Jon's blog

Singapore's most established night club, Zouk, had arranged a very pleasant surprise for my last weekend in the country by arranging this year's outdoor dance festival to celebrate my farewells. I attended the party for the second time now, and it was again quite massive.

Last year I was still quite a beginner and an amateur, but this time I partied like a professional ;-) I stayed at party until it ended at 8am, and got to enjoy a great atmosphere with 20 000+ other enthusiasts. This weekend I slept a total of 5 hours, but at least I'll have a long Christmas break to compensate that. ZoukOut was arranged for the last time at Sentosa island just off Singapore, as next year they won't be able to occupy the entire Siloso Beach.

I'm uploading some pictures which were mostly taken by my friend Dave. I only had my mobile phone with me for pictures, but luckily Dave got a few really nice shots!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=74301&l=7af74&id=838595334

The party group

Time is flying and I only have another 9 days left in Singapore. I therefore invited a good bunch of friends for a farewell party at my place the past weekend. We had a really good time and continued the evening until quite late, moving to the Ministry of Sound only at around 2am. We were altogether about 30 people, and I thought it was an excellent crowd to spend the evening with -we certainly had a lot of fun!

I was rather busy "entertaining" the guests myself, and only managed to take a few photos. Luckily I did have several able photographers present, so I'm able to convey the great atmosphere to everyone who wasn't there! My photos along with those of Laura Connelly (a colleague from the EC Delegation) can be found through the link below, and I will soon add those of Dave as well.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73023&l=0c980&id=838595334

As a public holiday (Deepavali), November 8 was another good occasion to head for a long weekend trip around the region. China had obviously for long been at the top of my list of places to visit, so me and Dave decided to go to Shanghai for a few days. It was still a 5-hour flight, so not exactly around the corner.

Shanghai turned out to be an amazing city. Everyone keeps reading and hearing about the phenomenal growth in China and how it all is lead by Shanghai, but life over there was still way beyond my expectations. First of all, the city is massive. It has 18 million people and it seems to take forever to get out of the city to the suburbs. Secondly, it's wealthy and extremely modern. The way people dress, the mobile phones they use, the cars they drive -everything tells about the standard of living which is at least 3 times higher than the average in China, and about the same level as the Baltic countries. Third, it is super commercial and consumerism is evident everywhere. I'm not a scholar of communism, but what I can tell is that Shanghai has nothing to do with what Marx & Engels had in their minds.

We spent three days walking around town, visiting a few museums and various districts such as the old river side (the Bund), the new financial district (Pudong), the old colonial era French concession, and one of the suburbs. We also did a day trip to Tongli, which is a canal town about 2 hours from Shanghai. Quite interestingly, it seemed so much like Bruges, which made me feel a bit nostalgic! We also intended to do another day trip to Hangzhou, but having had some communication issues with the taxi driver as well as with the ticket office people, we missed 2 trains and had to miss out on that trip.

Shanghai felt like a very safe place, although as a wester tourist one gets a lot of unwanted attention in the form of offers for all kinds of entertainment as well as fake rolex watches and handbags. As a rule of thumb, nobody speaks English which made communicating with the locals a bit of a challenge. (My friend Dave is ethnic Chinese but doesn't speak the language, which made things even more interesting!) As in most Asian countries, food is available everywhere, it is quite cheap and usually delicious. I did end up eating some pig intestines as we couldn't quite read the Chinese menus, but they were actually not that bad!

While Shanghai was extremely fascinating it certainly wasn't "real China" any more than Singapore is Asia. Culturally it is not very interesting, but it does show in very "concrete" terms what China's massive economic growth is all about. The contrast between the bankers in their Armani suits and the homeless crippled beggars is striking, as is the complete lack of freedom of expression compared to the ultra commercial orientation of the country.

From the moment I arrived to Shanghai I started feeling an urge to go to Beijing (and possibly elsewhere in China) as soon as I can. This will have to be another year though, since Shanghai was the last place I visited for now before moving back to Europe. It really was another eye-opener, and again helped me to increase my understanding of Asia.

Below is a selection of some of the photos I took during the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=68651&l=36b1a&id=838595334

Having already spent a long weekend in Bali (Indonesia) six months ago, I now got a good excuse to go there again, as my good friend from university, Sami, decided to move on the island for 3.5 months. I spent 5 great days over there with Sami and another friend, Sampo, as well as a bunch of other random Finns (it's been a long time since I hung out with such a large group of my countrymen!).

Surfing was of course the main reason for all of us to go to Bali in the first place. Sami and Sampo had had a head start as they'd already been there for 3 weeks, but I was eager to catch up. While it was sunny all the time, the surfing weather unfortunately was such that on my first three days we couldn't surf, and therefore had to just relax by the pool, explore the nightlife and the various beaches, and do a whole-day boat trip with snorkling and swimming to Nusa Lembongan just east of Bali. We did have a great time although the boys tried to blame me for keeping them out of the water for three days...

