The most exciting thing that would happen while walking Gracie back home in Greenville would be passing a new construction dumpster to dispose of Gracie's doodie. I never know what I am going to come across while walking Gracie here. I have walked past a prehistoric snail on the side of the road that could carry Gracie away, and watched a bat fly back and forth over my head between trees hunting for insects in a frenzy.
The other day was a little different. I left our apartment building and didn't get very far, and noticed a construction site that caught my attention. There are common wall houses (like duplexes) throughout our neighborhood. Frequently, the owner on one half will do remodeling projects. The nice thing about construction here, is that they put up tarp walls to contain the dust and debris so it does not drift into the neighbor's side or onto the road. While I was taking the picture, I noticed a man on a scooter drive onto the sidewalk toward me. He called out to me and asked if I was Karie. I said yes and thought, "Oh great, what did I do?" He said he had a package for me from Asian Tigers, the company who moved our belongings into our apartment. I was trying to figure out how he found me down the street walking Gracie, who he wanted nothing to do with.
As I was signing for the package, Gracie was trying to approach him in her normal friendly manner. He kept putting his hand out to keep Gracie from coming near him. I pulled her back toward me and he was off and away on his scooter. That is how mail is delivered; someone driving a motor scooter with a blue metal Singpost box on the back.
When I got back to our apartment and walked past the guard, he said that he spotted me down the street and pointed me out to the mail courier. That explains the mysterious identity game. I asked our guard about why some Asian people are very cautious and put their hands out to stop Gracie from coming near them. I thought that maybe they are scared of dogs. He said that these people are Malay, usually from Indonesia and Malaysia who are Muslim. They believe dogs are unclean and do not come near or touch them. If they touch a dog who is wet or has a wet nose, they need to wash their hands many times or even take a shower immediately after contact. Dogs are only used for hunting or guarding property, not pets.
I think Gracie can be unclean too, especially coming back from a walk with dirty paws and a dirty face after sniffing everything she comes in contact with on the ground. But, after cleaning off all the dirt and grime, I still let her touch me and sleep on our bed and sofa. Kevin and I are just dog-loving softies.
After learning this, I am cautious now when I'm out with Gracie. I keep her away from people looking apprehensive and scowling at her. But she always tries to convince passing people how cute she is. Fortunately most people like her and want to pet her. That's a good thing, or Gracie will start getting a complex.
The days of high heels are gone, at least when I’m walking all over the city. When I plan on walking somewhere, I have to think of comfortable shoes that can get completely soaked in the monsoons without getting destroyed. It has been raining hard almost every day now, so Kevin and I have to be prepared with good shoes and plenty of umbrellas.
While Kevin is hard at work, I am galavanting around on foot with groups of strangers learning about the history and highlights of the city. This is part one of a series of walking tours that I started with The Original Singapore Walks, a tour company providing informative walking tours for tourists and other people wanting to learn the lay of the land. Let the journey begin....
We're walking...we're walking...and we're stopping.....at the Colonial District (The Time of Empire).
I rode the MRT and found my way to the meeting place where everyone gathers to start the tour. There were about 13 people in the group led by a local Singaporean woman who I met at a church Kevin and I visited. She invited me to join her Monday Colonial walk which she was so enthusiastic about. Some people I met were an Australian woman working here for six months, a Brazilian woman on holiday, and an airline pilot from the UK who was in between flights. We were all an interesting bunch.
The tour started at St. Andrews Cathedral. This stunning cathedral is over 150 years old and survived two lightening strikes in 1852 causing it to be shut down for repairs. In 1942, the cathedral was used as an emergency hospital before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese. The sanctuary was emptied to house the casualties that resulted from frequent air raids.
Next, we visited the Supreme Court and enjoyed a bird's eye view on the top floor over looking the Singapore River in the Central Business District, where Kevin works. This is the area where Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles originally landed and became the founder of modern Singapore in 1819, which then became a British settlement.
There are still strong British influences in Singapore, such as the steering wheel on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road. Some words and phrases also take a little getting used to:
Pram - baby carriage/stroller
Trolley - shopping cart
Alight - exit from cab, train, etc.
Take away - to go (food)
Lift - elevator
Boot - car trunk
Mum - Mom
Petrol - gas
Queue - line of people
Shattered - exhausted
"Please mind the platform gap" - watch your step getting on and off the MRT
(This one is not to be taken lightly. I saw a little boy step into the train gap and got his foot stuck in it. His Mom quickly yanked his foot out before the doors closed. Scary!)
I watched the storm clouds quickly roll in and sock it to us good! It poured for about 20 minutes while we were walking outside. Of course. I was glad I had my umbrella. We visited two more churches, one of them was the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator. I would not enjoy being the church Secretary...."Thank you for calling the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuninator this is Karie how can I help you?" OK, seriously now. It was built in 1835 and is the oldest Christian place of worship in Singapore. There is a very small number of Armenians left in Singapore. I don't remember what our tour guide told us, but I think there are less than 30 Armenians living here. The church has been a national monument since 1973.
