I recently took a 2 week work trip to Taiwan and then Singapore. I took a lot of pics and thought some of you may be interested.
Didn't bring a fly rod - but many times I wish I had. Taiwan had some cool mountain streams that had plenty of small fish rising for bugs. Didn't get to go to the coast to see what the saltwater may have offered.
Singapore - wish I could have brought my rod. Saltwater and fresh water opportunities seemed solid. A lot of baitfish busting observed. Fresh water - saw a LOT of snakeheads.
Fishing dreams aside - here are some highlights from the trip and some pics I'll share. I'll send pics in a few batches. Not a lot of time now - work is busy this week...
Taiwan - took the high-speed elevator to the top of Taipei 101. Very cool experience. Taipei was a very interesting place. I was in the financial district mainly. Every block for many blocks around my hotel and Taipei 101 resembled a going into Bellevue Square mall - but pretty much only high-end fashion, jewelry, make-up, etc mixed with small restaurants and food courts. 7-11s on every corner. One shopping center had a top floor that was just a very large Starbucks + Bookstore. They had at least 4 stations - each one focused on different things: food, tea, coffee, and alcohol drinks.
Walking through these markets and malls in the middle of the day was very strange. Kinda erie actually. Very few shoppers and I would see more workers than shoppers. For several days this stumped me. It got a little busier during lunch hour, but not much shopping happening. Then I finally got a chance to go out in the evening. From about 7pm to 11pm most nights, but especially on weekends - it was a completely different experience. Empty walkways between buildings became night markets, a few huskers doing random performances in designated areas (most were terrible - but a few were worth stopping for). The energy was high and all the shops and restaurants were thriving.
Speaking of night markets, I went to a few of the well know night markets in the older areas. Very interesting experience. But I can say for sure that I'm not a fan of the stench of boiling tofu. At all. Pass. Aside from night markets, malls, Taipei 101, and a visit to the impressive Taipei zoo, I was itching to get out of the city.
For work, I was in Taiwan to visit one of my teams I'm responsible for. A QA/Test team that focuses on testing various Google consumer hardware devices (Google Glasses, AR/VR goggles, etc). We have a few smaller teams there as well. My onsite manager, Hsuan, was an amazing host and she helped me arrange a fun morale event for the full team as well as took me on a tour bus to explore the Taiwan countryside. I'll share some of the locations and pics in subsequent posts.
After a week in Taiwan, I then flew to Singapore. I have another team there that helps run one of our 3 mosquito operations for our client, Google:
debug.com
I really enjoying visiting these operations as a nice break for the usual IT related programs we run. Here we combine science with tech in some unique ways. Each site has a factory with automation / robotics to help create ideal conditions for breeding, rearing, sorting, and then shipping the male mosquitos. Some of them are shipped to Hawaii where they have been used to try and save some critically endangered bird species from invasive mosquitoes and the malaria brought with them. In Singapore, we employee over a hundred people in partnership with Google. They work directly with the local gov't to distribute male mosquitoes into the local neighborhoods to suppress the wild mosquitos and associated diseases they spread. It works well. I'll share a few pics and details in some posts that will come later. There is a surprising amount of proprietary technology involved, so I'm limited in how much I can share.
Once in Singapore, I immediately began exploring my neighborhood. This time, instead of being right in the middle of a high-end part of the city in a 5 star hotel, I was out in more of the 'working class' area. Still tourist heavy, but also very integrated with the locals. The bottom levels of my old hotel consisted of a local grocery store as well as lots of small restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, and your typical 'hawker center' vibe.
A few things I noted along the way - Singapore infrastructure is world-class compared to Taiwan (though TW was still impressive, the airport and customs process felt very cold-war era... where Singapore was just a quick scan of my passport and quickly through the gate). While TW was left side driver seat in cars, Singapore was right side. Other than that, TW language, money, and most stores and Uber drivers - very little English speaking. Singapore was nearly all English first - the common language for the very diverse population (at least compare to the TW mono-culture - perceived, as I know there are SW Asian cultures within).
