Most Internet Marketing gurus talk about the great lifestyle that is possible with web-based businesses. You can work when and where you want. You can “make millions from a hammock on the beach.” That sounds really cool. Interestingly, I was even able to find a list of the top ten beaches with WiFi access. I’m not sure about all this lifestyle stuff. All of the IM guys and gals I know are working 18 hours a day.

I’m personally coming at this Internet Marketing (IM) thing from a different angle. I already have a cool day job that I like as an engineer at a big technology company. One of the really great things about having a day job outside of my Internet Marketing hobby is the potential for exposure to cool stuff. As I mentioned last week, I was in Asia on “day job business.” Last Friday night I was able to go eat at a restaurant in Clarke Quay, Singapore called Jumbo’s Seafood.

Clarke Quay is “historical.” It’s a riverside quay located within the “Singapore River Planning Area” upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and world famous Boat Quay. Clarke Quay was named after Sir Andrew Clarke, Singapore’s second Governor. (A quay is a structure built parallel to the bank of a waterway for use as a landing place - I did not know that.)

I had a signature dish for the area called Chile Crab. Totally outstanding, and highly recommended. Served best with Tiger Beer (local to Singapore). Tiger beer is nice and crisp with an easy finish. Like all alcohol in Singapore, Tiger Beer is very expensive.

I am told that restaurants all over Singapore have chile crab on their menus and that it is considered one of Singapore’s national dishes. The crab that I had was a beautiful whole crab awash in spicy chile sauce. I’ve eaten food all over the world, and I would put that chile crab up against any seafood anywhere.

This was my first visit to Singapore, and it was not what I expected at all. Most Asian cities that I visit are wonderful in some distinctly Asian way. This city is wonderful in every sense of the word. It is a multicultural city heavily influenced by China and Great Britain. It is clean and safe. There is a ton of shopping and amazing food. The people there are nice, and all the signs are in English (my Mandarin is horrid).

I was able to stay in a wonderful 5-star hotel in the financial district. This got me to dreaming. What if I really hit it big and created a massive online empire? Then I could hang out in Singapore and eat Chili Crab. At that moment — right at the second that I was imagining being bought by Google — my BlackBerry started ringing and there was someone in the U.S. that wanted to complain about the latest crisis at work for $3/minute in international roaming charges.

That brought me back to earth. At least a got a blog post out of it. LOL. I can’t wait to go back to Singapore.

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