Singapore Slang

 

We started in Bangkok, made our way to Cambodia, and had two days to rest in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands before heading to Bali, Flores, and Komodo to see the dragons. Singapore is a great place to recharge and provision. It has everything you need. The economic miracle of Singapore is one of my favorite stories, and what LKY achieved on these muddy banks of the malacca straight is my favorite exercise in country building - we may never see something as profound from an economic dev standpoint again. That’s why I love Singapore. 

You can taste the melting pot in its dishes - Chinese, South Asian, Malay, Cantonese, Indonesian - and the list goes on. It is my third favorite place to eat behind Hong Kong and Tokyo. Singapore is becoming almost intolerably nice - most of its grit has been sheared by economic progress and scarcity of land in the defacto capital of Southeast Asia.

Singapore used to be a collection of villages, and only one remains - Kampong Lorong Buangkok.

I love what Singapore represents a sort of cultural compromise and the most precise and nimble form of government - the city state. 

It was a great place for us to provision and rest up for Indonesia. Marina Bay Sands has a great pool and shopping, but it was one of the most disappointing hotels I have ever stayed at - stick with the MO or Raffles. It is not bad per se, but it deserves to be much better and felt cheap and impersonal.

Angkor Wat

 

Angkor Wat is one of the best places on the planet. I have visited around 120 countries and seen a lot of beauty, but Angkor is just the right blend of magic and reality and vibes. It is the perfect temple complex, and I love it so much. 

Exploring Cambodia

 

As recently as 1980, Cambodia had no monetary system. The reign of Pol Pot removed a generation and created a fractured society filled with people who have big hearts and smiles. Many live exceptionally simple lives in the countryside, and it is fascinating to travel and view life from this perspective.

Night Market

 

12 years ago we visited the Siem Reap night market for the first time. It was a place where you could buy weird animals, get your ear’s cleaned, have fish gnaw at your feet, change Kyat to Riel, buy t shirts, and get a Khmer massage. It felt like the center of the evening universe before the crowds dispersed and hit pub street.

We were thankful to see the night market alive and well, though gone were some of the weirder offerings. In 2022, it has a more wholesome, less Mos Eisley Cantina, vibe. The kids bought necklaces and elephant dolls, and we rode home in the rain.

Kompong Phluk

 

We visited one of the lake communities on Tonle Sap and it really blew the kids away to see how people live interesting lives on the water.

A return to Cambodia

 

How long has it been old friend? Over 10 years? When Kristin and I first set foot in Cambodia we were in love. The temples, night markets, red dirt, adventurous countryside romps - it pulled us in. We visited twice in two years, and it is a delight to return 12 years later to see our old friend. 

Most importantly, it has been incredible sharing it with our children. Exploring temple ruins with Harper and Ronan was an absolute delight and a perfect adventure.

Bangkok night

Food stalls in Bang Rak 

Temple spotting with the crew

 

The Grand Palace in Bangkok has amazing lines

River Life in Bangkok

 

Before being connected by phones and laptops, connections took place mostly in the physical realm. The town square, the market, roads, and of course, rivers are an ancient way to connect with others. In Bangkok, the river still carries this function. Today we loaded up in a long tail boat and explored some lesser known estuaries of the Chao Phraya river.

The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

A long journey elevates the destination in a way that can make any hotel room feel like a special sanctuary. Arriving at a destination and having a respite from planes and airports and jet lag gives the arrival location a home-like quality that is hard to explain.

I remember every room I have stayed in after a long trip with fondness. They have ranged from desperate backpacker hostels in Vietnam to grand hotels in Europe. Lately, I make a special effort to nail the the arrival and arrival room. 

Last night we landed, bleary eyed and bloated like gila monsters, at Suvarnabhumi Airport. It was around midnight and it felt much much later. The airport buzzed a light tired hum and armed members of the military shifted around in drab olive military fatigues watching passengers shuffle through customs. More than yesterday, less than 2019.

Much of Asia has been shut down since Spring 2020, with holdouts like China and Japan still erecting plenty of barriers for travelers, many too high to pass. Thailand recently opened up its borders completely and as a piece d’resistance, legalized marijuana. It was sudden and a rare move for an Asian country. That’s where we are at.

Made it

The most fundamentally important aspect of a long travel day is the focus it provides. We flew from Louisville to Dallas to Tokyo to Bangkok. Door to door, it took about 32 hours. That means for 32 hours, our family shared a single goal - get to Bangkok. It is important to focus and break down ideas into singular goals - when you do that and add up all the goals, big and small, the potential emerges to build and change the world.

I love travel days. You arrive as a different person than when you left. They are painful and filled with introspection and opportunities to think. It is an opportunity to center yourself, take stock, read, write, and plan. Since our first long trip from SF to Hong Kong in 2009, I have revered the long journey with a sort of spiritual relevance that doesn’t exist in our day to day lives. I have visited Asia again and again, and again and again, the trip centers me in an amazing way. 

Six of us traveled from Louisville to Bangkok. Kristin and I along with our three children and nanny Chelsea. We had no material delays, and aside from our daughter Harper throwing up a few times on the long flight - it was uneventful. We rested and ate and considered the manifestation of the trip - which required the energy of all trips and conquests that have come before it. When I first started traveling, I felt lucky. Now I am grateful.

The trip never ended

It felt like a war, but it wasn't. It seemed to last forever, but it didn't. As the years went on, our path around the world continued to carve deeper grooves into softer and softer dirt. I abandoned the words but never the travel. It grew more intense. From the silk road to the edge of the Pacific, we never stopped. 50 countries turned into 100, and now I chase something else entirely.

