Day 4—21-DEC—A Thousand Little Pieces

Really?  Can't trim the corners?

Today was one of those days that didn’t have any one big thing, but a bunch of little tiny things.  We had breakfast in the lounge upstairs, and there were a variety of curious and interesting new foods.  But, the one that caught my eye was the pineapple with huge black seeds…like watermelon seeds!  Theresa suggested it was really “yellow watermelon”, but I’ve never heard of such a thing, so who are you going to believe?  At any rate, it was the worst pineapple I’ve ever had.

Our primary plan was to catch a “Hop On Hop Off” tour bus.  They have a narrator that talks about the places you are driving past, and the places coming up, and plays music in between.  Ok.  Makes sense.  The narrator is prerecorded (of course) and is a very pleasant sounding female.  Sure, sure.  And the music is an inoffensive easy almost non-descript jazzy sort of thing.  Fine.  But the INFO doesn’t quite fit!!  Imagine a chipper, sweet, female voice cheerfully telling you the following facts:
(jazzy music)…”Drugs are illegal here, and over a certain quantity is a mandatory Capital Punishment (they kill you!).  But recently, judges have been given discretion!”  (boopy, boop, dooby da do...)  “On your left is the place where Allied forces surrendered to the Japanese in 1942” (boo boop de dap dooby doo da…) “The building on your right is the first low cost housing built in Singapore and where the wealthy men would put up their mistresses.”  (Doo doo da, wa wa bee doo…)  “Singapore is known as a ‘fine city’ because you can be fined for all sorts of things.  But, now they seldom enforce these.”  (Ba ba da dee do, de dum dum…).  It’s like the nightly news set to a smooth cheerful score.

Merlion--The Mascot of Singapore! (with our last hotel)

The Merlion with the financial district in the background.

The first stop was to the Marina, to see the enormous “Merlion”.  The Merlion is the mascot of Singapore, and is part fish, part lion, and all made up in like the 60s.  We timed it pretty well, since the crowds were not too bad yet.  Then some random man (Chinese?) came up and wanted to take a selfie with me in it.  Huh??  I have no idea what he said, but suddenly he was right next to me, and my face showed up right next to his on his cell phone face.  Theresa speculates it was the beard.  I don’t know. 

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Our next stop was to a temple, Thian Hock Keng, which was started in 1821, but mostly built in its present form in the 1860s or so.  It was nice, and yielded a few interesting pictures.  There were many pictures of gods, along with the stories about them, and how they interact with humans.  There was a little alcove, too, with assorted books on Buddhism, too.  Buddhists do not believe in any god, so the fact they had an alcove, was sort of strange, and perhaps offensive? 

Close up of the roof at Thian Hock Keng.

Buddha Tooth Temple/Shrine

Then we headed to the “Buddha Tooth Temple”.  This one confused me a tad.  We walked in on the first floor, and there was a very large group praying.  About 200 or so people were humming, singing, chanting, etc, while a few Buddhist monks led them with percussion instruments.  We realized it was the Winter Solstice, and this was their celebration.  It was really neat to watch and listen, but pictures were not allowed.  Along the aisles surrounding the main space, they had pictures of the 10 halls of hell.  Each hell has a purpose and someone rules in each hall, and presumably someone works there, too.  When one dies, one goes to each hall in succession suffering for their wrongdoings, then going on to the next hall if they were really bad.  Apparently killing and not having a filial relationship with one’s parents is prominent in several halls of hell.  On the fourth floor is the shrine to the Buddha tooth.   I guess it belonged to the last living Buddha (I think there had been 6 or 7 to date).  So, it is enshrined in a gold bracket, on a gold display, in a 3.5 ton gold stupa.  The whole place was built for $62 million dollars between 2005 and 2007.  On the roof, there was a garden, and almost 100,000 statues of Buddha, all identical, and in a display, and numbered.

Nothing says McD like a Samurai Burger!

We hopped back on the bus and got off at the Suntec Center, which happened to have a mall.  We debated about eating there or going to the next area.  In the debate, we realized there was a McDonalds in the mall.  One of our little traditions is to get McDs in every country we visit.  So, lunch was decided!!  Picture this…we are in a mall, in Singapore, practically on the other side of the world!  We walk past the Krispy Kreme donuts (no lie!), past the Star Bucks, past the Burger King, and the “Dallas Restaurant and Bar”, to the Golden Arches!!  And get a “Samurai Burger”.

After lunch, we went to “Little India”.  About 75% of the people in Singapore are Chinese (ethnicity), 10-15% Malay, and 10-15% Indian, with 3% “other”.  “Little India” is, well, the Indian version of “Chinatown” in many cities around the world.  It was curious, but not very charming.  Then we rode around a little, visited St. Andrew’s Cathedral, and hopped back on another bus to take a tour of the town, including rows of embassies (including the US, described as a “fortress” by our too happy lady), passed some very expensive homes, and ended up near the Raffles Hotel.

The Fortress that is the US Embassy!

A Singapore Sling, please!

The Long Bar, part of the Raffles Hotel, is credited with creating the Singapore Sling in 1915, as a suitable drink for ladies (who, at the time, were not allowed to drink publicly).  So, we headed over there to try the original.  Theresa got one, and I perused the menu, deciding instead to have a 16 year old Lagavulin (Single Malt Scotch).  After our drinks, we walked home.  Theresa decided a quick dip in the pool would cool us from the hot day, which it did!  Dinner in the lounge, and that makes a full day!

The Raffles Hotel