Botanical Gardens, Man Lunch and Temple University

Pond at the Singapore Botanical Gardens

My son and I had a wonderful morning discovering the Singapore Botanical Gardens.  We both brought our cameras and he also brought his scooter.

I fell in love with the Gardens.  I felt like I was back in Central Park in New York City.  The wide open spaces and the manicured paths were so relaxing.  It was like a different world.   I can't wait to take the rest of family back.


Here are some pictures that we took.  See if you can tell which ones my son took.

After getting my son off to school, I headed out for Man Lunch #7 I believe.  Numbers 5 and 6 were not worth mentioning.   I picked up Big John (aka John E. Walker) and we headed off to No Signboard at Esplanade Mall, but ended up at No Signboard at VivoCity.  (Stupid GPS!)  I choose the restaurant based on the recommendation of Tom McCarty and a few travel book recommendations.

I attempted to order a 2.2 lb deep-fried Grouper, but the waitress persuaded me not to.  Apparently thats a lot of fish.  Instead I ordered Pan-fried Silver Trout, Steamed Pork Buns, and Prawn Dumpling soup (along with 3 diet cokes).  It was all fantastic!  It's not cheap, but well worth it.

John E. Walker ordered prawn dumplings and sweet sour prawns.  It's a good thing I didn't wear my wire this time because he would most certainly be looking at some jail time for some past indiscretions.

Shrimp Heads

I ended the day by attending a presentation on the Temple University MS in Human Resource Management and Executive MBA programs offered in Singapore.  I think I have finally found my calling in the HR and Organizational Behavior.  The program looks like a good fit for me, and they are going to bring around a DBA degree in Winter 2012.  I could possibly go back to the US with a doctorate!  That would be cool.

Professor Covey???

For a long time now, I've wanted to change careers.  About 8 years ago, my interest in IT and the corporate life began to wane.  I yearned for more control of my destiny and more opportunity to be creative.  Enter Chuck Gullett.

Chuck was very kind and let me stay at his home while I was separating and divorcing my practice wife.   We were two bachelors with too much money, too high of a tolerance for risk, and a thirst of being our own bosses.  Our first enterprise was Covett LCC- "Cov" the first 3 letters of my last name and "ett" the last 3 letters of his last name.  Within 1 year, we'd acquired 15 properties and had nearly $100,000 in yearly rental revenues.  We also entered the real estate sales business which we actually did the best in.  (Chuck is now a co-owner/broker of an agency in Chicago.)  Finally, we bought a license to open a Nick n Willys Pizza, but due to life changes, we abandoned the venture.  I lost much money, but I learned a lot about business and partnerships (as I am sure Chuck would attest).

I still want to be an entrepreneur, but I just don't have the tolerance for risk right now and I like to be able to shut off work.  (My family life and happiness is much more important.)

Ok, so where is he going with this posting and what does it have to do with "Professor Covey"?  I've decided I would like to teach at the community college level.  I always had a negative impression of CC's before I took classes at ICC.  I loved it!  The teachers were great and they focused on TEACHING!  I also liked that these teachers could make an impact on students.

The next question you're likely to ask is, what do you want to teach?  Answer- I am not sure.  Entrepreneurship is at the top of my list and there seems to be good demand for it.  I would combine teaching with consulting/advising.  I am also interested in general business and possibly even IT.

The next step is to get a masters.  I am looking at a few online programs now.

Hawker and Wet Market

One of my goals while living in Singapore is to sit on a board.  The Centre for Non-Profit Leadership is a local organization that matches individuals such as myself with openings on non-profit (charity) boards.  As part of the leadership development program, they require that volunteers attend 5 training courses.  I've taken 3 online, but the last 2 are classroom only.  I had the pleasure of spending this last Saturday in one of the classroom only courses learning all about Non-Profit Regulations in Singapore, and non-profit governance.  The topic, when paired with a lack of sleep due to a sick child and no caffeine, made for several hours of head bobbing.  The lunch break couldn't have come soon enough, and much to my delight it turned out to be an exciting time.  I discovered a new Hawker center and wet market.

What is a Hawker center?  They are open-air food courts/centers with many vendors selling a variety of  inexpensive food (Wikipedia).  They are typically found around public housing, or as they are called in Singapore, HDB (housing development board) flats.  They are by no means like "public housing" in the USA.  It's Singapore- they are nice.  Some expats live in HDB flats if they are lucky enough to find one.

For lunch, I ordered a 1-meat 2-veggie set which included a huge scoop of rice.  I only paid SGD $2.90 which is USD $2.28!!!!  For $2.28, I got  homemade sweet&sour pork, bok choy, eggplant and rice.  Unbelieveable!!!!  How can they buy all the ingredients, prepare them, keep them warm and then handle the sales transaction for only $2.27?  What on earth is their profit margin?

Of course, then I bought a diet pepsi for I think SGD $1.50 which is USD $1.18.  Something doesn't add up there.

But the biggest find of the day was not the Hawker center, but the Wet Market, which is an open-air market where vendors sell fruits, veggies, meats, fish, flowers, and more.  They are all over Singapore.  Most of the expats I know don't bother to go to them, but its quite an experience. The pictures and captions speak for themselves.

Fruits and Veggies

More veggies

Fishmonger

Fish on ice

Look down a passage way

Prawns

Squid (I think)

Crabs

Scary fish parts (saw lots of fish head - rolly polly fish heads)

Durians (I believe)

Dessert shop