First Trip to Wales
Nottingham
The Costa Del Sol
Scotland 2006 - Day 6 - A drive and a few last sights
Scotland 2006 - Day 5 - Walking the Highlands
Scotland 2006 - Day 4 - Iona
Scotland 2006 - Day 3 - to the Highlands
Scotland 2006 - Days 1 & 2 - Edinburgh Fringe!
Skiing the 3 Valleys
Canterbury
Day in the Gardens
Dublin!
Oxford
Life Since Christmas
A Year of New Things - Christmas in Cologne
Rambling with the Old Folks
Our First Ramble
Then we headed up to into the hills and forest where there is an old manor house and random monument to the builder of the English Canal System. Standard English monument=concrete block for a base, with generic greek style pillar with piece of statuary on top. Here we stopped for lunch and there was a really neat little cafe being run by the National Trust. Stephen and I packed our lunches and ate them in the picnic area, but got tea and hot coco afterwords---85 pence for a whole pot of tea. I was a happy camper, or rambler as the case may be.
Up until then we'd been having pretty nice weather, not sunny, but warm and an overcast that made the fall leaves really vibrant. Of course, we start the second half of the hike, the part going up into the chalk hills & Ivinghoe Beacon and through a Pre-Roman trail back to Tring, turning into a windy soggy raining mess. All of us who did have the forethough to bring along anything more than a raincoat (not waterproof pants, mud guards, gators, etc) were completely soaked to the bone and muddy up to our knees. We still had a lovely time though as people were in pretty good spirits, but we missed most of the beautiful landscape due to trying not to fall on the slippery paths and keeping the rain out of our eyes. The guide was awesome though and is planning on doing the walk again come spring when the bluebells are in flower.
But we survived no worse for wear, by the end my hips were starting to ache (and my right knee for some strange reason, same kind of ache in my hips too which does *not* bode well), but nothing a nice hot shower (bath would have been better), hot soup, tea and a nap couldn't fix. So that's good, and getting a pair of waterproofs for the rainy season like this would probably do a good bit for preventing the aching since cold + wet does tend to trigger what's left of my old injuries.
So we liked the group quite a bit, got some good talks in with other members. Very friendly people who love to get out and in the thick of things so to speak. We may not make any fast friends there, but it is nice to get out with a bunch of like minded people, get a feel for the local history, breath the fresh air, and see some neat country side. Good stuff all round and another whole day of weekend left--just what the doctor ordered.
Cologne, Germany
Well, we officially made our first trip to the continant this weekend- Cologne, Germany!! The occasion: Stephen's Godmother's 85th birthday. We had an incredible time, and it was fabulous to finally get to meet most of the European crew that I've been hearing about from Stephen and his family.
We left Saturday morning early and arrived in Cologne mid-morning to be picked up by Manfred (family friend of the Siards) and his son Jakob (pronounced Yakob) and taken back to their home in a suburb of Cologne where we would spend most of our time. Manfred and his wife Marianne are long time friends of Stephen's parents when Gib was stationed in Germany. Manfred is now retired from Exxon and Marianne is a teacher of History and Germany Language in the local public school system. They have four children, all of whom are in University: one son 23 (Kristian), twin girls (Alexandra and Theresa) age 21, and another son (Jakob) 20. The way the German educational system is constructed, it is a fabulous achievement to have children studying at University. All four of them were home for the weekend, so we had the pleasure of meeting them and talking with them. Bonus: the entire family speaks English really well. The eldest son Kristian could easily be mistaken for a native speaker.
They have a beautiful home in the suburbs. It's extremely comfortable with an "American" style living room added and a huge backyard complete with Walnut trees and a type of crab apple tree that is used to make a type of jelly well known in their region. A very pleasant comfortable home that is unique to happy families. Watching them all interact and joke with eachother was a wonderful experience.
Anyway, once we got there we found out that the get together for Stephen's godmother was that evening, so we did a quick reorganization of plans and talked Kristian into coming with us to act as a translator since virtually no one at the party would speak much more than basic English. Let's just say we owe Kristian BIG TIME.
