The Swissotel was kind enough to move me to a room with high speed Internet access. That enabled me to upload pictures from the day into the Singpore section of the photo gallery. Since I arrived at the hotel before 8 AM and my first meeting was not until 5 PM I had a choice of taking a nap or taking a walk. I took the latter. This is my third time to visit Singapore but there are many things I had not had time to visit in the past.  The IT Mall is Singapore’s largest shopping area dedicated to IT. The six story building houses 178 retail outlets. I visited many of them — like a child in a candy store. I picked up a few essentials that were on my list including a Smart Media PCMCIA adapter and a USB hub. Speaking of USB, I have never seen so many USB accessories before. The most unique was the USB fan. I could not resist. As I type this story, the new USB fan is keeping me cool.
After a light lunch, Mr. Patrick Tan was kind enough to take me on a tour of Singapore. I started out in the back of the car where the hotel doorman directed me. At the first stop light I moved to the front seat where I could see better and also get to know Patrick. He was an excellent driver and also taught me a great deal about Singapore. The most surprising thing to me is how close Malaysia is to Singapore. I knew it was close but did not realize how close. We stopped along the northern shore of Singapore and you could throw a stone to Malaysia. I was able to take a couple of pictures. There is a causeway to Malaysia that includes a major conduit for water which flows to Singapore. At the entrance to the causeway from Singapore is a warning sign that tells drivers to make sure their fuel tank is at least 3/4 full. If not, a fine is levied. this is one of many rules in Singapore. Each car also has a smartcard reader on the dashboard. It is charged for passage in busy areas at busy times. On holidays it is free. During peak times it is several dollars. This one of several controls the government uses to regulate the number of cars on the road. At 5 PM it was time to go to the registration area for the IBM Forum 2003. The conference is IBM Singapore’s major event for the year and it draws an attendance of nearly 1,000. I was one of the dozen or so speakers for the conference. We had dinner on the 69th floor of the hotel. The view was spectacular and it was great to meet a number of interesting people.