Exploring Singapore

So much of what we have seen in Singapore is sterile, organized and controlled.  Though there are ethnic neighborhoods that have a bit of a more organic feeling to them.  Today we walked through China Town, Little India and Arab Street.  

It's funny that in a city/country that is so regulated by law, we have not seen any police yet. Though we have noticed a great many video cameras mounted high at intersections and on buildings.

We found this sign outside a mosque.

The population here, we have heard is 72% Chinese, 18% Malay Indian and 10% other - which includes a large population of Indians who come predominantly on work permits.  Their is a tolerance and broad acceptance of people of all cultures and religions, as long as they honor and obey Singaporean law and customs.

There is some interesting architecture.

But only a few small streets and back alleys that actually have texture and an organic feeling to them.  For the most part, the city feels planned.

There seems to be thousands of construction cranes at work, building the city in a constant hum.

Though I imagine it is slow going.  I don't know if it's the heat, or the humidity or some other cultural phenomenon, but everything moves slowly here.  It takes much longer than it should to order a meal, or to be served, to wait in line for a cashier, or to receive an order from Starbucks. Everyone and everything moves at a different pace and rhythm than they do at home, or in Egypt, or in Istanbul.  In general we found most service in Sweden to be slow too - it lacked any urgency, but to my memory, it was faster and with more purpose than in Singapore.

As we look around at the buildings, most are new, and many are quite interesting.  

There seems to be a vital night life, consisting mostly of restaurants and clubs and shopping. There are many malls, and several open air markets.  But none of it seems terribly exciting. None of it strikes any of us as unique.  It seems that Singapore is mostly a business center and a port, that receives goods from around the world, but does not make any exports.  There are beaches and sights to see on this small island city state - but it feels very sterile.

Most everyone here speaks English, which makes life easier for us, but also makes it a bit less interesting.  The prices here seem reasonable, but not spectacularly low.  From what we have heard, it is a very safe country in which to live and work, but at the same time is much more expensive than it's northern neighbor, Malaysia.

Singapore

The night we left Cairo was the clearest we were there.  The lights were bright and the contrast was high.  

Our shoot in Cairo went very well.  There were a few hitches, there always are.  But in the end, everything worked out very well.  

I forgot to include this photo earlier, but I really like the juxtaposition of the old with the new that is evident all over the city.

Our travel details continued to change up until the final hour; in the end a few of our group were able to fly direct, a few flew through Abu Dhabi, and Richard and I flew through Frankfurt.  When we landed it was zero degrees - a sharp contrast to Cairo, and a reminder of our cold dark days in Sweden.  Flying through Germany was a very long route.  In the end we are all made it to Singapore, with all of our equipment.  So amazingly it all worked out.

I can't imagine two countries that are more different than Egypt and Singapore.   In Egypt seems a bit like the wild west.  Where people do what they have to do to survive, and even when they don't they do what they want.  Singapore on the other hand is a country of rules and regulations, strict government oversight and control.  In some ways it feels too clean, too orderly - in that way it's a bit like disneyland.

There is not much traffic, and what traffic there is, seems to move pretty well.  There are some delays, but nothing like Egypt.

The view from my hotel shows this amazing floating soccer field.  They say it stays level, though we won't get to see it firsthand as there are no tournaments while we are here.  They are preparing for New Year's Eve - they are planning a big party and fireworks show.

Our hotel pool is beautiful.

They have something here I have never before seen - Fish Spas.  I have seen two so far.

I'm sure there are many more.

I could explain it, but I think the spa concept with this photo explains it all.  It seems to be popular.

We stopped into a Starbucks today for a coffee, but found it difficult to decide which pastry would be better.

So we passed, and only had the coffee.

In order to avoid more laundry issues on this trip we walked over to the mall and bought some essential clothing, to last us through the remainder of our shoot.

Today my friend and former student, Joel (who is living in Saigon) came to Singapore to buy some electronics.  We had dinner.  It was great to see him.

Tomorrow, after the pre-pro meeting, assuming everything goes well, we plan to go to the beach to swim.  (unless I can find a boat to rent to go sailing.)

Laundry On The Road

One of the biggest challenges of this shoot was planning and packing for four such different climates.  Although we shot in two very different areas of Sweden, both were cold, wet and dark - and even though one was colder, wetter and darker than the other, I am counting them as one.

When packing light for a 23 day production schedule in four countries, one must count on doing laundry.  As I wrote in a previous post, we took our laundry to a laundromat in Turkey which became a ridiculous comedy of errors.  But in the end, our clothes were clean, and eventually they dried.

In Cairo, we have had two more laundry incidents which bear revealing.  One only is only indirectly related to us.  When we were scouting locations the other day we felt large drops of water - rain from above.  It was rain on a dry day.  In looking up we noticed that two floors above us, right over our heads, a woman was hanging her soaking laundry to dry.  And so it was drip drying on us.

Yesterday Peter bought some laundry detergent to wash a few of his clothes in his room by hand, which he did this morning.  He then hung them over the furniture and railing to his balcony.  Later today his jeans were missing.

Apparently, in the strong breeze his pants had blown over the side and fallen 18 stories onto a balcony below.  After a good hard laugh, they turned up.  The inhabitant of the room called someone from the hotel to report the pants appearance on his balcony.  Meanwhile, Peter had called to report what had happened.  

Earlier this evening, the jeans were returned to him, clean and folded.

