All's Fair in Love and War

Apologies, dear readers, for taking so long to write another post. Life - mainly work travel and moving apartments - got in the way of writing. But a birthday seems as good a reason as any to start again. I need to get cracking since my profiles all say I'm a year older now. (And thank you all again for the lovely birthday messages!)

I have so far been on 3 dates. Two were duds. The first was a coffee date. He was fine, but neither of us messaged afterwards and it took me a week to even realize it. Not a good sign. The second was incredibly arrogant. Probably the worst date I've ever been on. He thought it was cute or something to jokingly call me a "good little girl". Anyone who knows me will know that does not amuse me in the slightest. With the third I have at least found a new climbing partner. He doesn't live full time in Singapore so it likely won't amount to anything much, but at least I'm climbing again. He's got enough weight on me that I have to be super careful belaying him. I went flying in the air once and he tumbled to the floor. Oops. He still wants to go climbing again though.

And now what you've all really been wanting to know... What awful messages have I gotten over the last 3 months. I've been saving them all up for you!


The very to the point...

Drinks tonight?

Where will be our first date? ;)

I am looking for a long term relationship

may I be ur friend ? I am 29 and single man

up for casual sex? [Nope.]

do you want to marry?

you can come to india for your travel trips! [I get a LOT of messages from India. Like really a lot. More than from guys in Singapore.]

I came across ur profile. .though u r older than me ..thought we did have a few common interests ..nd hence this msg of hi [Keep reminding me I'm old. That's gonna work great.]

The ones who don't understand my profile...

You should get your GED [Sent from the good ole USA. I replied - I have an MBA so I'm good, but thanks for the unsolicited advice.] 

i really wanna know if it's true that you didn't graduate from high school? [Based on the grammar issues in that line, it seems like he didn't either. Might take this out of my profile. It causes more trouble than it's worth. It's in the "most private thing I'm willing to admit" section right now. Need to think of a new one.] 

an engineer, wow! [Working in tech does not mean I'm an engineer.] 

I hope you consider exploring further although I'm a bit over 40. [A bit is an understatement.]

The relentless...

Good Morning!! [Nov 6]
Hey you [same guy, Nov 8]
Morning you [same guy again, Nov 8]

Hello ! =) [Oct 22]
Hello I m active [Oct 25]
Heyooo [Nov 13]

Hello, I'm a single guy from Hyderabad, lemme know if you would like to chat... [Nov 5]
Helooo a "yes", "no" or "maybe" would really help.... [Dec 2]

Hi how ru?wats ur job? [Oct 27]
Hello hor ru?taken ur dnner? [Nov 2]
Hi how ru?do u meet any guy so far?where do u stay? [Dec 7]

This was sent two days after I didn't respond to this guy's first message:

Have you taken a look at the gay men and gay women in okcupid. They're having a ball of a time flirting with one another. And we are are, nitpicking on race, religion, income and looks. You came all the way to Singapore, to hook up with a white guy? Or some Christian? Or someone well-off financially? Someone drop dead good looking?

I have no words for this winner. Second line of his profile is - "I am thankful that I am not short. I am also thankful that I was given above average intelligence." I'm clearly the shallow one in this conversation.


Had to block this next one. Even for the blog it was getting to be too much.

The complimentary (kind of)...

such a pretty face you have! how come you are still single being so pretty?! [sigh] 

Couldn't stop myself, you travel for Earth is beautiful and I see Earth's beauty in you [thanks I guess?] 

Sooooo pretty .. I wish I could take you out.. gorgeous you are!! 

So I was recently given an assignment to write an essay, on the finer things in life... So I was wondering if I could interview you for the same ;)...? [then a day later] Hello :( 

You got nice eyes and lips and hows the weather treating you? 

is it shallow if I only gave you high ratings because of your awesome hair?

The locals...

For the record, I would have no issue dating a Singaporean, but it shouldn't be the first thing out of his mouth.

Not sure whether you're keen with meeting a local guy just to hang out. 

This is my 1st time to msg a western woman like u 

Not sure if racial characteristic is within your search criteria, but oh well 

Out of curiosity.. Is there chinesse ever hit on u? 

Hello, mind to be friend with Asian?

The stalkers...

You are living alone here? [Why would I tell a strange man that? So he can break into my apartment?] 

hey can I steal one of your pictures? [NO! To do what with it? Ugh I don't even want to know.] 

