My hotel was even more stunning in the morning. My room had a little cupola / sitting area which poked out like a glassed in porch. The curtains were mechanized, meaning that at a touch of a button I was able to reveal Singapore in its full glory as I sipped my coffee.
In the exercise room, they had what can best be described as a “treadwall.” It was a rock climbing exerciser, a treadmill covered with climbing holds that could rotate from fully vertical to horizontal (in which case the climber would be on the undercling. I wish that I had had the guts to sneak a camera into the gym, but I didn’t want to be that guy.
Conference presentation went well. Maybe 40 people showed up, and I got some fiery questions at the end. One guy kept at me about high performance codes and libraries. Basically he wanted to know how I could *ever* suggest clusters as an alternative to big SMP machines. Turns out that he’s the CEO of a company that does parallel optimization on big SMP machines.
After the conference, my host bailed (to do some work while in her home country). I took a taxi down to Chinatown and wandered around. Ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. It was really good. Clavorful curries and piles of rice. About halfway through the meal I realized that I was sitting under a signed photo of the Dali Lama. I took that as a good sign. Also toured a hindu temple and saw the Singapore “merlion.” It’s a big statue / fountain near the mouth of the Singapore river. It has the base of a fish, and the head of a lion. Water shoots out it’s mouth. You’ll have to take my word for it that it’s fairly cool. Stopped off almost at random at a tea merchant, and bought 100g of some esoteric and fancy tea. It’s the un-opened blossoms of some tea plant, as he explained to me. Seemed cool, though I hope that customs doesn’t turn the tea dogs on me to sniff out my agricultural product.
The grittier part of wandering around were the omnipresent massage parlors. Women slouched in doorways, making eye contact with quiet calls of “massage, honey? You want a massage?” It wasn’t just one neighborhood, and it wasn’t one or two places. Almost every shopping district I walked through had several. Port city, not founded by puritans, I suppose.
Overall, singapore struck me as safe, clean, and touristy. I have no idea what awaits me in Delhi, but I’m writing these words on the plane to India. Singapore air continues to impress. I just got the complimentary deck of playing cards.
A pause for travel
Now I’m in Delhi. This is crazy. The hotel seems pretty cool. It’s at least very posh. I think that my “you’re getting scammed” filters are poorly tuned for travel in India. I mean, our taxi driver was totally cool, but I felt this urge to watch him like a hawk.
It’s 2:30am Chris (adjusted) Standard Time. That’s 12:30 Delhi time. Meeting the apple people at 8:30 for breakfast. Sleep now.
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