This morning I got an early start and had no plans so I bought an unlimited ticket to the train. Best decision ever. While in transit I decided to check out the Changi Prison Museum which featured exhibits from the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WWII. It was interesting to hear about the war from this perspective. Up until this time the British had always had a sense of superiority over the other cultures of the nation, but during the Japanese occupation the British suffered along with the Chinese, Malay and the Indians in the prisons. The museum featured concentration camp-like photos and explained how prisoners got through the experience. The most notable was the prisoner who drew 5 huge murals of Christian art. The murals were forgotten for years. In the 60's once the murals had been discovered and the artist was tracked down, the artist Steve Warren came back to restore the murals. Whether you're Christian or not, the work itself was breathtaking.
I left the prison museum and went downtown the China Town district to check out the Buddha Relic Tooth Museum. The giant temple is a well known landmark of Singapore. I was disappointed because although it is 4 stories, only the first floor was open today for the public. Tomorrow the 4th floor will be open which houses the supposed left canine tooth of the Buddha encased in a gold stupa in which the temple gets it's namesake. So I missed the tooth. But I did learn my Buddhist Guardian deity is Samantabhadra for those born the year of the dragon. You learn something new everyday...
After some window shopping in the streets I made my way over to the Fatty Wong for lunch. (I couldn't make that up if I wanted to). Nothing special, I just had shrimp fried rice. I know, I kept it conservative, but Chinese food has a way of creeping me out more then any other genre. Case in point, I tried to contain my horror as I watched the waitress saw into a duck 5 feet away from me like something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The white tourists she was serving were absolutely delighted and taking pictures. I can't talk, I had to get a picture too.
I got back on the train and made my way to Orchard rd., the shopping capital of Singapore. I had been craving tea so I got a soy milk bubble tea and found a place to sit and drink it because I'm so paranoid about the litter laws I was afraid to take it and walk around. (By the way I haven't mentioned, every time you order a beverage to go they either put the cup in a little bag or a sling, or straight up forget the cup and put the whole drink in a ziploc bag.) I found a food court and sat down and immediately a guy came up, cheered me with his beer and took a seat at my table. At first I was afraid he was another creeper but he was cool. The more we talked the more he cracked me up. He asked me what I do and I told him I'm an aspiring journalist. We talked about ISIS and how terrible that situation is, then he told me about his 3 sons. The oldest is going to school to be a doctor, the youngest has special needs but does just fine for himself, and the middle one drinks too much. I asked him about durians and he said he loved them and told me where to go to get one. He told me his wife hates them. He said sometimes he'll call her and tell her he's not coming home. She'll ask "Why, are you with another woman?" And he'll say, "No, I have a basket of durians!" He told me about his frustrations of the long hours being a pilot for Emirates. "Me, I could live on $10 a day, but have to keep this job because I have to support my son's girlfriend," he said. We both cracked up laughing and high fived. I left that guy and headed to Marine Sands Bay in the downtown area to see what would happen. As soon as I walked up to the water I could see that the Merlion wasn't under construction like it had been before. I was so excited! It was a long walk but I finally made it and got my picture with the Merlion I had been waiting for. I decided it was about that time... Time for a drink. I wanted to try the Singapore Sling, the signature drink of the island. It was a delightful, fruity, and strong mix of several different liquors. I'm not proud of the fact I spent $50 on two cocktails, but when will I ever get a chance to have a Singapore Sling again?
After drinks, I continued the path around the bay and saw there was a show going on inside a concert hall and there was no one taking tickets for it. I walked right in and the girl who was singing had a captivating voice. Her last song "Emma" was a funky jazz beat about her secretly wishing her boyfriends fantasy pinup girl would go for her. Loved it. It was a huge hit and when she explained exactly what the song was about there was a loud solitary clap from the audience. No telling who that came from... I left the concert hall to continued my journey and stumbled upon another concert, this time at the theater on the bay. It was a rock band with an equally solid appeal. I danced around and jammed out. It was a truly unexpectedly epic night. I'll have to come back again before I leave.
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