What to do on a Singapore Weekend

Some of the complaints that I hear about Singapore such as:
“there’s nothing to do”
“it’s boring”
“it’s too strict”
more often than not come from expats than natives. Of course, there could be a little bit of the “grass is greener” syndrome happening since I’ve heard the same complaints about Hong Kong and Beijing too.
The timing of this trip has been very good. Shortly before I started my journey, I switched around my destinations, going to Japan first and then to Singapore/Malaysia instead of the other way around, which was my original plan.
Because of this switcharoo, I was able to attend the Koenji Awaodori, my friend’s birthday brunch, the Comex show at the Singapore Expo Hall and the RSAF Open House at Paya Labar Air Base. The latter three were all on the same weekend.

On the path to total geekdom…
The Expo Hall is off the East West Line, close to Changi Airport. It involves a transfer of trains. But no matter if you didn’t know that. All you had to do was follow the big big crowd from the MRT all the way here. Easy!

This is just one part of the hall. Practically the entire Expo Hall was like this
The Comex Show is (from what I’ve been told) is Singapore’s biggest IT/computer event of the year. Lots of vendors and lots of deals. Lots of booth babes too! I wound up picking up a new hp to replace my HTC Blue Angel, AKA “the slab”. But that’s the extent of the geekyness that you’ll find out about me on this blog!
Also this weekend, the RSAF had an open house where you could check out planes and helicopters, pose for pictures, enter a lucky draw for a chance for one of three ride-alongs (wah!) and learn about all the computer and high tech stuff that makes up a big part of a modern airforce.
But at these shows, it’s the hardware that’s the big draw!

An F-16D with extra fuel tanks on the sides of the fuselage

Watch where you’re pointing that finger, you’ll rupture the fuel tank!

RSAF Chinook. They had the rear deck open and an orderly queue so people could walk through it and come out the front.
Besides these representative aircraft, the RSAF also has Apache attack helicopters and Boeing Stratotankers for mid air refueling. They also had some of their former first line aircraft, now regulated to training duty here.

Anyone remember the F5E Tiger II?

“Now don’t press that button, son. That’s the ejector seat..”
So there’s stuff to do on the weekends in Singapore. For the guys, it’s the Comex show with booth babes and new toys computer equipment. And for the families, guys and girls, it’s the Air Show. The guys get to check out the hardware and the girls get to check out the pilots.