Saturday, May 13, 2023
W's teaching all day. I snap a pictures of my favorite palms, elegant and silvery with enormous fronds on the way to the shoreline.
Our friendly visitor, a myna bird, has captured a little crab along the shore. He hops on the window ledge, 5 floors above the ground, adjusting his breakfast catch in his beak. He's about the size of a robin.
I walk W partway to his transit stop and then wander on the boardwalk through the Mangrove Forest.
The tree-climbing crabs dig holes and mound heaps of dirt (some 4' high) during low tide. At high tide, they're on the branches, escaping predators.
Most of the swamp creatures are mud-colored. Can you spot the crabs, above and lower-middle below?
Today I'm in the mood for the bird-watching tower.
I run up the 70 steps and watch people strolling below. The tree canopy is at eye level, where birds, crickets, and cicadas are singing. I make a few recordings to remind myself of this special place.
I crash into a 2-hour nap. In late afternoon, W is in the mood for Indian food on the coast. We hop a bus and enjoy a feast. Most of the cooks and servers in Indian restaurants are men. To-go sauces are ladled into baggies, while the roti and pratas (breads) are carefully folded into paper and bound with an elastic. They do a roaring takeaway trade.
W eats butter chicken - his standard order. We order naan and a mushroom masala for me, too. Might be a new favorite!
I take some home for breakfast tomorrow. There are many choices on the menus here, cooked up fresh in front of your eyes.
We try to figure out the name for tea without milk. After the server brings 3 different potions, I give up. W kindly drinks them all and I chug my water.
It takes one bus to Changi Village and back. We climb up to the top of the double-decker to watch the streets pass. It's an equal opportunity intercultural city with Hindu and Buddhist temples and retirement homes, mosques, and churches.
Walking up to the hotel, the sky is ablaze.
Sunday - MOTHERS DAY
We call our moms and hear from the kids. How wonderful to be part of a loving family. Mom blows me a kiss before we sign off, just like every day.
W speaks at a congregation while I moderate the IESB online morning Gathering. After he comes home, we rest up.
Waldemar and I stroll the forest as the tide starts to come in. There are pencil fish with bright yellow noses, flat and round fish, turtles, jellyfish in the river ... and not much more. We're too early - another 2 hours and there would be more water and more wildlife.
These 4" (10 cm) flowers drop onto the boardwalk.
All along the shoreline, people are barbecuing, camping in little tents, and wading in the water not far from the incoming jellyfish. The sky dazzles us with climbing clouds and a vertical rainbow.
Monday
We make a few calls before heading into town about 10:00. Down below, the trail is full of walkers, runners, and cyclists, with Singapore's high-rises in the distance.
It takes an hour (including a ride on the MRT) to reach Chinatown, where W is picking up some throat-coat tea. There's every herb you can imagine for sale.
We walk through lanes of hawker stalls but about half won't open until after lunch. We cross a pedestrian bridge, looking back down to the activity and heritage houses below. We do 50 steps here, 70 steps there, 45 steps another place ... or you can take escalators. We often choose the stairs; there are no hills to climb otherwise.
Speaking of lunch: we hop a bus to Arab Street, passing my favorite building complex in Singapore. It's a series of high-rises with gardens planted all the way to the top.
Our favorite Indian restaurant is open across from a mosque with loudspeakers turned up to top volume. That's common in Bandung but rare in Singapore so we notice it here more.
I splurge on mutton biryani - my usual order here. They're out of mango lassi (yogurt cooling drink) so the spices nearly start a fire in my mouth. Good thing they don't light up my stomach!
One more stop at Mustafa is just over 1 km's walk (2/3 mile) away. On the way, we pop into a second-hand shop where I spot Derwent "almost antique" colored pencils. We pick up a few hard-fired clay teacups for 75c each and leave the old art supplies behind. W checks out the cassette tapes, his latest excursion into retro sound.
The British heritage is visible in the architecture.
This is a marvelous new Art Deco style building.
Mustafa, the big Indian department store. takes up most of a city block. I find two bathing suits in the Muslim swim collection. One has long sleeves and pedal-pusher trousers; love it! I'm always cold when swimming. It's a 3/4 length wet suit, but in swim fabric.
W buys refills for his pen, along with 2 fountain pens for me (90c each). We only have time for a run-through to find things on our lists. Today's not the day for leisurely shopping. It's a store you can browse in all day, with food and goods from around the globe.
After a quick bus ride, we spend 35 minutes on the MRT, catch a shuttle to the mall near our hotel, and browse Don Don Donki (Japanese food store) for smoked sesame seeds (oh, they're amazing)! and W's cold cuts. It's a short walk to the hotel. 11.000 steps so far -
I make supper with bread and Sumathi's chocolate-seed spread. Add steamed broccoli and edamame. W has pastrami on his bread, along with a bag of chips/crisps. We're full! After a shower, W's out the door to catch the taxi for his evening class. A bit of reading and catching up on work ... and it's after 8:00 p.m.
I re-sort and pack my little shoulder bag for tomorrow. I LOVE this bag - and have it in several fabrics. So much fits into it.
Inside now: reading glasses and sunglasses; cash and the day's receipts; credit, transit, business, and hotel cards; masks and tissues; a hairbrush and makeup; folding tote bags and a raincoat; earplugs and cough candies; a pen and notebook; chopsticks and a spoon, a tape measure and my phone. Well, there are a few more things, but I'm happy that it all fits without crowding. Yup, it's ready for the next excursion.
Read more:
*Those he gathered from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south: Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. Psalm 107:3,8 *Many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11
*Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10
Moravian Prayer: Lord, take the blinders off our eyes. Help us be more accepting of people all over this world. Lord, help us to love others and to be a good friend to them because of your love for us. Help us share your goodness and blessings with everyone. In your name, we pray. Amen!
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