Now, I really do love my dearest husband, *but* he is hell on translators. When we were in Petersburg he would try to get into philosophical discussions with Russians who didn't speak any English and then get upset, because my translations were too "simplistic". *rolling of eyes* I'm sorry, epistomological isn't in my working vocabulary. Anyway, I tried very gently before going to the party to remind him that when working through a translator it's a good idea to keep your ideas concise using language appropriate for the situation. He sort of listened to me, but Kristian did an excellent job nonetheless, especially considering we were there for 5 hours. I was also amazed at how much German I started to understand. It shares quite a few cognates with English, Russian, and French, so that combined with knowing the context, I was understanding about 10-15% of what was being said without translation. Not too shabby for being almost completely new to the language as a whole. Naturally, I forgot my camara to the family events, so we're definitely going to have to go back to visit, this time with German language skills in hand
Stephen's Oma is a fabulous cook too! She made all of the cakes for the reception and they were delish!! The three I tried were a Marzipan and Cream, Apple cake, and something like a Cheesecake with a "german" chocolate cake outside- tres yummy! She was the sweetest old woman too, and you wouldn't take her for much older than 65. Very spritely with a great humor, reminded me a lot of my friend Marcella in that way, and a lot like my grandmother when it came to her attitudes toward food. We quickly learned that an empty plate was her exuse to fuss over us and fill our plates with the next round herself. Fortunately everything was really tasty.
So we had a really nice time and learned a bit of a new language while we were at it. It was quite frustrating though to rely on someone else to be able to carry on a conversation or even deliver simple compliments to the hosts. So now I'm debating on if I should start learning German now or work my French up to a reasonable level first and then start.
Sunday we got up rather late, had a fantastic brunch: cereal, 10 different kinds of bread, butter, 5 different kinds of cheese, cold sausages (think salami type). Doesn't sound like much, but it really hit the spot and got us off to a good start for spending the afternoon in Cologne.
So we went into the city centre and saw the *huge* Gothic Cathedral.
From across the Rhine (sorry it was so dark)
Upclose to the facade. Each of the gargoyles are
the size of people.
We didn't get much time there as the day was for an overview of the city, but it was incredible. Started in 1200, it wasn't finished until in the mid 1800s, only of course to be partially destroyed in WWII. So they're slowly restoring it. You walk in and the spiritual presence is electric. Next time we go back I want to go to Mass there.
Then we walked around the city as Marianne told us about the history, the various places that are now memorials to WWII and the Roman times. Evidently Cologne was an old Roman outpost and still has some of the original strucutures. Incredible considering that the city was virtually flattened during the War. Marianne had an interesting point of view as her father served in the German Army and her mother fled the Russian "liberation" of Eastern Germany, as well as being a modern History teacher.
So then we went back to their house, had a bit
of a rest and then out to dinner to a local German
restaurant that was wonderful! We sampled some of
the local brew Kolsche, and man was it yummy. A
light beer, but with less of the "grain" taste you
usually get with them. Very well rounded and just a
little on the sweet side. Definitely something to
drink socially and not ponder too hard. It went
really well with the food- Sauerbraten kind of a
"sour" roast with a deep red gravy with macaroni
type noodles dry sauteed every so slightly to make
them crisp. A good description comes from
this website:
Traditionally made with a beef roasting joint
(topside or similar) the meat is marinated for 2-3
days in vinegar and/or beer, spices such as cloves,
juniper berries, allspice and peppercorns, bay
leaves and onions and is then braised in the
marinade for a long period
Very yummy indeed. And good sized portions too.
Stephen had to finish mine off, despite the fact
that it was quite tasty.
Then we went back and had a nice long chat with Manfred and Marianne before heading to an early bed, since we had to be at the airport pretty early (though it turned out our flight was delayed an hour).
So a really great "taste" of Germany, and we're defintely looking forward to fairly regular visits. Our next one will probably be in time for the Christmas Markets, for which Cologne is renowned throughout Germany. And "hopefully", by then we'll know enough Germany that we can do our Christmas shopping there, and maybe all our interactions can be in German. It's so much more fun to learn a language when you have fairly ready access to native speakers. Yay for that, and yay for another stamp in our passports.
1st Month in London
Stephen and I celebrated our one month
anniversary of being in London and our 9 month
wedding anniversary by. . .unpacking!!! We finally
got our shipment of household goods from the US,
after a huge hassel and another large chunk of
currency. This has perhaps been the single most
insane experience of my life, but, hey, live and
learn and know better for next time.
Amazingly enough everything seems to fit in our
little bitty space. It's a bit squishy, but
everything more or less has it's own spot. Over
time we'll obtain more tupperwear type storage
units to get everything accessable, but for now
it's comfortably cluttered. =)
Sunday we went out and wondered the Piccadilly
& Oxford Circus area of London. I'm endeavoring
to find a pair of knee high brown leather boots
that won't cost me a fortune, but shopping in
London is really quite fun in and of itself as they
have cutting edge fashions, some of which are
scary, but quite a bit is really tasteful. I'm
pleased to see that the tailored look is very much
back "in". So good stuff there.
