Back to basics – The principles of flight

We first experienced aeromodeling with the NCC, which is an integral part of their program. We were given several briefings and showed different models before we headed outside for the actual flying. We were able to fly line control craft and radio controlled craft. Everyone had a fairly easy time with the line controlled aircraft, but Sebastian crashed the radio controlled aircraft into a tree. It took awhile to retrieve, but the plane made it out alright. We then headed in for some lunch.

After lunch we headed back downtown to Chinatown and Little India for some last minute souvenirs. As a group we only had a short time earlier in the week in Little India and today we had more time to explore this great community. Our main stop took us to a large shopping mall called Mustafa. It’s hard for me to put into words the overwhelming experience this place is! It’s huge! Imagine the largest department store in America and double it! Under one roof you can essentially buy anything with the exception of perishable foods – it was a shopping addict’s dream come true. I was lucky to finish up my shopping this afternoon so now comes the challenging part of figuring out how to fit it all into the suitcase.

After our shopping and dinner on our own we met up to experience something truly unique to Singapore. Dubbed ‘night flying’ the short and quick description is radio controlled small aircraft with lights on them flying in formation. Overall it was pretty impressive, for those of you who have had the chance to use an RC aircraft you know how difficult it is to fly during the day; the added challenge of flying them at night was truly impressive.

We are back on base for the final countdown – tomorrow we have a free day to finish up any last minute shopping before we journey back home. The officers are meeting up for one last lunch with our local officer hosts before we throw a thank you and farewell BBQ for the cadets who have so brilliantly hosted us the past two weeks. This will likely be our last blog posting before we head back to the U.S. as tomorrow evening will be pretty busy packing up and saying our farewells. Until we reach the home-front on Sunday night/Monday morning.

The three of us plan on writing a final blog posting reflecting on our experiences once we reach home and the jet-lag fades away. Thanks for following along with us on our journey; we hope that we have given you a good overview of our experiences.

Joe, Janice and Sebastian

To Arms!

This morning everyone was given the chance to sleep in until 0800 which offered some much needed rest.

The day has begun with weapons training specializing with the M16S1 which is the Singaporean version of the M16A1 issued to the cadets. We had three stations where we rotated through, learning different skills.

The first was field stripping the M16 in 60 seconds and then putting it back together, then came aiming at a target in which we had to balance a coin on the barrel as we pulled the trigger with the goal to have it not fall off.

We then had magazine loading competitions and practiced un-jamming the rifle. With this finished, we then headed down to the armory which contained all the weapons for the NCC. We oiled the rifles up and then headed to the canteen for a delicious Singaporean lunch. Crazy times! The other cadets and I wanted to strip the rifles all afternoon. At the moment we’re taking some down time before the paintball at 1300. Don’t underestimate the cadets!!! 
-Sebastian out

Well I suppose that Sebass was right, “Don’t underestimate the cadets!!”  They whipped our butts 3 games to none!  Good fun was still had by all!  While I am not one for excuses, I must state that my gun didn’t seem to have as much juice as the cadets.  
After a nice long shower we are soon heading downtown for dinner and some shopping at a local military market before we have some free and easy time. 

Tomorrow we will have a chance to work with the aero-modeling portion of the Cadet program here before we take a trip to Chinatown and Little India in the evening. 

It’s hard to believe that our trip is in the final stages, I know it’s going to be hard to end it!

-Joe

Exploration of the natural beauty and habitat of Singapore

Today was a peaceful day for sure! We started the day off with a good breakfast before we wished the best of luck to our counterparts from India who departed for home this afternoon. It was great to have met them all and I know that our friendships will always be present with them!

Our first stop of the day took us to the Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid Garden; it was amazing to be able to see so many interesting plants, trees and especially the orchids, which incidentally is the national flower of Singapore. This morning I was struck again by the forward thinking of Singapore. As we have mentioned in previous blogs, Singaporeans live in small high-rise style housing developments, which are often very compact – however when we got to the Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid Garden I was overwhelmed with the amount of free and green space that is available for all to enjoy.

After a quick lunch we headed off to one of the best, if not the best zoo I’ve ever been to. The Singapore Zoo is on the same grounds as the Night Safari that we had a chance to visit a few nights back. The amazing thing about this zoo is that it’s so free and open! There are little to no “viewable” fences or walls to keep the animals tucked away in their arranged areas; a complex system of training and protecting the animals has been put into place making most of the animals virtually close enough to touch. A truly amazing experience had by all!

