I have been to Singapore for 3 times before today. However, I
still find it is a nice place to go. Not only because its cheap
Japanese TV drama, but also its multicultural cuisine. I have
never been to food courts with Indian, Malaysian, Indonesia as w
e ll as a variety of various Chinese cuisines in any parts of the
world. But, things somehow changed and made me felt differently.
Perhaps, I was not traveling alone this time. Instead, I went
with a long time high school friend: Derek. We have known e ach
other since grade 8. It is blessed that we can still be very
close friends although I have been away from Hong Kong for years.
Day 1
We met in one of Hong Kong's state-of-art constructions, Hong
Kong International Airport, around 11am this morning. After
check-in, we headed to the boarding gate, and were very surprised
by the number of passengers. No more than 100 people in a plane
that has a capacity of 300.
But, we did
not occupy extra space partly because we did not have such need.
Or, perhaps , we did not feel good to take more than 2 seats. The
flight was great. I did watch a very touching film: Forever and
ever. It was a story of how a HIV carrier faced and flourished
his short life. Honestly, I almost cried! The story was a bit old
fashioned. But, the message "the length of life is not
important, but how enriched one's life is," really inspired
people to sort out a good attitude to life. I always wonder why
so many people commit to suicide every minute. There must be a
reason behind i t. However, is there really no way to solve
problem? Even no immediate solution exists, I really appreciate
those spend their every effort to struggle. Like the HIV carrier
in the film, he intended to give up his life. When he thought it
was God gave him the talent of writing, he should completely
utilize the talent. Although he died at the age of 23, he did not
waste every moment of life.
An hour after the film, we safely landed in the Changi
Airport. Everything was as smooth as planned. We start ed to
visit the first destination after a brief rest in the hotel. We
went to a huge Merlion in the Sentosa Island. Merlion is a
legendary creature in Singapore. 
The legend
said that the Merlion could calm storm and could save seamen from
sinking boat. The Merlion we visited was very different from the
statue in the downtown Singapore. That one was much smaller but
far more famous (more like a symbol of Singapore.) We took an
elevator inside the 10-storey-tall Merlion. The scene on the head
as well as from the mouth of this big thing was nice. We could
see the container terminal on the main island. Plus, we could
feel the peaceful and quiet open sea that is located at the back
of the Merlion.
After some photo shots, we rushed to the musical fount ain.
The laser show was wonderful. In the center of the fountain,
water formed a big screen on which images from spotlights and
laser were projected. I think it is difficult to describe how
good the show was. I prefer to leave to you: go and watch it
yourself! But, it was a bit weird of hearing an announcement from
the mountain. Before the show, there was a man's voice saying,
"I am musical fountain." It was ok in English. However,
we could not stop from laughing when the Mandarin version came.
It sounded so stupid! We both believed a cute child\rquote s
voice was more appropriate.
The exciting laser show kept our attention till 8pm. Then, we
left the island and went to Lau Pa Sat. Lau Pa Sat is a hawker
center located in downtown Singapore. This center opens 24 hours
and offers cheap local food. The word "local" means
various races' style food. At first, we ate satay (grilled
chicken, beef or mutton) in an opened road that was blocked at
night with the purpose of holding a satay market. Then, we wen t
into the food center and had fried Kuay Teow. Kuay Teow is a
fried rice noodle, I guess, with egg, prawn, BBQ pork and some
other ingredients. We were so full after this meal, and drank
honeydew juice to reduce the heat inside our bodies. Lau Pa Sat
is within walking distance to our hotel. So, we walked back. On
our way back, we dropped by the downtown Merlion Park. It was my
first time of visiting the Merlion at night. Then, we settled in
the hotel and prepared for tomorrow's activities.
Day 2
Journals
But, we did
not occupy extra space partly because we did not have such need.
Or, perhaps , we did not feel good to take more than 2 seats. The
flight was great. I did watch a very touching film: Forever and
ever. It was a story of how a HIV carrier faced and flourished
his short life. Honestly, I almost cried! The story was a bit old
fashioned. But, the message "the length of life is not
important, but how enriched one's life is," really inspired
people to sort out a good attitude to life. I always wonder why
so many people commit to suicide every minute. There must be a
reason behind i t. However, is there really no way to solve
problem? Even no immediate solution exists, I really appreciate
those spend their every effort to struggle. Like the HIV carrier
in the film, he intended to give up his life. When he thought it
was God gave him the talent of writing, he should completely
utilize the talent. Although he died at the age of 23, he did not
waste every moment of life. 