On my two last days I finally got to try surfing, and I must say it was easier than I had thought. I actually managed to catch waves quite easily and stand up and stay on the board quite quickly! Of course I was using a huge board and only catching small white water waves as beginners do, but I truly enjoyed it! It was a shame I only had the chance to try it on two days, but I definitely look forward to the next occasion.

While the surfing environment has its own cool side to it, I must admit I was quite taken aback when I first arrived to Kuta Beach, the surfer's paradise (or hell, depending on how one looks at it). The place was just so commercial and artificial, full of western fast food and coffee shop chains, fashion shops, and sleazy nightclubs and bars that I didn't recognise the Bali I had seen earlier in Sanur and Ubud, which are totally different and so much more authentic. But that's of course what happens when you have tens of thousands of surfers coming over to enjoy one of the best surfing spots in Asia, and one does get used to it.

As I said it was still a great trip, and now I'm just waiting for Sami to pay a visit to Singapore... In the meanwhile, back to work for 2 weeks before another short break, this time to Brussels and Finland!

Pictures from the Bali trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56865&l=84a9e&id=838595334

August and September have truly been a traveling period for me. After visiting Hanoi my good friend Wynand arrived from Amsterdam to spend two weeks in Singapore and elsewhere in South East Asia. I only gave him one day to recuperate from jetlag before we took off to Thailand on Friday 24 August.

Our destination was Ao Nang (near Krabi), where we spent just one night having arrived quite late in the evening. On Saturday morning we took a boat to Ko Phi Phi, an island that was our main destination for a relaxing 3-day holiday. The place is quite close to Phuket, but not nearly as crowded by Northern Europeans on package tours, especially now during the rainy season. Speking of rain, there really wasn't much of it, just a couple of 10-minute showers really. We spent our days relaxing on the beach and the swimming pool, walking around the island and enjoying good and cheap food. We also spent one day doing a tour with a long-tail boat, going to various islands and beaches, and snorkling in the magnificent turquoise water with vast amounts of fish of all colours of the rainbow and beautiful corals. The only regret of the trip was the fact that I didn't buy a water proof camera before the snorkling :(

Some pictures of Ko Phi Phi: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50569&l=c3887&id=838595334

We arrived back to Singapore around 10pm on Monday 27 August, had a few hours of sleep and flew off to Siem Reap in Cambodia at 6am the following morning. Siem Reap is a town just next to the magnificent temples of Angkor, where several capitals of the Khmer Empire (9th to 15th century) were situated. Angkor is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and not without a reason; the temples are truly impressive and a sign of the greatness of the ancient Khmers.

We spent two days exploring the temples, which are situated 6-40km from Siem Reap city. In total there are more 1000 temples in the Angkor area - even though we started early in the morning on both days, we managed to cover about 10 of them. We opted for a tuk-tuk (small motorcycle with a cabin attached to the rear) to move around the area, although some people prefer airconditioned 4WDs, big tourist buses or even bicycles. We also hired a guide who knew a fair bit about the history of the temples, and was also eager to answer our questions about life in contemporary Cambodia. Among the temples we covered were the famous Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Phimeanakas, the Royal Palace, Bapuon, Preah Palilay, Preah Khan, Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm, Neak Pean and East Mebon. They were all magnificent, although nothing more than the standard tour that most busy tourist see during their 2-3 day stay in Siem Reap. Some enthusiasts stay for a week in order to discover temples off the tourist track, but I'm pretty sure that in my case that would result in serious temple fatigue. Visiting the temples is not that cheap, as entrance fees, transportation and guides cost a minimum of US$40 per day per person, but at least part of the money benefits the local economy, and is used to preserve the temples.

Tourism in Siem Reap has really picked up only since about 2000, and one can see the town is just booming. On the one hand new huge 5-star hotels, restaurants and bars are sweeping away the charm of a quiet village, but on the other, this brings a lot of money to one of the poorest countries in the world. Eating in a nice restaurant and relaxing in a totally western-like bar after a long day walking at the temples is of course very pleasant, although it gives the average visitor an entirely inaccurate picture of life in "real" Cambodia. Thanks to tourism, Siem Reap is doing quite ok, but the same cannot be said about the rural areas surrounding it.

