New Years Comes But Twice A Year

After a rather quiet start to the New Year came the booming celebration of Chinese New Year, which much to our chagrin lasted for three weeks. In the beginning we were excited to learn and immerse of ourselves in this unique culture tradition after all we live in the heart of Chinatown. The streets became more crowded and bright throngs of locals, who apparently only visit the market area once a year came to collect flowers, kumquat bushes, pussy willows, golden Buddhas and red signs of luck to decorate their homes and businesses. The local Buddhist Temple that holds a holy relic of Buddha’s tooth opened up for us to explore. Acrobats came from China to show off their almost super hero like flexibility.
Our apartment also looks over a small Buddhist temple that hung lanterns and covered the trees surrounding it with red lights. On the first night of the New Year it stayed up past twelve, including a puppet show. Inside the temple they were selling bags of New Years offerings of tangerines and incense. For the next two days Singapore virtually shut down, many businesses remained closed for the entire week. As the week went on, for us the excitement wore off. The temple across from our apartment often remained open with constant drumming or singing until about two in the morning. This might have not bothered us so much, but at the same time a massive pipe located between our bedroom wall and the bathroom broke leaving a water mark that in the end was about twelve feet by six feet. We had to move out of our bedroom and live in the office which faces the temple and its banging drums. Our landlord ignored our reports for three weeks and it wasn’t until we sent photographs that she very reluctantly showed up, made some odd comments questioning if this was our doing, but as a “Christian” she would do the right thing. I am still not sure what God had to do with the situation, although he may intervened and I was able to let the comment slide.
Valentines came and went in Singapore with a subtly that I did not expect. Perhaps it’s because so much pressure is put on people here to celebrate both Christmas and Chinese New Year with consumer products, large dinners and cold hard cash. John surprised me by taking me for Pecking Duck something that I had been craving for months. We ate four different duck dishes and I don’t think my belly had ever been so full! The restaurant was located in the Rochester Park Restaurant area. The restaurants are all located in a neighborhood of iconic black and white houses that have been converted to restaurants. It was a nice quiet evening as no cars are allowed on the street so you can stroll.

Happy New Year

It has been a very busy end of the year for us here in Singapore. In October we had our first out of town visitor, my cousin, Chris. Together we explored not only the sights and sound of Singapore, but also traveled to Cambodia. We ate and ate while Chris was here. We went to a “No Reservations” recommend restaurant here in Singapore called the Sin Haut Eating House, which is a very nondescript whole in the wall, that offers no menu and out of this world seafood prepared Chinese style.

In Cambodia we continued to eat amazing food which I would describe as Thai food but with less to no chilies. We had our own private tour guide, Vanna, who was filled with detailed knowledge about Siem Reap. Vanna had been recommended to us by friends and we are grateful. Vanna truly helped make our trip! We had three very intense days of touring. One morning even called for us to begin before dawn so that we could see the sun rise at the famed Angkor Wat. We were surprise to find out that Angkor Wat is not one temple, but totally different temples that sat next to each other. We decided to venture to the capital city, Phnom Penh, via a five hour bus ride with driving sticking mostly to the opposite side of the road! Phnom Penh is a wild city with mopeds zooming from every corner and UN trucks with food making their rounds. It is a city that feels full of life, but there is also a strong feeling of darkness that looms just below the surface. We decided to take a tour of the Pol Pot Regime’s killing fields. It is the most horrific thing I have ever seen. Beyond having thousands of skulls on display in a temple, there were human teeth, clothing and bones scatter throughout the area. The mass graves were so shallow that they still turn up human remains and clothing when it rains and sometimes floods. I found it to be so haunting that I personally could not suggest that everyone should go there to learn. I also found it disturbing that site is operated by a private for profit Japanese company and it is unclear where the money goes and it certainly doesn’t look like it trickles down to the citizens who need it. Privatizing heritage sites in now common practice in Cambodia and it’s an extremely ironic considering the extremes of Marxism that were enforced only 30 years ago. On a lighter note one of the highlights of our boat tour to a floating village. It was magical and humble to see these fishing families so connected to the water, not land.

In November John and I were very excited to head back home to celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course being home was an absolute delight the only difficulty was that the time just flew by. My dad hosted a lovely welcome back party for John and I. We got to take time and enjoy John’s family’s newly renovated lake cabin. We were even lucky enough to have a brilliant fire, a bit of snow and bagels and of course a loving family! I headed up to Maine on a mini road trip with my brother Matt and got to enjoy a bit of fall in Maine with my mom and siblings.

In December we returned back to Singapore, decorated the apartment and enjoyed the rest of the holiday season. We did how ever leave for another trip. This time we headed an hour north to celebrate Christmas on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand. We relaxed on the beach, played lots of travel scrabble, spent an afternoon on a private island and indulged in spa treatments as well as the uber-fabulous Thai cuisine (if you are ever there you must go to Poppies for dinner).

It was back in Singapore to ring the New Year with a relaxing evening of my mom’s potato encrusted salmon (yum), drinks at our local favorite –The Screening Room and home in time to ring the New Year with a bottle of Champagne and calls to family.

So here we now are in 2009, may it bring joy, happiness and prosperity to you all.