Both cities were very clean. Almost zero crime. No graffiti. No panhandling or homelessness (expect the central bus/train station in Taipei where it is managed). Women can walk the streets late at night with almost zero fear of anyone bothering them in any way. After talking with many locals about these observations, it seemed the primary driver was the idea that everyone was expected to work. There is no concept of EBT cards. No free rides. No welfare state. You work, you get all kinds of gov't subsidized support. No work, no support - no healthcare, no housing, no life...). And if you are foolish enough to commit even a small crime - you put ALL of that at risk. And of course in Singapore, we all know how serious they take crime and punishment - ie, every year they execute a few drug dealers via hanging. That pretty much solves that from spreading...
So my first work day there consisted of a full factory tour by my Google client. I then treated my client leadership team plus my local manager and team leads to lunch. The next day I came out to learn about the field operations - how, where, why we release the mosquitos. I did a ride along in the custom / proprietary automated release van. Then got to actually help with the manual release process in areas the vans can't reach.
Later in the week helped lead a full team town hall and lunch session, then we met with the client one last time for our Quarterly Business Review (first time we have ever been able to do this face-to-face).
In-between, I was able to explore a bit of Singapore. I spent hours exploring the Sungei Buloh wetland reserve. My goal - find giant monitor lizards and perhaps see a saltwater crocodile. And a long the way, enjoy a true tropical rainforest and mangroves. Pics will come later...
www.wwf.sg
And another side-quest was to hike to the Treetop Walk (a long suspension bridge over a jungle canyon) and enjoy the rain forest as well as hopefully see the monkeys known to be in this area. Pics to follow as well.
A teaser of some of the pics. More to come.
Didn't bring a fly rod - but many times I wish I had. Taiwan had some cool mountain streams that had plenty of small fish rising for bugs. Didn't get to go to the coast to see what the saltwater may have offered.
Singapore - wish I could have brought my rod. Saltwater and fresh water opportunities seemed solid. A lot of baitfish busting observed. Fresh water - saw a LOT of snakeheads.
Fishing dreams aside - here are some highlights from the trip and some pics I'll share. I'll send pics in a few batches. Not a lot of time now - work is busy this week...
Taiwan - took the high-speed elevator to the top of Taipei 101. Very cool experience. Taipei was a very interesting place. I was in the financial district mainly. Every block for many blocks around my hotel and Taipei 101 resembled a going into Bellevue Square mall - but pretty much only high-end fashion, jewelry, make-up, etc mixed with small restaurants and food courts. 7-11s on every corner. One shopping center had a top floor that was just a very large Starbucks + Bookstore. They had at least 4 stations - each one focused on different things: food, tea, coffee, and alcohol drinks.
Walking through these markets and malls in the middle of the day was very strange. Kinda erie actually. Very few shoppers and I would see more workers than shoppers. For several days this stumped me. It got a little busier during lunch hour, but not much shopping happening. Then I finally got a chance to go out in the evening. From about 7pm to 11pm most nights, but especially on weekends - it was a completely different experience. Empty walkways between buildings became night markets, a few huskers doing random performances in designated areas (most were terrible - but a few were worth stopping for). The energy was high and all the shops and restaurants were thriving.
Speaking of night markets, I went to a few of the well know night markets in the older areas. Very interesting experience. But I can say for sure that I'm not a fan of the stench of boiling tofu. At all. Pass. Aside from night markets, malls, Taipei 101, and a visit to the impressive Taipei zoo, I was itching to get out of the city.
For work, I was in Taiwan to visit one of my teams I'm responsible for. A QA/Test team that focuses on testing various Google consumer hardware devices (Google Glasses, AR/VR goggles, etc). We have a few smaller teams there as well. My onsite manager, Hsuan, was an amazing host and she helped me arrange a fun morale event for the full team as well as took me on a tour bus to explore the Taiwan countryside. I'll share some of the locations and pics in subsequent posts.
