The Corona Diaries - Dan | Singapore Tour Guide
All over the world, we applaud the bravery of our frontliners, from nurses, hospital staff, grocery clerks, police and other officials who join together to fight Covid-19. They are the people who never get tired of helping the general public to have “a bit of a normal life” and for the public to stay at home especially in this unfortunate time.
At Hello! Singapore Tours, our frontliners are our tour Guides. These people kept their enthusiasm and positive attitude to continuously show the beauty of the city when walking tours were still allowed Singapore.
Now, that the city has strictly implemented a policy that no mass gatherings and tours are allowed in the city. I know that you are all wondering, how are they doing now? What’s keeping them busy?
Meet DAN, our tour guide from California. A former aircraft mechanic and project manager who fell in love with Singapore instantly. A very passionate tour guide who shares his experience and knowledge about the city and why he fell in love with it.
Hello! Singapore Tour guide Dan spending some quality time with his two wonderful children.
On a normal day, you are usually out on the streets showing our guests the beauty of Singapore. Given the travel restrictions imposed by several countries how are you spending your time now and what keeps you busy?
I am a single dad, so most of my day is spent keeping my kids in-line and making sure they complete their home-based learning activities. My main job aside from tour guiding is performing and tutoring music, so I've been pushing out more recordings and online lessons from home.
We know that you also suffer from wanderlust. When this Pandemic is finally over, and you can go anywhere overseas where will your wanderlust take you and why?
I have no particular travel plans at the moment and my boys and I have season passes to Universal Studios Singapore to use up when it opens up again. My dream holiday is to take the kids to Philadelphia in the fall to watch an Eagles game and to see for ourselves who truly deserves the crown of "Best Philly Cheesesteak".
After the world comes out of this dark time and that everyone can travel to Singapore again, what is the first thing or place you are most excited about showing our guests? and why?
I love the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. As a guide, we have a great deal of freedom to tailor the food we try to the guests' preferences. The face people make when they take a bite of something completely unfamiliar but unmistakably delicious is like watching a kid eat chocolate for the first time.
What is one thing that this very unfortunate event taught you or helped you realize?
I have realized, now more than ever, that I'm comforted by a warm, virtual blanket of benevolent people who I'm proud to call my friends and family. It's comforting to see kindness rise to the top in this unfortunate time.
Dan’s personal message
I would really love to see local Singaporeans or Expats living in Singapore sign up for tours as soon as we open for business again. Tours are not solely for tourists. I'd especially love to see new expat families sign up for the Hello Singapore Food Tour to gain perspective on living in Singapore through food and get an introduction to how to eat locally on a budget.
The Hello! Singapore team is still and will always be here. We are all optimistic that we will get through this and we will come back stronger. We are all looking forward to showing you around Singapore once this Pandemic is over.