When it all started, I traveled - - and I asked the world to change me - that was the only goal. It was pretty selfish in hindsight. Formal education and stacks of books didn't gift me the perspective I imagined I needed or deserved, so I left. Travel delivered, and when my dreams began to come true I knew why. The world gave me this life.  But. It always seemed to be a quid pro quo. When the time came, I would have to return the favor the world gave to me. 

So we start again.

The Morning Star to Hong Kong

Oh Hong Kong. Old friend. It has been a while. Five years. A few days ago, I saddled up in row 34 on an American Airlines 777 and flew direct from Dallas to Hong Kong. The morning star as I call it, the sun set just as the wheels touched down on Lantau Island. The light followed us the duration of the journey, all 16.5 hours.

Klein Bonaire

 Klein Bonaire is a small island off the coast of Bonaire - its name translates to small Bonaire. It is home to some great stretches of sand, as well as vibrant reefs. It is also empty. Years ago, developers attempted to build some resorts on the island and the Bonaire community pooled together $10m to prohibit building anything within 200m of the shore - that basically covers the entire island.

 A great place to dock with a boat 

 Kristin and pumps enjoying the beach

 From the boat, which is the only way to the island.

 Trunkfish 

 Tube corals 

 Looks like a labyrinth 

 Check out this bro 

 Trumpetfish just breezing by 

 Walking back after a snork 

 Poor guy only has three flippers

 Me and Harper 

Great beach 

Bonaire Sunset

 Kristin and baby Harper at Rum Runners in Bonaire. Harper is  loving the sea life 

Dive shop on water 

Harper at dinner

What is my job as CEO?

According to google:

1. More than with any other job, the responsibilities of a CEO diverge from the duties and the measurement. A CEO's responsibilities: everything, especially in a startup. The CEO is responsible for the success or failure of the company.

1000 steps Bonaire

 

 1000 steps is a dive site in Bonaire with 82 steps heading right down into the water

Bonaire slave hut

Bonaire has a bizantine and contrasting history of brutality and beauty, slavery and freedom. Here a slave hut frames both.

Klein Bonaire's inquisitive trunkfish

 

Trunkfish just staring into my gopro

Lac Cai in Bonaire

Lac Bay is in the corner of Bonaire. It is a local spot with great calm waters, some pretty pristine mangrove forests, and one of the best wind surfing environs on the planet - freestyle wind surfing was allegedly invented here.

"You shall not pass"

Driving through rural Bonaire, we were stopped by this fellow. He blocked the road, came over to the driver side, and made immediate demands.

8/28 & 8/29 - Leaving chaos at an inopportune time for a remote island

Menguin is in the middle of raising a round of funding, so it is probably not the best time to disappear into the tropics. But, when you plan a trip and promise a trip to your wife and mother in law, follow-through is important.   

So here I am, with a million things to do heading to a remote island.

8/28

800am - Wake up, eat toast, realize everyone is gone at the Menguin house 

840am - Go to UPS to return some flooring 

900am - Arrive at office, take some phone calls, run some reports, act like a spaz because I only have until 10 before...

8/24, Seeing the second child for the first time

800am - Wake up in McKinney with Kristin and Harper at my parents 

930am - Head to appointment with Kristin for a sonogram, catch the glimpse of the little one above- it is pretty humbling to see the first glimpse of someone who will be one of the most important people in your life.

8/21, Getting Iced by the coolest dev around

745am - wake up, get on phone to answer emails in bed, realize it has been weeks since I have done this terrible habit
815am - Get first call of the day about a Chinese pecan deal, tell the person I am in the shower
830am - Chat with Kurt in kitchen and make breakfast, pack for trip to Dallas

8/20, Thanks for calling Menguin, this is Justin, how can I help you?

819am - Wake up peacefully, long before my alarm

830am - Eat toast, make some Assam tea. I also stared at some yogurt I bought last week for about a minute before deciding, for the fifth day in a row, that it is not yet time for yogurt. An Asian friend once told me that many people from Asia think that Americans all smell like yogurt. It has been hard for me to eat it ever since. But I still by it.

8/19, what is it you say you do around here?

This is a new feature I will be doing. Menguin (a company I started with some friends) is seeing tremendous growth. I feel like it will be an interesting story to watch us grow over the next year or so. I will obviously have to omit a lot of names of investors and other sensitive information. That is boring stuff anyways. Not as exciting as what I have for lunch.

Honestly, one of my favorite things about goboogo is how I can look back and see what Kristin and I did for years as we traveled the world. The original intention of this was to create something that we would enjoy for decades to come.  I want to have the same documentation with my life as a CEO and entrepreneur.

Also everyday I got to bed at the end of the day and ask myself, "What the hell did I do today?" This will answer that.

607am - Wake up with 8 minutes left before alarm clock goes off, begrudgingly extricate self from bed
630am – Eat some toast, make some tea, get in car, all very solemnly
645am – Leave house, it looks terrible out. check doppler, realize I will be driving in a storm for next 3 hours to my meeting
800am – Stop to use restroom in pouring Ozark storm, soaked from head to toe, step in deep puddle in my leather shoes

Amsterdam has strange monostores - like this condomerie

 A cool thing about Amsterdam is that it has a decent plethora of monostores - stores that sell one type of thing, like toothbrushes or ottomans or condoms. Here we have Condomerie.

Netherlands Beach

An empty beach in the Netherlands begs for a visitor 

Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond

Tokyo has a shadow of its past that claims pockets of the modern city. Ueno is an area of the city where the past still stirs.

Amsterdam Lou

 Amsterdam Lou just hanging out watching the comings and goings on the canal - stoned people, prostitutes, tourists - almost too much for his dog brain to comprehend

Amsterdam Lou

Chile Esoterica

 

Stumbled into a grand house that I thought was a museum 

Amsterdam Trip

 A trippy room in AMS

Belgian Chocolate Shop

 Kristin trying to decide what to buy