Sunday August 1st - Jet Lag Day

DONNA We wanted to get going right away, so we got the a cab and guy named Robin to take us around for a few hours. First we had a tour of the impeccable British section of the city. A cricket game was going on, the buildings were white and spotless, and the waterfront a beautiful view. The kids got to try the local sodas while we walked (green tea soda, etc). The buildings here are more and more modern. Then we drove on to Chinatown. Tons of outdoor stalls, yet the ground is perfectly clean and it is all so organized. There were so many great things to buy, and so reasonable...it is nice that the US Dollar is so strong here. Allison got a small crystal charm hand painted with her name on it. The biggest fascination with the kids was a man who made small action figures out of clay (?) of a person. It took 20 minutes per person so we didn't stay, but we'll go back tomorrow the kids are dying to have them done. Fascinating to watch him do it. We drove on to visit some beautiful temples. The most interesting thing that happened (to me) was that as we were pulling up to the oldest Buddhist temple in the city, flat bed trucks pulled up with costumed people on the back beating drums. Two large lions (??) got out, dancing to the drums and were followed by teenagers and people in costume dancing and drumming. At the end of the procession was an old woman, walking slowly with some sort of hat/crown on and some sort of costume. After the dance outside the temple, they entered and many people frantically grabbed incense and waving it constantly kneeled behind her as she crouched at the altar. Robin explained that this was rare to see these days. The people believed that a God got inside this woman and while she was in a trance (didn't recognize family members, didn't speak, etc) they would take her around to different temples to give her blessings. The next day she would evidently be fine and back to herself. It was amazing. We went on to drive through Orchard Road, which looked like any NYC busy upscale shopping street, and then Little India, which was a very authentic Indian area in town. Singapore is made of Chinese, Indians, and Malaysians and you can clearly see it. The kids hit the wall (still hadn't slept since the plane ride but trying to stay awake till night!) so we drove back and took a 2 hour nap. Steve Berger picked us up and we went to Newton Circus, a large area with what they call Hawkers (stalls with different kids of foods) so that everyone could try the fantastic food they are famous for here. The kids had noodles and satay. Steve got us all kinds of things we hadn't heard of..there was an omlette with oysters, some sort of pancake with chicken..I had giant prawns (GIANT like lobster) and a chili crab. Singapore is famous for this but the sauce is so messy I couldn't really eat it. Everything was so delicious. Also we had what they call crawfish....nothing like ours at home. It is actually the same thing as the Morton Bay Bugs we loved in Australia..a shellfish that is a cross between a lobster tail and a white fish. Also had some great curry dishes. On the way home we saw fireworks from the cab (too much traffic to get back on time to see them) and overall it was a great day considering how zonked everyone was from jet lag. I'm proud of the kids, they made it with only a couple hour nap and hopefully this will get us on the right time schedule quickly.

DinnerFoodStalls Originally uploaded by DonnaM123.