Pictures of Angkor and Siem Reap: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50581&l=8a5d9&id=838595334

More info on Angkor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor

After two days of wonderful cultural experiences in Angkor, on Thursday 30 August we took the bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. Already the bus ride gave an idea of life in Cambodia outside of touristic Siem Reap. People in the roadside villages live simple life, and when the bus stopped for a half-hour break we were immediately greeted by begging children and their mothers selling pineapples and cold drinks. Arrival to Phnom Penh was somewhat of a culture shock, especially for Wynand (at least I had recently been to Hanoi and heard friends' stories about Phnom Penh). About 30 tuk-tuk drivers jumped on us, offering to take us to a hotel, and although none of them seemed threatning, it was just quite intense. On the way to a hotel we immediately realised how different the capital was from Siem Reap -even when we only went through the wealthy central area.

Our first day in Phnom Penh showed what the rainy season is all about: just 200m from the Royal Palace we were caught by an enormous rain and had to wait for half an hour for it calm down a bit. Finally a security guard took a huge sunshade to walk us until the entrance, so we could run until the first building. The Royal Palace is for the most part closed to visitors, as the King still lives there, but the complex is big enough to leave a fair amount to see for the visitors as well. The several pagodas were beautiful and well restored, which of course makes one wonder about the money spent on them in a poverty-stricken country. After the tour we found our way to the riverfront, where expats and tourists usually head out for drinks and dinner. On the way to the cosy western bars we started to get an idea of the misery of Cambodia's poor: small children and disfigured and crippled people asking for a dollar that for us was nothing but for them would buy enough food for the whole day.

Friday 31 August was our last day in Cambodia, and it was full of powerful experiences. We started the day by visiting the Killing Fields at Cheoung Ek, some 15km from the centre. This is where the Khmer Rouge regime murdered thousands of civilians after a few months of imprisonment and torture. The site is full of mass graves that have since then been opened, with just the holes on the ground, peaces of clothes on the ground and a collection of skulls in a Buddhist monument to remind the visitors of what took place there 30 years ago. After some souvenir shopping at the Russian market we continued to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Prison S-21), where more 14,000 people were tortured before being killed at the Killing Fields. Only 8 prisoners made it out alive. The museum was a brutal exhibition of how the inhumane conditions in which the prisoners were imprisoned and tortured before being killed. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouges kept precise files on their activities, leaving behind vast collections of photographs of the victims which are on display at the museum. During their regime, Pol Pot & co killed an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to 3 million) through execution, starvation and forced labor. Before the regime the country had 7.5 million inhabitants.

After a 2-hour flight from Phnom Penh back to Singapore one couldn't help feeling guilt and even disgust of being in such a fortunate position as to have been born in a wealthy western country and living a somewhat decadent expat life in the ultra commercial Singapore. Phnom Penh was a good reminder of the world we live in, and tired as we were, both Wynand and I found it difficult to fall asleep once back at my place.

Pictures of Phnom Penh:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50815&l=97141&id=838595334

After the intense trips to Thailand and Cambodia we spent the weekend relaxing in Singapore. We didn't do much, just visited Chinatown and Little India, conquered the highest point in Singapore (Bukit Timah hill, 164 meters above sea level), and had a look at the night life. On Sunday I also got the chance to experience something new, as we visited a public housing estate, where about 85% of Singaporeans live, but most Western expats never get to see. A friend of a friend had recently moved into one of them, and we got the chance to see his place. As expected, it was nothing like the image most foreigners have of Singapore (and the image its government is eager to promote), but very modest in every respect. On the other hand, it was very clean and safe, nothing like the ghettos in European suburbs. Eating at the local hawker where no English was spoken and having durian fruit for desert were also very distinctly Singaporean experiences.

More than three days in Singapore would however probably have bored Wynand to death, so we decided to make another short trip. We took a bus to Kuala Lumpur (commonly referred to as KL in the region), Malaysia's capital. The bus services between Singapore and KL are very competitive, as the trip only takes 5 hours, is very cheap and offers lots of comfort. Extra large massaging leather seats that can be made completely flat, personal video system and snacks & coffee made the trip a very pleasant one. As a city KL was nothing particular, although I do very much enjoy the multiethnicity also present in Singapore. Malays, Chinese and Indians mix in the city that just celebrated its 50th of independence from Britain, and the Malaysian flag was covering every inch of wall in the city. We spent the two half-days walking around the city, checking out the must-see attractions such as Independence Square, the Petronas Towers, the market and the Museum of Islamic Arts. In addition to that we just walked around, ate well and enjoyed the experience of seeing yet another city.

Pictures of KL:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50824&l=0a834&id=838595334

Wynand certainly got a comprehensive view of life in South East Asia, having seen the beaches of Thailand, the ancient temples of Angkor, the poverty of Phnom Penh, the modernity of Singapore and the buzz of KL. I also thoroughly enjoyed traveling around the region in good company, and I feel I've finally started to understand Asia. In a way it's a pity that it's only happening now that I'm close to leaving the continent, but the fact is that by staying in Singapore one simply doesn't develop that kind of understanding.

