I've had lots of fun experiences lately. Here are some of them.
I took a different route on my run one day, going down Orchard Road and turning up Selegie and then Sophia Road. Amid several new apartment buildings, here was a row of Peranken style attached houses with their beautiful tile decorations:
I came upon a park at the top of a hill:
"Majulah Singapura" is the national anthem
It was about 9 AM...all was quiet until I came over a hill and heard a bunch of pounding noises...and found out it was a bunch of ex-pat women doing a cross-fit class with boxing gloves:
At the base of the hill is this wonderful building that I have noticed on bus rides but never saw close up before. It is the David Elias building; despite the Star of David and stained glass windows, it was not a synagogue, but a Jewish man's place of business in the early 20th century.
There are several restaurants on the ground floor; here is how they celebrate a Grand Opening:
Stopped in at the grocery store...you may enjoy these signs
ONE bottle of Barefoot wine: ONE 6 pack of Bud:
and Frogs' Legs!! Fresh!!
Our Saturday morning running group took a detour and visited Haw Par Villa, a fantastic place built by the Tiger Balm creator/millionaires. There used to be a mansion and garden there; what is left is a garden filled with statues and dioramas depicting Chinese myths and legends. The 8 Immortals are represented beautifully, and several dioramas featuring animals dressed like people, kind of like Peter Cottontail, Brambly Hedge, or Micky Mouse.
However, the most talked-about section of the Villa is the "10 Courts of Hell" that depicts what happens after death. You could be a good person and take the Golden Bridge to Heaven. Or be a good person who made a some mistakes and get the Silver Bridge to Heaven. OR you could be a BAD person and have to endure the 10 Courts of Hell. You meet a judge; he sentences you according to your sins. If you cheated on taxes or disrespected your elders you may be crushed to death, cut in half or thrown into a lake of fire....
They say this section was made to scare children into obedience....it would certainly give them nightmares!
Outside this section were the Tiger Palm cartoons:
This was built in the 1930s - amazingly well kept and free admission!
We had heard about this and finally went to Nox: Dining in the Dark. After cocktails in the lounge the blind server led us upstairs to our table in Total Darkness. Really. We had 3 delicious courses, guessing what we were eating and enjoying our conversation while not enjoying how black it was! The food was great (no tricks); afterwards, in the light again, they showed us photos of our meals. We got most of them right, but I mistook strawberries for apples in a dessert...
with friends Ryan and Teresa after the event:
After dinner we walked down Arab Street and enjoyed the ethnic neighborhood. A whole row of outdoor Turkish cafes led to the historic Sultan Mosque:
The largest bicycle I've seen in a long time... and the iconic 7 Eleven shop:
We liked the looks of those Turkish restaurants along this street so a few days later we took our friend Mike there and enjoyed delicious kebab, a plate of mezza, lamb and falafel. I think maybe the sign painter got the words mixed up, but you know what they mean:
He then introduced us to a new dining choice. Late night Drive-up Murtabak! It is like a crepe/egg tortilla, that is filled with meat, onions and potatoes. Delish!
So you drive up in the right lane of a busy street across from the mosque;
you look at the menu (see below) a guy takes your order;
the chef in the window does his magic and bakes it;
you drive away with a monster size meal.
Late night fun!
During May I substituted nearly every day. Here is a 7th grade class I had for several days - happy summer to you!
Singapore had an invasion of these gigantic moths; they are beautiful, up to 6 inches in height. This one was in our apartment lobby. (no photos of the cockroach that got up to our 19th floor apartment last week)
And one more outing before my summer vacation. John, Gayle, Kay and I took a walk through Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve. It is basically a Mangrove Swamp with paths and boardwalks to enjoy. We expected to see lots of lizards but they were hiding that day.
Just lots of nature:
And there was a baby crock in this water but you can't see him:
Can you spot the spider?
And finally, here is a picture of a Catholic Church down near Little India that I had never noticed before. We were passing by, and it was so pretty I just had to capture it:
