From the delicious food to the easy public transit system, Singapore has been a spectacular place to vacation. Upon my arrival I immediately notice how clean and organized this city truly is…the parking stalls are marked red and green to indicate open parking spaces, and there are tons of eating and shopping places (and I hadn’t even left the airport!) I knew I was in for a treat.

My first Singaporean food experience was the Hainanese Chicken and Rice…mmmm! I immediately fell in love with food here. Petrina took me to a food hawker place where you find a table then go around to the different stalls and order food and the deliver it to your table. We ate chicken wings, crayfish, and oyster omelet (my personal favorite!) The next day for dinner was my food experience of my entire vacation…Chili crab at Jumbo Seafood. (See a picture in a different post). But we didn’t just have chili crab, it was served with soup, steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, cabbage, fried sea bass, and for dessert I tried Mooncake for the first time. We went to food hawker places and I tried chicken laksa, satay, durian, and a lot of other new foods. Singapore is a foodie’s heaven…I for sure could live and eat here! I tried so many new fruits.

I have been able to see so many things here in Singapore. Orchard Road has a ridiculous number of shopping malls…even if I could have shopped here everyday I don’t think I could have seen every mall on this road! I visited Chinatown, Arab Street, Clark Quay (pronounced like key), the Botanical Gardens (specifically the orchids), the Singapore Flyer, the Zoo, and I even saw the Youth Olympic Games flame and a tennis event! I can’t believe I have seen so much in such a short period of time.

Petrina and her family have been so hospitable! I have truly enjoyed every minute of my stay here! 🙂 I know my time in Singapore would not have been close to what this experience has been if it weren’t for the Loh Family. Thank you so much for opening your home and helping me experience the best of your country.

Now I am headed back to Thailand…this time to Ko Phi Phi Island via Phuket. More to come!

have been memorable…if I had to put it into words. This trip has started off very well. The flights were great…especially the first leg from Los Angeles to Taipei…it was “all you can do” entertainment, from self select movies on your personal TV to “on demand” games! I watched a Bollywood film with 2 of the students I am traveling with and I watched the Back Up Plan. I also played at least 100 rounds of Mahjong which was fun because the electronic/computer players moved a lot faster than real life players so the games flew by…and I only won a few individual games. The food on the plane was excellent! My fave was the beef with noodles…the beef was so tender! The entire trip we were served a total of 3 meals and 2 snacks…I wish US airline companies would do what Asia airlines do…it makes the flight so much more enjoyable!

Once I was back on solid ground (at least for a few days) I arrived at my Hotel which was tucked away so the taxi driver got lost. He asked for directions and safely found our destination. The room is cozy with a King size bed and has everything I would need. All that really matters is that the A/C works because this 100% humidity is killin’ me! It’s somewhat of a walk from things, but I don’t mind the exercise. I walked to the Sheraton which sits right along the Chao Phraya River. I ate Pad Thai for lunch and it was yummy! Went shopping at River City Market. Saw a temple and the hotel concierge (that’s the title I gave him) drove me through Chinatown…then dropped me off at the Patpong night market to see the sights and potential goods to take home! :). At Patpong they had a celebration for the Queens birthday and I held a candle and sang with the locals to celebrate the Queen.

On my walk home I decided to stop in Silom Village for some dinner and had an excellent sea bass meal with a spicy fish sauce. SO GOOD! I ate the whole thing, except the head. Then when I got back to the hotel…not 15 minutes later it started to pour down rain. I truly believe the buddhas were keeping me safe until I returned. I was exhausted and as soon as I finished with my hot shower…there was no way I could stay up and I fell asleep writing this blog. So here I am at 3:00 AM local time finishing this. I’m planning to see a few more temples today, so I need to catch a few more hours of sleep…maybe a Muay Thai boxing match tonight if I’m lucky! 🙂 Stay tuned…

So I decided to do a trial run of trying to put almost 2 weeks of clothes into what most people would consider to be a hand carry-on sized luggage…and I completely failed to get it all in there! I didn’t even have the chance to put shoes, toiletries, and camera accessories in the luggage…oh boy! I’m in trouble. This is going to be a challenge! But the green side of my personality gets excited about these challenges and the orange side wants me to pack a swimsuit and just wing it in Thailand! (For all you True Colors fans out there…you know what I’m talking about!) So here I am…instead of re-packing I’m blogging about it!

So what are the essentials for Southeast Asia in August when it’s 85F and rainy season?

Maybe the alphabet essentials:

• Attitude: It’s going to be Amazing no matter what!
• Be ready But also Be flexible
• Clear the media cards so I can Capture all the memories
• Don’t fill the luggage…save room for gifts to bring home
• Everything will be fine Even if some things get left behind
• Forget being prepared for everything…it will be Fabulous
• Go
• Have fun!
• It’s going to work out no matter what
• Just breath
• Keep the essentials
• Live each day to the fullest
• Make time to just enjoy the Moments
• Now is all that matters, Never worry about the future until it becomes Now
• Opportunities like this don’t come every day
• Practice gratitude
• Quality Quiet time is a must
• Remember to leave a place better than the way you found it
• Service is the number 1 purpose of this trip
• This is going to be a Time to remember
• Underestimate what you will need for 3.5 weeks
• View this as a learning experience-expect the unexpected (embrace the ambiguity)
• Wake up everyday ready to make things happen
• Xpect to try new things
• You can do it!
• Zen

Many of you have heard me relate my job in Student Affairs to Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning…and last week’s positive reinforcements (treats: different from meat powder and yet have a similar affect on me) along with the many instances over the past nine years illustrate this conditioning affect that Student Affairs work has on me. This week, I received at my office door one of the nicest and most genuine Thank You cards from a recent UCSD alum. I had met with this student last fall prior to some of their most important medical school interviews at some prestigious schools around the country. We did a mock interview and I shared some tips on how to improve on their interview skills. This isn’t an unusual thing for me to do, but for this student…something so ordinary turned into something Extraordinary! In this note, the student shared how much the mock interview helped get acceptance into med schools like Washington U and Yale, and how much I had an impact on their 4 years at UCSD…I’m so honored to have been a part of this student’s college experience! This wonderful Thank You note is that positive reinforcement or ‘treat’ that gets me coming into work everyday to a job that I absolutely love! I never know what day I’m going to get a note from a student, a drop-in visit to my office, or a moment in the classroom when I see a students eyes light up in their ‘aha!’ moment…it’s random, but frequent enough to keep me coming back for more! My job continues to expand its boundaries and my sphere of influence…this summer I started teaching high school students through summer quarterly classes and workshops. Last week I saw a group of students in a public speaking class really demonstrate how much they have grown through debates! I also had the opportunity to present on the art of small talk: networking and professionalism with faculty and VIPs. What a fun workshop it was and the room was packed! We had to turn students away that session (so I did an encore run!) After both workshops, almost every student came up to me and introduced themselves, tell me they enjoyed the way I present, asked more questions, asked for my business card…they just kept thanking me for teaching them some of these skills that they can start using now…it was positive reinforcement heaven for me! When things get rough and I have back-to-back sessions all day and I can’t see the color of my desk…I have this box next to my computer filled with many ‘treats’ (positive reinforcements) from the most recent years, but for some reason I have yet to tap into that box because the Student Affairs profession fairy doesn’t wait very long to send another ‘treat’ my way…especially on the days I need it the most! Which is why I come back everyday excited about the possibility of getting another ‘treat’ and continuing to be classically conditioned to love my job in Student Affairs! 🙂