Despite the length of part one, I realize I'd left out quite a bit. No details here, but Sybil was quite spectacularly ill on the plane ride over (first time I got to see those little bags used!) and visits to the detailed National Museum (when your country is so young you can record it all) and Fort Canning Park spring to mind. We were still taking everything in and didn't realize the enormity of the haze from the Indonesian fires or the fallout from the SE Asian currency crisis (one result of which is that my salary is a lot less now in USD terms). No regrets though, we live quite well.
Went to see some Cantonese opera last night at Clark Quay. They did excerpts from "Sworn Oath of Blood-Brothers." Some English titles were displayed on the side, so the plot could be followed. As a further plus they only did a few scenes. In my experience, Chinese opera is quite interesting in small doses, but they do tend to go on and on! This is a regular feature at the Quay, so we may pop in again.
Learned a bit more about the parade we saw at the Chinese temple in part one. It was for the "Birthday of the Monkey God." The swinging of the throne is supposed to be the playful Monkey God swinging back and forth. The guys with the bleeding backs have prayers written with their blood which are given out as charms.
Speaking of monkeys, we saw some cute ones this weekend at Bukit Timah preserve. This is a rain forest park area with a large hill at the center, some interesting quarries, and good hiking paths. Since it was Sunday, we came across a fair number of locals hiking up to the summit to picnic. Despite stiff fines and sign postings everywhere, people do feed the monkeys, so they come around. A few had babies with them, quite small ones, so they were adorable. When the babies would try to wander off the mother would simply hold on to it's tail so it couldn't go far. A nice feature!
Bukit Timah is real jungle once you get away from the main path and far more deserted. Vines large enough for Tarzan drape off the trees. Sybil sits on a swing shaped one as some locals pass by. "My first jungle," she tells them, in explanation. Insects chorus their melodious songs back and forth, seemingly playing off the tunes of other groups. Ants the size of my little finger lord over their tiny relatives. Butterflies dart everywhere-no flitting about in the jungle! One had extended front legs, giving it the appearance of a flying spider. The smells are richly moist and full of life.
We had a double dose of nature this weekend as we also finally got out to the Botanic Gardens. Lots of great plants here with some lovely ponds. The National Orchid Garden is here as well but we decided to save that for another day. One of the most curious plants is the Cannonball Tree. The tree has beautifully strange flowers, very intricate, and looking as if unwrapped from several outer layers. Near the trunk is hundreds of the huge fruit. They are truly as large and heavy as a cannon ball. If you, as a newcomer and knowing no better, should make the effort to smash one, a skunk like odor will emerge and teach you a lesson.
One of our favorite parts of the garden is a section of formal water lily beds, laid out around an old sundial on a pedestal. Around this carved base are the words: "What thou seekest is but a shadow." How truly foolish to try to determine the time of day in such a beautiful setting! Let the shadows drift past as they will. As I say to Sybil sometimes when we are particularly happy: "time has no meaning here."
Food courts inside the malls are one of the main places to hang out. Discovering the better food courts is the Singaporean equivalent of a Holy Grail quest. Fortunately, there is an excellent one near my work place in the "Paradiz Mall," with about a dozen stalls. So far, all are good. At our favorite stall you use tongs to pick 8-10 items, ranging from tasty won tons and bok choi to the more dubious liver dofu and octopus. You can get noodles added and your choices are boiled into a soup. A great deal for $3.
We went to a food court yesterday off of Orchard Road that had a new twist. At the entrance is a booth where you can get sprayed, for free, with some unknown mist chemical: "harmless, odorless, and made from trees". It is supposed to rid your clothes of the odors of the food court, which can be pervasive, especially if you order the fish I had that day.
I'm sure you may be wondering how I could possibly work in a strict, conformist, authoritarian work place. Well, there are compromises made on both sides. I do work hard here, and try to produce good results, and they appreciate that. They make many allowances. I'm the only one at the office who doesn't wear a tie, and they haven't said a word about it. They let me speak my mind, but I hold back from being too critical, as I know someone could lose face. I do my own thing and don't rock any boats.
Well, not too many. I went to a meeting the other day with a bunch of vendors. They spent about five minutes introducing each other and trading cards. Card trading is done very formally here, with the card presented with both hands; head bowed, and two thumbs pushing the card into the receiver's waiting, open hands. Sometimes the cards are moved back and forth simultaneously in a dexterous gesture that looks like thumb wrestling. I watched the entire process with curiosity. Finally, one of them said to me: "We have a very strange culture here with the card trading." "Yes, you have," I replied.