As most of your know, I received the best birthday
present imaginable. . .a job!! It's a 3 month
contract through a temp agency with a huge
financial services firm. My job is a secretary to
two different "teams" of analysts--making copies,
scanning documents into the system, binding
reports, making travel arrangements, filing, etc.
My coworkers are pretty nice; my cube-mate speaks
Russian! So there will be much Russian practice,
though hopefully without too much cringing on her
part (she's a native speaker).
I'm also starting to get a feel for the kind of
work financial analysts do. . .and micro-economic
analysis is not for me. Hey, at least now I know.
If nothing else, temping is going to give me the
opportunity to at least get a feel for a couple of
different career options and maybe help figure out
what in the world I want to be when I grow up. In
fact, I'm really starting to learn that maybe I
don't want to work for a big multinational, while
the atmosphere at work isn't unpleasant, it's very
impersonal on the whole. Lots of individual work
and only superficial interaction with other human
beings. Not liking that so much. I found an advert
for an Assitant Program Manager with a nonprofit
specializing in conflict resolution, so I'm going
to work on the essay portion of it and turn that in
at the end of the week. Another nice thing about
temping--24 hour notice to leave the job.
So things have officially settled. We're living in
London!!
California 2004 - Day 2
In keeping with their natures, the boys were up
at dawn, but kindly let me sleep until just after
8am. Breakfasted and off we went into San Fran to
see the Golden Gate Bridge. Fortunately for us, it
was sunny enough to actually be able to see the
bridge (evidently it gets so foggy that only the
tops of the turrets are visible), but still foggy
enough to get the "authentic" experience. We
wondered through the little nature area a while, me
taking pictures from further away, and watching the
surfers among the rocks near the closest in support
structures. Not sure how they managed not to freeze
or bash themselves to bits on the very pointy and
prominant coastal rocks, but it was neat to watch.
Then we decided to walk part-way across (to the
first turret) and look out over the bay. I didn't
realize that Alcatraz was so close to the shore,
and actually inside the bay itself. I always
envisioned it in the big ocean not visible from
land. The bridge also didn't sway nearly as much as
what I was expecting it to, and it was a reasonably
windy day; in fact, the bridge shook more from the
brisk traffic than from the weather.
After turning around and coming back, we walked
through the Gift Shop (or Gifuto Shoppu as the sign
read in transliterated Japanese), before heading
over to Japan Town for lunch and a bit of window
shopping. As much as it pained me, we ended up
doing A LOT of driving, instead of walking the city
as I would have liked to have done, but it was
necessary to see everything we wanted to see, and I
got to watch out the windows while Pyrex drove--a
feat for which he deserves to be sainted.
CALIFORNIA DRIVERS ARE CRAZY!! Not sure what rules
they were driving by, but they were just similar
enough to lull one into a false sense of security,
before nearlly catastrophically trouncing you out
of it. Of course it doesn't help that the lanes
shift at very odd angles without helpful markings.
Fortunately, Branson was equipped with a trusty
road map and a decent amount of familiarity, so we
got everywhere safely, but Pyrex's nerves must have
been shot by the end.
Anyway, lunch was at Juban which specializes in a
certain kind of Japanese cooking called "Yakiniku."
It's kind of like a do-it-yourself hibachi, only
minus the ultra sharp knives and tons of strangers
at your table. The grill is actually recessed into
the table, and you grill the meat and veggies
yourself. I ordered a pre-cooked dish
(Bibimbo--beef, spinich in sesame oil, pickled
dikon and two kinds of fermented bean sprouts over
rice. Actually quite tasty) The boys did the
grill-your-own thing, and wound up with some ultra
tasty bits.
Afterwords, we headed out into the shopping
district wondering through several craft, textiles,
& antique stores as well as some exhibitions on
temporary display. After two-ish hours, Pyrex and I
started to crave sweet things, and being in San
Francisco, the only place to sate it is the
Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. Two ice cream
sundays (hot fudge and caramel) between the four of
us, we were off again. This time to the Golden Gate
Park to see the Japanese Tea Gardens, where
theoretically there would be tea. Said tea never
qutie materialized, but the gardens were beautiful,
if not a bit small for the amazing number of
tourists in the area, but that's what we get for
going on a late Saturday afternoon. Also turns out
that admission was free after 5pm (about the time
that we left). So if you're ever in San Fran, and
want to see the gardens, go after 5 on a weekday.
But they were beautiful none the less.
The next stop was primarily for Pyrex and Branson,
and that was the Castro. Filled with some amazing
Victorian architecture and lots of neat little
shops and cafes, Pyrex spent a good deal of time
shopping for friends back home, and enjoying the
atmosphere of acceptance and general upbeatness. It
was really amazing how hopeful and fun the entire
area felt, much more so than any of the other
neighborhoods we meandered through, but then again,
there wasn't much meandering, so take that for what
it is.
