Republic of Singapore

The Republic of Singapore is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia.  Singapore is made up of a main island and 62 other islands, located between Malaysia and Indonesia. As both a city and a country it is small, about  3,5 times bigger than Washington, DC.  It is home to almost 5,8 million people.  That's a lot of people in a small area.


Singapore started out as a British trading colony in 1819.  In 1963 it became part of Malaysia but was kicked out two years later and became an independent country.

As one of the Asian Tiger economies, the county is a global economic power.  It is a financial and transportation hub for all of Asia.  It ranks 11th in the world on the UN Human Development Index so it receives high marks in education, healthcare, life expectancy, safety and quality of life.

Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic.  The country is known to be impeccably clean and enjoys a low crime rate.  Since caning is legal it goes without saying that it is tough on crime.

The Singapore Dollar

Plus there are the fines.  Chewing gum is banned and throwing a cigarette butt on the street is a $300 fine.



Singapore is a diverse country with four official languages - English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.  Most people are bilingual with English and another national language.

Here's a short video on Singapore that I found on YouTube.

©Seeker Daily

Update 2025:  Here's a short video I found on YouTube about why Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia.

©History Matters

Liz & James' Wedding

On Saturday was Liz and James' wedding in South West England.  They got married at the Church of the Annunciation at Woodchester Priory in Stroud.  It was a Roman Catholic church that opened in 1849.

It was a lovely ceremony and afterwards we all proceeded to Westonbirt where the reception was held.

James was in charge of organising the reception and boy did he deliver.  The reception was at the Westonbirt School which is an all-girls boarding school on over 200 acres.  The place was fantastic!  It looked like something right out of Harry Potter.  

It was great to join in on their special day and to catch up with several people from the Bratislava days.  Marcus even flew in from Atlanta.

Eiko and I got caught up now because there won't be time when the next time we see each other at her wedding in July.

It's tough on the bride and groom at the reception because they feel like they have to balance their time with all of the guests.

I told Liz not to worry about it.  It's her day and we'll have time to catch up at Eiko and Tommi's celebration in Helsinki.  It was such a beautiful day and we were so honoured to be included.  #jamesandlillywedding

Off to a Wedding

It's finally time to head off to England for the first of two weddings this year.  Liz and James are getting married this weekend and in July Eiko and Tommi are getting married in Helsinki.



Lenka, Féro, and I are on a Ryanair flight from Brno to London Stansted.  Then it's just over a two-hour drive to near Stroud where the wedding is.

2016 Q2 Team Building Event

This time we held out Q3 team building event in Slovakia.  My team organised it at a cottage in Pezinok, about 30 minutes or so from Bratislava.




I was very proud of my team as they put on a fantastic event!  This was by far our best event yet.

Aside from the Brno and Bratislava offices, we also had people make it from Wrocław and Székesfehérvár.



There was plenty of great food, especially Martina's famous wild boar goulaš.

There was, of course, plenty of slivovice and pálinka.





There were plenty of games, a selfie corner, and even some late night karaoke.

Back and Forth to Slovakia

Bratislava Castle

I seem to spend more and more time going between our offices in Brno and Bratislava.

I just finished two days in Slovakia and I even managed to catch an earlier train back home.

Bratislava train station

Now I have time to do a load of laundry and get ready to go back tomorrow for another couple of days.

The only difference is that tomorrow morning I'm on my way near Pezinok for a team building event organised by my Slovak crew.

Czechia

Welcome to Czechia!  The government has made the official English short name for the country Czechia.  The country's long name is still Czech Republic.

In the Czech language, Česko means Bohemia.  But it is the official short name for all of the Czech lands - Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia.

The problem is that there is not a common short name in English.  The French Republic has France as its short name.  The Russian Federation is known as Russia.  The Hellenic Republic is better known as Greece.

After the break up of Czechoslovakia, the Slovaks seem to have gotten the name thing right.  The long name is Slovak Republic and the short name is Slovakia.  The same pattern used here is the long name being Czech Republic with Czechia as the short name.

In English, Czechia just doesn't roll of the tongue.  The concern is that it sounds a lot like the Russian semi-autonomous Republic of Chechnya.

The Czech government as also made Tschechien the official short name in German and in French it is Tchéquie.

Little Saigon

Today was a crazy hectic day in the office.  Afterwards, a couple of the guys invited me to tag along to the Vietnamese market at Olomoucké.

This was my first visit and now I wonder why in the hell I haven't come here before.  This is where all of the Vietnamese vendors come to restock all of the cheap items and knock off clothing that is sold under the train station.

Better still, this is where you can get great prices on frozen seafood, coconut milk, spices and sauces.  I was able to pick up a couple of bottles of Sriracha - a hot chilli sauce made from chilli peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt.

There are several food stalls with authentic Vietnamese food.  It's amazing that after a bad day, just a visit to Little Saigon and a delicious bowl of Phở, can make things all better.  

Hill of Tara, Ireland

The Hill of Tara, Cnoc na Teamhrach, is an archeological complex in County Meath, Ireland.  The hill was the seat of the High King of Ireland.  It was used by people in the Neolithic era.




There are a number of ancient monuments and a church dedicated to St. Patrick.




Here's a short Rick Steves video about the hill that I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

Newgrange, Ireland

Newgrange, Si an Bhrú, is a prehistoric monument near the River Boyne in Ireland.  It was built by Stone Age farmers around 3200 BC during the Neolithic period which makes it older than than Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza.

The site is a large circular mound 85 meters (93 yards) in diameter and 13,5 meters (15 yards) high on about an acre.  There is an inner stone passageway and chambers.

No one really knows what the site was used for.  The entrance is aligned with the winter solstice so that once a year sunlight shines through into the inner chamber.

Newgrange was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.  Here's a National Geographic video that I found out on YouTube.

©National Geographic

Palmerstown, Ireland

Palmerstown, Baile Phámar, is a County Leinster and is a suburb in South Dublin, Ireland.  The area is on the River Liffey and is about 8 km (5 miles) west of Dublin city centre.




Palmerstown is home to about 4,000 people.

The Palmerstown Cemetery opened in 1978.