We have arrived back on base for dinner where we just had a traditional Singaporean dinner before we head out to the mall for a little more shopping and perhaps a bit of dessert!

Tomorrow we are scheduled for some weapons training and perhaps a cadet suggested re-match of paintball – sometimes they just don’t know when enough is enough! Our afternoon calls for us to have a pretty laid back agenda so until tomorrow happy reading!

-Joe, Janice and Sebastian

Experiencing the life of a local / A day of beauty

First off, we want to thank all of our readers for their patience with updating the blog.  We were on the run over the weekend and had very limited internet access.  We hope that you will continue reading as our trip progresses.

The weekend experience with my host family was phenomenal.  I was hosted at the same house as several other female participants.  Our host father was a devout Buddhist and taught us all about feng sui and the meaning behind birth years.  It was quite enjoyable to learn about his beliefs and teachings. Afterwards, we headed out for an afternoon of shopping in Chinatown and Little India.  Our host cadets were then gracious enough to show us around a popular nighttime area known as Clarke Quay.  We went to a nightclub there and stayed until the early morning.  We finally headed back to the host’s apartment and went to sleep.  The next day we went to Wild Wild Wet, one of Singapore’s water parks.  All of the cadets were there and it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day.  Afterwards, we went to see the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the presidential estate.  We left our host families and returned to the NCC campus late that night and headed straight to bed.  This morning we went to the Singapore Discovery Center for some hands-on education about Singapore nationalism.  Our trip was quite enjoyable and the activities at the center were fun to interact with.  The rest of the day was spent preparing for the formal dinner and presentation that we had tonight.  The dinner was outstanding and the performances and presentations of the other countries were informative and enjoyable.  We are now back to the campus and are quite ready for bed.  Tomorrow we head to the Singapore Flyer and to Sentosa, so it’s important that we get some sleep tonight!

-Janice

Well I knew who I was staying with earlier in the week, so I knew the weekend was going to be great! The NCC member who was hosting me was Rusdi and is a Staff officer for the NCC and has already served his time in the Army. He and his family are Muslim so it was a different experience staying with them. They were really great and extremely generous. I enjoyed their very comfortable home and great food. Rusdi took me all over Singapore in the day time along with another cadet named Danny. We went to his house and then did tons of shopping, along with playing some PS2 Soccer. Rusdi is a Liverpool fan and his father is a Arsenal fan which was nice and they both supported the Dutch soccer team in the FIFA league. We went to a water park on Sunday which was awesome and then hung out for the night. The next day we spent at the discovery center and preparing for our presentation that we had last night at the formal dinner which went extremely well thanks to Joe. Well the days are flying by so I’m going to try to enjoy as much as possible because I know it’s going to be an unforgettable experience! Singapore is one of the finest countries in the world with amazing cadets. It has been totally different from my visit to Canada. Which is funny because I’m with the Singapore cadets that I went to Canada with. Well stay safe and enjoy your day!

-Sebastian

We started off our morning with a trip aboard the Singapore Flyer.  We were scheduled for earlier in the week, but the trip was cancelled due to weather.  The Singapore Flyer is the tallest observation wheel in the world and we were treated to many great views of the island. 

We quickly proceeded to Sentosa Island, Singapore’s beach resort, where we once again had the opportunity to gain some altitude and take a look around.  We attended a 4D movie and experienced a live light show out on the beach.  During the afternoon, we lounged on the beach and swam in the South China Sea.  The water was so warm and inviting that we did not want to leave.  We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow because we are headed to both the botanical gardens and the zoo. 

-Janice, Joe and Sebastian

P.S. More photos are on the way – we have a low battery

 

    

Officer’s day away

I just ended the first day without the cadets and while I really enjoy spending time with the other officers I miss the cadets!

We had a chance to do some laundry this morning before we headed out for a day of shopping and exploring Singapore on our own.

Our first stop was lunch at a local favorite to our main officer host, the commander of the Air Cadets. We let Gary order everything for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the food! I had a chance to taste Singapore’s take on the Maryland Cream of Crab soup and I must admit, I think the Singaporeans have the Baltimoreans beat! The main dishes were a simple Chicken and Rice and a Sweet and Sour Pork – both were great!

