Yesterday while we were out and about shopping (which yielded nothing big) we noticed signs all over town for the Asia Dive Expo going on from the 21-23 here in Singapore. This was too good to be true. The Expo is similar to an expo held in the US every year by an organization called Dive Equipment Manufacturer's Association (DEMA). It is a blend of dive agencies, equipment manufacturers, dive resorts and shops, conservation groups and any one else who has a stake in the dive industry. I have been trying to get to DEMA for the past few years, but the dates never seem to work out for me. (This year it will be in Orlando about a week after we have to leave to head home)

We found the location on the map and decided to go by on Sunday for a while. It was amazing! I felt like a kid in a candy store. PADI had a huge presence as one would expect, but there were dive operators from every country we are about to visit and we got some great info on places to stay and dive over the next few months. There were even reps from the Maldives to pass out info. This is good since we are struggling a bit with getting good info about places to stay that are not a small fortune each night.

Besides gathering information, we also gathered some dive equipment. I have been doing a lot of drift diving, and most of what I will be doing from now on will be drift diving, and I did not have a safety sausage (a long inflatable marker tube so boats can spot you on the surface from a long distance away). The fins I brought are also very heavy. They are great fins and I don't want to give them up, but I got a great pair of Mares for the equivalent of $60. I shipped my old ones home immediately!

After the show, we visited a few more areas of town before heading home to drop off our purchases and then head out for dinner. We decided to take the train to a part of town called 'Little India' and find some good Indian Food. When we got off the train, we were shocked. It was already 8:30 and there were 1,000s of people on the streets shopping, talking, and just generally out and about. And guess what, they were all Singapore Indian:) Truly we were two of only a handful of non-Indian people in the entire area that we saw. If this is what India is like, I want to go. There were people shopping for food, clothing, electronics and anything else you can imagine.

We found a small restaurant that looked good and went in for a meal. Again, there may have been one other couple that weren't locals, and the food turned out to be some of the best we had ever eaten. At home we use the Bombay Cricket Club as the standard, but that pales in comparison to this. I wish I could have taken some away with me and had again the next day. In fact, we may go back before we leave Singapore.

We still have few things on our agenda before we leave Singapore. The Zoo and Night Safari, buying an Ipod, and checking out how we're getting to KL still remain to be done.

Until then, keep checking back for more,

Eric and Val