Week's end in the beautiful city

Thursday, May 11, 2023

There are vending machines for men's grooming items, stationary supplies, and - at the hotel - sandwiches and bowls of fruit.

Susan and I eat breakfast prata with curry. It's one of our favorite foods - and we chat while W scopes out some tech nearby.

Later, W and I eat lunch at the Pasir Ris hawker center. He wants to try the ribs I ordered at Wild Olive on our last visit. There's not a vegetarian thing on the menu but the line is long. I walk over to the next long line of people waiting at "Sure Come Back Wanton Mee."(mee=noodles)

"What's good here?" I ask a gentleman standing in line.

"The $5 special," he replies. "I cycle over from the West side of the island (25 miles/40 km) for lunch here because it's so good." Note to self: this is in sunshine and 90+oF (33oC).

I order the $5 special. None of it is vegan but it's amazing food, every bit as good as advertised. Duck egg noodles, home-smoked char siu, a sprinkling of green onions and greens, fried and steamed wontons, and home-pickled jalepenos (I go back for a second helping of those.) The chef balances tastes with different amounts of spices for the steamed and fried wontons. And the old lady rolling wontons in the back knows what she's doing.

We walk home along the canal. Our hotel borders a water park but we're on the other side overlooking the ocean. We don't hear the shrill cries of people having fun.

After a quick trip to the mall next door for cooking utensils, I admire the clouds coming in across the ocean as the sun begins to set.

I cut up a few things and call it supper.

Friday

When we walk out to the MRT station, there's a group of "littles" posing with their teachers. Children are put in care as young as 8 months so their parents can both work. These little people are so cute. They have mastered several selfie moves. The teacher calls out instructions for posing. When she says, "Power move," they put tiny hands under their chins. Hilarious.

At City Hall station, various MRT lines (light rapid transit - trains) meet and cross underground. From our descending escalator, we spot 6 more (see the 4 on the right, going up and down). We crisscross the spotless tile floors, going up and down a few more times as we transfer to the North-South line.

You buy a card that is swiped across readers to enter and exit traffic, whether on buses or trains. Cars load up their electronic readers and are automatically scanned as they enter toll roads, parking lots, and other pay-per-use facilities.

I haven't seen a skin doc for 5 years so it's time, especially with all the outdoor hiking and walking we do in Bandung. I'm concerned about a scale-y patch on my forehead. Susan asks her expat friends to recommend a good doc. 

We'd wait for months to get into a public clinic. Instead, the expats send me to Dr. Joyce Lim on Orchard Road. "You can get in, but it's going to be expensive!" our friends warn.

The doc, at less than half the price of an American doctor's visit, gives me a thorough once-over and proclaims me cancer and pre-cancer free. The forehead? "That's a patch of eczema-like skin - just put cream on it. Not cancer. If you want cream, we can sell you some. Otherwise, just use your own."

And we're done, maybe for another 5 years. I'm not very regular with doc visits - and when we get sick, we rest first and stay off meds as much as we can. That has kept us healthy.

W and I walk around and around inside the huge mall complex, looking for a highly-rated vegetarian/vegan restaurant: Real Food. We finally find it after going outside and back in a side door, up an escalator, and to a corner. 

There are many clients. I ask another diner (expat from Quatar) what is tasty. She recommends the shiitake burger, which W pronounces bland and "I'd never-order-that-again. It rates 1 or 2 stars." His plate is brown - brown bun, brown mushroom, brown potato wedges, brown deep-fried cauliflower. 

I try for a little more color with a beet-millet burger on sourdough. The bread is wet. The burger is crumbly and almost tasteless. Same for the deep-friend cauliflower. The little side salad is ok ("yay for color!") but ... well, it's small. Each entree costs $13 US. Since we've been spoiled by Indonesian prices and the hawker stall deliciousness of Singapore, we're never going back there.

With so much fresh food at the markets, I make many of my own meals. Red rice vermicelli are combined with mushrooms, turnips, scallion, and miso paste. The greens are sprinkled with the vinegar dressing from a few days ago. And of course, at under 25c each, we eat a lot of Thai mangos. They're fully ripe, as sweet as honey.

W is hungry for Pad Thai so he goes out once more and buys his supper. Even an almost cloudless night is spectacular from our window. The ocean is calm tonight.

Saturday

I ride along to the seminary with Kathleen and W to say hi to his class. He's teaching all day. Shall I have breakfast in the hawker center nearby? Or shall I wait and have lunch with them?

I browse but my favorite food stall cook is still cooking their vegetables. Many fried foods and meats are available. Never mind. I've eaten more oil this week than in the past month.

I browse through the market for specials on clothes or stationary. Nada. When I check Google Maps to see how far I am from the hotel, it's merely 2 miles (3km). Might take me a half hour along the canal. I take my time and enjoy the wetlands planted in the canal. When it pours, the plants will be submerged to filter the water until the runoff hits the sea.

Singapore is function-oriented. There are walking paths everywhere, including under the apartments. The stairs are even, though the tread is sometimes short for big Western feet.. There's often a bike ramp beside the steps (though this one is steep!) or a kid-stroller and disability ramp nearby.

Housing is mostly apartments. The government is set on integrating the main groups (Chinese, Malay, Indian) so sets quotas for sales. Many nationalities live in the same neighborhood. Many Malay women are home with their children during the day. The other people groups are working, with kids in daycare or school.

This little myna bird keeps me company most days, hopping around the ledge.

In the heat of the day, there are few people to be seen. The walking-cycling path below is deserted. The tall buildings on the skyline seem far away. I stay inside, working on a Bible study, reviewing Indonesian, and reading a novel before taking a nap.

Read more:

*May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence;  it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore. Praise the Lord. Psalm 115:14-18

*Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes. No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted. (Proverbs 12:1-3)

*With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel. Jeremiah 31:9

*Jesus said, “You now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” John 16:22

Moravian Prayer: Jesus, your perfect love casts out our fears. We will walk in your ways because we know our souls are at peace in you. You hear us when we pray for your guidance. Help us make good decisions. In your name, we pray. Amen