there is such sweet sorrow at the parting of our ways .... not!

I leave Singapore on a jet plane in approximately 16 hours. YES!!!! There are a number of reasons this is exciting, but by far the most exciting reason of all is that I can leave this stupid maid room, maid bathroom, and worth-less-than-a-maid status with the apartment's leaser behind. Forever! I've had so much fun here with my new friends in the past week that I realized that it's not Singapore I dislike as such - although it is dreadfully boring in comparison with Vienna - it's that my living situation is SO BAD that it makes me hate everything and saps my energy to overcome the dark clouds that are constantly hovering over the condo.

One last mention of his lack of tact or any sense of humanity, and I will be glad never to mention him again. Today, the boys were fighting over chess - because neither of them can actually play, so they fight over moves, turns, and well, anything - so I started playing piano to ignore them, then their father came home and tried to break it up (good luck with that one, they are so sick of each other after two months with only each other as playmates), then turned on the TV while I was playing to distract them. He then told me that he'd rather listen to cartoons (which he hates) than listen to me play.

Okay, so I get the sentiment, he doesn't like the songs I picked, whatever. I don't care. But the least a decent human being could have done is phrased it slightly differently, but he chose to be deliberately rude, as he has done this entire time. He is NOT a decent human being, and I think it's awful of him to tell the boys he doesn't smoke, when they've SEEN him smoking, he smells like smoke, and I've found cigarette butts in my toilet. No one likes a mean, unfriendly liar.

On to a more exciting and better topic: in less than 16 hours, I'm flying out of here! I am well rid of this situation, but I do feel that I have learned a lot, and I am thankful to have made some really great friends here. As Kate Nash put it, "I won't regret those hours / cause you can grow flowers / where dirt used to be."

Night Safari and MacRitchie Reservoir

The Night Safari section of the zoo was an absolute blast. Because there are a lot of nocturnal animals that can't be seen during the day in the zoo, unless they're kept in unpleasant cages, the zoo has an entire section just for visiting at night, lit up with special lights and with a tram and guide.

My favorite piece of commentary, by far, was on a civet that looked like a half bear/half cat. "Like all civets, the bear-cat (forgot the name of it) excretes a sweet smell from its anal scent glands, somewhat similar to popcorn or bamboo."

Today was a 11km walk through the MacRitchie Reserve and Reservoir. Very beautiful, lovely in every way, quite hot, and a really long walk. About four hours, I think, but we took some breaks. I got some great photos today, although I didn't have any film last night at the Night Safari, and my digital is unfortunately not in any way capable of standing in for my Canon in the dark - or in the daylight, for that matter.

Tomorrow is my final full day in Singapore, and I am probably going to go out with J., from Birmingham, and my German friends. I'm packing tonight, and I am beyond excited to be finally leaving. Today, there were moments when I actually enjoyed being in Singapore. I think my adjustment to living in this climate and in these living conditions took a lot longer than I expected it to. But, I have clearly adapted to the rigors of the climate if I can walk 12.5km in one day (my road was closed this morning, had to walk for 1.5km in the morning to catch the bus to church). Regardless of my body's ability to acclimate, I'll be happy to come home, to the blessed, beautiful rain, and the constant gray skies. :)

let the good times roll

Last night, I went to see a live show with M. and J., my friends from Melaka. It was really fun! The drummer of the first band that we heard had a really rich voice, he was really fun to listen to. The lead singers were awesome, though - a girl and a guy. Not so much because of their voices, which were good, but not spectacular, but because they really did a good job owning the stage and involving the audience. The second band was fun, but I don't think as good. The lead singer girl was super skinny. I'd rather look like Beyonce than Nicole Richie. The funniest part was the bass player from the first band who only needed to close his eyes to look asleep. He seriously looked completely catatonic while his bandmates were all getting into the music. Absolutely hilarious!

I was working out today and reached the three minutes jogging mark no problem, wasn't even breathing hard - my hard work is finally paying off! I'm on a plan I found in a magazine, and it seems to be working well. Next week, I go up to four minutes, which I have never done before in my life, so that will be a satisfying mark to reach. I also did twenty cheerleader pushups no problem. I was feeling so proud of myself, I couldn't help but crow about it. :) And hey, if I can find the self-discipline to get myself into shape, anyone can.

