Asia Tour 2009

Gallery: Bangkok Day 1 Friday 6/5

dawn_n_pat — Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:46:00 GMT

Temples Galore

Thursday 6/4 – Last Morning In Sing

dawn_n_pat — Fri, 5 Jun 2009 12:49:00 GMT

Kali-graphy

There was just enough time in the morning to visit one more Hindu Temple. This one is dedicated to the goddess Kali. She is the creator and destroyer. She has multiple arms and far reaching influence. We arrived at morning prayers. A drummer and horn player provided a haunting tune while the holy men of the temple prepared offerings. We did not want to intrude, but were welcomed inside the sanctuary. The ceremony captured our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. Spirituality comes in many forms but the same chill runs down your spine when you feel the presence of a deity. Bankok or Bust Singapore’s Changi airport is all that it is reported to be. Everything is beautifully appointed and almost all forms of entertainment are free of charge. We saw a movie theater, video game arcade, gym and sunflower garden; all in the transit lounge. You can even check into a transit hotel if you need to rest while waiting for your next flight. Our friend Skip who has retired in Bankok and his Thai friend Aek met us at the airport and arranged for taxis to our hotel. He even provided us with a cell phone with preprogrammed numbers. We can call the police, an attorney, him and Aek at the push of a button!

Wednesday 6/3 – A Proper Night Out

dawn_n_pat — Fri, 5 Jun 2009 12:47:00 GMT

We bought a beautiful Persian carpet at the Fusek Family discount! Now, all we have to do it ship it. We did manage to shove it into the largest box allowed by SingPost. In about 4-10 weeks we will get to see it again. Slow boat, only $90 USD.

Today is a journal day combined with laundry and a nap or two. We are going out tonight! Just around the corner is a cute place called the French Stall. Guess what they serve – French cuisine. Not bad either. I loved the salmon and spinach. Next we hailed a cab to downtown to take in the Singapore Arts Festival. It was so decorative and modern looking. See the picture.

We saw the Crab Flower Club. It is a play about five daughters of a rich Qing Dinesty merchant. It would take too long for me to describe all of the colors, designs and clever dialogue. In the end the people’s revolution changed everything.

Gallery: Singapore Day 3 & 4

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 19:07:00 GMT

Gallery: Singapore Day 2

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 19:04:00 GMT

Tuesday 6/2 – Chilling and Chili Crab

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:47:00 GMT

It was definitely time to take a little chill pill. The riggers of heavy walking and eating were catching up to us and our aircon went out in the middle of the night. We had to head into the living room to get cooled off. In fact, we did so little that neither of us can remember much about it. The chilling continued at the pool. Pat splashed around in the beautiful blue lap pool and I just drank beer on the sidelines ☺. Not much to say here people. No one should ever visit Singapore without at least trying the Chili Crab. At the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant in Clarks Key they keep the live Sri Lankan caught crab in huge tanks until it is time to say “night-night.” The crab arrives at your table in a large cast iron pot covered in sweet spicy gravy. The body is similar to a Dungeness but the claws – are the size of a medium Russet potato. Pat made the yummy sounds for sure here!! We also had Black Pepper Crab and two side dishes. We barely noticed the pricey lobster and dragon fruit salad. Avoid the Night Zoo It would have been fun if we could have actually seen an animal. It smelled and there were too many people.

Monday 6/1 – See what Siddhartha started?

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:27:00 GMT

More-stuffa’s

We hit our usual spot at CMK for breakfast and wondered around Mustafa’s – a gigantic six storey 24/7 shopping mall three blocks from Carol’s. We picked up a new router for her wireless DSL (called Broadband here). In the same place you can buy any kind of soap, sundry, toy, doo-dad or food item you will ever need, but to obtain it you have to endure the meter-wide aisles and clusters of mom’s, children and sweaty Singapore guys. We found peace and joy at jewelry cases stocked with 23 karat gold bobbles and bangles. Some background: we have developed a deep affection for the Hindu god Lord Genesha. Maybe it is his notorious gluttony, cute elephant head or just his chubby legs and round belly, but we adore him and are looking for his likeness in gold. Pat is hedging her bets against the Devil by collecting icons cast in solid gold from as many varying religious faiths as she can find. For Pat’s collection we bought: Genesha, the Sikh symbol, and the name of God in Arabic (Allah). I still don’t think it will protect us against Dick Chaney.

Our next adventure was to explore the various temples here off Serangoon Road and (one train stop away) Little India.

