Zoom, zoom, zoom....

The first thing that strikes you as you approach is the sound. Incessant and loud, it sounds otherworldly - as if some alien species of locust had descended upon Earth and were walking the streets. The sounds were not from alien locusts however, but alien in a different way - they were F1 race cars. I attended the Singapore Night F1 time trials last night, which was replete with all the trappings of a big event, including a concert by Shakira. (More on her later - but let's just say she is easy to look at:))
As I approached the entry gate, I was immediately struck by the difference in security here in Singapore. The guards that do big events are called Gurkhas. Big, intimidating and wielding a famous(some would say infamous) machete in the belts of their pants, Gurkhas require respect, if not fear, upon first inspection. As I approached the gate, three Gurkhas surrounded me, causing me to contemplate for just a moment how to defend oneself against a machete attack. Alas, they just wanted to see my ticket - which I provided in a very slow motion - moving my hands slowly into my pockets and then lifting the tickets slowly out - I've seen enough cop shows to know the exact way to do this. I also tried to plaster a disarming smile on my face, but that didn't seem to matter to the Gurkhas. I got the sense (and maybe I imagined it) that the biggest Gurkha, who also seemed to be the leader, was slightly disappointed he didn't get a chance to slice me with his machete.
After passing through the gate, my friends and I ended up in an open field which had a stage on one end and food all around.
One thing about the concert - and my friends and I briefly discussed this - is whether or not it is appropriate concert etiquette to put your young son/daughter on your shoulders - making a 5 ft 11 inch man now approximately 7 ft tall. It seems that a lot of people where doing this, and that they were clustered right in front of us.
Shakira was good - she is more eye candy than music talent in my opinion - not that I really cared - but she had a couple of danceable tunes. The video for the F-1 is below - it was taken as I approached the gate - I think you can see the Gurkhas, and you can definitely hear the cars in the street a few feet ahead of me. Enjoy - but don't forget your earplugs.

A long time coming....

Alright faithful readers of my recently dormant blog - you are about to be rewarded with an eruption of stories, pictures and various and sundry other methods of story telling regarding my recent move to Singapore, ie Adam's Adventures 2.0!

I want to start with something for my parents - they want to know what my apartment in Singapore is like: Here are a few pictures of the inside....but the main feature to note is the resort style swimming pool...it is easily the best pool I've ever seen, resort or not.