On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 08:33:23 +0800, Bjorn Vang Jensen
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Reef Fish wrote:
>
>> Not sure what kind of internet access I'll have at the Singapore
>> Conrad. So, if you have any NEDfest time/date for Raffles or whatever
>> get together, the best bet is to post it in Scuba-SE for me to find
>> it. :-)
>
>Had Strike and Tricky over for a BBQ last night. A splendid evening with
>copious amounts of drink, rib-eye, Kipling recitals, and - singing!

And so it came to pass that the very first sight we saw in Singapore
was Bjorn, his son Alex, Strike, and Tricky, at the Singapore ADEX! :-)

After we got up this morning and barely made it to the fantastic
Conrad buffet breakfast (almost exactly the same offering as the
Hong Kong Conrad breakfast), at SG$66 (included in our room perks,
which also has daily Afternoon Tea with freshly-baked scones, and
evening cocktail and canapes which will be more than adequate for
our dinner tonight :-)), my phone call to Bjorn drew an immediate
invitation to Lunch with him and Alex since they were having lunch
at the time. across the street from our hotel!

At that time, we just finished breakfast -- and so I asked Bjorn
to come to our room after their lunch, and they did.

If not for Bjorn, we would have missed the ADEX!!  I had thought
that it was a trade show, restricted only to those in the trade,
as most trade shows are.   It was then that I Bjorn told us that
the show is open to the public, and the site is DIRECTLY across
the street from our hotel!!

Since the Executive Lounge the floor above our room has an
unobstructed and about 270-degree pararamic view of the city
and harbor, we took Bjorn up there on our way to the ADEX, and
Bjorn gave us a quick "tour guide" of what we could see from
there, including his house, at a distance.  :-)

Before seeing Bjorn, out plan for this afternoon had been a SIESTA
and a little research on sightseeing and perhaps taking a short
walking tour at Time Square (where our hotel is located).  But
since Bjorn was going to the ADEX, for the first time for him
also, it was a perfect opportunity for us to tag along and not
have to ask for directions or knowing exactly where it was.

Unlike the size of the scuba shows in the US, where the ATL Expo
closed several years ago because it was "too small", drawing only
about 200 booths;  and the Underwater World Expo in Chicago had
several hundred booths, the ADEX was a very SMALL show in
comparison, with only about 100 booths.

Thus, it didn't take long (about 5 minutes) for Bjorn, in his
random walk through the isles, to have found Strike who was
making his rounds randomly through the isles also.  :-)

        It was at this ADEX impromptu isle-intersection
        SUMMIT MEETING that it was decided that the
        SIN04NEDfest will take place at 19:00 tomorrow
        at the Long Bar of Raffles, with the probable
        attendance of Tricky and JJ (Jablonski whom I
        have not met).

While we were there chit-chatting at the intersectional of isles, I
noticed a fellow pushing a cart with what looked like a tech-diving
BC and shiny tanks, I said something to the effect that he must
be going diving (in the exhibit tank at ADEX), it turned out the
chap was Tricky!

I promptly inserted my foot in mouth (for the n-th and last
time I think <G>) about Tricky having given me a polo shirt at
the Coz99NEDfest -- which Strike VERY QUICKLY corrected me, for
the n-th time, that it was Moby Dick (whom I have not met) who
gave me that shirt.  :-))   Ah well.

Speaking of Tricky, when I showed Sue Bjorn's post, she laughed
when she saw:

>Had Strike and Tricky over for a BBQ last night.

and asked if Tricky is what we called Sylvia!   :-)))  This time
it was ME who promptly corrected Sue.  :-)


The ADEX show had the major diving agencies represented:  PADI,
NAUI, SSI, BSAC, IANDI, and perhaps another one.  Many of the
major manufacturers of scuba equipments were there, but VERY FEW
in the scuba travel business -- in fact, NONE of the ones I
usually see in the shows in the US!

The travel businesses represented were mostly "local" ones, in
Thailand, Malaysia, Sipadan, Maldives, and others.

One booth, with "Tahiti" prominently displayed drew my attention.
It turned out to be represented by PADI personnel giving out
brochures and business-cards for the tour operators.  So, I picked
up some nice brochures about dive operations in several French
Polynesian groups (all of which I've dived) from the PADI rep who
had never dived in any of those islands.  :-)))

Given the size of the show, it didn't take long for us to have
exhausted what we (Sue and I) were interested.  Thus, we came back
to the hotel, had our siesta, and is now ready for the evening
cocktail and canapes.  :-)

-- Bob.