Sri-ly cool!

The first temple we visited was the Hindu Sri Sriknivasa Perumal Temple. It appears to be dedicated to Lord Krishna. Blinded by the vibrant colors and the detailed carved reliefs we nearly tripped over the line of little children receiving lunch. All lined up like a row of flowers in a flower bed dressed in pinks, blues, greens and purples. Each sat in front of a large banana leaf on the pavement watching large spoonfuls of jasmine rice and curry gravy being delivered from steaming buckets. “If we had arrived 10 minutes earlier or later,” Pat said. “We would have missed the whole thing. We almost passed this to go down the road. We just have to do things the moment we feel it!”

Sikh and ye shall find:

If you want to see how similar each of the major religions are, just spend a day on Serangoon Road in Singapore. Our next temple was a Chinese style Buddhist temple called the Leon San Temple. It is small but very opulent. What is it about gold and religion? You see it everywhere there is a deity being worshipped, well almost. Across the road is another Chinese style Buddhist temple, they would not let us take a picture inside, but it sits right next to an Indian Buddhist temple and the variances are interesting. The lions outside of the Chinese temple are molded cement dog-lions and the exterior is typical Chinese architecture. The Indian temple called the Sakya Muni has brightly painted lions that are more like paper mache figures. Inside Sakya Muni seems very ordinary: food and flower offerings on the alter, pictures of various Buddhist icons all around and then…look up. There sits the largest – maybe three floors tall – brightly colored Siddhartha reaching-the-stage-of-enlightenment statue; or as he was then named “Sakya Muni.” His thumb is longer than Carol is tall. She’s about 5’ 9.”

Continuing down the road we met with a Sikh temple. We could not go in if we had tobacco, alcohol, milk or eggs and we had to remove our shoes, wash our feet and cover our heads – Oh and we could not be on our period. All these precautions had to be taken in order to go inside what resembled a YMCA hall. Nothing was in there except chairs and a bulletin board. Seems a lot like a protestant sect of Christianity to me – no images of the spiritual leader they gather to worship. (I wonder if they have bingo night?) NO, we did not go in, even though we satisfied all the restrictions. (Ok, I was holding a few cherry cigars.) Just peeking through the door was enough to satisfy our curiosity. No offense meant toward the beautiful Sikh faith and the kind people we know who practice it, but we have seen folding chairs before.

Big fun in Little India

Just one stop away is Little India. It’s south of Carol’s place on Serangoon Road. If you stop a minute and take in the air, you could be in New Delhi. Spices float around each corner and colors are tempera-paint bright. Event the poorest women have solid gold on them somewhere and wear clean bright saris. Flower necklace stalls add flavor to the soup of scents. Faithful worshippers place the ring of flowers on a statue of their favorite deity. I decided to put one on myself J.

Nonya cuisine

It’s a cross between Chinese, Malaysian and Thai. Well, sort of. It’s unique to Singapore; spicy, saucy, and delicate; a strange combination of contrasts. I enjoyed our dinner of Nonya cuisine at the Blue Ginger in China Town. It’s good but not outrageously delicious. Pat was disappointed, no yummy sounds came out of her mouth. I liked the mackerel with tofu rounds in a spicy gravy and the vegetable curry was nice, but – well, we are looking forward to Thailand! What can I say?

P.S.

Carol and I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. discussing ways to stave off the ravages of age – or maybe just to accept them and take the best care of ourselves that we can.

