[weisan]

Never thought that I would encounter such generous mentions of my native birthplace - the hot and spicy island city of Singapore.

Kevan, or rather Mikemets, please pass along this message to Kevan...tell him to try the famous local fruit called "Durian" while he's there. If not, nobody would ever believe that he ever steps off the plane on Changi airport, not even the wife.

(softly coming over here to whisper into Sandy's ears)
Sandy-pal, that should take care of Kevan. He will suffer from serious food poisoning because only the locals have developed immunity to that stuff and can handle its very pungent smell. ;)

[Sandy]

I might even miss the poor guy, in a sick sort of way. He wasn't all bad, I think. :)


Missing my bud,

Mr. Lonely

[H.Frank Beshear]

Weisan I have vietnamese friend who would serve me durian at his restaurant, once you got past the smell it was tasty :D . I miss his food he moved to CA. Kevan try durian it's not that bad :beer: Frank

[Sandy]

I sure would like to be the chef! :)

Skull and Crossbones Sandy

[mikemets]

I'm already sort of familiar with the Durian fruit, they sell it commonly down in Chinatown. Kinda looks like a weird pineapple of sorts. Never have been able to get beyond its smell though, sorta like Sandy in many respects. Though we already know Sandy has poor taste so I guess the smell is really more a warning before the bite.

The manager from one of our operations here will be providing us a tour of the city on Saturday. I wonder if we might drive by a lbs?

[Sandy]

Kevan probably will be driving by a lbs- local brothel stop :) :)

let's ban sandy

[BarryG]

tell him to try the famous local fruit called "Durian"
bet he can't eat it :p

[Kevan]

durian. Not actually in it's truest form, but last night's restaurant offer deep fried durian ice cream as a dessert, so the challenge was thrown here and amongst my business colleagues, so in I went....

Now to back pedal for a moment, my new friends here don't believe the fruit is currently in season; there was no sign of the fruit at the various markets we walked by. Restaurants don't sell the fruit in it's original form as it will stink up the joint. So I took the opportunity that was presented to me, it's the best I can offer here.

When the ice cream was presented to me ther was basically no smell. It was only when I cut into the crusty cover and into the soft innards did the stench cloud our table. Actually, I think the smell was kept somewhat under control what with the fruit being frozen. I gave my american colleague a corner of the dessert to try, but he was spared the pieces of fruit and only got the cream and some of the scent. I on the other hand, got the whole dealio. I knew the method was to forge through the fog and just start eating and enjoy the sweet fruit. I did and it was actually quite tasty. There was only one slight problem. Burping. Not that the fruit made you burp, but if you did, as I did (the beer didn't help), a foul air would erupt from within and revisit you, again and again, and again.

Never again! Everyone had a good laugh ,but for me.

Singapore was wonderful. Or colleagues here showed us the town from every direction. We tried foods from virtually every country and ethnic group in this region. The city also has a strong Indian community and the restaurants in their neighborhood were absolutely wonderful.

Bicycles? Unlike much of southeast Asia the bicycle here does not rank king. Very few in fact. They're there, just not as many as I had expected. Air conditioned vehicles are basically a must. The bikes I did see were mostly beaters and most of them are the conventional build or mtb. I did happen to see a group of roadies and there were a couple Colnagos as the exotic variety.

Riding here would be difficult. First there is the heat and humidity, it's a constant, particularly the humidity. We had hot and not so hot days, but every day was humid. Very humid. The island is basically flat and the driving is a holdover from British rule. Roads are narrow, traffic is fast and bicycles don't deserve even totem ranking. It's a jungle out there.

Weisan, I can understand you missing your homeland. The people here are so so gracious and friendly. The services at the hotels and restaurants puts our country's similar services to shame. Other than a poorly designed shower stall the leaked water out on the the floor I had zero complaints, and even the shower, I left unmentioned.

Oh, I suppose I have a slight complaint now, my flight has been delayed 2 hrs so I hanging out a the lounge typing this here dribble.

Looking forward to returning home, but will have only the best memories of this island.

[SMUGator]

I have hooks to some roadies in Singapore through MSFT. Let me know if you want to connect with a group ride.

[weisan]

Kevan-pal, thanks for giving us such a vivid picture of your durian-conquest complete with digitally-mastered sound effects and...dare I say even the smell of your breath got conveyed across in the text quite well. Burping is okay...but that's BostonDrunk's specialty, so be careful of patent infringement there when you use the term here on the forum.

And also, thank you for your most generous compliment of my countrymen and the "Lion City." We will be going back for a visit sometime in December to attend a wedding, can't wait to gobble up all the local fares when we get back. And you are absolutely right, the humidity can get you very quickly if you are not used to it. We have been staying in the US for almost 10 years now and the last time we went back about four years ago, the minute I stepped out of the airport I could hardly breathe and began to sweat profusely, soaking through the back of my shirt. Ah yes! That tells me I'm home at last. :D

Yes, riding on Singapore roads is like playing russian roulette and I have been doing that all through my teenage years. The thrill is unstoppable! Fortunately I survived those tumultuous years. My parents lived on the east side of the island. There's a cycling path running in parallel to the beach lasting about 7-8 miles long. On the weekends, it's packed like sardines and it becomes dodging human bullets.

Well, Kevan, I am glad you had the opportunity to experience that part of the world. I saw on the news the other day that Singapore Airlines might be the first airline to offer a ride on the latest SuperJumbo Airbus...maybe you can plan the next trip to coincide with the launch of the new service. With the bigger aisle, you can easily bring along your bike and put it on the trainer during the long flight. Maybe you can invite your pal Sandy to come along too but be sure to strip him naked and do a complete sweep of his luggage before allowing him to check in because he might try to smuggle a couple of durians up on the plane. That will certainly set the alarm off and turn the plane back midway.

Hope you have a safe trip home.

weisan