Lanterns & Lions

Today I went on a field trip to 2 craftsmen who are the last of their kind in Singapore. Our first stop was at a company that makes paper gifts for funerals and Gods. I was on a mission to buy a large lantern.

The lanterns on the left are used at funerals along with the horses.

We dropped several obvious hints that we sure would love to buy a drum like this one. 

They ignored the hints and opened the drum and other instruments 

to show us how they are used at funerals. 

There are paper shoes for the gods.

 These are the kind of lanterns I am very interested in buying but I was flat out told no. 

They said they are too difficult to make and the Australians have placed too many orders already. I 

will be persistent and will bring something like this home! 

Most Singaporeans can't tell by our accents if we are 

American, Australian or European. 

I am often asked if I am from Australia. 

After the lantern shop we went to the Lion Man's home. He is an artist who hand crafts 

lion heads for the lion head dance. 

He is the last Singaporean who does this. He told us the story behind the lion dance, and how it is changing from telling a story to being a show, the old way is no longer. 

He can't find an apprentice who is humble, patient, respectful or desirous enough to learn the craft. When he was talking about this I kept thinking about the original karate kid 

and how he had to prove his worthiness. 

These are the balls that spin around during the dragon dance. 

He was painting this lion head when we arrived at his home. He said that he has a hard time doing all the work because so many people want to come and visit his home. He lives on the 24th floor 

of an HDB - 

a government housing development where most Singaporeans live. 

Many artists are losing their trades because the government has moved them 

out of the shophouses where they use to live and work. Now they must rent shops and it is too 

expensive. In the shophouses the whole family 

would do the business and children grew up helping out everyday as they ran in and out of the shop.

Now parents don't pass their trades to their children because they work away from their 

families in offices.  

It is difficult to find an apprentice when the youth can earn so much more money in technology. Many 

of these trades will be gone in the next generation. 

Lanterns:
Yeo Swee Huat
Blk 6 Toa Payoh Industrial park Lor 8 #01-1307  319058
Phone 6255 7512 pr 6255 7592

Lion Heads:
Hong Nam World Handicraft Trading
Ng Hong Kiang
Blk 552 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 #24-1978
Call to arrange visit 9662 6618

One Year - We Survived!

Suddenly we have lived in Singapore for a whole year! 

How did this happen so fast? 

Before we moved here I was worried about lots of things.

I had no idea what to expect. 

Late night snack in Hong Kong.

I worried about making friends. Nothing to worry about there! Lots of really nice friends.

Tea at Capella

I worried about the food, would it be good? Would I like it? There are the very best hole in the wall places here and the fanciest places. A foodies dream!

 Angor Thom, Cambodia

I was super worried about leaving half of our family in the states, but they came to see us and 

it was wonderful! And we have Skype!

 I wondered about the medical system, but Ike had 2 surgeries and was treated with world class care.

I worried that I would do things wrong, I wouldn't know how to function in a new culture. But it turns out that people here are quite helpful, if you ask. 

There are usually signs instructing you on the correct way to do things. 

Then I fell in love with Singapore. 

The rich diversity of culture, religion, and culture makes it an exciting and vibrant place to live.

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery

Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

 Chinatown

 Cloud Dome

 Mr. Raffles

 Flower Dome

 Joss Stick Factory

 Vesak Day

 HDB Market

Little India

Now, after making the trip several times,

a 24 hour flight back home doesn't seem so far or so bad if you get to go back to the folks 

you've known and loved your whole life. 

And it's nice to know that Itaho is always there, waiting for us. 

How To Go To Johor Bahru And Back Home in Six Hours

1. Walk 8 minutes to bus stop with Idaho friend, Michele, and meet up with Singaporean friend,  Evelyn.
2. Take bus 10 minutes to the border.
3. Go through immigration - takes 20 minutes
4. Welcome to Malaysia!

Evelyn wants us to be able to do this ourselves so she is pointing and reading all the signs to us and probably thinks I will remember what she says but I'm having a hard time paying attention because of so many distractions. Besides, I like her so I'm hoping she'll take me next time I want to go. She points out how clean and nice it is, very safe and all protected from the sun. I thought the protection was from the rain, but even though it rains nearly everyday, sun is a bigger deal here.

The Toilet Bowl restaurant. Sit on toilets and look at urinals while you eat. We didn't eat here. 

We go up 2 escalators in a new air conditioned mall and into a restaurant called "Tea Garden" and meet 5 more Singaporean women who all start giggling and shaking our hands. They are kind and cheerful.

They order for us. Lots of Chinese food that tastes nothing like the Chinese food in the USA. I like it. We eat family style. They laugh about how much they love dessert. By American standards dessert isn't very sweet. I ask what their favorite American food is and they say Not Mexican! Their favorite American food is Dessert!