As it was getting dark, and our tummies were
getting the grumblies, we headed back to San Jose
for dinner at a random Vietnamese Noodle shop that
I didn't get the name of, and was only adequete,
but it filled us up, and got us on our way in less
than an hour so that we could pick up snacks and
drinks for the bonfire that Garner was getting set
up for later that evening.
I really couldn't have asked for a better end to
the weekend. We arrived at Ocean Beach and stood on
the shore watching the waves in the darkness--inky
blackness punctuated by bonfires reflected from the
distance and silvery caps on the waves.
Then there was bonfire. =)
Garner had brought palates from the wharehouse
where we works, and another couple had just decided
to leave for the night, and allowed us to take over
their already fading fire pit. So we threw on a
palate at a time, drinking beer, and generally
talking and catching up with lives that had been
too long out of sync. It's always really fabulous
to see people loving what they do. Garner had never
quite been happy with CS as he studied it at OU,
but has since moved on to sound production for a
company that does big concerts in the Bay Area, and
he LOVES it. I have rarely seen someone so
invigorated in life and career they have begun to
create for themselves. I only wish that all people
can know that at least once in their lives for
whatever that may be.
So, tired, smokey, sand saturated and soulfully
sated we headed back to Branson's for the last
crash of what was an incredible weekend, one that
may never be repeated. Three days in a fascinating
locale shared with three of my closest and dearest
friends. Doesn't get much better than that folks,
doesn't get much better than that.
California 2004 - Day 1
Aside from the fact that this day started WAY
TOO EARLY (up by 3:15am to catch at 6:00am flight),
but I got a good amount of sleep on the plane, and
it turned into a beautiful day, raining yesterday
instead of today. =) Yay.
We took lunch in Mountain View where Branson lives
at this really fabulous (and cheap!) Japanese
place- Bento boxes for everyone! Man being a
Catholic during Lent is way too easy in this town-
the fish is so tasty that it's not really penitent,
but hey I'll save the guilt for something else.
*wink*
Then we headed to San Fran, and started off by
spending a good 3.5 hours in the Asian Art Museum
across the street from the recently famous City
Hall. Talk about an great museum!! Not only does it
have some amazing pieces & is arranged very
well, but the building itself is also really
interesting, being cobbled together from one very
old building with new, very modern glass additions
onto some of the sides. So visually appealling
inside and out. We didn't get all the way through,
but will probably finish it up tomorrow.
Afterwords, we walked towards the shopping distric.
The guys let me do my girly thing picking up some
bath bombs from Lush and then walking through Union
Square toward China town, where we grabbed some
very tasty Dim Sum and tea. That's the great thing
about Asian places--good tea.
Overall, San Fran is a really odd city; kind of a
cross between Singapore with all of the ethnic
diversity and New York City with all of the
buildings and the odd street crazy elements.
Needless to say that it twisted with my
perspective. Granted, I'm more than a smidge naive
about these things, so it's probably good for me.
It is a fabulous city though, and I'm looking
forward to getting to see more of it tomorrow. The
agenda is looking something like: Finishing the
museum, Golden Gate, Japanese Tea Gardens (mmmmm
tea), Japan Town, and the Castro (just for Pyrex
& our Monkey--that should be an eye opener for
sure!), and whatever else happens to come up. There
is also talk of a bonfire on the beach tomorrow
night, so that should be especially promising. It's
a kind of Zen weekend with some of my favorite
people.
Honeymoon - Day 7 - Wrapping it Up
I must say, our last day in Singapore started
off very well. I had an appointment for a massage
and facial at the Amarita Spa in our hotel at
10:00am that morning, and it was fabulous!! It was
a much smaller spa than any I've been to, but they
did have two steam rooms: one Finnish style (dry
heat), one Russian style (wet heat); they also had
two whirlpools and one "cold pool". There was only
one other woman there when I arrived, so I'm
guessing more people use the facilities in the
afternoon. So it was nice to get some time alone
before they called me in for my appointment. The
same girl did both the massage and the facial, and
she was exceptional at each. It was nice too having
one technician too, because you didn't have to move
after the message, and just continued to relax. I
really liked the way she did the massage--long
smooth strokes, using pressure points to work on
individual knots rather than poking or pinching or
kneading. Very nice. The facial was good too, she
gave me a lot of really good tips on how to better
take care of my skin, and it really helped to even
up the texture of my skin considerably, as well as
clear up the acne break-out I'd been battling since
the wedding.
