Double-Faced Singapore → Traditional / Modern : TOURISM GOING-OUT

Cooking home... Well, cooking is a mighty big word, quite excessive xD Just pull some frozen stuff into a stove (x very unhealthy since to be frozen, it is soaked in oil. And eventhough it is literally more than oily once it is defrosted, the consistency of it is awesome, mellow, almost chewy (x besides, the trick is, once it is ready, you put it between two layers of Sopalin® and it absorbs the oil. Another thing I had figured in France, is that the oil comes out when you microwave stuff. Then you put the food out the plate, where all the oil remains, and once again "wipe" it with Sopalin®.

Roti Prata ! Kind of Pancakes 

Bali Chicken Style (with thick sauce full of coconut milk and oil oh my god so unhealthy (x I think there is too much of it, which is too bad, because it spoils the chicken, and, somehow, the flavor of the sauce.

I think rice is cooked in the same way as us, maybe more sticky though.

Actually, I think it is sticky s the reason how Asians can eat everything that goes with rice with chopsticks. Quite easier when it sticks altogether (; Indeed, it doesn't drop, is less likely to slip through the chopsticks.

To eat the whole meal, people would just go like this : take some rice with hands and garner everything with it. Which is actually very cool to do, since the rice is compact, it is like you are eating ... a piece of something, I do not know how to explain xD like a potato or a piece of bread.

Ahah, found a way to work standing ! d: I love that, it makes you stretch, and it changes a posture you would otherwise have to keep for four hours ...

Very nice from my boss' wife to offer me lunch! Now, Chinese noodles are the only thing I will get here xD ! We had lunch just the two of us in our big office. We talked about anything, it was very cool. I feel very comfortable with both of them, which I feel really lucky about (:

View from a balcony on which overlooks our lunch room. Okay, it doesn't look like, but it is actually cool. Full of colours, and quite impressive. See? Construction is everywhere here in Singapore... But still doesn't look messy, or like a rubbish dump ( = decharge ). It is quite clean, just every single street of Singapore (x

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This week-end, I could join some French expatriates, feeling as lonely as I.... Who put themselves in contact with me, further to the desperate message I posted on the SingaFrog Facebook Page (x As many of them were interested, I created a group conversation, so that we could all hang out together (:

Okay, that was in something which could e like our own French « marché couvert ».
Selling cheap articles, and, I was surprised of that, usually good-looking ones, and good quality ones.
Even some expensive feature or accessories, like jewels or hand-cut stones (in emeraude, jade or something like that, which have spiritual or religious value or power )
Here, the sacred animals seem to be goats ... as you can see (;

₪ Saturday : Chinatown 

I took the us to downtown: so good to finally be in the city, to see all those buildings, those fancy stores, caffes, restaurants, and so forth, and, I am sorry but that is true, all that Westerners ! This is the Singapore I was looking for!

So hard to find my friend, although we were just at the same MRT station ... Well, I forgot it is bigger underground, like a lot bigger. Indeed there are many exits (A, B, C...) so I guess eventhough we went out by the one I came from, there must be others.

We look at my lonely planet guide (eventually useful and helpful, since the downtown main areas are presented. We look for some temples, but are pretty sure we found some that were not on the map, while missing some we were looking for xD


۩ Hindu Temple : Sri Mariamman

It was so weird : you just walked in, taking off your shoes, then someone checked whether you needed extra clothes or not ;D then, you just see many people going from one sculpture, one little temple / altar ( = autel ) to another, praying, and eating. Yep, they just served meals. But only to OBVIOUS Indians, or Hindu people. I guess they blessed the food before.

That was all, no sign, no presentation, no text to read, no explanation

With my friend, we both thought « pretty poor for a so-called temple ».

Other westerners were just as confused as we were: standing by, looking up, around, and just walking, because that's all you could do.

Most astonishing was there were men, half naked, Hindu Fakirs I guess, just wearing , they were chanting and doing something that looked like they were doing some offering to their deity ( = divinite ). Most of them were having plates, full of food ( wow, look at how cool this sounds :D ) and usually a little flame. They would make circles with the plate in front of the status, shake it or whatever. 