After lunch we had a chance to go back to some of the shopping areas where we have been through to do a little shopping at our own pace. It was great shopping day for all!

I forgot to mention in the pervious post that I had a two suits made a few days ago and the other escort officers were so impressed by the prices that we took a few minutes to take a look at the shop that I went to – and not a surprise to me but Jenny the Australian Officer and Len the Canadian Officer got measured up for a personal souvenir!

Following lunch we had a chance to look around a few more shops before we headed back towards the base where we decided to have some dinner at a local food court.

Today was a well needed light day and I must admit I am looking forward to sleeping in! I am off to visit a Catholic Church on Sunday morning before we meet up for an appointment at noon for a massage – it’s going to be a rough day tomorrow I know!

We will likely blog on Sunday night to capture Janice and Sebastian’s home stay experiences.

-Joe

P.S. I didn’t have much time this morning to upload some of the pictures from last night so I did that this evening, so enjoy the additional pictures below.

The many cultures of Singapore

First off we must apologize for the lack of posting yesterday, we had a very long day that kept us out pretty late.

After breakfast we headed out for a visit to the NEWATER factory which is a water recycling plant, as you can imagine being in this part of the world water is a precious commodity and the forward thinking of this community and government yielded a plan to help deal with the water shortage issue. Fascinating indeed to see how a simple plan to take all the “polluted” water from the country and turn it into potable water has worked, and worked well!

Following the NEWATER plant we began a day of exploring the many cultures and history that make up Singapore. The day included a trip to Changi Chapel and Museum where we had a chance to learn about the Japanese invasion on Singapore during World War II – a moving experience for sure.

It was a amazing to learn more about Singapore as we traveled from location to location form the tour guide that spent the day with us. Our guide who is a retired Army (SG) Major gave us a good insight to some of the interesting facts about Singapore, including that every car in the country is no more than 10 years old to help with pollution and such. It’s important to note that the highways are pretty expansive and expensive! Each road is a toll road and gas is just over $2 Singapore Dollars a liter, or about $8 US Dollars a gallon. Also interesting to note is that the local government has thought pretty far ahead when planning the county to include multiple emergency plans in case of any emergencies, both man-made and natural.

Lunch took us to a local park where we had a chance to watch the enormous shipping port that makes up Singapore, roughly 70 million ships a year pass through the ports of Singapore making it the busiest shipping port in the world.

Out afternoon took us to Little India and Chinatown. I was quickly reminded of New York City when we arrived at both, it was great to see how many cultures both religious and ethnic can work and live together in such a small area. We had a chance visit a Chinese temple which was great to learn about the various prayers that are offered and for what reason they are offered. There is a tremendous amount of symbolism within the Chinese culture, which I know we were all interested to learn about.

The afternoon also included a stop to the main financial district, which is home to the tallest building in Singapore which is 280 Meters tall or about 918 feet tall!

We were scheduled to have a ride on the Singapore Flyer which is worlds largest observation wheel however due to a threatening thunderstorm on the way our trip was postponed until later next week. Instead we had plenty of time to shop and enjoy some local coffee which is what I did. While enjoying some coffee it was great to see that Popeye’s chicken has invaded Singapore, I had a grab a few fries – I held back on the chicken, but it looked great.

The night included a trip to a Night Safari which was amazing! Being in this part of the world we had a chance to see animals that aren’t often in the North American Zoos or natural habitat for that matter. A tram car took us on a 45 minute journey throughout the park it was a great way to end the night for sure.

This morning the cadets are off to a two day “home stay” with the local cadets, leaving the officers to enjoy some of the more adult like activities this weekend.

I am not sure if I will have a chance to blog the rest of the weekend, if I don’t enjoy the rest of the weekend and we’ll catch up with you all on Monday!

-Joe

A Joint Venture – Air meets Navy

Last night we had a chance to do a little more shopping and enjoy each others company at the ever popular Hard Rock Café - a fan favorite for all 20 of us!

This morning as in all mornings we had a good breakfast which was a nice blend of local cuisine and that of the Western Culture.

After breakfast we had a chance to meet the Navy contingent that is in town on a similar exchange program which included Sea Cadets and Officers from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand and India. We had a chance to merge together as a large group to participate in some field training exercises which included high and low ropes courses and a paintball challenge. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the officers won both paintball matches.