So by the time I left the spa I felt incredible. I
headed up to the room for a quick shower and met up
with Stephen, then we headed out to grab lunch
before going to finish up seeing the botanical
gardens.
We grabbed lunch at this great mini sushi
supermarket thing in the bottom of one of the large
shopping centers on Orchard Road. So we grabbed a
table and ordered some drinks and dived in. Good
sushi. Then we decided something sweet would go
down well, before hitting the streets again to go
to the Botanical gardens. So they had this white
mousse cake with coconut flakes on top and what
looked like coconut on the inside. I get it back to
the table, take a big bite, and IT WAS ONION! Who
in their right mind puts onion in cake? Evidently
the chinese do. (do not trust the Chinese; they are
malfunctioning)
At that point we jumped street side to grab a bus
to head to the Botantical Gardens. We had forgotten
our handy guidebook, so we used the street guide in
the metro to figure out which bus number we needed.
The bus came, we got on, got to the point where the
bus *should* have turned to go to the Botanical
Gardens, and it DIDN'T. So we hung tight, thinking
"ok, maybe it's taking a different route." After a
long ride, we finally decided to ask the bus
driver, and low and behlod, that bus didn't go to
the Gardens anymore. So she dropped us off at the
next stop and instructed which bus we needed to get
on to get to the Gardens.
So we hop on the next bus, and I grabbed a route
schedule. It would have taken us over an hour by
bus to get back, but we did recognize one stop that
we knew for sure had a metro station, so we got on
that one, and took the metro back to the stop where
we got to the gardens before, and got on the right
bus, making it to the gardens in less than 20
minutes.
This bus dropped us off at a different part of the
gardens than previously, so we got to see quite a
different section as we made our way back to the
orchid garden to finish up where we left off.
Unfortunately, the bromeliad garden was closed
(Stephen was disappointed), but we got to see the
rest of the orchids, which were amazing, but
decidedly prettier when it was raining. There was
something about the rain that made their colors
even more vibrant than in full sun. Perhaps
contrast with the grey sky? Who knows. However, as
we were discussing this effect, the sky started to
cloud over and bits of rain began to fall.
Fortunately, it never turned into the downpour of
our last visit, but it rained enough to make the
gardens even more beautiful. We walked past several
new areas in our quest to find a bus stop (our day
for adventure, so we avoided hitting any one place
twice), and finally found one after exiting hte
gardens and walking for a few blocks. The gardens
really are a place that one needs to spend several
long afternoons over the course of several months
to really appreciate--preferrably with a picnic.
So from that bus stop we decided to go back to
Little India to pick up a few things we remembered
at the last minute. I got the feeling that we were
on the verge of some fabulous festival as many of
the streets were now lined with vendors and there
was a large tent in the center of one square with
chairs and podiums set up. We would have loved to
sit around and see what was about to happen, but we
had dinner reservations at the top of the hotel
(Equinox restaurant) so we had to go about our
business.
Dinner that night was an intersting mix of fabulous
and unnerving. We had been reminded when we made
our reservation that there was a dress code, so
Stephen donned his suit for the first time and I
wore a nice skirt-top combo with a favorite pair of
heels. We looked quite the dapper pair and headed
to the downstairs bar for a drink before heading up
to dinner.
The view from the 70th floor looking out over the
harbor and financial distric was really amazing;
our waiter, with his obsessive compulsive lurching,
was not. At first it was really pretty annoying,
and then became comical as the night wore on. I'll
spare you all the details, but it was pretty
obvious he was new, and had not had a chance to
familiarize himself with much of the menu. The
dinner itself was really quite tasty, an
interesting mix of french and asian cuisine.
Stephen informed me that the menu style was very
french, except for the lack of "set" menus.
Evidently, most truly French restaurants have
several proposed meals that include 1 or 2 choices
of appetizer, entre, dessert, cheese and wine for a
set price, I guess figuring the chef knows what
will taste good together better than the average
Joe (dunno, just guessing). We ran into this at a
few other places, and really found it to be the
best way to make a dinner decision with unknown
foods, so maybe the French have something there.
Anyway, Equinox only had one set menu, and it
didn't really appeal to either of us, so we ordered
a la carte. Stephen ordered Lobster Ravioli, I got
braised lamb with this rasberry-burgandy sauce.
Really, really yummy. Followed up with a trio of
Creme Brulee's: Orange Spice, Chocolate, and
Regular. Very, VERY tasty indeed. We stayed for
quite while drinking tea and coffee, talking and
reflecting over the city. Stephen became quite
overjoyed when he found out they had a particular
kind of apple-pear liquor that he hadn't had since
he was in France. Nice crowning moment to the
evening, and to the trip in general.
