Singapore, Singapore
Singapore
is certainly a fascinating place on this planet. It’s strategic location cannot be
underestimated. It is amazing how the
British Empire, which was somewhat benevolent, was able to capitalize on the
strategic locales around the world, whether it be Europe, Africa, India, Near
East or the Far East… as it is here in
Singapore. Who would have thought that
this somewhat undesired geographical location would be a seagate by which half
the world’s shipping tonnage passes. Who
would have thought all the petroleum for Japan would pass within sight of
Singapore. When we were a Rosalind
Yong’s penthouse overlooking the Straits of Malacca, we were overlooking this
choke point of world commerce.
We
learned that there are pirates in the Strait – even while we visited here. Small boats of pirates would come up to large
ships, board them and take over. They
would take hostages. Shipping companies
would rather pay the ransom than to report the incidents. It’s interesting
But today is Chinatown Day. Henry and Carol
Chin along with Clarice and Lillie came by our hotel at 1 p.
m. We set off for Chinatown. We are half-way expecting Clement Lim to come
and visit, but have unclear meeting connections.
Chinatown is in the very center of Singapore among the high end high rises and big
business towers. The ladies along with Darris went off to go shopping. Henry and I head another direction. Henry had
some things he wanted to talk about so we wanted to find a “quiet” place to
talk. Among the Chinese there is no
“quiet” place to talk. When they’re
together they all talk at the same time. Loudly. We found a public place
where people sit down to eat. They buy
food from the kiosks, shops, small restaurants and then sit, eat and
socialize. Henry and I did the
same. Henry bought some snacks and we
sat down and talked for about an hour.
The streets are festooned with New Year's decorations. NOT for January 1, but for Chinese New Year which is January 25. This is the Year of the Rat. There were many depictions of rats in the abundant decorations.
Then we headed off to find the women and Darris.
Before we did, we stopped at a dessert shop. I ordered a chocolate shaved ice pagoda-looking
dessert. Henry ordered a coconut
one. Among the hundreds of people in the
noisy eating place, we were taken to the back for two empty seats. We found the… waaaay in the back. We enjoyed our dessert. Along with chocolate, shaved ice, there were
various beans and green beans of sorts. All topped off with squeezed Palm Sugar, which was a fun touch. They like beans in
desserts—stringy beans and regular
looking beans.
Then
we walked about town and stopped by many little shops. Lots of stuff all over the place. Then we
came back to the hotel. We had Lilly and
Clarice with us. We all said our good-byes… tomorrow we leave for Hong Kong.
Singapore has been great and Chinatown has been a high spot!
After parting some of our friends took a Grab, which is the Singapore equivalent to an Uber.
2023-12-11