2009 New Year in Singapore

So I spent a few days in Singapore to pass the new year. This was my first time, and I'm glad to have also met up with friends of friends and my housemate Jloh and her family. This picture is with the "durian dome." Doesn't it look like a huge durian?
The diverse cultures that makes Singapore special was really something for such a small place. Although the majority of people are from Chinese backgrounds, they really try not to give preference to one ethnic group or language. I like to navigate the diversity through sacred spaces and, of course, food!
Here is a Chinese temple, and the rubbing of the belly of a Bodhisattva for good luck. Naturally, with the coming new year, the temples were crazy full of people praying, giving offerings, and burning incense.

This is a statue of the Hindu God/dess Kali in little India doing her destroyer thing.
The little place I stayed in was a family owned spot (they were so warm!) near Bugis station in the Malay-Muslim side of town. Right down the street was this beautiful mosque (below).

There seems to be two big things to do in Singapore: eat and shop. Now every big city has a variety of food choices. But compared to other cities in the region, Singapore excels and is unique for the restaurants and food joints that specialize in and master a specific dish. And locals go out to the many restaurants and eateries to eat a particular dish or two. It goes something like: "We'll go to this place in Chinatown for the best chicken rice," and "To this noodle stand for the best seafood soup," "let's go to Zam Zam's for the best moktabar and biryani." (Which was fortunately right in my neighborhood so I went twice. As for the chicken rice, I tried a few pieces, the best I could do, and yes, it was amazing! I decided to emphasize the 'flexible' in my flexitarianism and be let by locals for this trip. Below are JLoh's pics of Zam Zam's biryani, and Chinese rice chicken, veggies and sauces.)

As for the second big pastime, shopping, well, I'm not a big fan! That IS a problem, since there are more malls and shopping centers crammed into the city than you can imagine. Really. Malls in the lobbies of hotels, malls in the subway, malls every other building! And all as air-conditioned and as interconnected as possible, which after three days made things feel artificial.

I should mention that I was starved for art so Jloh and I went to some decent museums. Notable was a powerful and sober photo commentary by Chien-Chi Chang. One part documented the explosion of 'buying' brides through marriages of Taiwanese men and Vietnamese women. Others included looking at migrant workers in Chinatown New York.

Luckily, the crowds and shopping centered-ness didn't burned me out until just before I left for the airport, so the trip was really fun, and its always nice to meet new people.
Happy New Year to all. Bring in the Year of the Ox!

Christmas in Phang Nga

My mom, step-dad and I spend the Christmas holidays in Phang Nga bay area and Phuket on the Andaman Sea of Thailand. Phuket was ok, a few nice beaches, very developed and all that; but it was mostly a way for me to get to Phang Nga province and visit some of the gorgeous national parks and hang out in the many mostly Muslim fishing villages and islands.
And to kayak! through the many beautiful collapsed limestone caves. You have to basically lay down to get under some of the small entrances, and you can only do it at the low tide point of the day, but its really a great experience. Above we explore one of the caves. From pictures I've seem of Halong Bay in Vietnam, Ao Phang Nga is Thailand's equivalent with hundreds of limestone islands and formations jutting out of the emerald colored sea. It also has many species of birds, plants, mangroves, and coral formations.
I would definitely recommend a few days, a few weeks if possible, in Phang Nga province. I noticed that there was some boats that take people on day trips from Phuket going just to the Phang Nga park, but it is not worth it; plus the bay is too shallow for them to get into the more interesting parts of the park like the mangrove canals and to get good kayaking in. These two pics are the views from our balcony. Needless to say, I keep the curtains open to watch the sun set and rise.

These are some views from the bay of islands and caves - some of the caves contained ancient paintings.

The people that live in and around the national park are ethnically Javanese or Malay of Islamic faith that migrated to the area as much as two centuries ago. As was the case on the island of Panyi where we stayed for a night (below).

The first thing my mother when we arrived at Ko Phanyi was that it was reminiscent of where we're from, Bonnaca Cay on the Bay Islands of Honduras ... a small Cay with many of the houses on stilts and connected by bridges. Yes, mom! I was a bit homesick and that was part of the point :)

The mosque in the center of Panyi above is one among the many cute and brightly painted ones around Phuket and Phang Nga provinces, familiar sights in the south of Thailand where Islam has a strong presence. Everywhere we stayed on this trip (even when in Singapore for the new year) was within a block of a local mosque. So we could enjoy the solemn yet beautiful Call to Prayer alerting us to new morning, greeting us throughout the day, and welcoming the evenings. Listen to one call to prayer here:

[Listening may require Quicktime plug-in and settings]