Some days I do see signs I could get into trouble here. The other day I'm out in one of the older malls in Chinatown. You have to pay to use the washroom in many of the older malls. It's silly really, the cost is only 10 cents and they have someone sitting out there all day handing out toilet paper and collecting 10 cents.
Anyway, I didn't have much change with me. In fact, I only had 8 cents. I did have some bills, but I didn't want to get a bunch of change just to use the washroom. So I give the attendant my 8 cents and explain to him that I'm two cents short but I don't need any toilet paper.
The attendant, an old Chinese guy, will have none of it. He slaps down a 10-cent piece and rants on in Cantonese that I'm not going in without two more pennies. There's just something about his attitude that irritates me. I don't really have to go to the washroom very badly, so I could easily walk off and find a free one, but the fact that this guy is being so insistent bugs me.
I take back my 8 cents and tell him, very calmly, slowly, yet very loudly: "You-are an ASS!" Then I walk into the washroom, ignoring his ballistic response. The guy really went nuts too when I came out a minute later. So much so that I started to feel a little bit bad about what I'd done. Well, not too much, as he was being an ass, but I could see it from his perspective. The poor guy sits there all day collecting 10 cents from people who go to the washroom. I could see how he could turn the job into a petty bureaucracy, just to maintain some self-esteem.
So, I have mixed feelings about the incident. On the one hand, I do believe in doing things like the locals and I'm sure no Singaporean would act like I did. On the other hand, Americans don't like to put up with any crap. If they think a rule is nonsense they become very unruly, and they can't stand tyrants! That's one reason why we don't have a tidy society like they have here. I just can't see myself becoming a Singaporean, yet I have to adjust somewhat in order to live here without getting caned.
OK, a few days have gone by and I'm ready to admit I was wrong with the washroom guy. They may have a silly way (to me) of doing some things and that guy may have been a petty ass, but I still shouldn't behave the way I did. There are many parts of the world where you have to pay to use restrooms and lots of people are hard to deal with when you deviate from their usual way. Everyone is not always accommodating. It doesn't make any sense for me to get upset about this. Maybe there's hope for me yet.
Great ideas they have here:
Walk/Don't walk signs that have a countdown to the number of seconds you have until the light changes. Actually, they only have a few of these but it's a great idea. Cars, taxis actually, that are rigged to give off an annoying noise when the car is speeding. Automatic ticketing, whereby the cars have an identifying chip in them. If you speed or go into the wrong zone, you receive a ticket in the mail. (They are still implementing this.)
All routine bills can be paid with automatic deduction. (This is almost the case in the States now, but it's very prevalent here.) Plus the ATM cards are good in most stores when making purchases.
The MRT cards (also good on all the buses) show the amount left on them whenever you use them and give friendly advice when the amount gets low: "please top up." They even have collector MRT cards (mine is one of the tropical fruit series and Sybil has one from the "Speak Mandarin" campaign).
Ferocious signs-"Drug Smugglers Will Be Executed," at the airport (they just killed a Dutch guy, who, forgetting he wasn't in Amsterdam anymore, tried to bring some drugs in). Fabulous anti-drug posters depicting addicts scratching the flesh off their hands and other cheery sights. A sign displaying a picture of a guy with a rifle shooting down another guy on a "Do Not Enter" sign. Danger signs with equally graphic descriptions of what will happen to you if you disobey: a falling man, an electrocuted man, a drowning man, etc. (Actually, I think the reason people were feeding the monkeys at the park was because the sign warning against this showed a cute monkey face and a hand offering what looked like an ear of corn-I'm guessing it was supposed to be a banana. If they want people here to take a warning seriously, they need to put up signs showing an Uzi-welding ranger mowing down hikers who give food to monkeys.)
Truth in naming -- An ice cream sandwich is a piece of white bread with a glob of ice cream in it.
Truth in pricing -- Tax (3%) is included in the display price of items. No tipping, except at fancy places where they add in 10% to the bill. So what you see is what you pay.
Truth in paychecks -- No income tax withheld. You keep your money until the end of the year and then you pay the flat tax of 15%.
Places to eat just about everywhere!
Last night was the fire walking festival, which is a part of Deepavali. We went down to watch this but the line inside the temple was wrapped around the block several times. It was a real madhouse, with huge crowds of participants and spectators. We contented ourselves with watching the devotees chanting and singing before their walk, dressed in yellow shorts and robes and holding limes and branches. The Indian women who were waiting to meet guys after the walk were fancily dressed up in their colorful best, a sharp contrast to the devotees' drab yellow outfits. It reminded us of a marathon: participants warming up and psyching themselves up, and then looking sore or joyous afterwards when they met their friends and family. Some weary walkers limped out with their feet wrapped up in plastic bandages.