Unfortunatly the night didn't contain much more
(though we were both in the mood for a stroll),
since we had to be leaving the hotel at 4:00 the
next morning to catch our 6:50 flight. Bleah. So
back to the room for a quick nap, and then packed.
And thus our trip ended. Quiet, full, contented,
well-dressed, and reflective. Amazing city,
fascinating country, definitely a place to return
to.
Honeymoon - Day 6 - Little India and Kapang Glam
Today we ventured back into Chinatown to pick up
Stephen's new suit, and then headed over to Little
India and the Malay sector.
We got to Chinatown a little after 10am, and not a
whole lot was open. It took us a good while to find
the tailor shop again, as the numbering system is
not as intuitive as it first appears. But we found
it after not too long of looking, and Stephen tried
on his suit. You know, it's amazing how a well
fitted item of clothing can make a person look
quite stunning. Stephen is usually quite
attractive, but this suit, well, suits him
perfectly! He was very pleased, after of course
giving it his typically deep inspection, and asking
more questions than I thought possible about its
construction.
While Stephen was changing back into his street
clothes, the shopkeeper turned to me and mentioned
that he had a friend whose jewelry store "down the
street" was having a sale. Would I like to go?
Wanting to be polite, and more than a little
curious I said ok, and asked for the address, to
which the shopkeep responded "I get it for you, I
call my friend." Ok, sure. So, Stephen comes back
out and the shopkeep is talking a mile a minute, in
both English and Madarin, and the next thing I know
a taxi pulls up to the shop door. Turns out the
shopkeep called a taxi to take us to the jewelry
shop of his friend. This is where things start to
get odd. The taxi driver turned out also to be the
cousin of the jewelry store owner. He chats with us
a bit, asking us where we're from, how we like
Singapore, etc, etc. (He did sneer a bit when he
found out I studied Economics and International
Relations, and quickly turning the subject back to
Stephen's job. Grrrr.) All the while he's driving.
Now, Chinatown is not that big, and we were quickly
out of it and headed downtown. . .and he keeps
driving. . .and driving. Finally, after many
worried looks pass between Stephen and I, he pulls
up in front of a very rich looking building, which
said in very prominant and snooty letters: The
Singapore Gem Trading Exchange. Great. He escorts
us through the security guards, and into a showroom
manned by more hostesses and sales personell than
customers by a ratio of 30:1. Even better. So
Stephen and I attempt to wander through the various
cases (all of which housed beautiful gems in
terribly gaudy settings that were way overpriced),
trying to figure out how long was polite to stay
and yet not be expected to purchase anything.
Fortunately we made it out with our wallets and
credit lines intact and no jewelry. Friend down the
street, my hiney!!
The upside of all of this is that we were just two
blocks from our hotel, and were able to drop off
the suit before heading back out to Little India
and Kampong Glam.
Now this was quite the experience. Definitely the
poorer section of town financially, it was rich in
sounds and smells of the Middle East. Also fabulous
was the fact that the shopkeeps were pretty hands
off, offering initial assistance , but otherwise
stood back unless summonned or to explain some
excentricity or culture perculiarity; unlike in
Chinatown, where you are constantly harrassed in
multiple languages to "come inside, have a see,
best (insert good here) in Singapore, we make you
good deal." Very nice change indeed. Also, I am
convinced that Indian women have the best end of
the fashion world. Not are the fabrics beautiful,
sporting the best embroidery man is capable of, but
they're comfortable! Long tunics with loose fitting
pants and a scarf/shawl (forgive me Lynn, I don't
know all the correct terms). Yup, that culture
definitely gave their women the better end of the
bargain there, and I'm jealous, as well as half
tempted to buy one, just for the sheer beauty of
the clothing.
After much wandering about the shops, we came to
the largest mosque in Singapore, the Sultan's
Mosque. We were allowed to go inside (fortunately I
had bought a pretty scarf, and had it with me), and
wander all but the prayer halls, for good reason.
There were a few people around, but otherwise we
were free to explore. I wish I had more information
about all the symbolic placement of the various
arches, pillars, and other architectural and
ceremonial elements to better appreciate the space
though. But it was very interesting, especially to
quietly watch the prayers of the faithful there.
Different traditions are astounding, and, at least
in this temple, the humility before God was very
evidant in the postures and expressions of those
praying.
Back onto the street, we wandered about some more,
taking a fabulous curry lunch in a little shop in
Historic Little India. It was served on a large
leaf, with lots of pappadam (sp?) and ginger drink.
MMMMMM good stuff. Though we haven't been able to
find the fabulous mint chutney since the zoo. I may
have to track down a recipe.
