This morning, I got to truly sleep in for the first time since coming to Southeast Asia! Ahh, luxurious Singapore life. Pak Kheng had a meeting in Chinatown at 11, and decided to bring me along so I could see true Chinatown. I didn’t have to pick up my visa til 2pm, so I had time to kill. So, have I mentioned how amazing Pak Kheng and Philip are? Yes? Well, I have undersold them. They are truly angels sent from God to make my trip survivable. Yes, I probably could have managed without them, but I would have paid a lot more for housing and food and would have just stayed in the cheapest hostel imaginable and seen nothing of the city but the Thai embassy.
They have been so much more than generous; they have practically adopted me into their family. They’ve stuffed me with delicious food, paid for my transport everywhere, showed me how to get to the embassy and more! I am speechless with thankfulness. All I did in return was help with the grocery shopping. And even there Pak Kheng kept trying to buy me things to take back to Thailand! Luckily, I only had my one small backpack which was already pretty full; otherwise, I would have ended up with a suitcase full of British food (not that I’d be complaining about that, let me tell you!).
Anyway, Philip drove us to Chinatown and we walked around some and got some drinks before Pak Kheng went to her meeting. I wandered the streets looking at things and ended up spending $2 on some cute chopsticks. They are just for decoration, which would be the case no matter what, since I cannot envision a meal I would ever endeavor to prepare that would require chopsticks. Spaghetti? There was a bunch of really cool stuff they had for sale, so it was also a good thing that I had no money to spend on trinkets. Where would I put it in Thailand anyway? I have no piano on which to display things.
The meeting lasted about 45 minutes and then we jumped on the train to Orchard Street near the Thai embassy. We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant and I tried hot pot for the first time. For those who don’t know (like me) this is where they bring you a little pot on a gas burner and fill it with raw meat and veggies and broth and you cook it all up together. It’s actually pretty yummy.
After lunch, we started to head outside, only to discover a torrential downpour! And this was the one day I left my umbrella at the house. Of course! Well, since this whole area is basically one big underground mall, we just went a level below and tried to get closer to the embassy. By the time we popped back aboveground like little groundhogs, the rain had ceased. I went to wait in line, and saw a few familiar faces from yesterday. Luckily the guy who had to prove his monetary worth was in line to pick up his visa, so success for him. Yay! The line moved quite quickly for how many people were in it. There was only one window, but I got to the front in next to no time.
All along the street in front of the embassy are huge posters advertising a shipwreck exhibit at the art/science museum that Pak Kheng had been wanting to see for a while. We decided last night that we’d spend the afternoon there after I got my passport back. We took a bus this time, so I could see more of the city on the way. The place where the museum is located is called Marina Bay Sands. This is a super exclusive mall that has whole floors and even stores that are invitation only shopping. Fan-cy! Architecturally, this place is beautiful and amazing. The museum itself is shaped like a lotus opening up. It sits on what used to be a bay into the sea, but has now been closed off into a reservoir. They also installed a fountain into the water just off the boardwalk. Across the bay is the Durian Building, so called because it looks like the smelly fruit that people eat here. I still have to try that.
The exhibits showing at the Art/Science Museum were Ghengis Khan and Shipwreck. A few years ago, an underwater explorer came upon what turned out to be the oldest shipwreck ever discovered. It tells archaeologists a lot about the history of that region and dates from over 1000 years ago! There were some really amazing designs in the teacups that were discovered and some cool gold sculpted dishes and goblets. It kind of reminded me of the Titanic exhibit in Las Vegas because it was so well preserved, but this stuff was centuries older.
Upstairs was the Ghengis Khan exhibit about the Mongolian leader. Did you know that a lot of things that are in our constitution stemmed from Khan’s laws of his kingdom? Like religious freedom: Ghengis Khan believed that everyone should be able to practice their beliefs without restriction. He also believed people should be promoted based on merit and not on who they knew or were related to. And this was in the 13th century! All I remember from Ghengis Khan is that he was a brutal warlord. I didn’t realize he contributed so much to modern society.
The museum is built in a circular manner, so in the center is a fountain built from the 4th floor that drips water down to the bottom floor. When we came out of the shipwreck exhibit, I was like “Oh my gosh, its pouring!” Of course, then I realized that it was just a fountain. But, when we were ready to leave, it really WAS pouring outside! We had to make a run for it through the rain to the mall. Thankfully, by the time we got to the bus stop, it had pretty much let up. After a quick shower and some dinner, again delicious of course, as prepared by Ophelia, we headed out to the airport.
BUT. First of all, I forgot to check the terminal so we went to the budget terminal first. Then, we got a call from grandma that I had forgotten my bathroom stuff! What?! I double and triple checked that I hadn’t forgotten anything but I forgot to check the bathroom? Argh. Well, I got checked in, Philip when back to retrieve the stuff (they live really close to the airport) and Pak Kheng stayed with me so he could call her when he came back and I could RUN to the gate to catch my flight. Of course, all the stress and rush turned out to be pointless because, even though the board at the front of the airport said that Boarding had started, when I got to the gate, all out of breath, the plane hadn’t even deplaned yet!
On the plane, I read a funny article about cereal. Apparently, three cereals you should stay away from are Froot Lops, Cocoa Puffs and Frosted Flakes. Why? Because, get this, they have more sugar than health benefits. Really? Do they really think people are under the delusion that these yummy, sugary cereals are coated with healthy fibery goodness? Come ON! You eat them precisely BECAUSE they are not good for you! Silly airline magazines.
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