J. Lo Reporting from Singapore

So, I think this just about sums up my love for Singapore. It's just one foodgasm after the next. My new favorite dish is popiah (poh-pee-yah) - it's a Southeast Asian take on the popular fajita. You can find it at most any of the local Hawkers (food centres). Wrapped in a thin wheat pancake, the best popiahs have a sweet chili sauce and some hoisin - usually filled with jicama (the "j" is silent), beansprouts, chopped nuts, and bits of egg. Just a tad sweet and nutty with a little bit of spice and saltiness for added kicks......Mmmm, served warm, it's absolutely the next best thing to a Roomba burrito.

I suppose I should digress from talking about food and give you an update on life: Well, I'm currently working at CSR Asia. It's a firm that combines the work of private sector consulting with the work of a nonprofit thinktank (think: NGO). They use the profits from their consulting work to fund public briefings and research which they make publicly available to companies looking for best practices in the area of corporate social responsibility. I'm concentrating on more of the think-tank-type work. Last week, I wrote an article on the subject of agricultural child labour in the Philippines (and the role of the ILO). This week, I finished an article covering human trafficking and the U.S. Department of State's latest Trafficking in Persons report. (What I learned: Don't go to Malaysia and Sri Lanka unless you want to get sold into sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude). Anyway, this afternoon I'm attending a talk by one of the regional managers for the World Bank - CSR-Asia is sponsoring it.....should be insightful.

This Friday, my cousins and I are throwing a pre-July 4th bash. Apparently, I'm in charge of preparing the food.....yay? So, we'll probably end up having a big ol' BBQ and then go out afterwards for margaritas by the river. And next week, the Yalies and I are all taking a trip to Cambodia to do some service work with an orphanage. Yale's paying for our transportation and accomodations so that's pretty exciting. I just got my visa a few days ago....I'm pretty stoked.

Anyway, that's my update for now. I hope you all are doing well. If you're ever looking for someone to talk to, I'm usually around on AIM (screenname: WeReact) from 9 PM - 12 AM EST. I leave my AIM on (for the most part) during work - and, unless you're distracting me from something that I'd rather be doing, I will probably respond. :) Kidding, of course.

Best regards,
J. Lo

P.S. Don't watch "Surf's Up." It's a stupid movie about penguins that surf. Why didn't anyone warn me ahead of time? I could've prevented myself from wasting one hour of my life.