We finished our tour at the Raffles Hotel. The now famous Singapore Sling was created by a bartender working at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel around 1915. It was a cocktail intended for ladies who didn't consume a man's drink. The Raffles is a luxurious hotel with gardens, shops, indoor and outdoor dining and afternoon tea.
My feet are tired, so stay tuned for part two of the Original Singapore Walks....
Since moving to Singapore, we have met so many people from different countries. In an earlier post, I mentioned making a new friend from Scotland. We have also met people from India, Indonesia, England, Australia, France, Brazil, and Singaporeans born and raised here. Since there is such a strong international influence here, there is an amazing selection of Asian and Western food.
There is a vast selection of food buying options in Singapore. There are traditional and ethnic markets, health food stores, wet and dry markets, restaurants, street food, mall food courts and hawker stalls. We get most of our groceries from a traditional market, Swiss butcher and a health food store. We can comfortably lean on familiar munchies, but we also like to experiment with different culinary delights. That is one of the benefits of living in another country, trying new and exotic food! I get excited just thinking about all the tantalizing morsels, and I'm not even a Foodie!
(picture on left) Here is something I just bought yesterday. It is roasted Korean seaweed with wasabi. You get a nice temporary burn in the nose from the wasabi and the seaweed quickly dissolves in the mouth. It's quite good. Kevin recently discovered how much he likes the strong flavor of wasabi. So, whenever I see something with wasabi in it, I get it.
(picture on right) Most of the packaged food I buy is from Australia, New Zealand, UK and Singapore made products. The fruit puree is my favorite. They come in individual gold metallic containers.
We discovered a fantastic chicken paradise called Nando's. It is a heavenly restaurant with a Portuguese/Mozambique influence serving flame-grilled chicken spiced with Peri-Peri (red chilies). Pictured here is what I ordered. It is called Espetada, which is skewered chicken bathed in Peri-Peri sauce which was dripping in the potatoes. It was a tasty beast which is beckoning me to come back and indulge again. I think I shall.
There are basement level restaurants in malls and MRT stations everywhere. Din Tai Fung is one of those restaurants we discovered while walking around. There was a long queue, so we assumed this was a "don't miss" restaurant. We came back later when the queue dwindled. In front of the restaurant were two display areas where cooks prepare various dishes in the viewing eye of the public. We watched them prepare dumplings, stuff dim sum and chop ramen style noodles. We ordered 10 pork and vegetable dim sum. They came in a bamboo basket with dipping sauces consisting of red chilies and soy sauce. We split a bowl of hot and sour soup and steamed spinach with garlic. Jasmine tea complimented our late lunch quite nicely. Prices are much more reasonable in food courts, hawker stalls and basement restaurants.
There is a Chinese festival called Mid-Autumn Festival, or Mooncake Festival. People get together with friends and family and exchange gifts to celebrate this festive season. Mooncakes are a favorite gift to give. Mooncakes are heavy pastries with a very thick filling which is traditionally made of lotus seed paste and one or two salted duck egg yolks. They are very rich and heavy cakes which are cut in wedges and served with Chinese tea, such as Oolong. Kevin was given a box of Mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival from one of his vendors. There are many variations of mooncakes with different colors and modern flavors. Kevin's was a traditional White Lotus Seed Paste with Single Yolk. He was told to drink plenty of hot Chinese tea with them to help with digestion. They are unusual and definitely require an acquired taste, at least for us. People love these! At least we can say we tried them, which is all part of our Singapore experience.
The Mid-Autumn Festival legendary fable....
According to a famous Chinese fable, the legendary archer Hou Yi and his kind-hearted wife Chang Er were a loving couple. To reward Hou Yi for his heroic deeds, the Goddess of Immortality granted him an elixir that promises eternal youth. One fateful day, the evil Feng Meng slipped into Hou Yi's residence to steal the heavenly elixir. To prevent the elixir from falling into the wrong hands, Chang Er swallowed it and immediately found herself drifting up towards the moon.
The common folk heard of Chang Er's sacrifice and flocked to ask for continued peace, showing their gratitude with sweet pastries and fruits. It is now said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is full and at it's brightest, you can see the willowy silhouette of Chang Er - now the Goddess of the Moon.
This was part of the Mooncake Festival at Ngee Ann City, one of Singapore's many large malls. Kevin and I didn't feel like squeezing into this space to join the buying frenzy of yummy Mooncakes. Instead, we watched people from our safe spot above without being squished by tons of people. It was interesting watching everyone from our bird's eye view.
So many freshly made pastries, breads, desserts, decadent chocolates, gelato, coffees, teas...oh my! There are fantastic aromas drifting around every corner...sweet, savory, fishy, smoky, spicy, fruity, comforting...and some aromas can be a pungent curiosity. What was that?! Ahhh food. Am I crossing over into becoming a Foodie? Time will tell...
The most exciting thing that would happen while walking Gracie back home in Greenville would be passing a new construction dumpster to dispose of Gracie's doodie. I never know what I am going to come across while walking Gracie here. I have walked past a prehistoric snail on the side of the road that could carry Gracie away, and watched a bat fly back and forth over my head between trees hunting for insects in a frenzy.