This Saturday night, I'm going to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. I've heard it's really neat, and I'm looking forward to bringing my camera. I'm hoping that I can get some good shots, but I'll have to read up again on what settings and exposure times I should use. I also need to check out Little India before I go, so perhaps I can manage that tomorrow night, who knows? Unfortunately for me, the malaise and mild depression that gripped me for almost the whole time I've been here has only gone away in the last week. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is, indeed, the last week that I'm stuck here. :)

Movie Review + Germans

I went to see a movie tonight with my German tourist friends from Melaka, the Bourne Ultimatum. Much fun was had by half of us, one girl from Britain prefers romantic comedies, and one German guy decided he likes Bruce Willis better. But, I thought it was fantastic! Lots of fast chase scenes, fight scenes, jumping around, clever traps, clever ways out of traps - really, a very well done movie, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The sound editing is pretty good, too, good enough that I actually noticed how good the sound editing was.

I really like Germans. I also like Austrians. I don't like Italians. I have decided that this is because Italians are too friendly. In a bad way. I have also realized that the reputation some Germans have for being stand-offish is probably deserved, but more than likely results from the shyness a lot of Germans have about their English. They're so much fun to hang out with when they're speaking their own language. Amazing how that happens. Of course, none of my jokes work in German, but I sure am learning a lot. I have learned a lot of fantastic new German phrases, too, to add to my collection from Austria. :)

All in all, it's shaping up to be quite the nice final week here in Singapore. Not only do I have my imminent return to look forward to, I have also done some fun stuff and met some very nice people in the process. What else could one ask for?

Melaka

Dutch windmill - complete with palm trees.


I enjoyed Melaka, although it wasn't as interesting or as big as I had been led to believe by online and other sources. There was plenty of time to see everything I wanted to see in one day, so I came back on Saturday night instead of staying the night, and used Sunday for a Singapore picture taking day.

The influence of various groups of Europeans can be seen all over Melaka. There are some pictures that I took that really don't look like they're taken in Asia at all. Except for the flora, of course. The highlight of my day was going to St. Paul's church, which was really neat. It was delightfully ruined, lots of headstones, really dreary looks, with a cheerful, fun guitar player singing in Malay. Really the high point of the day, and I absolutely loved that and the Porta di Santiago, the leftovers from the Portuguese walls, saved by Sir Stamford Raffles, who really seemed to have gotten around in this part of the world. Other than that - Melaka is good for shopping, but I guess I'm just not that interested in Asian culture. My favorite parts of Melaka were the European parts.

I return home in a little over a week. It's close enough that I can just about taste it, but far enough away that I know it's going to drag. I have seen nearly everything I wanted to see (I still want to go to the Botanical Gardens and perhaps the Chinese and Japanese Gardens and take pictures - I'm told that the gardens are only of interest to botany and photography hobbyists, and I do like to take pictures - and it's free), I've done what I came to do, and I'm ready to leave. I think it would be more interesting here if I knew more people, but I don't particularly like hanging out with other Americans abroad, because they're annoying, and I haven't really been here long enough to meet many people anyway. So, I'll be glad to be back. But all in all, it was a alright for a summer job, I learned a lot, and I got to see and experience some really interesting and cool stuff. Chalk this experience up to more positives than negatives. :)

Sentosa, Part II

So this time, we steered clear of the Merlion. Honestly, how could something that big and impressive looking be such a rip-off? Anyway, we started with the 4D Magix and Cineblast things, which the boys enjoyed immensely. Best part was when Leslie Nielsen spit on the screen (3D glasses), a little water spigot in the seat in front of us sprayed us with water. Leslie Nielsen and one of the Python guys (who played a French pirate) totally phoned in their performances. I wonder how much they got paid for them?

We got to go on the luge for an hour uninterrupted. Most fun - even though it started pouring on our way back up on one run and soaked through our clothes. I would rather be soaked through because of rain than sweat, though, so it was okay by me. The miniature golf course was awful! I have never been on such a terrible course before. We actually had to skip a hole because there was too much bird offal on the course. GROSS. Fort Siloso was fun, and the boys enjoyed the giant guns. I was rather impressed as well, but not much could stand against the Japanese juggernaut in 1942, so it fell, just like everyone else did.