Then we shop for Chinese New Year. Lots of samples of prawn crackers, pineapple tarts, layered cake, love note cookies, fried seaweed, melon seeds, and shortbread cookies until they find the best quality. We pick out treats for Roland to take to the office. When I tell them him he is the boss they quickly put aside the ones we selected and decide he needs much nicer treats. All 6 women spend about 30 minutes picking out the very best Chinese New Year treats for Roland's office. They are very exact and discriminating about the quality of the Pineapple Tarts. We taste about 10 pineapple tarts and they all taste the same to me but they insist there is a difference and lament about how store bought is never as good as homemade. Ain't that the truth.

Treats are all purchased and I ask if we can leave the mall and see more of Malaysia. They are emphatic that it is very dangerous outside of the mall. Never! Never leave the mall! they say.

So we don't.

We head home. Back through immigration, two quick bus rides and a short walk home.

It was a great day!

Feeling Normal

The other night Ike and I watched Empire of the Sun, we are watching movies of
things that happened in SE Asia, we've also seen 7 Years in Tibet because Ike
is going on a school trip to Tibetan India.

I get so engrossed in the movie that I forget where I am and then, when it is over,
I go out to the back porch to bring in the laundry and I see the palm trees and feel the humidity and suddenly I realize, "Oh! I live in Singapore!"

Sometimes I wake up thinking I am in Colorado. Once, before I was fully awake, when the air conditioner was set too low and it was raining hard, I thought the rain drops hitting the window might be snow and wondered if we would get a snow day!

What can I blame this on? Jet lag? Its been 3 months!

Besides that, it is starting to feel a bit normal to live here.

Marina Bay Sands

When we first found out we were moving here I googled Singapore Images and pictures of Marina Bay Sands popped up. I wondered if I would ever be so lucky to stay there or swim in that pool.  See that big boat on top of the sky scrapers? It has a long pool with an infinity edge, that over looks Singapore. It is consistently listed as one of the top pools in the world (get it? top pool!?...because, it is on top of the buildings! ).

View from our window in Tower 1 - Gardens By The Bay - afternoon

Night time - all those lights on the horizon are boats.

Morning

Last weekend Roland attended a conference at Marina Bay Sands and Ike and I joined in for one night. We explored the hotel and had dinner at Din Tai Fung, one of my favorite Singapore restaurant chains, and then we went to the laser show in front of the hotel.

Pictures by Ike:

 There were bubbles!

 And lasers with bubbles!

 It was too exciting for some of us.

After the big bubble laser show Roland and I found a romantic spot to sit and watch the city while listening to a Singaporean big band sing Frank Sinatra (actually quite good!) and Ike went long boarding around the bay. It took him about 40 minutes to go around the whole bay. This is what the bay looks like from the top of the hotel:

We ended the night with a refreshing swim in the pool on top of the hotel. It is one of the worlds largest infinity pools (Singapore has a thing for building stuff that breaks records) and the deck it is on, is longer than the Eiffel Tower! It is quite impressive to swim to the edge and look down over the whole city. Stunning is the word. Stunning.

You can only swim in the pool if you are a guest.

Ike says next time he wants to do this:

Living Like A Tourist

You know how it feels when you go on vacation someplace cool and you know that you are missing so many important things? Its frustrating to have limited vacation time because you haven't captured what makes the essence of the place. Often, I leave a great place feeling like I had a taste but not the whole meal.

If I came to Singapore for 5 days I would rush through lots of the big stuff and a few of the small things. But living here I get to pick a place and really soak it up, read about it, join a tour and learn learn learn. I can hang around on a Wednesday morning, when there are no crowds, and talk to the shop owner or the priest or the waitress and find out who they are and why they do what they do. Just show up and see what happens.

Today I had lunch at the Turf Club. I ate my pumpkin soup and watched ladies ride English Style. Tomorrow I will visit Arab Street again (can't get enough of that place).

Every week I get to do something pretty touristy, except that I live here, so its not really touristy its more like discovering where I live.

Pictures taken at the Hindu Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on October 16, 2013. 

1. Young girl with freshly shaved head covered with cooling saffron paste

held by her father after being blessed by the priest. The tradition of head shaving in children is to remove the hair from birth, that was grown in the womb. The child's hair is thought to grow in thicker and healthier after the ceremony.

2. Banana flower outside the temple for the 9 Night Festival. For the festival it must be on the tree and have both the flower and developing bananas.

3. Harvesting the banana tree and saving the flower for dinner.

Not So Little India

 Little India needs more time than one afternoon to really be seen but here are a few

 shots of the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. 

 This Temple is dedicated to the Goddess Kaliamman, the ferocious Incarnation of Lord Siva's wife,  Meenachi. 

She will do what ever it takes to protect her own.

(I like the priest peeking at the camera)

This beautiful temple was built in 1855 by Tamil laborors who worked in lime kilns. When war broke out in 1942 it served as a refuge as well as a place of worship. People sought shelter there. The temple and all its statues were safe throughout the war, not hit by any bombs.

My favorite photo from the day.

I'm looking forward to exploring this place more!