We got our first taste of authoritarian police in action. Some of the participants had badly burned feet after the fire walking, and were having difficulty getting out of the temple with the huge crowd in the way. Well these police opened up a corridor very quickly and took no nonsense from anyone who was slow to react to their orders. They did it mostly with loud, commanding shouting, but they also moved quickly with their sticks to get people out of the way. An extremely impressive display of crowd control. The police here demand instant and total obedience and they pretty much got it, even from the mostly Indian crowd who seem to be much more likely to break small laws, such as jaywalking. Perhaps I'm reading too much into a small incident but it was interesting to see police with a different attitude from what I'm used to.
Spent Friday night with Yew Chong, a local guy I'd been communicating with over the Internet over travel topics. He's traveled quite a bit in the area so it was fun to meet with him in person. Talked about travel and S'pore life at one of the larger hawker courts, a newly renovated one, near the downtown.
Saturday we took a bus out to Changi at the far northeast of S'pore and hopped on a bumboat ferry to the sleepy little island of Pulau Ubin. This is a great place to get out of the city and see some rural SE Asia! We rented some bikes and spent the day peddling through many little paths. Down one we found a guy with a bag of fish. He didn't speak English. Sybil came across him first and thought he was trying to sell her some of the fish, but I think he was just showing us what he was doing there.
Near the fish guy we found about five or six tiny puppies. Very cute, but cautious. One of them worked up enough nerve to come over and lick our hands. S'pore seems to have more stray cats than any place I've ever seem, but Pulau Ubin is the domain of stray dogs; we saw them everywhere.
Elsewhere on PU we found a Chinese cemetery carved out of the jungle; some quarries, one of which was unused and filled with water and a large heron; plenty of coconuts and durian; a temple; a prawn farm; and a deserted beach to nap on. The temple was unlike any we'd yet seen. Sybil remarked that it looked Indian, which didn't seem right to me, yet I couldn't place it. Then we met a monk who through gestures and naming place names led us to believe this temple was Thai influenced. He seemed to be saying that he came from Thailand.
While waiting for the ferry to get to PU we'd met two westerners on fancy mountain bikes planning on biking on PU later. One had been in S'pore for 7 years and the other had lived here previously and was there for a visit. As we parted they said we'd probably meet again on the small island. True enough, just near the end of our trip we saw them later with a group of waiguoren (foreigners) racing past on the narrow trails. They went right through a village at speeds seemingly too dangerous to avoid the numerous chickens, dogs, and cats nearby. Much better to poke about slowly as we did and enjoy the splendid scenery.
Another PU claim to fame is as the home of the purple jungle fowl, from which domesticated chickens are descended. Indeed, the many chickens and roosters there had an atavistic look to them, so perhaps the purple jungle fowl comes out of the jungle now and then to spread his seed again. Large, colorful, mean looking roosters abound.
Which leads me to birds-- Sunday we went to the justly famous Jurong Bird Park. This is one of those "attractions" I'd been avoiding, but it's really well done and worth the inflated admission price. They have an enormous collection of exotic birds (finally saw a Chinese Golden Pheasant) placed in wonderful settings of ponds, simulated rain forest, waterfalls, lagoons, everything. In many places you simply walk around in a natural area with the birds, so you can get quite close to them and see them flying around. Worth a return visit.
Afterwards, we stopped at a public housing development area (Clementi) because we'd heard there was an open-air play. The play wasn't much in content but extremely interesting because of its many in-jokes. Basically it depicted the life of four people in a hawker "makaplace" (food court), with representatives of the three main races of S'pore: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. It was loosely thrown together and better when less serious. Afterwards they had a humorous contest wherein three audience members poured tea back and forth while swaying to music. A month ago I don't think we would have laughed at the jokes in this play, but already we can recognize most of the local allusions.
Just as interesting as the play was hanging around the mall near the Clementi HDBs (government housing) and seeing the "real" S'pore local life. Unlike the Orchard Road area near our home, there are no tourists here. We do what everyone else does: eat, look at shops, buy fruit and snacks, and hang out near the fountains, people watching.
Sybil purchased a sarong for me. Despite the fact that it is not uncommon to see Indian and Malay men wearing them here, I get a lot of stares when I wear mine. In fact, I do look a bit comical in it, especially with my Teva sandals and long, button down shirt sticking out, but it's very comfortable.