Last night, there were two cartoon re-runs. It's bad enough that I'm forced to listen to cartoons for a couple hours of my day (I don't let them watch them when I'm in charge, but their father finds it a convenient baby-sitting tool) if I want to sit in the living room or dining room. Unfortunately, the boys don't remember the cartoons they watch, so they watched two re-runs yesterday without realizing at all that they were re-runs even when I pointed it out and told them what was going to happen next. I hate bad cartoons. Tom & Jerry still rocks, though. :)

'Budget' vs. 'budget'

I am going to Melaka this weekend, and I have just booked my hostel for the night I'll be there. It cost me $5.39. No joke. It looks clean, has good reviews, and is on the studentuniverse site, so I figure it's probably a perfectly acceptable hostel. I've never had any problems with studentuniverse endorsed hostels, and in fact, when I had the opportunity to compare notes with other travelers about their hostels, the studentuniverse hostels usually were better for the same price.

When I was planning my trip, the boys' father suggested a nice hotel in Melaka that he called a 'Budget hotel.' He said, "I think you can get a room for under $50/night. Really quite reasonable." $50?? $50 is a lot of money! I will pay $50 for a good pair of shoes, or perhaps for a truly well-made piece of clothing. I might even pay $50 for a ticket (I would have shelled out $50 for Ian McKellan playing King Lear here in Singapore, but unfortunately, it was already sold out except for the $200 seats, which made it a moot point since I can't afford $200 seats at all). But, I will, under no circumstances, pay $50 for a hotel outside of the United States. Hostels are gross in the US, so I will spring for a hotel if I have to at home. But outside of the US, most backpacking hostels are perfectly acceptable, clean alternatives. And it's just sleep - my bed would probably be just as lumpy in the other hotel. I can sleep anywhere anyway.

Tomorrow, we're going back to Sentosa. We were thinking of doing the 'swimming with the dolphins' package. Then I looked on their website and realized that for 3 people, there is a Trio Package of S$425 to swim with the pink dolphins here. This is a savings of S$25 from paying for three people individually at S$150/per person. So, we're going to watch a movie instead.

Tonight at dinner, their father was talking about a new electronic Chinese language dictionary that he bought. He said the salesmen were trying to sell him the cheaper model, but he opted for the more expensive one. He said, "It was only S$100 more." I don't think I've ever said that in my life. What gets me about that sort of cavalier approach to money is that he's such a tightwad about anything the boys and I use, but it's okay to splurge when it's for his own use (seriously, he won't buy me the granola cereal I like because he thinks I should eat the cereal he buys for the boys. I hate shredded wheat).

Both of these brought me back to the question of budget, and what exactly it means in an individual context. To me, $5 is a fairly significant amount of money, but not enough to freak out over, and I've never been much for coupon cuttings. But starting at $10, I start getting antsy, and something has to be really worth it for me to shell out more than that. I will pay for good chocolate. The imported organic European dark chocolate at the grocery store costs S$6. I pay for that - Asian chocolate has the consistency of melting rubber.

But I hope that, no matter what job I get, or what happens to me in the future, I always remember how I used to laugh at a $50/night hotel being in any way 'budget.'

Countdown - and what I have learned

Today is August 11, meaning that I have 17 days until I fly home. YES!! :) I am doing this countdown thing in my head every day to keep myself sane.

What I have learned:

• I would not do well working for a year alone teaching English in Asia.
  
• I knew already that I hate hot climates, but I know now that I really, really hate hot climates
• My Chinese class has helped me immensely - I can understand "Ta shi wo baba!" on a Chinese language program. :) Of course, I haven't been practicing. I've decided on Farsi of the three difficult languages I tested out in Austria. It's the most fun, imho.
  
• I know now that - if necessary - I can function pretty much normally in a hot climate. Shorter trips to hot climates formerly induced dizzy spells and headaches.
  