As 9 August was Singapore's national day, me, David and Nish thought it would be a good ideato take one day off, have a 4-day weekend, and escape the celebrating island. After a long process we had decided to go to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, of which we had heard very positive comments from people who had already been there.

My stay in Hanoi was actually the longest, as I arrived on Thursday some 6 hours earlier than Dave and Nish, and left on Sunday evening as opposed to the morning. Having waited too long to book, my travel mates missed out on the flights that I took, and they therefore had in effect two days less than me to spend in Hanoi. In any case we were all very happy with the trip which offered both the hustle and bustle of a packed city, and the beautiful scenery of Ha Long Bay. All three of us considered that Hanoi was among the most fascinating places we've ever been to!

What made Hanoi so special was its busy but friendly atmosphere. The traffic in Hanoi is unbelievable, and trying to dodge the avalanche of "motobikes" coming from all directions was at first terrifying, but in the end great fun. The relatively few cars on Hanoi's streets were often very new and expensive (Mercedes, BMW, Lexus,...), and indeed a greater number of cars would overwhelm the narrow streets that are great for scooters. Moving from one place to another was very convenient, as one easily finds a local guy offering a motobike or a cyclo at every corner in the city.

We stayed in a backpacker hotel in the heart of the Old Quarter, where most such establishments are located. The hotel was very cheap, but still quite decent, even if the (mostly underage) people working there spent their nights sleeping on the reception floor... The weather was even hotter and more humid than in Singapore, which we all had thought was already quite hot. It was the monsoon season with plenty of rain and hot weather, and we experienced both, altough luckily the rain was quite limited.

As Vietnam is still a very poor country (although growing very quickly) everything seemed really cheap. Most of the western brand products were of course fakes and the shops in the tourist areas are heavily overpriced, but still one could find very interesting bargains. What we most enjoyed was vietnamese food, which is both healthy and delicious. One could eat in a very nice restaurant for about 7 euros, including drinks and two courses. In the street stalls a meal wouldn't cost more than 50 cents, but we wanted to take advantage of the upmarket establishments which still were very cheap by western standards. Another delight was the local, daily brewed 'Bia Hoi' (=draft beer), a glass of which one could buy in the cosy street bars for 10 cents. It had only about 3% of alcohol and the taste was very refreshing, Bottled beer in most bars would cost around 70 cents.

On Saturday we did a trip to Ha Long Bay ("Bay of Descending Dragons") which had magnificent sceneries with rock formations, caves and floating fishing villages. The weather was cloudy but we didn't let that bother us, and enjoyed not only the sights but also the delicious food and observing the interesting lifestyle of fishermen.

All in all, the trip was really great and there were many interesting things to see. I would definitely recommend Hanoi and its surroundings to anyone who wants an interesting holiday outside of the usual beaches.

I was in fact so excited that I ended up taking more than 400 photos, but to keep it interesting I will only share the best 100 ;)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.aal8y8dp&x=0&y=-ovrrut

This weekend a good friend of mine, Sam, had his birthday and he invited a number of his friends for a Sunday brunch -after a party on Saturday, of course. The brunch took place in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, and included an extraordinary buffet with delicious seafood, some Indian food, a great selection of very good French cheese, as well as free flow of Moet Champagne... Such brunches are apparently somewhat of an institution among expats in Singapore, and although I don't (yet) consider myself quite cultivated enough to indulge in such pleasures on a regular basis, it was definitely worth a try. The seafood was just marvellous, and after three hours of eating (and a bit of champagne to wash everything down) we headed off to one of the beaches in Sentosa island. Quite a special Sunday.

But what made me even more delighted was the fact that I finally realised that the gym I've been going to for 5 months actually has a Finnish sauna, with a proper Helo stove!! I always thought they only had a lame steam room that a self-respecting Finn would never set his foot into, but it turns out that the clever Finns had hidden the real sauna around the corner. Now I've had the chance to relax in the sauna after my work-outs, although I still have a lot of work to do in teaching the locals how to throw löyly...

This week I attended interesting lectures given by two prominent economists, professors Barry Eichengreen and Joseph Stiglitz, who were in Singapore to reflect on the 10th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis. The timing of their visits was of course also coincided with nervousness in stock markets around the world following troubles in US credit markets, and since most East Asian countries were badly hurt 10 years ago, there were some interesting discussions on whether a similar crisis now looms around the corner.

Both professors did however believe that Asian economies are now on a much healthier footing than in the 90s, and that the likelihood of a similar crisis is very low. However they were quite pessimistic about the medium-term outlook for the US economy, which of course is the source of much of Asian growth as well. So the Singaporean audience probably did get a bit of a wake-up call, especially when coupled with the recent stock market slides in an environment where an increasing number of households have entered the stock market -just like 10 years ago.