A nice hard rain fell during my morning walk to work. The deep (meter or more) curbs turn into mini canals as brownish-red water, the color of S'pore tea, flows through them. A cool breeze, so rare and so savored here, refreshes. I wear my shorts and T-shirt into work and change in the washroom, adding to my list of affectations.
OK-la, here's how you make proper S'pore ginger tea. First you grind up your fresh ginger with some lightly sweetened sugar water and strain it into a metal cup. Next, pour a little sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of another metal cup and top off with strong black Malay tea. Now swish your liquids back and forth, maximizing your hang time with each pour, higher, higher still, and don't forget to sway your body back and forth as you mix. Do a little dance. Good-la.
Official Deepavali holiday last Thursday (finally the end of an endless holiday!). We tried to visit the president's house at the Istana, as it is only open four times a year. Unfortunately we discovered it is closed for one year because of renovation. So, we spent a pleasant day out at MacRitchie reservoir, hiking around. There are monkeys there and a golf course nearby. On the way out we found a memorial to the Japanese prison camp that used to be located there, and read about the history of it. There are also many Chinese cemeteries near here. One of them was eerily full of rusty old bicycles and dilapidated umbrellas, left behind for use in the afterlife.
Went to a rugby match between S'pore and China this Saturday. It was China's first International test match. We won easily, which doesn't bode well for China as S'pore is not a rugby powerhouse. Before the match the Chinese players, in a gesture of goodwill, tossed toy rugby balls into the crowd. Sybil was able to snatch one as a souvenir.
Visited the zoo on Sunday. Very nice place, better than expected and one of the best zoos I've seen. It is cleverly designed so you can get amazingly close to the animals, so much so it's a wonder they don't escape. For several exhibits, they let you into the caged area with the animals! They would never do that in the States-too afraid of lawsuits! Here, if you're stupid enough to grab the porcupine or a snake, or start messing with a kangaroo, you get what you deserve. Many of the monkeys wander freely though the lush, plant-covered zoo. Sybil thought they had escaped and told one of the keepers, who laughed at her. They make a big show out the feedings (tossing chickens at snapping crocodiles!) and often mix several different species into the same area. The latter trend can turn comical, such as the pairing of the active, vocal river otters with the torpid monitor lizards. This display is doubly humorous because monitor lizards are rather common in Singapore; we've seen them in quite urban parks. It's kind of like putting up signs for "Giraffe" and "Squirrel" outside the same enclosure in a US zoo. A great zoo though, and we only saw the daytime side. They have a separate night safari for a close look at the nocturnal animals. Looking forward to it.
Last week we were in a wet market when a vendor tried to sell us a big hunk of black gelatinous stuff. We asked what it was, but the only thing he could tell us in English was "jelly". Sybil was properly dubious but I bought some anyway, just because I was curious. I asked a guy at work what it was and he also responded: "jelly". When pressed he tells me it an herbal mixture that is chopped into squares and mixed into a sweet drink. I have seen it in the States, in Chinatown, where it's called "grass jelly". I'd just never seen a big block of it! It's supposed to be cooling, but it is an acquired taste and I'm not crazy about it.
Yesterday I was in a food court and, feeling adventurous ordered a weird looking pot of "Penang Laksa". Regular Laksa, or what they sometimes call "Nonya Laksa" is a very common dish here, a pleasant mixture of curry, coconut, doufu, noodles, etc. So, I was expecting this "Penang Laksa" to be a variant. After one bite I immediately thought to myself: "Big mistake, strange sour pineapple fishy stuff, don't order again, may not even be able to eat it." But I was hungry, so I piled in a small dish of hot (and they are hot) peppers and soldiered on. Slowly I began to realize that even without the added peppers Penang Laksa has it's own chemical weaponry. It's an insidious heat, a slow but insistent burn. One that sneaks up behind you and pounds your head instead of stepping right up and slapping you in the face. Soon I was sweating, even in the air conditioning, my head had a pepper hum, my nose and throat were unnaturally clear, and I wound up thinking Penang Laksa may not be so bad after all.
OK, I'm going to end this chapter with a bit of useful information: Neem. Got it? Neem. Think of this as like the scene in "The Graduate" where Dustin Hoffman is pulled away to hear one word of advice: "Plastics." I have no experience with verifying the many health claims made about the various parts of this tree, but I assure you they are numerous. It's seen as something of a cure-all in India, where, among other things, it is used as insect repellent, fungicide, spermicide, and a cure for stomach worms. However, we have been using the Neem stick for teeth cleaning, as they do in India and Africa, and are quite satisfied with the results. If you're serious about your teeth (and you should be) the Neem stick has my recommendation. If you really try you should be able to find one, however, if you absolutely cannot, I will mail one to you.
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