• I am not cut out to be an elementary school teacher or tutor. I'm doing a good job, but it's maddening.
• There are some people that you just won't like. I have the happy circumstance of liking most people I meet (some sour on acquaintance), rarely do I truly dislike someone. Now I can add one to my list.
• I really like to be in the water. I used to be waterphobic, and now I've at least conquered that. Now to learn to swim without a board!
• I don't like washing dishes by hand. I especially don't like it when I have a dishwasher available.
• I don't like real Chinese food (honestly, pig stomach soup??).
• I do like these nifty little things called 'char siew pau' which are these spicy red pork dumplings. They are SO good. I know Central Market will carry them in the Asian section (along with the pig's stomach, pig's blood and pickled pig's feet - GROSS)
• I prefer Europe and the countryside to visit. I've never had the opportunity to be much of a city person, and I loved Vienna because it's the perfect size - 1.6 million people or so, just big enough to be big, but you can get out quickly. Singapore is too big. And clean. There's no dirt anywhere - that's just strange.
• My hair is twice its normal size in humid temperatures. I have learned not to let this bother me.

But the best thing I've learned is how important it is to really think about things when you commit to a big project. I really miss my friends and family at home, and except for two short visits, I will have been out of the United States for a year when I return. I think I'm ready to come home. For now. :)

Sentosa

Today, we went to Sentosa, being that it is National Day here in Singapore (yay 42 years of independence from Malaysia! And yay to Malaysia for 50 years independence from Britain! And yay to Britain for... wait, oh yeah - bad Britain!), and their father had the day off. It is expensive to go to a theme park! It's a reclaimed island that is part of Singapore, and it's basically a giant resort/theme park with lots of stuff to do, nice beaches, and expensive places to give yourself skin cancer.

Highlights:
1) Luge and Skyway - this luge is a plastic sled on wheels ridden down a concrete path. VERY fun. I love driving fast (*sniffle* my poor old Thunderbird will never again allow me to pass nearly everything on the road) and it's even more fun when your plastic luge feels like it's about ready to fall apart under you. Great adrenaline rush! Speaking of adrenaline rushes, there have been a number of shows recently on Discovery about skydiving accidents. I still want to go skydiving, I don't care how much they try to scare me.

2) Hands-on culture - I know it's not cool, they're wild animals, blah blah blah - but the boys LOVED being able to hold the giant constrictor snakes. They also, in addition to everyone else, loved the 'touch a fish' display at the aquarium, where you could hold a starfish, pet a small shark, pufflefish, or an eagle ray. Seriously - they had a blast.

3) Dolphin show - dolphins are just awesome anyway, and these three pink dolphins were super well trained and did lots of fun stuff. Next week, we're going back to Sentosa, and the boys are going to go swimming with the dolphins. I can't actually swim, so I'll just watch. Anyway, these dolphins did amazing jumps and tricks with balls, the whole nine yards. Lots of fun. I especially loved how they danced to the beat - so cute!

4) Ben & Jerry's - I swear, every time I go to Ben & Jerry's, I find another flavor of ice cream that I love. Today it was Chunky Monky, but I love Phish Food and Strawberry Cheesecake, and Double Chocolate Fudge.... Bad calories! Bad! At least I got the small... and I like their business model.

Not so much of a highlight - the Merlion was a total rip-off (mer as in, coming from the sea, lion as in a lion - mix together and you have the head of a lion and the body of a fish - kinda weird looking, but apparently the Singaporeans like it). The show in the overly air-conditioned theater was stupid, the lookout points were tiny, and there was nothing to do in them. WAY cooler from the outside than from the inside. For anyone else who ever happens to make it to Singapore and go to Sentosa, DON'T go inside the Merlion. Save your money, go to one of the shows.

When we go back next week, we're going to get the unlimited luge rides for an hour, do some paddleboat stuff on one of the tiny islands there, and go to a 4D cinematic experience - regular screen with the 3D glasses - you may ask - 4D? huh? 4D refers to someone's bright idea to add smells and other effects, such as water in the face at an appropriate moment, and call it '4D' to attract more visitors and make more money. It's working. Emeril's 'smell-o-vision' has come to life!

KL Recap

My time in Kuala Lumpur was great, in spite of one big mistake initially that eventually worked itself out. I was a little worried about traveling there by myself, I ended up not going with a package tour, although I did go on a city tour while there, and walked around the city a lot by myself. I was thinking that maybe Malaysians would have a problem with Americans, since Malaysians are very proud about being an Islamic culture. However, everyone was really nice, and I was really impressed. The service there is fantastic, only one taxi driver tried to cheat me, and prices are dirt cheap.

