Conferences and Cups with the Crew

I love, love, love traveling solo. In general, I get to do what I want to do all the time and see what I want to see. Plus, I figure it's good for introspection and mediation and the like.

However, it also kinda sucks sometimes. There's no one to take pictures with. No one to laugh with. And when something happens, awesome or horrible, there is no one to bear witness.

That's why I felt very lucky last week to get the best of both worlds when some of my friends from the OT crew came to visit me in Singapore. =)

...Ok, so they weren't actually here to visit me. They were here for an international communications conference. But that was actually really awesome too. Being the big huge nerd that I am. I absolutely *love* conferences. Turns out it doesn't even have to be my field. I love learning about new research and having nerdy conversations, and meeting new, interesting and awesome (read: nerdy) people. Plus, several days worth of free food and fun receptions. =)

It was also really cool to get to go to Elliot's and Helen's talks. Even though I see them all the time back home, I really didn't know much about their research. They did awesome. So above and beyond their panel members. Go Blue!

It was also particularly awesome that they were here during the World Cup. Even though I'm not much of a soccer buff or sports fanatic in general, it was really cool to get to experience such an historical event with my close friends in a country that actually cares about the World Cup. Every bar, pub, cafe, mall, and hallway were packed for every game. And every person was on the edge of their seats (apparently mostly because there's a lot of betting on the world cup around here).

In between the conference and the World Cup, we spent a lot of time at the OTHER world cup.....

That's right, Robocup, the world championships of robot soccer. They happened to be held at the same gianormous convention center as the communications conference, so we ran upstairs to watch whenever we got the chance. They had all different types of robots. Big ones, small ones, humanoid types and little black box types.

However, it turns out that robots are not very good at soccer.

They mostly fall down a lot.

Somehow that doesn't make it any less awesome.

But the Robocup experience (Aside to Andre: this is our next cheese sign) isn't limited to soccer. They also had all kinds of stands (not to mention the ministry of robotics)

They also had house robots that did things like turn on and off your lights and play your favorite CD for you. They also dance

Robocup's goal is to have robots beat human World Cup champions by 2050.

They've got a way to go.

Next Robocup is in Turkey next year. I plan on being there.

* * * * *

After the conferences and cups, we spent the weekend exploring Singapore.

We were met with a great deal of tanks.

Seriously, this must have gone on for hours. At first we were excited and took lots of pics. Then we were worried...was there a coup that we weren't aware of?

Turns out that they were "practicing" for National Day (Singaporean Independence day (Aug 9th)).
Practice went on all day. Even the fireworks and airshow were rehearsed.

To think that in the states we do 4th of July each year without practicing first. How unprofessional of us.

Once convinced that we were not all going to be taken hostage, we had an excellent time being tourists. We checked out the youth olympic park (for the first youth olympics, to be held in Singapore this Aug)...

Elliot got some *very* spiffy tailored shirts...

We checked out the super snazzy new casino/mall...

And we ended the trip in Chinatown. Where we got souvenirs...

...and ate at a restaurant with a 'celebrity chef" that also was a body builder, model, and I don't remember what all else. Yes this is the menu. Yes, those are pictures of him mostly naked.

We also walked around the oldest temple in Singapore.

However, this random Engrish shirt has to be one of my personal highlights. Seriously. Found in Chinatown in Singapore. WTF?!?!?

MISS YOU GUYS ALREADY!