From there we walked over to the area of Temples,
and to do so passed through the closest thing to
slums we have yet found in Singapore. The buildings
had definitely seen better days, and a few tattered
beggars were on the other side of the street. The
interesting thing was, that this area was also
under the most intensive construction we had yet
seen. The book I read on the plane coming over here
(From the Third World to the First by Lee Kuan Yew,
Christmas present from my in-laws--Thank You!!)
mentioned that the government subsidized
modernization of many old (pre-independence)
apartment blocks, and so I can only assume that
what was going on. It was interesting, because just
across the street, was completely modern
apartments. Fascinating.
Moving on, we came to the temple area where four
Buddhist and two Hindu temples sat, more or less,
next to each other. Both Hindu temples had prayer
services going on, so those could only be viewed
from the outside, and were stunning. More layered
statues in a pyramid shape, with walls adorned by
more colorful statues. Listening to the chants of
the worshipers was a beautiful experience, and made
the entire complex come alive with the sounds. The
waves of heat made many of the figurines shimmer
and almost dance with the rhythm of the voices
inside.
Further on, we came to the Buddhist temples, which
we were allowed to enter. Only two of them we
really understood much as they had some limited
information available in English, but all were
fascinating to behold, and displayed an interesting
mix of the various ethnic symblism of the area.
The largest was established by a Thai monk in the
1920s, and features an enormous Buddha statue, some
50 feet tall and several hundred tons, as well as
several relics including a piece of bark believed
to come from the tree under which Siddhartha gained
enlightenment and a replica of the Buddha's foot
print set in mother of pearl. The entrance was
guarded by a four headed statue of the Hindu god
Vishnu, the creator, meant to guard the temple from
all four corners. There was also a statue of Ganesh
(elephant-man god of fortune) in one corner that
was associated with the early life of Siddhartha.
Fascinating symbolsim that. By far the most
interesting part of the temple was the series of
murals around the base of the large statue
depicting the life of Siddhartha/Buddha and his
path to enlightenment.
Across the Street was the Leong San See temple
built about a decade earlier than the previously
mentioned one, that is about half Buddhist, half
Hindu. It is dedicated mutually to the Hindu
goddess of mercy and compassion as well as the
"Sakyamuni" or "Laughing" Buddha. Unlike all of the
other temples, this one did not ask its visitors to
remove their footwear, and allowed us to wander all
parts of the temple pretty much unhindered, except
for asking us to explore it in a clockwise motion
so as to properly respect the energies of the
space. This temple was much more ornate than the
previous one, with the ceiling made of exquisitly
carved & gilded rafters, featuring an entire
room of gilded ancestral tablets over a central
altar. It was set one room inside of another,
which, presumably, aided in the meditation of the
worshippers as they moved through their prayer
cycles from the entrance near the penetential
kneelers, to the shrine of the patron goddess, to
the ancestral room through another mini shrine to
another manifestation of the patron goddess, and
through a second minor shrine area to a lesser
manifestation of the Buddha, back to the main room
only in front of the final Buddha, and before
exiting, the shrine to the patron gods of the city.
I really enjoy all the symbolism of the various
buildings, and am very glad that these two temples
had detailed cards to help out the unschooled
better appreciate the rich surroundings.
Back out onto the street, we made our way back to
the hotel, to change, and head out to Orchard Road
for a bit of shopping and dinner. We took dinner in
a more upscale version of the hawker center, and
got some seafood noodle soup, which Stephen really
enjoyed but I was not all that fond of. I've found
that I enjoy the Indian and Malaysian foods much
better than their Chinese counterparts. The flavors
suit my stomach better and are much less likely to
contain bits of anchovies. Bleah.
So, after some more wandering about, back to the
hotel to plan out our final day in
Singapore--Wednesday.
Honeymoon - Day 5 - Bird Park and Oriental Gardens
Unlike getting to the zoo, we got to the bird park with no problem and were inside the gates by 11:30. It is built on pretty much the same principle as the zoo, only with more cages since birds are substantially more mobile than most other animals, but usually even the "cages" were large enclosed areas several tens or hundreds of feet tall. They also had trained falconers on hand to help exercise the large birds of prey, of which they had numerous species, ranging from the smallest kites and miniature hawks to bald eagles. But still, many birds were allowed mostly free range of the park including most of the pelicans, ducks, flamingos, herons, and storks. The flamingo pond was home to some 1000 birds! A huge stink, but really interesting to see a flock that large interact.
They also had this amazing Waterfall area housing the largest man-made waterfall, cascading some 100 feet high, with the net probably another 50-100 feet above that. It housed numerous birds, mostly tropicals. There was constuction being done on the upper pathways, so we could only go so high among the trees, but it was enough to get a lovely view, and see quite a few birds.
Looping back around, we had lunch overlooking the flamingo pond (inside looking through glass to keep our appetite from the smell), and then took in the rest of the park.
They had a miniature Rainforest set up to emulate the enviornment of East Asian rainforests, where, again lots of birds roamed/flew free. You had to be pretty careful here, as these birds were substantially more land based than in the waterfall area, and were prone to darting out of the bushes behind or in front of you, and then squawcking loudly if you got too close (dumb birds). One of the crowned pigeons evidently found Stephen on the offensive side, as it came up and bit him on the foot as he was standing there watching me take pictures of other birds in the wooded area. The next thing I knew he yelled and was doing a dance that was him halfway trying not to kick the offending bird and yet keep a safe distance. So we made a bee-line for the exit, as two of them now chased us. Fortunately our legs were longer, and they didn't try to fly so we made it out in one piece. Unfortunately, this experience has not done much to cure his habit of booting pigeons, and had this particular variety not been labelled endangered and there been many cameras around, that one would have gotten kicked as well. Stupid bird.
Moving on we came to a huge hummingbird exhibit (including their own enclosed large tentish thing), pelicans, toucans and horn bills. I didn't realize the latter two got so big!! Even with cages some 25-30 feet wide and 60-70 tall, they didn't have enough room to fly more than a few seconds worth. When they flapped their wings, it sounded like a helicopter getting started up. They had wingspans easily 6-8 feet wide. Beautiful birds, and the only ones that it really pained me to see caged up as all the others (including the largest of the birds of prey) got plenty of room to exercise at least once a day.
The last two exhibits were probably my favorites of all though: the parrots and the owls! The parrots were in a completely open area, and were awaiting their own netted tent to fly around in. As it was, they were free to roam the park during the day (for the most part), and then were caged at night. Very lively birds, it was fun to watch them play, and see all the normal items they turned into toys. In many ways, parrots seem to be the monkeys of the birds: higly intellegent and playful.
The owl exhibit was really neat, as it was almost completely dark, except for a very dim light in the color range that particular species of owl could not see. They had 10-12 different species of owl, including a Siberian variety more adapted to seeing and hunting during the day, since the Siberian summers experience almost 24 hours of light for several weeks on end. Beautiful, beautiful birds. They had other nocturnal birds as well, but they weren't nearly as impressive as the owls.
Then, still having a good bit of energy left (and daylight) in us (must have been the good sleep of the night before), we headed to the Oriental Gardens. Just a short walk from the metro, they had a sign announcing that the Japanese section of the gardens was under rennovations, and thus closed. Stephen was pretty dissapointed, but the Chinese gardens turned out to be plenty to explore on their own. First we came to the 7 story pagoda, that from afar looked decorated with many colored lanturns; however, when we got close they turned out to be umbrellas!! The whole park was decorated in colored lanturns and umbrellas and various paper figurines to celebrate the chinese New Year. So, a very good time for us to visit!!
We also found an extremely large bonsai garden, and got to watch one of the bonsai masters at work trimming some of the trees. Fascinating!! The large trees out front were over 250 years old, and many inside the garden of various sizes were aged near or older than 100 years. It's amazing to look at those works of art, and realize that it has taken numberous generations of masters to acheive the present state of beauty. Awe inspiring to say the least. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Bonsai I had already filled up two picture cards and was on the third (yes, that's nearly 400 pictures in one day), so not many pictures of the gardens could be taken, but I have a feeling
Stephen is planning on going back while I'm at the spa on Wednesday morning.
So after exhausting our picture capacity, and staying right up until their closing time, we wandered through the rest of the gardens enjoying the festive decorations and holiday spirit. Then we hopped back on the MRT, and headed to Newton Circus for dinner.
Newton Circus is what is known has a "hawker" center, or a large open air food court with dozens upon dozens of vendors selling everything from the scarily familiar to the completely alien--all for really good prices. They are fantastic ways to sample the local cuisine without spending a fortune Since the day had been a hot, sticky one, even by Singapore standards (I will never complain about the humidity in Houston again), I opted for an Indian vegetarian dish that was part omelette, part fritter, and with lots of vegetables, foreign and familiar, served with this amazingly tasty spicy orange soupy sauce. Hit the spot! Stephen ordered beef satay and chomped his way through two portions. We both had two large glasses of lime juice topped off with kiwi and papaya for dessert. Now that's what I call a stellar meal, and all for less than S$30 I think hawker centers are going to be the staple of our dining from now on. Too good to pass up.