After a week in Taiwan, I then flew to Singapore. I have another team there that helps run one of our 3 mosquito operations for our client, Google:
Debug Project
Bad mosquitoes spread disease. Good mosquitoes stop them. We're using technology to raise and release good mosquitoes.
debug.com
I really enjoying visiting these operations as a nice break for the usual IT related programs we run. Here we combine science with tech in some unique ways. Each site has a factory with automation / robotics to help create ideal conditions for breeding, rearing, sorting, and then shipping the male mosquitos. Some of them are shipped to Hawaii where they have been used to try and save some critically endangered bird species from invasive mosquitoes and the malaria brought with them. In Singapore, we employee over a hundred people in partnership with Google. They work directly with the local gov't to distribute male mosquitoes into the local neighborhoods to suppress the wild mosquitos and associated diseases they spread. It works well. I'll share a few pics and details in some posts that will come later. There is a surprising amount of proprietary technology involved, so I'm limited in how much I can share.
Once in Singapore, I immediately began exploring my neighborhood. This time, instead of being right in the middle of a high-end part of the city in a 5 star hotel, I was out in more of the 'working class' area. Still tourist heavy, but also very integrated with the locals. The bottom levels of my old hotel consisted of a local grocery store as well as lots of small restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, and your typical 'hawker center' vibe.
A few things I noted along the way - Singapore infrastructure is world-class compared to Taiwan (though TW was still impressive, the airport and customs process felt very cold-war era... where Singapore was just a quick scan of my passport and quickly through the gate). While TW was left side driver seat in cars, Singapore was right side. Other than that, TW language, money, and most stores and Uber drivers - very little English speaking. Singapore was nearly all English first - the common language for the very diverse population (at least compare to the TW mono-culture - perceived, as I know there are SW Asian cultures within).
Both cities were very clean. Almost zero crime. No graffiti. No panhandling or homelessness (expect the central bus/train station in Taipei where it is managed). Women can walk the streets late at night with almost zero fear of anyone bothering them in any way. After talking with many locals about these observations, it seemed the primary driver was the idea that everyone was expected to work. There is no concept of EBT cards. No free rides. No welfare state. You work, you get all kinds of gov't subsidized support. No work, no support - no healthcare, no housing, no life...). And if you are foolish enough to commit even a small crime - you put ALL of that at risk. And of course in Singapore, we all know how serious they take crime and punishment - ie, every year they execute a few drug dealers via hanging. That pretty much solves that from spreading...
So my first work day there consisted of a full factory tour by my Google client. I then treated my client leadership team plus my local manager and team leads to lunch. The next day I came out to learn about the field operations - how, where, why we release the mosquitos. I did a ride along in the custom / proprietary automated release van. Then got to actually help with the manual release process in areas the vans can't reach.
Later in the week helped lead a full team town hall and lunch session, then we met with the client one last time for our Quarterly Business Review (first time we have ever been able to do this face-to-face).
In-between, I was able to explore a bit of Singapore. I spent hours exploring the Sungei Buloh wetland reserve. My goal - find giant monitor lizards and perhaps see a saltwater crocodile. And a long the way, enjoy a true tropical rainforest and mangroves. Pics will come later...
WWF-Singapore | Importance of Sungei Buloh
Importance of Sungei Buloh Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is an ecological gem on a tiny green island with rich biodiversity. Mangrove Forest Mangroves are protectors of Singapore’s coastline. Despite occupying a small portion of the total land area, their role is substantial. From absorbing large...
www.wwf.sg
And another side-quest was to hike to the Treetop Walk (a long suspension bridge over a jungle canyon) and enjoy the rain forest as well as hopefully see the monkeys known to be in this area. Pics to follow as well.
A teaser of some of the pics. More to come.
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