Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Whoever tells you that there's nothing to do in Singapore is wrong. Dead wrong.

We've got so much going on here: cultural events, musical performances to suit all tastes, fantastic food, good shopping, terrific nightlife and an active sports hub.

For instance, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the upcoming IOC meeting in July, the meeting which will decide which city will get to host the 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately, owing to work commitments, I was forced to decline.

In terms of sports activity, you can go wakeboarding, rock-climbing, rollerblading, hiking among the treetops, play ultimate frisbee or touch rugby... and if that's still not enough for you, there're lots of places nearby where you can go scuba-diving.

Just under two weeks ago, I found myself at Marine Cove thoroughly enjoying a free open-air jazz concert with people I hadn't met before. In spite of that, I found myself encouraging them to join me to check out the new club, Onyx.

In the last few months, there have been plenty of concerts here, including ones by Norah Jones and Lea Salonga. Last Saturday, Patti Austin performed. We have also had musicals galore such as Lady Salsa, The Sound of Music and Lord of the Dance.

In a few days time, the Singapore Arts Festival will commence, and I will be catching some great performances, namely The Busker's Opera, The Bang-On-A-Can Allstars and Swan Lake. In conjunction with the influx of tourists expected for the various shows, the Great Singapore Sale will be kicking off.

For dance activities, there's the Tango Rendezvous, an Argentine Tango festival (do go and see it as a good friend of mine will be giving a talk). For Lindy Hoppers, there's the annual SEA Jam Lindy Hop Camp conducted by the world-renown Jitterbugs Swingapore. For the extremely busy among us, there's Swingtime @ SAM, a monthly swing dance workshop conducted by the Lindy Hop Ensemble held at the Singapore Arts Museum. You can even learn exotic dancing (from Attitude Dance Studio and The Body Talks) and pole dancing (from The Body Talks) here.

Clubbing-wise, there'll be a whole raft of international DJs coming this way. Marco V will be gracing our shores this Sunday at Zouk, having just been here under a year ago (not that I'm complaining), and the Lo-Fidelity All Stars and Stephane K will be spinning next week at DXO. Hed Kandi is expected to make its debut here soon and Mike Koglin and Solarstone are slated to be DJing in the next two months. And any time you get tired of dancing, there're plenty of great chill-out places to relax at. And just to help you along, the Singapore Martini Festival kicks off on May 25th.

And yes, while I do whine every once in a while about being stuck in Singapore, I will admit that there's a lot to do here... far more than I would have admitted back when I graduated in 2002.

However, I still maintain that staying here for too long is dangerous. It makes you boring. And close-minded. And check out all the good stuff I'm missing.

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