I promised to send out my concluding thoughts on the countries as I usually do and then when I got back I consumed by the usual items and never did it.  A reminder not to put things off but rather to just do them immediately.  So here are my concluding thoughts: Singapore 1. I have never seen a nation of such slim people. The only overweight people you see are clearly foreigners. It must be something...

Tuesday was spent in Hong Kong and I simply had no time to write the blog until now. After the last few days of lavish breakfasts it was quite surprising to see how 'Boutique' the breakfast was at Hotel Indigo.  Can't really complain too much though because I still eat the same thing I ate at all the other breakfasts. As I arrived so late the previous evening I only got to see my surroundings in...

Breakfast this morning at the hotel was quite disappointing after enjoying the Pan Pacific breakfast for the last 4 days.  What made it even worse was that there was no bacon with my eggs. I did find KL a bit of a strange place to visit.  Maybe it was the Koran next to my bed (first time I have stayed in a hotel with that) or the arrow on the bedside table pointing toward Mecca or...

Today was my last day in Singapore for this trip.  Not to break tradition, I had the same breakfast as the other days except that I found out today that they do freshly squeezed juices at breakfast (took me 4 days to work that out). The choice this morning was carrot or apple. Who drinks a vegetable for breakfast? So obviously I went for apple.  We really do need to get a juicer like that -...

Today started with an early meeting with the American 'conqueror the whole world' counterparts. It was an entertaining and interesting meeting.  Definitely the best meeting I have attended so far since we have been here.  Our President started the meeting with "Let's get married before we share any secrets" as his opening salvo.  It was hard to keep a straight face.  I think they did get the message though that we aren't simply going to share...

My love for breakfast and Singapore buffet breakfasts continues to grow. This morning they had green guava which, while I have eaten guava, I have never eaten green guava before.  Now I have. It has a slight guava taste and was like eating 'green' guava (i.e. not ripe guava).  Some people apparently call them apple guava's and that is probably a more fitting name because they are crispy like apples, green like apples and about the...

I woke this morning and it was still pitch dark outside and the first thought through my mind was 'Oh no, jet lag' but then I looked at the clock and it said 5:55am which meant I had slept through from about 11:20pm to 6am.  So hopefully that is the jet lag beaten straightaway. I had a breakfast meeting at 7:30am. The lifts are so inefficient (or overused not sure which) that it can take 10...

I left yesterday morning at 7am from my home in Cape Town and arrived today at 12:40pm (i.e. 6:40am) in Singapore.  Very close to 24 hours of travel and if you include the time to get through passport control and the taxi ride to the hotel then it was over 24 hours. I am attending the International Actuarial Association meetings in Singapore and they last until Sunday and then I have 2 days working for Gen...