In a way attending those lectures made me miss the academic aspects of economics, which I only a year ago (after six years of studying) was rather fed up with. In addition to what one reads in newspapers, it would be nice to have more time to look at academic papers addressing issues that are both interesting and relevant for my work. But time is short, and for the time being I still don't plan to sacrifice doing sports and going out with friends just to become even more of an economist!

24 - 29 °C

Extreme weather has occurred in many parts of Europe, but South East Asia seems to be going through strange weather as well. Parts of Indonesia have suffered from heavy rains and flooding, and Singapore has seen unusally cold weather for more than a week now.

Having lived here for about 9 months now, I've for the first time had to experience feeling a bit chilly -with the A/C switched off! My office is totally freezing, as the A/C is tuned to keep us cool when the sun is shining and temperature up at the usual 34'C. And even the usual way to warm oneself up -a 5min walk outdoors- doens't do the trick anymore!

Based on historical averages, July is supposed to be the least rainy month of the year, but the forecast promises the rain and cold will continue.

Well at least I don't feel so home sick anymore...

Since I'm not exactly a professional blogger, I have unfortunately thus far ignored the possibility of including an RSS feed of my blog. Those of you who are keen on reading my new posts as soon as they are published can subscribe by clicking the "RSS 2.0" button on the right. This way you will receive an automatic notification whenever I post something new to my blog.

I just came back from a week-long trip to Brussels, which was just marvellous. I really did everything a man could hope for, having played football, spent quality time with Laura, catching up with good friends, and enjoying Belgian beer. Oh yes, I also participated to a very interesting training seminar on trade policy which was organised by the Commission's DG Trade.

I indeed headed straight from the airport (after 15 hours en route) to play football with the team of Francesco, Marcin and Kamila that took part in the Commission's stagiaire league. I had a good time playing, although the fact that I hadn't played football for a year added to the poor performance that I mainly blamed the jetlag for... After the tournament there was also a party at the "stadium" with barbequing, beer and a football quiz. And the day after my feet hurt like hell...

I spent the whole week hopping between various Commission buildings as in addition to the trade policy seminar I also succeeded in fixing numerous appointments with various heads of units with a hope of finding a job within the EC in Brussels. It was a hectic week, but I'm really happy with how things went both at the seminar as well as the meetings, and I'm certainly hopeful of getting a post soon!

I also had a wonderful time with Laura, with whom I spent 5 days in Brussels. It was just so good to see hear again, especially in Belgium where we first met, and where one can be much more relaxed than in Tunisia. It was of course awesome to meet a bunch of good friends from Bruges, and to catch up on what everyone's doing. Dinners, lunches and Belgian beers with a group of friends in comfortable weather conditions were highly appreciated!

So now I'm back in Singapore, and as if I haven't been travelling enough lately, I'm already waiting for August when I will visit Vietnam, and later also Thailand and Cambodia... It's good to be back, full of energy and motivation, and some more certainty (at least a hunch of how things will turn out) about the future!

Some photos from Brussels and Oostende:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.809172ql&x=0&y=-ll8nb9

On Saturday 30 June Singapore's national football team hosted Australia in an international friendly, with both teams preparing for the Asian Cup to be held in Bangkok. The game was also the last one on the "iconic" National Stadium, which is being demolished to make way for a new sportshub. The stadium was even more depressing than the infamous Ratina in Tampere, but at least me and my mate Dave sat in a corporate box and enjoyed free refreshments...

The game itself was a bit boring, and the Socceroos didn't seem very interested in the first half, with Singapore creating plenty of excellent goal scoring opportunities. In the second half the visitors cheered up a bit, and in the end it was 3-0 for Australia. It was fun to be there though, after all it was my first match in Asia!

It was also a good occasion to test my new camera, here's a sample of the shots: # #

How typical; Singaporeans cheering not so much for the home team, but more for Liverpool and Harry Kewell... Definitely not acceptable!!

So the 2.5-week holiday in Tunisia and Finland is over, and I'm back in Singapore. I had a marvellous time both in Tunis with Laura as well as home in Finland, and I really feel relaxed coming back and starting to work after my short break!

In Tunisia we pretty much stayed in Tunis, but on a couple of occasions we spent the day in Carthage and La Marsa, which are on the seaside just 30min from the centre of the city. We explored the old roman ruins, did some shopping and stopped for a short while on the beach as well. That was very nice and relaxing, and one could see that also the Tunisians were enjoying the summer and being more positive and smiling a lot.