I really felt like I was  in The Jungle Book or in Aladdin, anyway in Middle East or India. That is to say I really felt faaaaar away from my country, and that was nice, discovering, seeing something that unknown, and that close to you, happening just in front of you. Sometimes I have some moments like those, when I realize that « Oh Dear, I really am in Asia » and this feels really right (:

Then all of a sudden they gathered, on two queues on each side of the alley leading to the main altar in the center of the temple, and some people started to play music ( as you can see below ) and then some and raised them above their heads.

Each temple I entered, I had to cover, at least tights, legs. I did not mind for that guys also had to do it. Since it is not based on the fact I am a woman, bad creature of carnal temptation, living in sin. Jesus.
Funny how I just said Jesus to express how I feel toward what role in all monotheists religions the woman plays, and its status. Looooool.

My friend noticed the cows at the top of the columns, sacred animal for Hindus, but I guess most of Indians.

It seemed endless. Eating. Praying, walking. Chanting.

So well, at some point, we just left.

Or something good is that, in the temples, there is free water ! I do not care weather it is drinkable or not, my friend told me I rather not drink from there nor the tap, it is WATER Dude! And so far, I survived right :D 

Actually, I think it is mainly psychological: if you fear something will happen to you, the water of food was contaminated, your body will react in that way. If you don't, well, you'll be alright just like me (((:

۩ Buddhist Temple : Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
I totally forgot that was where Budda's left canine was supposed to be kept! It says in my Lonely Planet, « in a golden coffer/box" which I totally missed, so amazed by the place, far better than the Hindu Temple. More, I don't know, authentic, not with too many colors, especially pastel ones which make all the figurines look like they are in plastic... It was dark, and sober, but fancy and 

 

Reading altogether and turning pages altogether at the very same time, the Sutra. Very harmonious, melodious, bud deep, vibrant ( read pulsating, more than alive, since you actually feel like you are not in the world of the living anymore d: ), makes you feel like you are in trance.

You can actually be "subsided, supported" by a Goddess, whichever applies to your Chinese Zodiac, which are animals according mainly to your year of birth , but also month and day since it goes from February the 20th to January the 10th ( Chinese year ).
Well, besides the obvious fact that their goal is to make money ( you give to be subsided ) I think it was cool to look for mine, which you can see even above the picture above the text (:
Description below. Mine is pretty cool d:O

The faithful can just join them whenever they want. They kind of just show up, chant / psalmody and then stop

Okay, could that be the so-called coffer? M' not sure . . . Anyway, I'll come back later

۩ Chinatown Street Market : stalls ( = echoppes ) and sceneries / house fronts ( = facade ) that are worth a tour ! 
You can differentiate the bazaars, where everything, although well arranged, looks like basic stuff in bulk. Tourists stuff. From the streets with little stalls and then bigger parts hidden in the back, beneath tents. you can find all kind of random stuff, ranking from high-tech gadgets, to cups, to chopsticks, to medicine, to amulets, to typical "I visited Singapore" souvenirs, to flip-flops. Pretty much everything. 

Hunting for bargains ( = chiner ) in Chinatown

Now I know why I like to walk in the streets down there, despite I feel lonely, sometimes despised, just bored when I do not have enough money to go downtown - okay I'm broke, but transportation is very expensive here, what I spend for my transit subscription / pass ( = abonnement ) in one month, would be the same amount of  what I spend for one WHOLE YEAR in France. Insane - is that everything here is very clean, well organised, and looks perfectly well arranged, set out ( = agencé )

Street Food (: But people are always soliciting you, offering you to read their menu. It is kind of annoying to be constantly  

Yeeeaaah I did it! See the weird gross dried animals or whatever sea creature, I am missing those in blurred-bottles bocals now ((((:

۩ This was a little Taoism temple ( I am not not sure if you can, but the rocked pedestal reads « Tao is universal ») just like that, the entrance just opening on the street, with nearby a stage and some people rehearsing for some rock concert xD

The Monk, or whatever he was - priest? - explained me I could not buy any of those fancy skirts, made by themselves. The ribbons / tails were to symbolize a sword, self-protection. Isn't that cool (: ?

۩ Going Back

You could see Singapore is pretty architecturally-rich, mixing different styles, some I even do not know what they are ... I should ask though.

Former Fire Station CENTRAL DISTRICT ( the main one then )

Traditional shop-houses, full of little details!