A few comments about things I saw. The Petronas Towers are really nifty. I didn't go up on the bridge because the line to get a ticket up was too darned long. I got some good pictures, though. Malaysian women wear the prettiest head scarves! Some of them were simply beautiful, and they're all so well-coordinated. Still, I saw how sweaty their faces were - they are not particularly comfortable, especially when you're also fully covered in tropical heat. There is definitely a generation gap - a lot of the younger women wear jeans and t-shirts, or even short skirts. If any of you have heard about Gwen Stefani's concert in KL, where she will actually be wearing clothing due to protests, you can see why this is interesting. The Muslim men's organization that protested her concert said she would corrupt the morals of the young. By the time you're worried about things corrupting the morals of the young, you're probably already too late.

Most annoying thing I saw - women wearing burqas (the full covering with just the eyes showing) walking dutifully two paces behind their husband, who wore the traditional garb of shorts, Birkenstocks, and a polo shirt. Why does HE get to wear Western clothing that's comfortable in the heat, and make HER wear some horribly ugly and uncomfortable drape? If the Malaysian women wearing headscarves were uncomfortable, I can't imagine how a huge black thing that made me look as shapely as a barrel would make me feel. The whole concept that it is a woman's fault that a man can't keep it in his pants is beyond me. If they're so worried about moral corruption, maybe they should look in the mirror first - Mr. Shorts-wearing-Western-looking-man. Okay, rant over.

My hostel, Pondok Lodge, was reasonably clean and decent. My 'blanket' was a thin linen sheet, but that was sufficient enough for the climate. The bed was lumpy and so was the pillow, which was also rock hard, but I've slept in enough backpacker's hostels that I expected nothing else. The breakfast also was typical hostel fare - one piece of sweet bread, a piece of fruit (peach colored banana), two pieces of white bread toast, and jam/butter packs. I also asked for tea. Anyway, it was satisfactory. The thing that annoyed me was that it is directly above a club, and being Saturday night, they were open and loud until about 2am. So, trying to sleep was a bit of a problem.

All in all, I really enjoyed my weekend, which is good, because I haven't been enjoying my stay overall very much. I'm still looking more forward to Melaka, but that's because I find the history of Melaka interesting, whereas I find KL and Singapore of passing interest, at best. Singapore is so safe, and the toilets are real toilets, not squat toilets (which I was also expecting, so it didn't bug me as much as before), but it's also a little boring. So, if you're ever in East Asia, you should go to Malaysia. :)

Final note - Starbucks saved my sanity. Because I missed my first bus in the morning (the mondo mistake), I also missed my tour to the Batu caves, which I was pretty mad about. Then after I arrived, I started walking and got overheated, and then arrived at a shopping center with a Starbucks, whereat I immediately bought a caramel frappuccino. I love those things! Drink them no more than every couple months, though, piles 'o calories. Anyway, it was fantastic. There are so many Starbucks in KL that it almost rivals Seattle. And that's impressive. I still feel slightly ambivalent about the fact that I went to Starbucks only once in Vienna, and have already gone a good five times since I've been in Asia. I guess I've needed the homey comfort of a fattening coffee drink to keep me going. :)

Kuala Lumpur

For the next two days, I will be in Kuala Lumpur. I figure - I'm here, I ought to go see that cool building from 'Entrapment.' :D

My hostel is supposedly quite near the Petronas Towers, and I am definitely looking forward to going up to that bridge thingy that links them. Anyway, I desperately need a vacation, even if it's only two days. I was feeling so irritable today that I actually yelled. Well, not really a yell, it was more shrill than that. I think it was a combination of feeling so bored I was miserable (I keep myself busy, but I don't have enough money to buy books, and their father hasn't gotten a library card yet - if he ever does - so I can't check out any books to keep my brain from going stir-crazy) plus the frustration of teaching long division. Today, 3-digit long division started, which is not significantly different than 2 -digit long division, but it was treated by my charges as something horribly new and difficult. They will probably do very well in school this fall, but these topics aren't usually even covered until the 4th grade (they're starting 4th grade this Fall). And, unlike some kids who did deserve to move ahead in math, these ones are better at English and drawing and imaginative sorts of things than math.

