CURRENT MISSION

Now that I'm back from Europe, it's time to explore Asia.

ABOUT ME

I'm back in Singapore after an amazing work-travel stint based in London. Probably should've stayed longer, considering the many countries I couldn't pack in. But now that I'm in Asia, it's time to focus my attention to travelling in this region. :)

I enjoy some good laughs, intelligent conversations, and down-to-earth people. This should all take place in an aromatic coffee joint or over a few pints in a cosy pub.

PHILOSOPHY

Have faith and keep walking.

Everything looks different from the other side.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Meeting travellers for drinks and showing them around if they need company.

Interests

All form of escapeism - music, books, travel, movies
and a dash of materialism - shopping.

• culture
• books
• coffee
• walking
• drinking
• pub crawls
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• music
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

guillemots, kings of convenience, the shins, broken social scene, arcade fire, kings of leon, morrissey, zero 7, and BBC radio 6. Oldies like the beatles, dionne warwick and sappy love songs for those lonely saturday nights too!

trainspotting, american history x, the virgin suicides, the godfather, the king and the clown, something's gotta give, keeping the faith, and inane flicks such as dodgeball, american pie, and road trip.

Paddy clarke ha ha ha, to kill a mockingbird, catcher in the rye, the five people you meet in heaven, the unbearable lightness of being, lady chatterley's lover are personal favourites. Have made it a personal aim to read all (or most) of the great classics of the literary world - basically all the stuff penguin keeps reprinting.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stripping down to my undies in a Moroccan hamam on a trip to Marrakech in October 2007. Urvi and I were led to a room filled with nekkid women in their teens to their 60s (plus one lucky little baby boy). They were all scrubbing, washing, shaving and chatting like it was the most normal thing to do in public. It was my most jaw-dropping experience of culture shock.

Teach, Learn, Share

Many people don't know that English is the native language in Singapore. We speak a variant of it known as Singlish, which is a hodge podge of English, Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien (a dialect), and Tamil.

One common phrase that is widely used is "wah lau!". No idea what it means, but it expresses exasperation, disbelief, or frustration.

For example, "Wah lau! The professor refused to extend my deadline." or "No one on CouchSurf wanted to host me and I've no money for accomodation. Wah lau, I am so screwed."

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Singapore, United Kingdom