Babe I'll be honest with you...I like your profile and if you can get me a job of being your personal bodyguard, I'll be on the first flight to SP and we can start making babies:D Deal? [Calling me babe? Wanting my babies? Good lord.] 

oh my goodness you are so incredibly beautiful that i would move to singapore right now and marry you! 

First of all you have gorgeous smile
Secondly you are very very cute
Thirdly I want to be your friend
Fourthly you have to be my friend :-)
Fifthly are you agree to be my friend ?? :-))))) 

if you'd like to come over and have some conversations at my place do let me know. i'm staying at the Rendezvous Hotel [I'll pass. Thanks.] 

I swear I'm not a stalker or creep! I guess my numerous messages to you say otherwise [That is correct, dear sir.]

The clever ones...

Late night tic tac toe guy. I'm way too lazy to type all of that out, but nice effort.

This guy is either a comic genius or a moron. I'm not sure which:

Hi.. I think i need some help. I managed to convert my toaster into a time machine, but there is a problem, it's travelling through time too slowly. It takes two hours to travel two hours into the future. That's too slow. Do you have any idea how to solve this?

The just plain bizarre...

hello pretty queen? [Why is this a question?] 

im not looking for any relationships here [Then why are you on a dating site?] 

knock knock Lovely profile, say my note to self [?] 

so why did you add me, is it the kinky part? [From the married guy on Tinder. Don't let your friends play with the Tinder app on your phone. They think swiping right on the most inappropriate guys is HILARIOUS. It's not when they turn out to be creeps.] 

Im here just for chat im Not an usually kupid's pervent ;) [No idea what that's supposed to mean.]

We're the same age as Jesus when he died

sorry sir.i think canadian embassy branch in srilanka.can i send money and documents to india through that embassy in srilanka? [Ummm....]

do you think a bed of roses or a zombie apocalypse is a meaning of your life? [I'm going to go with neither.]

Sent by an 18 year old:

From a 21 year old. Where are these kids coming from???

Listen I got a thing for older women. I love messing around with older women. I was wondering if u wanted to mess around with a younger well endowed man just once for fun. 

Liaminaboxxx made a reappearance. See the section on incredibly inappropriate guys. Same message about being uncalibrated. I don't think he knows what that means.

Source: compelled.org

And the one who read the old blog...

This was bound to happen. The guy has a very empty profile and no photo so not sure what his deal is, but he went away after not too long.

Writing this has been quite cathartic. I've unmatched or blocked all of the losers. And wrote back to a few that I'd missed! I'll report back soon on any progress. Until then, my friends.

Source: chucklesnetwork.com

A Trip to the Taj

After a tiring, but fun and productive week at work in our Gurgaon, India office, a coworker and I spent our Saturday visiting the Taj Mahal. The Taj is a 4 hour drive from Gurgaon, which is right outside Delhi. We left our hotel at 5 AM and when we arrived the haze (which I was told is not pollution, just "winter" weather) unfortunately had not burned off, but it was still a pretty amazing sight. I mistakenly had thought the Taj Mahal was a palace of some sort, but it's actually a massive mausoleum. It also isn't just white like it usually looks in the photos. Up close you can see that it's covered in intricate jeweled flowers and writings that are inlaid in the marble. Definitely worth spending 8 hours in the car. (I managed to sleep for most of it so it didn't seem that long at all.)

The Taj Mahal

A labor of love

The Taj Mahal was built in the 1600s by a grief-stricken emperor after his wife died giving birth to their 14th child. 20,000 workers spent 22 years building this testament of love for his deceased spouse. I was apparently also part of the attraction, even though I have yet to keep a guy's attention for more than 3 years, let alone 22 when I'm dead. After getting my photo taken in front of the Taj, a mother and her daughter asked to take their photo with me too. Blonde hair has weird effects on people here.

The jewels on the Taj sparkling in the sun

The love story of the Taj seems to have rubbed off on me because on the way home, the OKCupid messages started flooding in. Even though my profile says I'm in Singapore, there is apparently a "nearby" feature that locals can peruse. I'm not sure if this is new or if I just didn't travel while I was online dating last time. Either way, several Indian men were eager to show me around Delhi tonight. A few were real winners:

If you are online shopping believer... Try n date me, I come free and with a 30 days return guarantee ;)

I think and I see you r very attractive beautiful n active...u look like an actress ....Impeccable and neat....u attract me :-)

My name is [name I can't pronounce] and I am unemployed. I like what I see 

The potential suitors

While I doesn't look like I'll be finding love in India, as mentioned previously, there are a few tentatively scheduled dates for when I get back to Singapore. Here are the front runners:

The music-playing techie (OKC)
Recently moved from the US to Singapore, this guy caught my eye quickly. Tall, cute, also works in tech, musician. Three messages in he asked if I wanted to meet up for coffee. Not afraid to be aggressive without being creepy. I like it. However, he generally takes 3-4 days to respond to messages, which isn't a good sign. But he does keep responding eventually, and he did just move across the world so we'll see. I'm not holding my breath for this one though. Too bad because he really is cute.