The trip to Tunisia was also marked by a couple of special occasions. The day I arrived we had the chance to attend a local wedding ceremony at the town hall, as a friend of one of Laura's colleagues got married. Nothing too fancy, but still a bit different from what we are used to in Europe. On a Sunday afternoon we went to the house of the same colleague, where we had the rare occasion to observe the preparation of proper Couscous, and afterwards fill ourselves by eating too large quantities of it! And the day before I left was my birthday, and we invited some mutual friends to Laura's house. A few colleagues from the EC Delegation in Tunis, as well as other friends. (Mostly Italians, which really gave me a good chance to improve my listening skills...)

I didn't have my camera with me this time, but here are some shots taken with Laura's camera:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.3tymt1xx&x=0&y=6zt9dr

My 10-day stay in Finland took place conveniently on a week when the National Football Team had two very important games at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. Tickets had of course been purchased well in advance, but to my disappointment Finland only beat Belgium, whereas Serbia managed to go home with 3 points... But the games apart I had a magnificent stay in Finland! Weatherwise the week was probably the best that the country will have whole summer: every day 25-28'C, not a single cloud, and lots of light. It was again an amazement walking home from a bar at 3.30am while looking at the sunrise...

Despite my rather short visit I managed to see most of the important people that I don't get to meet so often. Apart from close relatives and friends, I also attended a family reunion where I met several relatives for the first time in my life! But the best part of my trip was still enjoying the Finnish Summer evening by having a sauna with my father or my friends, dipping to the lake for a swim, and sitting back to look at the beautiful sunset that seems to take forever. It doesn't get any better than that.

(Although midnight is not that bad either:)

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Although by looking at my blog one might get the impression that all I do is travel around South East Asia, with an occasional flight to Tunisia and Brussels, I have actually been working quite hard recently. Europe Day on 9 May brought about a busy period for the whole office, and many other things have been causing a lot of work during the spring...

But now it's time to relax, as tomorrow I'm leaving Singapore for 2.5 weeks! First I'll fly (for the fifth time already) to Tunisia, where I will spend my birthday with Laura. Then I'm off to Finland for about 10 days to see family and friends, and of course the Finnish national football team who play two crucial home games against Serbia and Belgium.

I've just had two nights with very little sleep, as I compiled a video of our recent trip to Perth:

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As 1 May (Tuesday) was a public holiday, I did a long weekend trip to Perth with Arno and Nish, my German and American mates. Weather wise it was perhaps not the best time of the year to go there, as it is autumn now in Australia. But the cool (20'C) weather was actually quite nice, as the humidity of Singapore can get a bit boring.

We spent one day just looking around in Perth and Fremantle, which is a separate smaller city about 20km from Perth. Fremantle is on the coast and therefore has a port, whereas Perth is a bit further inland along the Swan River. They were both relatively nice cities, although Perth seemed a lot calmer and "corporate". Fremantle on the other hand was more lively and somehow relaxed, and we spent a very pleasant Saturday afternoon there.

One of the higlights of the trip was a game of Australian football we saw on Sunday at the Subiacco Oval. The home team, Fremantle, was cheered by some 40 000 supporters, and after a very exciting game (yes, we did actually manage to learn some of the rules) the beat Adelaide with a last-minute point. Occassional rain showers were not enough to kill the atmosphere, and we were all genuinely surprised about how interesting the game actually was!

On Monday we rented a car and drove along the coast. The original plan was to drive to see the Pinnacles Desert, which is supposed to be a very impressive place to see. But as Arno and Nish experienced some difficulties waking up early in the morning, we decided to opt for a tour of the small coastal towns instead of the 350km one-way drive to Pinnacles. The towns where we stopped where rather quiet as there were not many tourists around this time of the year, and the Indian Ocean looked a bit too cold for a swim. But we still had a good time exploring the Australian way of life and cracking jokes about the locals, Singaporeans, as well as each other.

Australia felt quite expensive, as the Aussie Dollar is currently very strong against basically every currency in the world. That is mainly due to the huge demand for their raw materials from China, but enough about economics. We ate a lot of good Western food, enjoyed various Australian beers we had never heard of, and explored the nightlife (which apart from Saturday was not worth mentioning). During the weekend the city was invaded by American sailors who had been in Iraq and got the chance to get a small break and sack & pillage the coast of Australia. They were all very young (20 or so) and very drunk, and made their presence very visible. But as we reckoned, maybe they deserved to relax a bit...

All in all it was a nice trip in nice company, and at least the western part of Australia gave a very positive impression. Hopefully I will at some point have a chance to visit the eastern part as well!

Have a look at some photos from the trip here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.a8jdz8lp&x=0&y=-wx3grr

I just posted the links to see a few photos and video clips from my most recent visit to Tunisia (see the post of 20.4.07 below). Today I'm off to Perth in Western Australia for 4 days, hopefully winter hasn't arrived there quite yet...