Thing is here, rows of traditional shop-houses stand alongside ( = cotoyer ) skyscrapers, in the heart of the city. Temples as well, whereas I thought they were usually lost somewhere in the mountains, or in the jungle, and that you could eventually reach them only once you would have walked the thousand steps of a wooden stair (':

Ahah this made me think of some lighthouse ( = phare ) on sea coast, or any kind of coastal building actually, in France, or chiefly in Europe though.
Usually, Asian cities are full of animation, noisy all the time, sometimes it is cool, sometimes not, depending whether it is on 1:00am (x Anyway, in a van passing by, guys doing some delivery, it looked like, were playing out loud good music, like rap or something beating hard, and they screamed playfully and waved at us. Never saw that from Asians. It was almost nothing, but to me and my friends, ti was so coool :'D

The alleys in my neighborhood. Yep, weird how you can see extremely tall accommodation buildings, that all look alike, and just at the basis of it, many - and sometimes tall as - trees. 

The roots of this tree are just so impressive.

₪ Sunday : Sentosa

Okay, let's do this. Even if I really fell tired and just demotivated, not in a mood to do anything, I know I must get out of the house to unwind my mind, and have some fun! The message I got from one of my new French friend proposes me to meet her at Sentosa... Well, quite far, but why not, since I could swim ! They even have swimming-pool... And it is a sunny day (: Anyway I do not have anything else to do before tonight (we wanted to go to a little musical event, like a night-opened-club near the beach), and I do not fee like shopping ... So I walk to Jurong East Station, and then, to Chinatown I take MRT and walk all the way down to Sentosa. Quite hard to know when to follow which road only when they are up, or down, I asked my ways many times, and always was on the right pathway. People were very helpful, and happy to help, taking the time to explain, even busy workers. 

Pedestrians gateway is pretty cool huh ;D ?

And, when I crossed the road ... Because, yeah, well, I was actually walking on the road, since my pathway suddenly stopped at some point ( I must have missed the pedestrians entrance ), whatever, I am on the walking gateway and here ... is the fantastic view.
Okay, the view was materialistic, superficial, but so full of bright colors, and it looked so like a paradise landscape!
Once on the Island, OMG I just could not find my way through the Universal studios (yep, kind of Disneyland ). Asking my way to locals, and none of them, NONE told me the same way. 
A couple. The girl looked very dressed, prepared ,.. Well okay, almost vulgar, with high-heels, skirt, long and skinny legs, big sunglasses, but somehow, I don't know, she seemed fancy, classy to me. They were both tanned, like I would have said from Maghreb or Egypt. And then, they spoke French. I liked the way they looked (x Oh my, I loved them even more xD
And, that was awkward - yet not that much among the rich of Singapore - they were speaking very well, like real good French, no abbreviation, all the correct negations, really good words, a pleasure to talk with them, and they were very nice. Actually - but that is something most of people, even locals do -  they took further time to show me on a map, to try to draw the pathway, to illustrate it, to give as more details for landmarks as possible, eventhough I would have already said « Okay, thank you very much, have a nice day, bye » because, you know, I just don't wanna bother the person too long, anyway they would go on and on, but no one ever took too much of my time, even when I was in a hurry. Everything was good to take, and you better know more that not enough right?
Anyway, I find the train, make sure my destination is on this one - although some folks told me they were not sure I could join my Tanjong Beach club from there, that I should have to take a paying shuttle, whereas my friend told be besides the transportation service you may use to get on the island, the shuttle to the beaches are free, even the train! No way! And, I ask to the officer, and I was riht, never trust a stranger ... Then I get out on "my beach stop", then cannot find the bus station. Pretty well indicated, I figure they are not buses but open-air shuttles. How cool. And the Tanjong Beach Club is still the last stop.... 

What's she saying my friend, telling about the sea water to be dirty, and the swimming pool is better. Well okay the water might be very blue and light, but not clear, more blurred. Anyway, from the first beaches I can see so far, paradise white-sanded beaches with palm trees and traditional huts ( makes me think about the wonderful « Spooky Island » in Scooby Doo, which makes sense since the latter ( = ce dernier ) was fimed at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast in Australia, kind of the same set than Universal studios on Sentosa Right (; ) that make me thin I am on vacation in some Pacific Island, which one again I am.