The yacht-riding chef (Tinder)
A chef for me is always a plus since I don't cook and a chef generally is OK with that. This one happens to be Australian (I'm such a sucker for accents) and works on a yacht that takes him all over the South Pacific. He doesn't actually live in Singapore, but he's there frequently. If it gets me a ride on a yacht trip, I'll make an exception for this guy. Plus his photos are pretty hot. Except the one where he's kissing a fish...

The coffee-drinking photographer (Tinder)
This guy I'm not sold on yet. The conversation was a little stilted, but he seems interesting. Does a ton of traveling. Also hard to tell what he really looks like from his photos. It's so much harder to get info out of guys on Tinder. You don't have much to go on when you start a conversation since the profiles have a fraction of the content. This guy will have to follow up with me to actually meet up, and I'm not sure I will even if he does. We'll see.

The kite-surfing PhD (OKC)
Swiss guy who just finished his PhD program. Most of our conversation has been about kite-surfing even though I've only gone once and I was pretty bad at it. His date ideas were various types of water activities - fake wave-riding, wakeboarding, SUPing - so that was intriguing. A few hesitations with this one though. It's hard to tell what he really looks like from his photos so he might not be that attractive, he doesn't put his height in his profile so most likely he's short (not a deal killer, but I do have a thing for tall guys), and the conversation ended when he asked for my number and I said I don't get texts in India. (I actually can, but see my previous post for my philosophy on giving out phone numbers.)

The rock-climbing professor (OKC)
I really need to find a belay partner who will go climbing with me so I may end up being friends with this guy even if there's no chemistry. American (I think, though he didn't say so explicitly) who is a communications professor in Singapore. He does have a shirtless photo on his profile, but he's rock climbing so that gets a pass. Again no height listed, but he at least looks proportional in his photos. Lots of travel photos which is cool, but you can't see his face in all of his pics and in some he's definitely cuter than in others. We'll see how it goes in real life.

The dragon-boating banker (Tinder)
British guy (again with the accent, swoon) whose messages kept me well entertained during a 2 hour run. Asked me out for a drink and was willing to wait until I get back from India. Haven't heard from him for a few days though. 6'1" so not short, and he has Don Draper as one of his profile photos, which is perhaps a bit cocky, but there is a striking resemblance to his other photos. Not sure Don Draper is the type of guy I want to date though...

The fun flirting crush (real life)
This one technically shouldn't go on this list since there's no date on the horizon and in all likelihood there never will be, but I have a bit of a schoolgirl crush on someone I've met in Singapore. For a variety of reasons, it has a very very minimal chance of ever turning into anything, but for now I'm enjoying the innocent flirtation. All good friendly fun that keeps me amused and occupied while I decide if I actually want to go out with the above gentlemen.

Source: someecards.com

Why Did the Chick Cross Orchard Road?

Do you miss the US?

I've just barely been in Singapore for a month so it's not that long of a time in which to feel homesick, but the short answer to this question is no. If I think about it, what do I miss? Friends and family of course. And I miss that I was served dinner at work, there was a chiropractor onsite at my office, and I could buy wine without spending a fortune. Real first world problems, I know. So... no, I don't really miss the US. At least not yet.

Singapore is pretty much the easiest city ever to move to, as long as you don't mind humidity. A new friend yesterday correctly said that it is "insultingly easy" to adapt here. Everyone speaks English, people are friendly, and despite what many people say, there is a ton of stuff to do here. Taxis aren't actually all that easy to get, but it's usually 10 minutes or less (basically I'm spoiled by Uber in SF and how well taxi apps work there), and it was unnecessarily frustrating to buy a ticket for the subway (the MRT). There was really no reason for me to stand in line multiple times to buy a ticket, but there was likely a faster way to do this that I wasn't aware of.

Spend Friday night at a beautiful pool bar? Don't mind if I do.