Given our early call tomorrow and our long day ahead, I will hold off on doing laundry again until I get to Singapore.  There is still a question regarding my departing flight.  Due to an overbooked flight, it looks like Doug, Richard and I may have to fly on a different flight from that of Peter and Melanie.  They are confirmed on a direct flight to Singapore; we may have a short layover and a plane change in Abu Dhabi.  We will know more tomorrow.

If we do have to fly through Abu Dhabi, we will have a very early departure from Cairo - I think it's something like 3am, instead of the more civilized 10am departure for the direct flight.  A 3am flight will make for a very long tomorrow.

Some More Impressions of Cairo

In front of one of the locations we scouted was this older woman who was walking back and forth speaking to herself.  Even in the midst of terrible traffic and given questionable mental stability, she never faltered and was able keep this basket balanced on her head.

Apparently McDonalds delivers 24/7.

This photograph doesn't do justice to the atmosphere at this Lebanese restaurant near our hotel.  The air was thick with smoke.  Many patrons were smoking from water pipes while they ate.  This man would alternately take a bite of food, then a drag on his cigarette.  The food was delicious, in spite of the smoke that numbed our taste buds and made our eyes water.

In scouting Cairo, we have had the opportunity to see areas and details of the city, that often go unseen by outsiders.  We have been on rooftops, and in small back alleys, we have left the well trod tourist routes, and entered into the world of the inhabitants.  We have been to shops and restaurants that tourists wouldn't find.  I am struck by all the television antenae and satellite dishes that abound on the rooftops.  I am also surprised by the large quantities of rubble - lumber, brick, metal and building materials that lie on the rooftops.  Of course, the random chair or shelf unit that sits among the rooftop rubble is also quite astounding.

Today the air cleared a bit and through the dust and smog I was able to see the shadowy outline of two pyramids from the balcony of my hotel room.

They become a bit more clear on closer inspection.

Which of course brings me back to yesterday's excursion across the desert.

Doug

Richard

Peter

Melanie

and me.

Ride to the Pyramids

We traded off riding horses and camels across the desert.

Peter of Arabia

Chris, Doug, Richard, Melanie, Linda, Jack, Peter and Ray

Doug and Me

Horses, Camels, Pyramids and Sphinx

We couldn't come to Cairo and miss seeing the pyramids.

After our scout and follow up meetings, we drove about 45 minutes to the pyramids.  There, our driver knew a guide who provided us with camels and horses for our ride across the Sahara to the pyramids.

From the moment on the freeway when we noticed the pyramids looming over the local buildings our excitement was palpable.

Our guides were pleasant and charming, though we collectively dispute some of what they told us, it was an experience to remember.

All the wonderful memories aside for a moment, there was a moment when Richard's horse decided to lie down and roll over.  Unfortunately, he was on it at the time.  He somehow managed to step off as the horse dropped and get out of its way.  Then he started yelling at the horse.  The whole scene was pretty funny, in light of the fact that he was not hurt.

So we rode up to the pyramid and touched the ancient rocks.  Then rode back, to the Sphinx and finally home.

  

I have not yet processed it all and so am not sure I can write more about it at this time, perhaps I will add more later.  But for now - here are some photos.

Cairo Location Scout

We learned some good lessons in Istanbul.  One of them is to keep our locations close.  When the traffic gets heavy, getting from one to the other location can take valuable time.  Even when they are close, it takes time.  

As we scouted for the locations that would serve us for the Cairo part of our shoot, we wanted perfect locations, in relatively close proximity.  The more opportunities any location could provide was a bonus.  We found them relatively quickly.  Our location manager knows the city well, and understood what we needed.

After our scout, we had a meeting over lunch to confirm our production needs.  I met with my local gaffer, and Peter and Doug met with the client.  

Everything is in place for our shoot on Tuesday.

Arriving in Cairo

The airport in Cairo was quite an experience.  It was crowded and moving at a hurried pace.  It was also 4:30am after a long day of shooting and traveling, so we we all exhausted.  We were met by a driver who helped usher us through customs and immigration and out into a sea of people.  It was a crazy almost overwhelming and surreal experience.  The place, the language, the customs so alien to me.

After making our way to the curb and to the two vans that were there to take us and our equipment to our hotel, several people started "helping" load gear - but then wanted money for their troubles.  It was quite a whirlwind of activity.  We convinced them to leave us, and we managed to load our gear safely and to be on our way to our hotel.

After check in we collapsed and slept for a few hours.  I awoke to a view that looks across the Nile toward the pyramids.  Although the smog and dust are too thick to see them, knowing they are there is pretty amazing.

  

Richard and I went out to explore the area and to grab lunch.  We walked pretty far, across the Nile and ate on the 65th floor of the Cairo Tower, with a view of the entire city.  From there, we could see the faint outline of the Great Pyramid.

  

We returned to the hotel briefly before heading out to the production office.  While Doug conducted his call backs, and Peter went over production details with the local production coordinator, Richard, Melanie and I explored another neighborhood.

Cairo is a sprawling city, with lots of activity.  It seems to wake a bit late, and continue late into the night.  There are no crosswalks or traffic lights; it's a bit of a free for all with pedestrians and drivers caught in a perpetual game of chicken.  It's intense, and fascinating.  Wonderful in its own way.  The drivers keep one hand on the wheel and the other on their horn - and the city is filled with a honking symphony of horns.  Somehow this works.  Though we have had a few near misses as we drove around - it is intense.