A list of signs which tells you that you've been in Singapore for two long... Most of them are actually quite true, although some of them might not be so clear to people who haven't lived here.

1. You don't see anything wrong with putting chili on everything you eat.

2. Your idea of a good night consists of going to a hawker center, eating, drinking tiger beer, then going to another hawker to eat and drink again.

3. You would buy a $20 product you don't need on sale for $10 to save the money.

4. "Crossing the country" means taking the MRT (underground) to the end of the line.

5. You think corn and beans are dessert food.

6. Most or all of these acronyms make sense to you: NUS; NTU; ERP; SDU; PAP; MRT; LKY; GCT; PRC; TIBS; SBS; SMS; JB; JBJ; AMK; AYE; PIE; ECP; ISD; ISA; 5 C's; CPF; CHIJMES; SPG; CWO; HV.

7. You use too many acronyms when you talk.

8. You think that $100,000 is a reasonable price for a Toyota Corolla and $1,000,000 is a reasonable price for a bungalow, but $5 for a plate of fried noodles is a barbarous outrage.

9. You know that Asian food outside of Asia is shite.

10. You have a naive belief that the war against ants will be won.

11. You believe the government's justification for every action is substantial. (In order for us to be competitive in the 21st century...).

12. You think everything should be 'topped up'.

13. You wear winter clothes indoors and summer clothes outdoors.

14. You think paying $50 bucks for a bottle of booze that costs $15 at home is a bargain.

15. You get irritated if you don't see a sign telling you how long your wait's going to be for a bus, a train, or the expressway to take you where you want to go.

16. You're certain that Holland Village is for hippie bohemian artist types and not overpaid yuppies.

17. When you cross the border into Malaysia you automatically and deeply fear for your life and your wallet.

18. No matter what you're doing at the moment, you'd rather be shopping.

19. You're impressed by high-rise apartment buildings with actual lobbies instead of bare exposed pillars on the ground floor.

20. You forgot what chewing gum tastes like.

21. You think chicken floss, corn, mayonnaise, and tandoori spices are proper pizza toppings.

22. You think a bus is incomplete without a TV.

23. You accept that expressways here are cleaner than toilets rather than the other way around.

Just a few days after my parents & sister left from Singapore I flew hopped on a plane as well. I had a 2-day meeting in Brussels on 12-13 April, and I had the chance to combine the trip with a short Easter holiday in Tunisia with Laura. So after 24 hours of travelling I arrived to Tunis via Amsterdam, Brussels and Rome (not the simplest one of itineraries...).

Laura and I spent the Easter weekend in Sousse, which is one of the principal tourist resorts in Tunisia. The weather was nice and sunny enough for most tourists from Northern Europe to lie on the beach with their swimming suits, but compared to the temperatures that I have had to get used to, it was still quite chilly! The town was quite nice although a bit too touristic to my liking (all the local shop keepers bugging us in English instead of French, as in Tunis), and we had good food and sight seeing. Laura already knew the town a bit as she had been there with her parents for a few days in March.

Photos from Tunis and Sousse:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.7i99ragd&x=0&y=-p741qo

In Sousse we also went to the local church for the Easter Sunday Mass, which was a very interesting experience in a couple of ways. Firstly, it might have been my first Easter Mass ever, and secondly, it was given in several languages (English, French and Italian) and was coupled by really cool African style singing. See two short video clips of the mass here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnOK_W1kzU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4JW1pQvAU

On 11 April I left Tunisia to meet my friends in Brussels - and to attend the meeting, of course ;) It was really cool catching up with so many good friends from the College of Europe, and although I was there for such a short period, and not staying for the weekend, I had an excellent time. The weather was really awesome (by Belgian standards) and both on Wednesday and Thursday there was a huge amount of people on Place du Luxembourg having a beer or two after work. I learned that many of my friends had found really interesting jobs, and I certainly look forward to finding one in Brussels as well!

For those interested, here's some extracts of recent political events in Singapore. Among other issues, the government has decided to increase ministers' salaries by 60% to reach an average of USD1.25 million. (The Prime Minister's salary will be increased to USD2.05 million, which is 5 times more than what George W. Bush earns.)

Another hot topic has been the ban for Members of the European Parliament on visit in Singapore to speak in a public conference, on the grounds of "Singapore's politics being reserved for Singaporeans".

For more info:

http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleALDECALDforum3.html

http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleALDECALDforum6.html

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/asiapacific/2007414/107119.htm

Well it's been an exciting 12 days that my parents and sister spent with me. In addition to a few days of shopping and eating well in Singapore, we did two wonderful trips to Bali, where we spent 4 days, and to Kuching in Borneo, where we stayed for one weekend.

Both places offered a big contrast to Singapore, with lots of different traditions, religions, lifestyles and cultures. In addition to seeing a host of marvellous sights we also had time for shopping and eating well!