So what has been the hardest thing for me to figure out in Singapore? Crossing the street. Yes, you read that correctly. But not just any street. The street that gets me home. Orchard Road.

Source: Wikipedia

The Orchard Road Underpass (also known as the Depths of Hell)

The intersection of Orchard Road and Scotts Road / Paterson Road is a very busy one. There are no crosswalks so in order to cross the road, you need to go into the Orchard MRT station and cross via an underpass. Sounds easy, right? Haha no. The first time I experienced this mayhem was when I was recovering from being sick just after I had gotten here. I had spent the previous three days sick in bed and alone. I went out to meet a friend for dinner and needed to cross Orchard. After figuring out the no crosswalk situation, I went down into the MRT. All of the sudden I was in an underground shopping mall maze with heaving masses of people everywhere. Where the hell was I? It was a jarring shock to go from solitary confinement to this chaos.

Singapore is known for its mall culture, and Orchard Road is the epitome of this. Block after block of massive shopping malls selling everything under the sun. Orchard also is the location of many hotels, such as the Marriott and the Grand Hyatt, which have clubs in them (see earlier post on the clientele in the Marriott's bar). And Orchard is home of the infamous Orchard Towers, nicknamed the Four Floors of Whores.

Crossing the street - the new place to pick up guys

I generally have a decent sense of direction so that fact that this underpass situation is still not under control baffles me. It's not just me either. Half the time I'm trying to navigate this I'm with someone else! Twice this week we ended up going out on Orchard Road. While I can do without the prostitutes, I like dancing and hey, it's close to home (hahaha).

On Tuesday, a big group of us ended up at Brix in the Grand Hyatt. The night for me had ended with a weird encounter, and I left the club quite hastily and a bit flustered. I just started walking without really thinking where I was headed. This was a bad idea. I can see the Grand Hyatt from my apartment, yet it took me 45 minutes to find my way home. I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing sometimes. On Thursday, four of us ended up at Orchard Towers to watch a band (and FYI, the lead singer is still definitely a hooker). A coworker who lives a few blocks away walked me home. We must have gone up and down 15 different sets of escalators trying to get through the underpass. I was barefoot this whole time too since my shoe had broken. Finally we just jaywalked and hopped a fence to get across the street.

Last night I went to dinner at a friend's apartment. She lives right next to the Grand Hyatt so it was "walking distance". As I walked there I paid very careful attention to exactly which pathway to take so I would be sure to get home without incident. I left dinner, feeling confident in my directional abilities, and the hallway I was supposed to take was... blocked for construction. DAMMIT! I headed to another escalator that I was semi-sure would still get me to the right place and ran into a guy walking back up who told me that it was blocked that way as well. Screw it, I'm jaywalking again. He asked where I was going and I told him to follow me. As I was climbing over a fence in a skirt, he asked me out for a drink. I told him that everything on this side of the street was closed now, trying to politely decline. He then suggested buying a drink at the 7-11. What?! No. I need to go home now. <sigh>

Source: troll.me

Hello?... Hello???... HELLOOOOO?!

When I was last on OKCupid, I got a few guys who were a bit too persistent and would keep messaging me despite never getting a single response. This time around it's much worse. Some send the same message over and over. Others start to get weird and desperate and sometimes nasty. This morning I woke up to one of those messages. Until today I haven't trolled any guys on the dating sites here. Most of the messages have been so bad it just wouldn't have been worth it. But this guy got under my skin.

On Friday while I was at work I got the first message:

how's life? nice smile!

Not a terrible message, but he didn't live in Singapore so I wasn't planning to respond. I got the message while running between meetings so even if I had been planning to respond, it wouldn't have been right away. Less than an hour later was message #2:

no reply?

Oh gross. Pathetic and whiny. That's exactly what I'm looking for in a guy. Guys on dating sites, a word of advice - NEVER DO THIS. EVER. A second message can be acceptable if done well, but do not send a message like this. You are acting like the clingy, jealous girlfriend that no one likes.

This morning I got the third message which he had sent at around 2 AM:

no reply?
Thanks for that!
Seems ignoring messages is something that makes women feel good. 
It has some way got to do with personal ego.