We then shared lunch together and had a chance to learn about the Sea Cadet exchange a bit more. Following lunch we headed out for some Sea training which was hosted by the Singapore Sea Cadets at their training facility. Included in the training was an opportunity to do some kayaking and dragon boat exploring. For some this was a pretty good challenge while others enjoyed themselves and a got a little sun at the same time!

Today by far had to have been the hottest day since we had arrived. The temperature was well into the 90’s and the humidity extremely high.

Following our time on the basin we shared in a traditional dinner again which was hosted by the Sea Cadets.

After dinner we boarded the MRT Train and headed to Bugis Street shopping district, which again gave each of us an opportunity to explore the local shopping scene. This area was pretty neat, it was similar to an open air market with lots of small shopping stalls where you can get anything from local goods, to imports to local cuisine. I must point out that it has been great to have local hosts with us each day and each night at our sides. They all have been outstanding hosts to us never leaving our side often helping us haggle a bit with the locals to secure the best prices possible.

Tomorrow we are expecting a very long day of visiting local travel spots and an introduction to the wildlife of Singapore during a night safari. We hope we can report back tomorrow night, if not – hang in with us and we will be sure to post as soon as we can.

I’ll end with a offering a bit of continue gratitude and great appreciation for all of our local hosts. They have gone above and beyond to accommodate us and have been great examples of the wonderful people of Singapore.

Joe, Janice and Sebastian

A view from the Chinook and the Singapore shopping experience

Last night was quite the adventure. We followed the cadet hosts to the MRT (metro) station to learn how to travel around the city on our own. We learned about all of the major stops and proceeded to head into the city district near the harbor. We went atop a building to grab a great view of the harbor lights. It was an amazing view! There were so many buildings whose reflections glanced off of the water to provide a spectacular image. We were also able to see the Singapore Flyer (which we will be visiting in the days to come) lit up at nighttime – also an amazing view.

After sufficient photograph time, we headed back down to the street for some more exploring. We found a hawkers center, which is a street lined with small stall-like food stations and tried some more local cuisine.

We sampled satay, which is a kabob with chicken, beef and mutton in peanut sauce. Also, we tried an ice kachang, which is a multi-flavored snow cone with a mixture of beans at the bottom and adorned with sweet corn on top. We were also able to buy whole coconuts and try the milk. After our meal, we headed back to the NCC camp. When we arrived, we were treated to a night snack of eggs, bananas, and hotdog rolls.

This morning we were treated to a traditional American breakfast of cereal and milk. There was also bread and nutella spread. We changed into our uniforms and then headed to Sembawang Air Base for a flight in a Chinook helicopter. We were able to stay rather low to the ground and were exposed to very nice views of the city, as well as a few smaller islands including Sentosa. After the flight, we were treated to lunch at the base. Maj Winter and I were given the opportunity to eat with the base commander. The lunch was a rather Westernized meal of chicken, fries, bread and corn. After we left the base, we headed back to the NCC camp for a short break. The other countries grabbed their formal wear and prepared to head to their embassies. We were not able to meet with anyone from our embassy, so currently we are at a Starbucks on Orchard Road, the main thoroughfare and shopping area in the city. Soon we will be headed off to explore the malls and have dinner all together at a true tourist location….Hard Rock Café

Janice

Janice did a great job highlighting our experiences from last night and today, our days truly continue to be a great time.

I know that I have blogged about how small Singapore is but I think I need to expand a bit about how small the world is!

Last night we were split into smaller groups to explore downtown and it was amazing. The downtown area is so vibrant with lots of great restaurants and shops. One of our stops was at a large concert hall where we were able to stop for a few minutes to catch American gospel choir in action, they were amazing.

Today as we are in our brief before we boarded the Chinook I had the chance to be introduced to an U.S. Army Major who is here on a three year exchange program with the Singapore Air Force as an instructor pilot. Our first question was the normal where are you from, and to my surprise the answer was Baltimore, but it got better! He is a graduate of Towson University and earned his Commission at Loyola College in Maryland. For those of you who don’t know I live in Baltimore and work at Loyola. It was great to meet him and he has offered to host all of the escort officers at his home here for a BBQ later in the week. (That I think may come as a surprise to his wife)

An interesting point about the Singapore Military, the mandatory age of retirement is 45, which is amazing to think about! Talk about wishful thinking. The base commander who hosted us for lunch today explained to us that sometimes the age restriction poses an issue with International Relations as sometimes the Chief of the Singapore Defense is only 45 and trying to negotiate with other foreign military delegations that have over 45 years of military service! Often he said they are looked at as being young and inexperienced. I can tell you that I’ve thought the complete opposite; everyone that we have met carries themselves with the highest standards.