Okay, honestly, how was the Tanjong Beach Club ? You know those movies, where fancy and lightly dressed gorgeous people are hanging around, some Champagne glass in the hands, on high heels, walking between the swimming pools, while hot and rythmic music is played in background, and other people are playing beach volley, or dancing, or resting on long-chairs while waiters (mostly young locals) literally bow to the customers wishes, at their disposal any time. That looked like some private jet-set party. No but really, like even the people you meet here, are people from prestigious companies or schools, all wealthy, ordering Martinis over Martinis, some chick or dude drunk, but it was not a mess. It was just... wasted, grieving. But cool though d: Okay well, my pictures do not actually so that, but I swear it was like this!

I swam in the sea, with big container ships in the distance, and the water was sooooo hot.       Okay, at some point, it was not that a paradise. The sun was gone. But it was still freaking hot. So weird as sensation : clouds, being in swimsuit, but no wind, and warmth, humid warmth, so it's not getting chilly around you. That was cool (:

Anyway I did not think I could seriously get tanned, like okay I know sun can go through clouds, but still, I did not think I would get SO BAD SUNBURNS. I was red, and could not move my back or arms. It would hurt all the time since I stood up to leave. It actually hurt until Tuesday. 

Now I think I'll use my solar oil xD

At another point, while we were in the swimming pool, it actually started to get chilly ( = il commenca a faire frais ), you know this sensation when you realise you better stay in the water than outside since it is colder when you get out of it - because of temperature difference I guess, when even the outdoor swimming pool water is hotter than the surrounding atmosphere? Well, that was it.

Then we went to some events in Labrador Park, where there were a little outdoor party going on ;D Like we see in the movies once again, near the beach people dancing like in an open-air night club, with food and drinks, and little schaks ( = huttes / cases / cabanes ) like you can find in some « villages vacances ».

Very nice too (:

I went home, walking alone in dark areas by 10:00m, but I was safe. Okay I was still in the city, but still, I really felt comfortable. And I like that when I can feel, you know alive, like you are part of the world, or as Charlie would say, « you are infinite » ( The Perks of Being A Wallflower ) in a big city, walking safely by night. Such a freedom feeling.
The driver was very helpful, because, oh yes, I frgot to tell you about that: in buses, stops are not written, neither announced on some display. Nope. You better know the stops before or after yours before to board ;D Anyway, I basically knew some road names, some stop names, and the pathway, but still, I prefer to ask him to make sure he would stop.
He did not understand me, the way I pronounced « Bukit Batok ». So he kind of asked anyone in the bus could help me. I had the initiative myself to go and asked if he did stop there, and had it confirmed. Then the driver would take a sheet of the stops of his line, and give it to me, while still driving. Once we agreed I sat back. Then a young guy, local as well, asked me if I knew which stop I got out, as I chose to change it actually (x and he told me to make sure the driver knew where I stopped. He showed me the app he used (Mytransport, very convenient) to explain me where we were and stuff. It was kind of weird at the end because I had nothing left to say. I mean we were done with my stop so ... Once I thanked him, I asked about his app, but felt bad for not knowing what to say else. He just stayed next to me, and said me bye when he got out, telling me I am just five stops away. Very nice.
Then the driver made fun about - I think - Singaporeans not knowing their own (once again) and drivers their own line stops. He asked me where I was from, then my name, and as for everyone else I used the trick: think about Dolphin, then Delphine, there you are Bro. He laughed. And he said it was beautiful, but I don't think it was weird, he was just trying to be nice... I guess. Or maybe it was just so late and I was just so tired I did not notice it was inappropriate. He was being friendly, like I would talk with a teenager.

I finally got out, when he showed me the bus stop. Until the very end of the ride, he was upset, not sure if I really knew my way, as I was tling him I was walking to Bukit Panjang ( he was asking me which block I was keaving in Bukit Batok, and he got confused when I told him I was living in BP, maybe he was worried). Anyway, He told me "see you", as if I was any relative (but another woman told that to him before leaving so... And she just said that because she had to figure out what problem had her card with the driver, so I guess you can say very often, casually). And he waved at me. Immediately after that, I regretted not to ask his name. Who knows, I could meet him again in another bus ;D