So, I'm looking forward to my two days of freedom from the hated cartoons and long division.
And I'm looking forward to going on the two tours I booked, one a city highlights tour, and the other a tour of some caves with nifty Hindu statues and stuff near Kuala Lumpur. I'm hoping to get some good pictures there. I am still more excited about going to Melacca in a couple of weeks, but Kuala Lumpur isn't anything to sneeze at. Updates will come shortly!

Hogwarts, here I come!

The last few days, I've been rather upset and unhappy with my situation in Singapore. As I expected, the experience of living with a man I don't know while attempting to take care of his two children to his ex-wife's expectations is rather - challenging.

But, I have slogged through what will probably be the toughest part (this is what I hope) through the support of my loving friends and family, and I will persevere. It also helps/doesn't help that I really can't wait to go home, go to the Seattle Opera House, eat at the Spaghetti Factory, go to the Imax, basically, do everything that I haven't done in ages since I moved away to college in 2001.* It's time to go home. So, I'm homesick, which is both good and bad, depending.

The last thing that's got my spirits buoyed recently is that I'm seeing Harry Potter 5 tomorrow. yay! Can't wait. AND, especially can't wait for the last book. I don't want to buy the expensive hardcover though. I'm working on how I'm going to get to reading that.

I also really need to get a job. I have plenty of loans to work on, plus I need a new laptop. Mine was on sale when I bought it because it was already going out of "fashion" technologically speaking. Now, the light in the screen constantly poops out and now my space bar is stuck. Which is making is beyond annoying to type this blog post, but I refuse to give in to self pity over a sicky space bar. Hopefully I'll have enough by next fall when I go back to school and back into deferment status on my loans. Good plan all around. :)

*I don't care that Ellensburg was only an hour and a half away from Seattle (barring trouble on Snoqualmie, which was rather frequent during winter). The Burg FELT like a different world, regardless of how close it may have actually been.

Another day in tropical paradise

Today I went to church, as I usually do on Sundays, but I was running late this morning so by the time I got to the cathedral, I had to stand outside. Standing outside is no small sacrifice - there are no fans outside, and no shade. About halfway through the homily, which is generally between 20-30 minutes into the mass, I started getting dizzy and light-headed and nearly passed out.

Clearly, whoever decided that palm trees equal paradise didn't spend very much time standing outside in the heat. I took a shower as soon as I got home just so I could feel somewhat decent again.

Last night, I had the great pleasure to attend a live Cantonese opera, The Scholar and the Maid. It didn't even cost very much. Anyway, it was absolutely fantastic. I loved the music, the costumes, the dancing - even the singing, which can be a little overwhelming at times. The company that did it provided Chinese (Mandarin) and English subtitles, and some of the translations were hilarious because they used the very proper Latin-derived word instead of the words normal people would use. My favorite line was, "I love your petite lips and your charismatic glance." The story was about as stupid as any other opera/musical comedic love story, but it was brilliantly done, and a great pleasure to watch.

And... it was hot today

Today began with finishing the second Lord of the Rings movie and ended with the third movie. And thus is the trilogy at an end after three days. I liked how Peter Jackson passed off Eowyn to Faramir, though - I don't remember that being in the book.

I mailed my one and only purchase off today to my UK buyer. She's apparently wearing them to a tearoom party for a design thingy. Sounds fascinating! Anyway, I really, really hope they fit. Gloves can be tricky. The unfortunate part about mailing anything here is that I didn't see a single mailbox. So, we had to track down a post office - which is easier said than done.

The post office is really weird, as it is in nearly every other country. Okay, so maybe the US Postal system is the weird one. Anyway, in Austria, the Post was a bank, it developed film, you could buy piles of stuff there, all in addition to being a post office. Here, the post does all this, and offers loans. There were ads for Singapore Post realty loans. Rather odd, if you ask me. But then, airmail costs were about half what it costs in the US, and regular stamps are cheaper too. Perhaps if the USPS got into the real estate business, they wouldn't have to keep raising the cost of the mail every year. I couldn't believe it when it cost 41 cents to mail a letter! Since when is it 41 cents? Last I checked, it was 39 cents, which still seems like highway robbery to me.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I have no plans. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm certainly not going to sit rusticating in this eensy weensy apartment like I did last Friday night (well, we watched the Corpse Bride, which is a good movie). I'm very much looking forward to Saturday night, though - I've been wanting to watch a real Chinese opera since I saw it on film during my World Music course. That and Japanese Kabuki, but I'm in Singapore right now, so I'll take what I can get. Oddly enough, I got to see a qin being played live (a Chinese stringed instrument similar to a hammered dulcimer) in Great Falls, Montana, of all places.