Happy New Year

It has been a very busy end of the year for us here in Singapore. In October we had our first out of town visitor, my cousin, Chris. Together we explored not only the sights and sound of Singapore, but also traveled to Cambodia. We ate and ate while Chris was here. We went to a “No Reservations” recommend restaurant here in Singapore called the Sin Haut Eating House, which is a very nondescript whole in the wall, that offers no menu and out of this world seafood prepared Chinese style.

In Cambodia we continued to eat amazing food which I would describe as Thai food but with less to no chilies. We had our own private tour guide, Vanna, who was filled with detailed knowledge about Siem Reap. Vanna had been recommended to us by friends and we are grateful. Vanna truly helped make our trip! We had three very intense days of touring. One morning even called for us to begin before dawn so that we could see the sun rise at the famed Angkor Wat. We were surprise to find out that Angkor Wat is not one temple, but totally different temples that sat next to each other. We decided to venture to the capital city, Phnom Penh, via a five hour bus ride with driving sticking mostly to the opposite side of the road! Phnom Penh is a wild city with mopeds zooming from every corner and UN trucks with food making their rounds. It is a city that feels full of life, but there is also a strong feeling of darkness that looms just below the surface. We decided to take a tour of the Pol Pot Regime’s killing fields. It is the most horrific thing I have ever seen. Beyond having thousands of skulls on display in a temple, there were human teeth, clothing and bones scatter throughout the area. The mass graves were so shallow that they still turn up human remains and clothing when it rains and sometimes floods. I found it to be so haunting that I personally could not suggest that everyone should go there to learn. I also found it disturbing that site is operated by a private for profit Japanese company and it is unclear where the money goes and it certainly doesn’t look like it trickles down to the citizens who need it. Privatizing heritage sites in now common practice in Cambodia and it’s an extremely ironic considering the extremes of Marxism that were enforced only 30 years ago. On a lighter note one of the highlights of our boat tour to a floating village. It was magical and humble to see these fishing families so connected to the water, not land.

In November John and I were very excited to head back home to celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course being home was an absolute delight the only difficulty was that the time just flew by. My dad hosted a lovely welcome back party for John and I. We got to take time and enjoy John’s family’s newly renovated lake cabin. We were even lucky enough to have a brilliant fire, a bit of snow and bagels and of course a loving family! I headed up to Maine on a mini road trip with my brother Matt and got to enjoy a bit of fall in Maine with my mom and siblings.

In December we returned back to Singapore, decorated the apartment and enjoyed the rest of the holiday season. We did how ever leave for another trip. This time we headed an hour north to celebrate Christmas on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand. We relaxed on the beach, played lots of travel scrabble, spent an afternoon on a private island and indulged in spa treatments as well as the uber-fabulous Thai cuisine (if you are ever there you must go to Poppies for dinner).

It was back in Singapore to ring the New Year with a relaxing evening of my mom’s potato encrusted salmon (yum), drinks at our local favorite –The Screening Room and home in time to ring the New Year with a bottle of Champagne and calls to family.

So here we now are in 2009, may it bring joy, happiness and prosperity to you all.

Weee

Out and About at the Races

We’ve been out and about town recently and have taken lots of photos. Last Friday we went to the races. With a little luck we won a sum on three races and managed to break even for the night. I always imagined horse races to be more glamorous than they truly are. Like all forms of gambling there seemed to be a lot of desperate people trying to make a quick buck. In Singapore currently, there is only one other form of gambling which is a very odd sort of lottery game. Next year Singapore will welcome its first casinos. The casinos will offer something like 30,000 new jobs. The government has recognized that there is a downside to welcoming this kind of resort; as result they are imposing an S$100 entrancec fee or a onetime fee S$2,000 for a year. The casinos are also not allowed to extend credit to the local population. I have also heard that if a local wants to enter the casino they have to go through a mini credit check to ensure that their income is over a certain amount otherwise they will not be allowed in.

Further trying to boast the Singapore tourism industry, the government also welcomed the first ever Formula 1 night race. In case you don’t know what F1 is this link should help: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/5/6063.html

The race cars hit speeds near 300 miles an hour. The cars create a noise duller and louder than you could ever imagine that slowly rumbles throughout the island. There were lots of ticket options ranging from pre race events to box seats to the main event walk about tickets, which is what we opted for. I would say that I am glad I went for the story, but for a person who is completely ignorant to racing I found it extremely hard to follow. The course was setup so that only people who had purchased grandstand seats could see live video which meant it was very hard to tell what was happening in the overall race. I think next year I might opt for the luxury of a bar stool instead of a ticket to watch the race.

Our Neighborhood

What does Singapore look like? New, New, New! Singapore is all about luxury and knocking things down to get it. It also cost more to keep in an older car in taxes than just to go out and buy a new car. Lamborghini cars are so common place here that everyone refers to them as "Lambo" (I know it's a bit ridiculous). There are a few pockets of old Singapore that remain. One of them is our neighborhood, Chinatown.

American Club 60th Birthday Party

John and I were lucky enough to snag event tickets to a big annual bash at the American Club. The theme was that you should dress of an era 1950's-1980's. We went all out 1980's. For the most part I would have to say it was a pretty unimaginative crowd, not everyone dressed up. We ate the best food we have had in Singapore -it was a mix of both Western and Asian. The music was top notch- two live bands. There was also fake tattooing, a tarot card reader, and a photographer running around snapping photos that you could pick up at the end of the night. All in all it was good old fashion fun!