Are you freaking kidding me? I'm sorry that I haven't taken the time to send a personal response to all 232, no make that 233, people who have messaged me in the last 8 days. I'm not trying to pretend that I'm soooo amazing that this is a phenomenon unique to me. Guys play these sites like a numbers game, spamming hundreds of girls a day, and most girls get the same volume of messages that I do. I had to respond, knowing full well the reply I would receive:

I didn't reply to you for several reasons. None of which have to do with my ego.
1) You are in Italy, not Singapore, and my profile is specific that I'm not looking for a pen pal. I do not respond to anyone who is not in Singapore.
2) To follow up an initial message in less than 24 hours with "no reply?" seems desperate and creepy. Even if I had been planning to respond I wouldn't have after that message.
3) I am not interested in your profile. Women on here get many messages per day and it's ridiculous to think that every one will respond back to you. I don't have the time to gently let you know I'm not interested so as not to bruise YOUR ego.
Being rude to women on here is not going to make you many friends. You may want to adjust your tactics.

While waiting for his inevitable reply, I took a look at his profile. There was no way in hell I would have EVER engaged with this guy seriously.

1. As mentioned above, not even in Singapore.
2. Terrible, terrible photos. He could possibly be somewhat attractive in real life, but one photo is a weird side profile and the other has this awful filter on it that makes him look like he has some bizarre disease.
3. He refers to himself as a "weird stuff thinker". What on earth is that supposed to be?
4. In the questions he has answered he says that "sarcasm is formulaic and lame" (this will be relevant in a second), he prefers submissive partners (yeah, you don't want me buddy) and that it is not acceptable for gay couples to have children.

Source: memekid.com

Five minutes later, his response:

I don't need your advice. As you said women received thousand of messages, and maybe feel the right to behave like they are the only ones in the world.
I know that very well, hence i was not rude, I just stated it has to do with ego, and ur message is confirming that.
Secondly, I have the option to see when people read my message, and yes, you could read it just short after you received it, so it is nothing creepy if i said to you that you ignored me. It was just stating a fact.
If i was sarcastic to you (not rude, sarcastic, if you can discern the difference) is because I already knew about your point 3 (you did not find me attractive).
Nothing to lose then.
As you noticed, not only women have a brain in the world, even they tend to think so LOL

Let's break down this response. First, the beginning just makes no sense. I didn't say women receive thousands of messages, but if they do, how are they behaving like they are the only ones in the world? I'm not following the logic there. Second, saying that someone is egotistical is rude. Period. Third, checking to see when someone reads your messages then berating them if they don't respond immediately is without question creepy. Fourth, there was nothing sarcastic about his message. He was stating a fact as he says, which is not sarcasm, but as he answered correctly in his questions, his sarcasm is lame. Fifth, if you know someone is not interested, what's the point in continuing to harass them? Sixth, if you're going to comment on women having brains, try to use correct grammar. Seventh, LOL... shoot me in the face.

I didn't even have time to send my break down of the fallacies of his response, when he sent another message:

P.S.: i hope you enjoy your threesomes and gangbangs there, as you said you are interested in them. ;)

That was the last straw with this guy:

Nope, never said that. But as I did say, you are very rude. Leave me alone now or I will report you.

He of course replied again, threatening that he would report me. Haha, that's funny. So I blocked him and reported him for offensive comments and harassment. Then I remembered that I had been invited by OKCupid to help moderate content on the site, and I spent the next hour recommending that other offensive douchebags have their profiles be taken down. I feel much better now. Time to go sit by the pool :)

Source: quickmeme.com

Welcome to Singapore - A Tale of Two Weekends

Welcome back, my dear readers, for the second edition of the "Looking for Love" blog. This time it's brought to you from Singapore. One of the first questions I was asked when I said I was moving to Singapore was whether I was going to start the blog again. I mean what's the worst that could happen? It's not like I'll end up in the Daily Mail and need to have an embarrassing conversation with HR about the fact that I have a dating blog. Oh wait... that did already happen. So clearly I have nothing left to lose! Without further adieu and back by popular demand, my dating life, along with stories about being an expat, for all of your enjoyment.


Welcome to Singapore!

I have now been in Singapore for just over three weeks. The first two weekends couldn't have been more of a roller coaster. A sane person would have taken those few days to settle in, learn how to use public transportation, and maybe even locate a grocery store. Well, I have never claimed to be sane so of course I did none of these things. I bring to you a tale of two weekends.


F1 weekend is the BEST weekend!