Bali was of course quite touristic even though the island has yet to fully recover from the drop in the number of tourists after the two terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2005. It is just amazing to see how fully the island depends on tourism, and how the people there are friendly and receptive to foreign people. The number of beautiful temples is just amazing - it seems there is one every 20 metres or so. We stayed in two different places (Sanur and Ubud) which were both nice, although the latter was clearly more appealing. In addition to all the temple gazing we also went to the monkey forest, some handicraft shops and snorkling. What a shame we didn't have a water resistant camera, the bottom of the sea was just amazingly beautiful!

Some photos from Bali:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.9qvddycl&x=0&y=-tqvutm

Kuching in the state of Sarawak in western part of Borneo (Malaysia) offered a different kind of experience. It is not yet invaded by tourists to such an extent as Bali, but it was also very warm and receptive of foreigners. Efforts to promote tourism on a greater scale are clearly visible though, as excursions to the jungle and to various other attractions are widely available. In addition to exploring the city we visited a museum, went to see Orangutans to a conservation area, and visited a cultural village exhibiting how the tribes traditionally lived (and still do) in Borneo. We were told that headhunters are not to be found anymore for about 30 years, but that many people still live in the traditional longhouses in the jungle just the way their ancestors did.

Photos from Sarawak:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.7nsly8wl&x=0&y=dk6kk5

I am of course grateful to my family for giving me the chance to finally do some travelling in the region, and to experience new interesting things together. At the same time, however, I am somewhat relieved that they left because it was a tiresome two weeks with lots of things to be seen and not so long hours of sleep :)

Now I will just work for a couple of days before heading to Tunisia to spend the Easter break with Laura...

Wow, it really has been a bit too long since I last updated this blog! Even though I do have a couple of excuses for that, I guess I must try to be more active from now on...

So first was Christmas, which I spent back home in the dark and cool Finland, which however barely had any snow :( The holiday was a nice little break from hard work in Singapore, but it was nice to be back as well!

Since coming back after the New Year celebrations, I was quite busy and focused on preparing for my oral exam with European Personnel Selection Office, as I have been participating a competition since Sept 2005 to become an official at the EU Institutions. So every day after work I spent a good amount of time reading my notes from the College of Europe, along with newspapers and online sources with material about EU affairs. And of course trying to come up with a selling speech that would convince the selection panel ;)

The interview took place on 14/02 in Luxembourg, and my feeling afterwards was pretty good. I answered all the questions without much trouble, but the only thing that bothered me a bit was the fact that they never gave me an opportunity to explain why I was applying and what makes me an excellent candidate. But overall I felt positive and thought that I did the best I could.

On the way to the inteview I had the chance to say hi to a friend from a couple of years in Paris. Although we only sat down briefly for a cup of coffee at Gare de l'Est, it was really nice catching up and of course seeing Paris again after a couple of years since living there. Following the interview I went to see Laura in Tunisia, and we had a magnificent time! It was so great seeing each other after a couple of months, and in addition to spending time in Tunis we went for a weekend trip to Kairouan, a holy city also known for its carpet industry. See the end of this post for a couple of photos!

Then, back in Singapore since Feb. 22nd, I've been very busy at the office working on a couple of publications on EU-Singapore cooperation in trade & investment as well as science & technology. The upcoming EU 50 years celebarations are also increasingly putting a pressure on us, along with continuous visits to Singapore of various EU officials. At least I've managed to do a lot of sports this year; in November and December I barely did anything and therefore really felt like crap. But it truly seems I'm quite busy with work and work-out, and don't even have time to write to this blog! Or then I really just have a serious productivity problem...

Last week I then finally received marvellous news: I had passed the EU competition in the top merit group, and therefore have a very good chance of being recruited to work for the Institutions on a permanent basis! I am of course extremely pleased as this has been my goal for many years, and as I truly believe that a career in the Institutions is a good match for me. (Yes, I will be a Eurocrat, thank you very much...)

Now I will just spend a couple of weeks working hard, after things will really turn hard when my parents and sister arrive for a 12-day visit ;) Just kidding, it will of course be very nice to have them here! As Singapore is small and relatively boring, we will take the opportunity to visit Bali and Kuching, which is in Malaysia on the Borneo island, and a good base for some jungle exploration :)

After my family flies back to Europe, I will follow them in just a couple of days. I have a meeting in Brussels on 12-13 April, and I will take the chance to combine the trip with an Easter holiday with Laura in Tunisia. It's going to be great to over there again, and hopefully I will also be able to catch up with friends in Brussels!

Do come back to check for updates, I promise they will be more regular from now on!

Pictures from Tunisia:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=74uxubf9.6noeuiqd&x=0&y=ezdm5z