But, the overarching theme of every day is the heat. As soon as I step outside, it assails me. When we forget to turn back on the AC, it slowly heats the apartment. Sweat is a fact of life. And I really, really hate having to put on sunscreen so often. I will be SO happy to get back to the land of rain and rainclouds. But for now, I will enjoy my little adventure.

Fourth of July Celebration

According to the US presence in Singapore, yesterday, June 30, was the 4th of July. For those who know me, you know I don't really go in for most of the "America is so great!" stuff that most of us were fed since we were kids. Yes, I live in a reasonably nice country. Yes, I have a reasonably nice life. But somehow celebrating the fact that I have plenty and others don't is rather stupid to me. Kind of like when your mom used to say, "Clean your plate! There are starving kids in Africa!" and you'd think, "So? I'M not a starving kid in Africa, and I don't WANT to eat these vegetables!"

Anyway, I do sincerely enjoy Independence Day celebrations, especially the bad food and fireworks. I kept the bad food to a minimum - had root beer, a corn dog and corn on the cob - but the fireworks were quite nice. A little too short of a show, but nice. The best part of it was how close they were. A. kept collecting bits of the cardboard shells and I got bonked on the head with bits of firework debris on multiple occasions.

Today I went to St. Andrew's Cathedral for service, as I was under the impression that it was a Catholic church. In actuality, it's Anglican. My first clue was when half the words to the prayers were from a different translation, but what really convinced me I wasn't in a Catholic church is when the visiting speaker mentioned his wife and granddaughter. Last I checked, that wasn't allowed. Nice church, though, and a fun praise band. Next week, I'll check out the actual Catholic church, which is across from an old convent. The convent has now been turned into shops and restaurants and bars. Kind of ironic.

Today I went exploring in Singapore, as Sunday seems to be a good day for me to have off for all of us. I went to Orchard Rd, the shopping artery through the "old" part of Singapore (there's maybe two or three old buildings left, all the rest are new high rises), and bought some nice stuff. I'm most pleased with my new silk pillow covers. Very classy, very simple yet elegant design. And they were cheap! Then I spent lots of time reading a book seated in the courtyard at the Raffles hotel. It's still a hotel, but it also has a gift shop, a Tiffany's and some other stuff. The main thing I learned today is that Singapore is, by and large, a shopping tourists haven. Not much else happening here other than the nature preserves and zoo, which I also intend to visit.

Side note: I have seen MANY, MANY mixed couples with a white dude and an Asian (here meaning anywhere in Asia plus the Indian subcontinent) woman. I saw so many, in fact, that I began to wonder why I saw no white women with an Asian dude. Today, I saw one such couple, and he looked half Indian, half white. There were lots of single white women walking around, though. I have a couple hypotheses as to why this is:

• there are more male expats than female expats, so men turn to local populations of women rather than fight for the limited quantity available of "their own kind"
  
• women are more capable of being alone for long periods of time than are men and thus do not feel this need to turn to the local populations
  
• women are more racist in their choice of partner/men are more sexist in their choice of partner - I'm going for hamburger B, having heard enough comments about Western women not acting like "real" women
• women care more about scent - meaning the Asian women will probably smell fine to the Western man, but the Asian man may not smell so great to the Western woman. Here, I am referring mostly to laborers, but this was true even of nicely dressed men in Myanmar. They ALL smelled. A lot.
• I just haven't been searching in the right places

I also found it interesting that there are almost no Americans to be found on an average day in Singapore. Nearly all of the white people I've seen so far have been non-English speaking, non-language-I-know-speaking, meaning that they're more than likely Scandinavians of some variety. Apparently, I have to be satisfied with my helping of American culture and food from last night's celebration. Somehow, I'm not too sad at the prospect of not running into very many Americans for the next couple of months.