Sunday Morning 5/31 – Definitely Not Kansas

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Eat – Don’t Wear – Prada Out the door lickety split – we went searching for breakfast. I wanted coffee – Pat wanted eggs. We found a delightful compromise, the CMK ( I have no idea what that stands for) juice bar and Northern Indian food café. We have never had egg prada (a fluffy hand made flour tortilla with a egg mixed into the dough before slapping it on a hot flat grill) and watermelon juice with curried vegetables at 9:00 a.m., but it was so delicious and cheap that we went back the next day! Pat had a mango shake – basically pureed mango, that’s it. I found a new addiction: watermelon juice. Just fill a large tumbler with ice and add sweet blended watermelon. A shot of vodka and you are home free – no, I did not actually bring vodka; I just dreamed about it. The heavy air traps scents and reminds you to breathe, but it is not uncomfortable. It helps you to remember that you are really alive and experiencing something very different from home. Somerset Maugham meets Harlo We turned Carol’s routine grocery shopping day into a lesson in architectural variation. Her favorite grocery store is in the Raffles Plaza; named after the English founder of modern Singapore and namesake of the Raffles Hotel. Ever heard of a Singapore Sling? It was first introduced in the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel. Yep, that’s us eating the traditional tiny roasted Spanish peanuts and tossing the shells on the floor. It’s the custom. I had the infamous beverage – a sweet tropical pink thing with rum and some mysterious additives. The bird’s eye views of the city were shot from the Swiss Hotel at Stanford – the tallest building in the city. In a small island city-state like Singapore, up is the way to go to create more commercial space. Check out our shots of the Parkview Building. It looks like a throw back from the Art Deco period, but the whole place is a façade. Sort of like Disneyland, it looks real but it is all made from cleverly painted prefabricated materials. Even the “bronze” statues are hollow painted fiberglass-like replicas. Standing guard in the courtyard outside the lobby are famous men from very different periods of history. There’s Chairman Mao standing next to Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Plato, Newton, Dali, Dante and Chopin. The big gilded crane in the middle would make a lovely tattoo! Who’s Sari Now? We had to see the big Sultan Mosque before grocery shopping so we strolled down in an area called Kampung Glam with mostly fabric and carpet shops. You can have an Indian or Indonesian style Sari custom made for a very reasonable price. We picked up a sarong (batik printed cloth for wrapping round your waist) along the shopping street leading to the Mosque. Just on the corner a small perfume oil shop beckons with exotic scents from around the world. I picked a melon blend – so sweet and fresh smelling. We arrived at the Mosque with bare shoulders like so many other tourists, but the mosque boys had plenty of robes to lend. Pat and I look like we have joined a Muslim choir. They won’t let women enter the interior of the mosque but we could circle around the edges and take pictures. It is lovely. I can see how such a wide open and elaborately decorated space can inspire spiritual meditation. E Z Living Heading home to clean up we purchased our EZ-Link transit cards. The trains are easy to follow here, clear signage and lots of arrows help make it simple to navigate. These EZ-Link cards are like a bank card. Instead of sliding them through a machine to read, you simply tap them on a pad at the gates and the doors open. Voila! Right Place Wrong Time We planned to have dinner at Carol’s boss’s house his birthday party. We arrived a day late! Oops. Anyway, he and his roommate Sasha are both German born expatriates. Joerg is a 39-year-old former East German soldier from before Gorby tore down that wall. I saw a picture of him in his service uniform – he would have scared the be-jesus out of me. We had a lively discussion about what the news agencies were saying about the Tienanmen Square pro-democracy movement. Carol joined me in Beijing that summer for a short holiday. It was a odd time to take a vacation, but it’s one neither of us will forget. I was there on assignment with NBC so we hung out a lot with well seasoned journalist and sexy cameramen from all parts of the world. Carol put together a nice slide show of that time. We were hungry since we missed out on Joerg’s party food and headed off to the famous Orchard Road district to eat. Oh yah, we found a condom specialty shop on the main drag. We just managed get a shot of the neon condom in the display before they closed. Pat and Carol ate something at a Chinese/Thai/Western food place. Pat had a pizza, the sauce was strangely sweet (BBQ sauce??).

5/29 - 5/30 Off Into the Wild Blue Yonder

dawn_n_pat — Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:17:00 GMT

FREE stuff for 20 hours

We were on a plane for over 20 hours. I don’t recommend that for the faint of heart. Singapore Airlines is certainly one of the best for a long flight. They keep you fed, watered and entertained. There are a least 150 channels of movies and TV shows to choose from that help pass the time. Oh, and all the beverages are FREE, including the adult variety. Cold feet – no worries you get socks. Nasty breath at hour 10 – here’s a toothbrush and toothpaste. Still, I could not wait to get out of that seat for good.

We arrived in at the Changi airport just after midnight Singapore time. It took less than 30 minutes to go through customs and immigration to pick up our bags; amazing. They are geared up to bring in 1 million visitors a month. The picture of the three story water fall and hanging gardens is just above our baggage carousel. We want to arrive early for our departure so we can take in the splendor of the transit lounge.

Carol, a close friend for about 30 years, picked us up and we darted out of the place. Her condo is magnificent. There are four pools, a putting green, full gym and basketball court on the grounds. Her cute place provides a tropical look out from the balcony and plenty of air conditioning. Since it is 86 degrees almost year round with at least he same level of humidity, it is a necessary comfort.

Gallery: Singapore Day 1

dawn_n_pat — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:39:00 GMT