The other side of Super Elite

As a Canadian having an Aeroplan card is very much a staple in one's wallet. We have one National airline left which has filed for bankruptcy protection enough times to put an American bank to shame. Air Canada is a little like United (except that it is a very small fleet) known for bitter flight staff and an underwhelming version of business class on domestic flights. As years have worn on, the levels of rewards from their frequent flyers program have been shaved away so it's harder and harder to actually redeem anything. That said there are categories, "Prestige", "Elite" and then there's "Super Elite." To get these you need to fly a lot all in one year. Over the past few years of frequent travel we've mused about what happens to people when they reach Super Elite since you pretty much need about 6 round the world trips. Our curiosity was finally satisfied when a package came in the mail yesterday welcoming Joel to "Super Elite." Aren't you dying to know what this welcome package looks like?

Care to join us?

A lot of our friends especially in the US have contacted us lately to ask us about a job opportunity in Singapore they are considering. They want to know what the job market is like and what they should ask for in a salary and if we like it here. I don't know about every job area, for instance I don't know anyone in oil and gas or mining here. What I do know is a bit about the finance, media and entertainment and software end of things. So this is my attempt to share some observations about the job market I've made over the past year while networking and chatting with expats in these fields.

Bintan Islands Indonesia

Bintan Islands Indonesia, a set on Flickr.

We just got home from spending a weekend on Bintan for the Tour de Bintan stage race and the "go get some sun" part of the Doctor's orders for me. As my fellow Singapore residents already know, this island is not a cultural hot spot, nor is it the most amazing place to hit up a resort but it is a 45 minute ferry ride from Singapore and an opportunity to escape the city noise for a weekend.

We actually happened upon a great spot this trip. We stayed at Bintan Lagoon Resort which is a 700 acre golf resort set back from the water so the beach is quite peaceful with just one beach side restaurant visible from the shore. Given that it's a huge piece of land there's no light pollution at night and we loved just being able to walk around and see stars. It's very quiet and there are no other resorts on this stretch of coast. The cost of this place cuts down on the large families and groups of partiers so most other guests are couples who would prefer to play cards and read in a lounger than scream and listen to loud pop music. Overall the service was quite decent, our room was pretty nice and as clean as things get in this part of the world. Food at the buffet was better than other resort buffets we've seen, a-la-carte was better and the beach bar/restaurant was on par with a Singaporean tapas bar. Not excellent but we weren't suffering a bit. 

Definitely not the opera

That's no concert hall. Nope, it's the walk-in clinic I finally dragged my sorry butt into last night.

Since we left Vancouver in 2007 I've only been sick when I've traveled back to colder climates. I dodged the cold bug for three years in California but spent all of my trips back to Canada sick as a dog. I made it to a year in Singapore, again sick as hell both times I went back North, but always healthy here. So this is it, my first full on flat on my black with a real doozy illness in the tropics. And silly me, I waited 10 days to seek any medical care due to phobias of antibiotic-pushing doctors.

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Tonight we went to see the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy with pianist Guiseppe Andaloro. The program was the Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2 in C minor and then Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor.  It's been ages since I've sat and listened to a concert and this was certainly a treat for the ears. The Esplanade Concert Hall is quite an amazing space too. I took a couple of wobbly pictures with my iphone. The one above is of the lighting over the stage. There's a huge wooden spiral sculpture suspended there.

Student in a suitcase

I'm in my second to last semester of my bachelor of fine arts [BFA] in graphic design. Today I'm looking back over the last four years of my strange and wonderful time as an adult student back in the halls of a university and also all the really crazy arrangements I've made to fit schooling into our nomadic life.