I arrived in Singapore just after midnight on a Saturday. By the time I gathered my luggage from baggage claim, cleared customs and immigration, and found my way to my new home, it was just after 2 AM. I slept for a couple of hours, then was woken up by a friend who was in town for F1 weekend. What is F1 weekend, you ask? The Singapore Grand Prix is a Formula One race that takes place on the streets, yes the actual city streets, of Singapore. And mainly just an excuse to be debaucherous.

I met up with my friend shortly after lunch time, and we grabbed a cab to meet up with his friends at a restaurant. When we arrived, they were finishing up lunch so we missed out on food (this is a key part of the story). When they learned I had just arrived that day, cheers erupted. I felt at home already. I was introduced by my friend to the group like this - "This is my friend, Sara. She went to college..." He trailed off before the key part of that sentence - "with me". My new friends thought this was hilarious and immediately dubbed me "College Girl". I suppose I deserve that after all of the nicknames I've given out.

The group was very interesting. First off, everyone was gainfully employed. No hipsters working at coffee shops, cocktail waitresses or aspiring thespians. After living in California for 16 years this was a new phenomenon for me. It, of course, made perfect sense since you can't be an expat in Singapore unless you make above a certain salary threshold. It was also a very adventurous group. There was conversation about how they became friends when they crashed their sailboats into each other and crazy weekend excursions all around Southeast Asia. These are my kind of people, though at times the conversation lacked a bit of depth. But hey, it was F1 weekend. This was not a time for deep philosophical musings.

After lunch we went to one of the guy's apartments and bottles of wine were cracked open while we waited until it was time to go to Bacchanalia Brunch. The brunch was held in a hotel conference room. When we arrived at about 2 PM, the lights were still on and the food was running out (again take note of the food situation). It was a bit awkward. One guy from our group found the whole thing very not fun, and I found it amusing to tell him to smile more. (Only funny if you know that I'm usually the one getting told I look bitchy and need to smile.) Then the lights went out, the DJ came on, and bottles of flaming champagne appeared from nowhere. And it was still broad daylight outside. At one point I was asked if we should order six or ten bottles of champagne. For how many of us?! We came with a group of six! Of course they were all gone by the time we left.

From there it was a blur of a hotel room party where we watched the race from above, running around empty floors of the hotel (maybe by the pool?) with a cute boy who kept me well entertained, a club with some sort of fashion show going on, lots of dancing, way too much champagne, and not a single bite to eat the entire day. It was definitely not the smartest first day in a new country, but it was a hell of a welcome.


I hate to waste sick days actually being sick.

Monday was my first day at work, and I had appropriately recovered from the weekend. At least so I thought. On Tuesday my throat started hurting a little. By Wednesday I was full-blown sick. Wednesday afternoon I had my appointment with the government for final approval to stay in the country. I was thoroughly paranoid that they would realize I had a raging fever and ship me back to the US. Fortunately I made it through the interview, though the photo I now have on my new ID is less than flattering. Afterwards there was no way that I could go back into the office so I went home, crawled into bed, and stayed there for the next four days. I was miserable. I couldn't swallow and had such a high fever that I turned my air conditioning OFF. It was probably 95 degrees in my apartment. I had several very sweet offers to come take care of me, but the downside of being in a new place is not yet feeling comfortable enough to subject anyone to the sick, miserable version of me.

In between sleeping for 12 hour stints at a time, I mostly spent weekend #2 watching Game of Thrones, figuring out how to get food delivered to my apartment, and playing around on Tinder (see I promised more dating stories!).

My initial reactions to Tinder US vs Tinder Singapore:

• The initial conversation is easier in Singapore. It always starts with - "Where are you from and how long have you been here?" Most people, key word being most, have an interesting story to tell.
• Guys in Singapore need to learn what makes a good profile photo just as much as the American guys do. Seriously why would I want to go out with you when the best photo you have is when you're grossly stuffing food in your face? Not sexy.
• Singapore wins hands down with the more adventurous photo selections. Big bonus points in my book.
• I don't have nearly as many friends here so the friends in common feature is basically useless, making it harder to weed out the riffraff.
• Just like in the US, if you're not down to meet up immediately, and I mean, put on your shoes and walk out the door right now, the conversation is over right away 90% of the time. Considering I was in no shape to walk outside, let alone meet a guy, the conversations from that weekend have nearly all fizzled.

There is one guy that I've still been chatting with off and on. We have yet to figure out a time to actually meet up. It's hard when I spend weekends in Indonesia or Thailand and he takes spur of the moment trips to sail in Sydney. A tough life, I know, but somehow I think I'll be just fine here.