A Week in SE Asia

After Beligum I had the rest of the week in the office to catch up and prepare for my trip to Singapore. The itinerary was set to host two crisis trainings with four different markets in the region, two media trainings and catch up with colleagues Monday – Thursday and then I arranged to meet with my predecessor and friend, Holly, in Myanmar on Friday.

The trip to Singapore from Amsterdam is about 13 hours on a direct flight. Knowing I can be sensitive to jetlag, and because I’ve never been to Singapore, I planned to leave Friday evening after work, which got me in to Singapore at 3pm on Saturday. When I arrived I was joined by our two fantastic crisis trainers who had been on a tour d’Asia, working with other markets on our behalf. The weather was over 100° so we cooled down with delicious Tiger beers at our hotel before heading out for dinner.

We went to a soup dumpling and dim sum restaurant that was highly recommended by a friend of a friend who used to live in Singapore. The restaurant was in one of the many high-end shopping malls off of the famed Orchard Road. What a scene! The malls in Singapore are all 3-5 floors and filled with designer after designer after designer. Mind boggling. Not sure who needs to go to Cartier at 11:00pm on a Saturday night, but if that’s what you’re looking for, it is readily available.

Anyway, back to dinner. We ordered a mixture of dumplings and other scrumptious Chinese dishes. I I LOVE Asian food, Chinese in particular, so this meal was a real treat. It all went down nice and smooth with a Tiger, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite beers.

 

 

 

 

 

Packing It All In

Sunday was my day to explore. I started the day by heading to Chinatown. As luck would have it, my Uber driver doubles as a tour guide. So, I learned a lot about the history of Singapore on my way. I found the history to be fascinating, as I typically do. Small things – like most Singaporeans speak a minimum of 4 languages: Malay, English, Hindu and Cantonese. Who knew?!

I walked around Chinatown for a bit, walking up and down the main and side streets. Lots of touristy trinkets like magnets, fans, etc. lined the streets. For lunch I stumbled upon a famous chicken rice hawker, called Hawker Chan. It is a one-star Michelin restaurant, and the cheapest Michelin restaurant in the world! It was delicious.

 

 

 

Given the extreme heat, I couldn’t help but follow lunch with a local shaved ice. Luckily this mountain of shaved ice stood tall for the picture. Unluckily for me, it topped over the second I dug in. That probably was not a bad thing.

After dessert I was off to Gardens by the Bay, a jaw-dropping floral exhibition in the heart of the city. The gardens – I believe – make up the world’s largest greenhouse. The stunning arrangements are each a work of art. A truly impressive, and must-see attraction for anyone traveling to Singapore.

 

 

The Gardens are located in the Marina Bay area, which is where the famed Marina Bay Hotel is situated. The hotel is an architectural masterpiece. It is comprised of three enormous towers that come together only at the top by a horizontal joiner that sports an infinity pool and restaurant/bar. The views from the top are stunning, and after a drink at the top, we decided we just had to stay for the sunset as well.

 

The Magic of the People at HEINEKEN

On Monday it was back to work. It is always nice to work from another HEINEKEN office. One of my favorite things about working for the company is that HEINEKEN people all over the world have the same je ne sai quoi. The moment you step into a HEINEKEN office, you know you’re there. Not just because of the décor, but because of the people. The Asian Pacific region office in Singapore was no different.

 

We got right into a full day of training with teams from Japan and Laos on day 1. It was great to see the management teams from these two markets – and two very different markets – work through the simulation and training. A hard day’s work was rewarded at night with a group dinner at a local seafood joint for the famed Singaporean Chilli Crab and other local delicacies. What a feast!

Day two brought media trainings for Japan and Laos while we met the Timor and the Asia Pacific Export teams for the crisis trainings. Another great day in the office was rewarded with a group outing to the International Champions Cup (ICC) match that evening in the beautiful Singapore National Stadium. We watched Chelsea (the local favorite) lose to Bayern Munich by 1 goal. Not the game the locals we hoping to see, but still an all-around great evening.

 

A Night at the Zoo

On Wednesday evening after our meetings I had a ‘free’ evening, so I decided to go to the Maxwell Road Hawker Center for dinner. Hawker Centers are traditional street food markets in Singapore. You can find things like chicken rice, dumplings, chilli crab, etc. The markets are full of delicious food at very reasonable prices.

After dinner I went over to the Singapore Zoo for the night safari. The zoo hosts the safari each evening by tram or walking tour. It is essentially a zoo visit and they light the animal habitats in a way in which you can see them. Some of the animals are going about their business while others were sleeping. It was night, after all. You can’t take any photos with flash – no one needs a hyena charging after them – so I tried to snap a few flash-less shots and wound up with these pathetic mementos:

 

Off to Myanmar!

On Thursday after work I flew up to Myanmar. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit the incredible Holly Bostock and learn more about her new life in this new country. I took over Holly’s role in Amsterdam and she took on the Corporate Affairs Director role at HEINEKEN Myanmar. Holly picked me up from the airport and we were off to catch up! First stop: a rooftop bar in Yangon to cheers over a HEINEKEN!

Right now it is monsoon season in Yangon. Except I would hardly believe it because my 24 hours on the ground were almost 100% dry! We braved a very, very brief drizzle on the roof and then moved on to a delicious dinner with local delicacies in downtown.

It was so great to hear about Holly’s new adventure, and what an adventure it is! A great and challenging opportunity to lead a team in a relatively new market. In a short period of time she’s already done so many great things. I am sure she will leave her mark in a tremendous way throughout her time there.

On Friday we went to the office, which is a really interesting gated-community. The city itself reminded me of a British colonial-era village trapped in time but not maintained. What I mean by that is you can definitely see the British influence throughout the city from an architecture standpoint, but only the resemblance of what once was as most buildings were not kept up.

Once you enter the gate to the office grounds there are three buildings:  a colonial-style mansion of sorts which houses functions like finance and then two branded container-looking buildings that house marketing, corporate affairs, HR, etc. We entered the container where CA sits and were warmly greeted by the team. It was nice to meet everyone and hear what area of the team they support, and then equally as nice to sit down and have some time with Holly to discuss some ongoing projects. 

 

 

All About That BUDDah

Taking advantage of the dry weather we went to Shwedagon, the ancient pagoda in Yangon. We hired a guide to walk us through the glorious site. The pagoda consisted of smaller temples and shrines made out of gold and other precious stones which glistened as we learned about the history of the temple. We identified the day of the week in which we were born, and learned that each day of the week has a corresponding animal and god-like statue that you pour three cups of water over as a ritual. We also took turns banging the gong three times, one for each good deed we recently may have done.

 

 

 

 

After the pagoda we headed to one of the local markets. A labyrinth of fabrics, pottery and more, the market was made up of endless rows of stalls with each shopkeeper vying for our attention. We stopped at a few fabric stalls to check out patterns as Holly plans to decorate her brand new apartment (which is beautiful!) with some local décor. The market was the perfect place to get a feel for the people, and the local flavour of Yangon.

 

 

 

Until Next Time SE Asia!

My trip to Yangon was wayyyy too short but I had an amazing time catching up with Holly, ending the week at our Myanmar offices and seeing a few sites of this ancient city. I know I will definitely return!