I have a long list of souvenirs to buy so I think I’ll end it here. Hope all is going well back at home,

-Joe

Hey, hey, hey it’s Seeebastian! Hey everyone hope all is going well back home. The past day has already been highlighted by Joe and Janice, so I’ll just expand on my day a little bit. We went to the City Center and mall last night and I was able to try some of the local cuisine which was fantastic. Myself and a cadet from Australia bought a fresh coconut and drank most of that up(the last bit being spilled on another cadet by accident). I have been to the mall three times already but surprisingly I haven’t bought anything yet….though I think that’s going to change in a little bit. Played some soccer yesterday during the day but soon went in for a nap as the heat was quite tiring. The jet lag has worn off for the most part, but I find I’m really tired around early afternoon because we’re 12 hours ahead so back home its night, but after six I regain most of my energy. The Chinhook fight was amazing….just can’t wait till I’m able to fly helicopters! The Singapore military is very similar to the U.S. and is very efficient. The whole country is kept clean all the time, no matter where you go or what you do you will find it to be clean, efficient, and simple. Well I think I’ll let you all go but until the next post I’ll catch you all later! Enjoy the cooler weather!

-Sebastian

The Singapore Air Force past, present and future

As of second official day comes to an end we wanted to highlight our experiences today.  The day started like most of our mornings will, we gather as a large group for Breakfast, today’s menu included food more noticeable to the western pallet, eggs, hot dogs a fresh fruit salad and bread with a choice of Raspberry, Blueberry or my favorite Natella !  Each morning and evening snack (which we got after we blogged last night) we also are treated to what is becoming one of my favorite drinks here in Singapore, a variation of hot chocolate.  Only I would enjoy multiple cups of HOT Chocolate in the early morning 80+ degree heat!  

Our day today took us to Paya Lebar Air Base where we had an opportunity to explore how the Singapore Air Fore Pilots maintain their proficiency with their flight simulators.  Our briefing was conducted by the Commander of the Simulator Squadron Call-sign “Cougar” It was impressive to learn a bit more about the intense training the RSAF Pilots endure and continue both in and out of the cockpit.  Our highlight of the morning included an opportunity to get inside the F-5 and F-16 simulators.  Our very own, Janice Watson had the controls on the F-5 as we enjoyed a demonstration on how the simulator worked including an opportunity to see Air Refueling, Air to Air Combat, Air to Ground Combat and a smooth landing.  Over at the F-16 simulator we had a chance to witness a RSAF Pilot and Weapons System Operator hone their skills on a routine simulator training exercise. 

I know that Capt Reed published a synopsis of Singapore but to further expand upon it and to give you a visual, while flying in an F-16 you can cover the entire country in just about 30 Seconds! 

Following our visit to the simulators we gathered for a box lunch at the Paya Lebar Air Base Officers Dining room where had an opportunity to continue to get to know each other and continue to sample some local cuisine, simple yet delicious coconut rice with hot sauce, a few vegetables and a chicken wing.  I though it most fitting to snap a few photos (we were given permission) of the group so you can see who makes up the Singapore IACE 2008 Delegation

Dining Hall

Seabass and the Indian Delegation

Male Cadets

The Ladies of Singapore 2008

Air Force Museum

The UK Group

Escort Officers

After lunch we had a chance to learn about the past, present and future of the Singapore Air Force at their museum.  It stuck me as being pretty fascinating for such a small country the amount of resources and current technology that is deployed to this primarily humanitarian rather than defensive or offensive responding country.  

This evening after dinner, we are off to learn how to operate the local transportation system so that we can begin to explore the country a bit on our own (in small groups of course, Mom!)  We will catch up with all of you tomorrow; we have another day of flying as well as some official visits to the visiting countries embassies before we are off to explore the downtown nightlife. 

Until tomorrow,

-Joe

P.S. Feel free to leave us a comment if you have any questions about our activities or the country, we will try our best to answer them in the upcoming blog posts. 

 
 

Life in Singapore – Day 1

We made it!  After 23 Flying Hours we touched down on time in Singapore!

