It's not what you are thinking...We did not get arrested, fined, or detained. No night in a Singaporean prison. We saw The Police in concert! Sting's reunion with his bandmates provided for a fantastic show, although I must say Sting is aging very well - the other two - not so much. It was a blast going to a concert where you know every song. They played to the audience of 11,000 for almost two hours. Roxanne rocked!
Chinese New Year celebrations began on the evening of February 6th and ended 15 days later. Chinese families have "reunion" dinners for several nights, where all family members go home to celebrate the new year. The theme of the new year is "prosperity" - everything has to do with ensuring a prosperous new year. This is the Year of the Rat. Cartoon rats were everywhere - store windows, television ads. Mickey is big in the year of the rat - which some say is the year of the mouse. McDonald's even sold Prosperity Burgers. No - we didn't try one. But we are going to do a Singaporean fast food special soon. Some things to expect – donut sandwiches, sweet potato shakes. One of the local new year's traditions is Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng is basically a colorful salad with raw fish. Before the salad is eaten, everyone at the table uses their chopsticks to toss the salad as high in the air as they can and waiters offer up all kinds of blessings for - you guessed it - prosperity. The higher you go, the more prosperous you will be. All over Singapore, families were flinging salads. We did it twice too so we should be seeing some prosperity soon...
On Escaping Convicts. Have you seen this person? http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_215098.html?vgnmr=1
Last week he escaped from a Singaporean prison while he was on a bathroom break. Seriously. The manhunt is on. His picture and description was SMSed to 4 million cell phones in the country (ours included) and the front page of the Straits Times has been dedicated to this man's capture. He was arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack at the airport here.
We decided that while we are in Singapore we have to do everything at least once. That means all of the cheesy attractions and events of which there are many. Mo refuses to go to Sentosa Island though, which makes me think he is not serious about this at all. I don’t think I could handle a MORE theme-parked version of Singapore. Truth be told, I won't go on the Singapore Flyer (Singapore's new ferris wheel - currently the largest in the world http://www.singaporeflyer.com.sg/). So we went with friends to the Chingay Parade. The parade marks the end of the new year celebrations and is actually quite impressive with thousands of dancers, plenty of floats, and lots of glitter. A few surprisingly bare assed men. (He is referring to a Taiwanese dance group who really just wore small loin cloths - very small.) We stayed for about an hour - then went to Glutton's Bay for some satay and Tiger beer.
Also went to the Air Show this past weekend, ahem, okay a few weeks ago. We watched the stunt planes, the F-16s, and saw the new A380 passenger jet do a slow fly-by. It was kind of like the Chicago Air Show, but not nearly as long and entertaining. Leaving was a nightmare. We saw Singapore and Singaporeans at their worst. It took about an hour to get to the taxi queue which was equally as long a wait. People were pushing and cutting the line. It was utter chaos. And of course the newspaper reported that the event was well organized! First and last time for me!
Rainy season continues. My tan is fading quickly. Poor you. Truth is I like the cooler rainy weather and am hoping it lasts a while longer.
Let us know if you want to see all of our pics from Cambodia and Penang.
So who is coming to visit next (year)????
Love,
L&M
