Singapore (2)

Day 5/6 - July 20/21 - No Malaria (yet...but I did get a few mosquito bites)

Hello Everybody,

I am going to try to update this about every two days. While this is easy to say here in Singapore where I have my own bedroom, wireless internet access, and power, I am hoping that I can stick to it. There will definitely be some time where I am incommunicado but they should be relatively few and far between. That being said, I am here until Friday when I fly to Kuching on the Island of Borneo...but more on that in a later post.

Update on the last few days...

I spent most of Monday staring out the window of Irene's place. We had a torrential downpours all day long (a monsoon, maybe?) and that didn't make it too easy to get out. It was good, in a way, that the weather was so terrible because it allowed me to do some planning for for the next steps of this trip.

You see, three weeks back home were not really enough time to close out my job, tie up the loose ends of my life and household, AND plan for three months abroad. Don't get me wrong, I got all the necessary vaccination and equipment but other than a general idea of where I wanted to go and a one-way ticket to Singapore, I really had nothing concrete planned. I realize that isn't very sane but, oh well, that's my life. My mom's friend Nancy, her Husband Jeff, and my friend Irene have all been very helpful in helping me figure out places to go, what to do there, and how long to stay.

So most of Monday was spent on the phone, internet, and email booking tours, flights, and lodging. The jigsaw puzzle that is this trip is not complete yet but does have several more pieces in place than it did on Sunday.

I could write everything that I'm planning on doing but it will be more fun if I just write about it as I go along.

The one time I did get out on Monday, I actually had a stroke of luck. During a lull in the rain, I went to grab a bite to eat in the Little India neighborhood. I walked into a random restaurant because they had good pictures of the food out front (I pick my restaurants abroad like I pick my wine...by how much I like the label). Turns out, the restaurant was a Nepalese one and all of the staff were recent immigrants from there. I had been planning on going to Nepal but didn't really know much about the country. The staff spent an hour telling me things to do in Nepal and places that I have to go see. It made me very excited about that part of the trip even though it seems like it is so far away. It also made me a little sad to see how much they loved their country and cannot go back because of the govenment. I asked if they ever got angry that tourists like me could go even though they couldn't. They said they would rather have the world see Nepal and its beauty than keep it a secret behind the new government. Pretty amazing people!

Yesterday, I actually spent the day out of the house. I spent most of the day on a walking tour of Chinatown where they have both the Sri Mariamman Hindu temple and the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. As luck would have it, there were services going on in both while I visited. It was really amazing to sit (respectfully, of course) in the back of the service and take it all in. I took some pictures of the Hindu service but was asked not too for the Buddhist one.

The Hindu service consisted of a lot of music and singing. Also, I watched the priests wash the statues of the Gods in the front of the temple. This is important in any Hindu temple that the statues are washed daily. With the fire and and music, it was really interesting. I was going to try to upload a video here but have been trying for two hours. I'll post it to you tube instead. Here is link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQDxh5CQWZI. From now on, I'll post all videos on You Tube and just supply the link. Also, the outside roof of the temple is highly decorated with images of the gods. The reason is because, with the caste system in India, not everyone has traditionally been allowed in the temples to worship. If there are images of gods on the outside, people can worship from the street.

The Buddhist service seemed to me a lot more regimented. Still, I guess with any religious service, there was the music and singing but it definitely seemed to be more of a scripted event. Beautiful nonetheless. After, I did take some pictures of the temple to share.

For lunch, I tried fishball soup which consists of noodles, vegetables, and well...balls of fish. It was one of the hardest challenges of my life trying to eat this meal with chopsticks and I think that more ended up on my shirt than in my mouth. Everything was so slippery! After telling Irene about my difficulties later in the day, you can imagine my embarrassment when she informed me that even locals use a spoon while trying to eat this dish!

After lunch, I decided that I was going to try a foot reflexology massage. Nancy, Jeff, Irene, and I had been talking about it at dinner the other night and there must have been 20 places offering reflexology services all touting the health benefits and showing posters of how everything from your liver, small intestine, and eyes are benefited. So I picked a shop (once again on the quality of the pictures on their sign) and went in. I leaned a few things about reflexology:

1. When someone who lives local recommends a specific place to go, follow their suggestion. Don't go to some random place in Chinatown

2. Reflexology is what gets you in the door and then, while they are working on your feet, a very strong up sell process happens in which they extol the benefits of additional massage

3. When more massage is politely declined...several times...the foot massage becomes increasingly painful. This intense pain is then explained as trying to benefit my unhealthy body.

Now I realize that one look at me, particularly unshaven and filthy, is enough to come to the conclusion that I am not the model of health. However, the torture I endured from the fingers of that 80 pound asian woman will endure with me a long time and was worth no measure of health. I learned that reflexology is mandarin for "torture the dumb American boy to the point of tears."

That will be my last attempt at whole body health through reflexology. Although...my small intestine IS feeling wonderful today.

Quickly, because I feel like I'm rambling, I'll recap the rest of the day.

We had drinks at the Raffles hotel which is the most famous hotel in Singapore and the location at which the Singapore Sling was invented. I didn't have a Singapore sling, however, based on multiple recommendations to the contrary. Good old Tiger beer for me...

Lastly, Irene and I went to the night safari. The night safari is over 40 hectares (that's pretty big, I think) of zoo in which all of the animals are nocturnal. I believe it is the only zoo like it anywhere. It was very cool as many of the animals can wander right up to the tram. If one wanted to risk losing a hand, they could probably get close enough to pet many of them. The night safari didn't allow flash photography making it tough to get any pics so I stole a few pics from their website to post. Enjoy.

Until next time...thanks for all of the emails of support, concern, and interest. If I am going to spend the time to write this, I am very happy people seem to be enjoying it. Also, please keep the emails coming. I'll try to reply to as many as possible and they are going to be great when I get out of Singapore and know no one.

David