Our flight from LAX to Hong Kong was 14 hours and after 4 movies, 3 meals and a whole lot of powernaps we were glad to reach Hong Kong.  Upon our arrival in Hong Kong we had to clear customs and immigration before we re-boarded the aircraft en-route to Singapore for a quick 3 hour flight. 

Upon arrival in Singapore we were immediately greeted by our hosts and the delegation from Canada who arrived just minutes before us. 

It was great to meet up with both parties and officially get the exchange started.  We arrived shortly after 2300hrs to a very quiet airport but extremely hot climate – we boarded our bus and headed off to our accommodations for the majority of the exchange at the National Cadet Corps Campus, which is located on a major Army Base.

The Cadets are housed together in bunk style accommodations, while I am being housed in a small bungalow.  Both areas seem to be very comfortable.  Shortly after our arrival we prepared for a few hours rest before our day begun.

This morning we gathered at 0700hrs for a traditional Singaporean breakfast which included rice cakes and vegetables in a hot sauce, and by all accounts it was good.  Our first official tasking was a briefing which was delivered by our hosts whereby we learned our agenda for the two weeks and had an opportunity to formally meet the total delegation which includes 4 Cadets and 1 Officer from India, 2 Cadets and 1 Officer from the UK, 4 Cadets and 1 Officer from Canada, 2 Cadets and 1 Officer from Australia and 1 Officer from Hong Kong.  We all immediately bonded and enjoyed our company as we traveled to Changi Air Base for a formal briefing and orientation ride in a Fokker 50.  The flight was great!  We had a Birdseye view of all of Singapore; the crew treated us well and highlighted most of the destinations along our planned trips during the next two weeks. 

After our base visit and flight we headed back to the National Cadet Corps Campus and changed into civilian clothes, ate another traditional meal which consisted of Noodles, a hot sauce, chicken wings and an assortment of cakes and ice cream bars, which by the time we got to them we needed a straw! 

Following lunch we headed out for our first shopping expedition, we decided to walk to the shopping mall which took us through a typical housing block which in reality are large high-rise buildings housing thousands of people in very small quarters.  One particular thing to point out is the buildings do not have normal washers and dryers so outside on most everyone’s balcony are their daily clothes hanging to dry.  Funny thing is over the course of the day we experienced multiple passing thunderstorms, which I wondered how dry the clothes really get.  Only time will answer that question as we also do not have dryer access. 

Shopping was an experience!  We ventured out to a “small” shopping mall to which our reaction was it was rather large by American Standards.  Our favorite stop had to be a large department (Super Target-like) store which had a huge mix of local goods and foods, as well as imports from most major countries.  After our trip back to the Campus we once again gathered for a meal, which the highlight was having an opportunity to try three local fruits, one of which was the Durian, for us, it wasn’t a major hit!  However, the other two were delicious. 

As we prepare for tomorrow’s itinerary all three of us are looking forward to a good night’s rest, I don’t think any of us are fully adjusted to the time, temperature or way of life yet – but we are getting there! 

We are going to try to take as many photos as possible; however, we learned in our briefing today that it is prohibited to physically carry cameras on any military instillation in the entire country so we will do our best to capture our experiences in words.    

Until tomorrow every time you adjust the Air Conditioning think of us!

-Joe

 

Today was really the first day that we were able to see Singapore since we had arrived at nighttime.  The orientation flight at Changi was a great experience.  We were able to view most of the island from the air, and all of the trip highlights were pointed out.  Afterwards, just being able to go outside and walk around was quite nice.  Walking to the shopping mall was a great way to see the landscaping and natural vegetation of the country.  It also afforded us an opportunity to see the large apartment buildings that had been described to us.  The mall mostly offered products that were quite westernized, but it was interesting nonetheless.  When we left the mall, it was our first opportunity to use the expansive public transportation system.

I’m not sure that any of us are fully awake right now, so I am signing off to get some rest for tomorrow.

-Janice

 

Hello everyone, Singapore is a beautiful country….the airport is breathtaking; everywhere you go it’s always green and lush and the amount of flora is really part of the experience. Got some sleep last night….woke up not knowing where I was but the harsh heat brought me right back. Beginning to mingle with the other IACE delegates which is good. Still can’t really believe I’m in Singapore…buts it’s sinking in quickly. So tonight I’m off to work on my presentation and then some free time. Happy Memorial Day! We have great weather for it….hope you all do. Well until till next time,

-Sebastian (Sebass)