One Crazy Saturday!

As usual I was up at 7.  I begin my adventures as Chris tourist.  I took the MRT (subway - which extends above ground once out of the downtown areas) to the Singapore Science Museum to meet Henry and Meghan.   It was a neat, very interactive museum which included a variety of activities involving mechanics, electricity, as well as some very neat high tech stuff which included motion detector technology amongst others.  There was also an expo for young and collegiate inventors which was also mind blowing.  Math and science in the US really lag!  These kids put together some amazing stuff.

In the early afternoon, I then headed over to the Chinese Gardens solo to take a stroll.  The vegetation was lovely, but the real highlight was the towers that have been constructed on site.  I climbed the towers and had a nice stroll, but let me tell, an hour and then some under the midday sun at the equator is just damn hot.  I was dripping head to toe.  Absolutely drenched.  And I am sure I smelled great.  That's the thing, you wake up in the morning, take a shower and feel great for about 2 seconds, and then after those two seconds you step our of the shower and once again it is 100 degrees a nasty does of humidity. 

The action continued after lunch in Chinatown where I met up with Henry, Meghan, and Daniel.  In future blogs I will explain the how the various quarters of the city are set up.  In Chinatown we walked around the streets and shops which line the original colonial homes - homes that were settlements of the British before the Chinese later settled the neighborhood.  I drank a sugrarcane concacted drink, tried durian, a very special and wierd local fruit/delacay, had myself whiped with a cane, twice for good measure, and investigated some serious hand held fans.  Seriously, I was caned, but with a very small-dumbed down version.  We also stopped by the oldest Hindu temple on the island. 

To the left - durians

By this time we were all hot, a little red, and ready for a drink, so Daniel took us to the quay for happy hour.  A good chat ensued with a great view.  Dinner we had in the oldest market in Singapore.  Lamb and chicken kabobs grilled and served with peanut sauce.  I had some sort of baked goods, fried banana, and a ice kopi for desert.

Finally, we went down the marina bay to catch a glimpse of the city by night, and ended up sitting for hours.  A truly lovely view that no words can explain, no pictures can do justice, no replicated experience can potray.  With lights so virbrant, water so calm, noise so absent, temperature just perfect, we just sat and sayt and took it all in on the riverwalk that lines the bay.  A lazer and light show capped off the evening in the bay. 

What a day, what a night, what a city, what a life!

Singapore fun fact day number "I don't remember I am too hot and delirous" - though I make light of caning above, legends and rumors are precisly that.  Caning should by no means define this amazing city.