Spring Has Sprung

The spring seems to have flown by. It’s hard to believe that rest of the world has transitioned pretty much out of the cold and into warmer weather. For Easter we escaped the heat and went to Hong Kong for the weekend. The cooler weather was fantastic and we had tons of insider tips (a bonus of Singapore is that you (photo left-Singapore) meet lots of people who have lived in Hong Kong). You may think Hong Kong and Singapore are similar but they really aren’t. The best comparison would be Singapore is LA and Hong Kong is New York. Also, our trip came with a bit of culture/fashion shock. We realized that we weren’t in Kansas; or should I say the sub-tropics, anymore when we were turned away for tea because we had sandals on.
Hong Kong is a booming metropolis. In a very high-end jewelry store I leaned over the counter and asked the saleswoman, “Who is buying these huge gems?” She looked around and I got very excited because I thought she was going to tell me something juicy like, Madonna sends her people here. Instead she told me that their jewels are sold mostly to main-land Chinese and some (photo right-Hong Kong) Russian tourists. When you think about it, it is juicy that citizens of a so called communist state are flocking to Hong Kong to buy jewels tax free. What would Mao and Stalin think?
We had some good food on the trip, but nothing too exceptional like Singapore (need more inside tips Evan and Rodney). We stumbled upon a steak joint from White Plains, New York called "BLT" and jumped at the chance to eat a hamburger. Our other memorable food moment was at a famous Cantonese restaurant where they are known for their 100 year old eggs! They aren’t actually a hundred years old, but they are old none-the-less. Ammonia is used to ferment the egg and then it is buried until it becomes a kind of jelly consistency and black in color (we didn't eat them).
Not only did we spend time exploring the city of Hong Kong, but we took the hills and hiked the Dragon’s Back trail with our former neighbor George from Singapore. The trail had sweeping ocean views and strong winds. We made our way down the trail and had a fantastic lunch in a beach town called Shekko. That night we were wiped out from hiking and on a whim asked a maitre-d' if he knew where we could get a massage. The next thing we knew we were whisked away in a cab and found ourselves at a 24 hour spa. One level was for men and the other for women. You could order any sort of food or drink you wanted, relax in the steam room or sauna, and best of all get a massage. John opted for a foot and leg massage and Margaret opted for a full body-it was glorious! The woman actually walked on her back!
Upon returning to Singapore we found the Easter Bunny had made a visit. I was surprised to find all the Easter supplies in Singapore. Frankly, Singaporeans seem to be more into Easter than Valentine’s Day.
Besides our cultural experiences while traveling, we also kicked up our culture experiences here in Singapore a notch. One lovely Friday evening, we took in Jazz on the Sentosa beach. We also saw a performance of Romeo and Juliet by a small British Theatre group. The performance was held at the famous Raffles hotel. Before the play John and I decided to try the hotels famous Singapore Sling. The $23 SGD price tag threw us off so we luckily opted to split one. As we sat at the bar I noticed the bartender pull out a plastic half gallon jug of a no-name brand fruit punch. Basically we had just paid for Kool-Aid and rum.
April also included my birthday. John surprised me with a lovely jewelry box and a trinity band ring and took me to China Club. The club is really a restaurant, but you need to have a corporate or individual membership (we don’t have one). It just so happens that the restaurant is located on the 52nd floor of John’s work building. We ended up with the best table in the house; a corner table with a 180 degree view of Singapore. The food was delicious, Wagyu beef and Razor clams where among the dishes we tried. I have to say Razor clams are more like calamari than a clam.
As for May well, I have become head of my volunteer project at a girls home and taken up playing Mahjong, which is a Chinese tile game. We have now officially been living in Singapore for one year! Boy does time fly. I think we finally feel settled or as settled as you can feel in this transient city. We are both returning soon to visit the US and are really looking forward to it!
Lastly on a happy note, our foster kittens Gladdys and Oscar got adopted from the SPCA. We took them back to the shelter and within a week they were snatched up! Good thing because I wanted to keep them :)