Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Well, Chinese New Year came and went in Singapore. You know, when I realized I would be here for it, I was excited. I figured it would be pretty huge. And it was, I guess.... decorations were everywhere, and it felt pretty festive. But when it was winding down, I felt like I hadn't really taken full advantage of it. I missed the parade, unfortunately.... my fault, I never found out where it would be. And while I saw a few lion dances, I neglected to take any video of them. So I'm afraid my New Years post is a little like my New Years experience.... underwhelming.

So, wheeee, with that kind of intro, enjoy!

Red and gold everywhere.

Okay.... I think this is supposed to be the God of Wealth, Kuan Yu. Apparently he is recognizable by his red face and long black beard. But the internet hive-mind says that he normally wears green, so I don't know for sure. Someone feel free to set me straight on this if I got it wrong. Sideways was no help, he is Quaker.

For New Years dinner, my co-expat Eric and I decided to cook. We made the traditional food of Chinese New Year: fajitas.

Poor planning in action! Turns out unripe avocados are about as tasty as a bar of soap. We should have bought them days earlier. So our fajitas were, sadly, sin guacamole.

The Lion Dancers were plentiful in the two weeks following New Years. Crews of them travel around in little trucks, systematically blessing businesses with their dances. Here they are blessing, uh, a sports bar across from my house.

Fort Canning Park #3

So, I only split the Fort Canning stuff up because I guess Blogspot limits each post to five photos. So my apologies.... that means when I start doing more interesting things that require more than five photos, there will be more of these serial posts.

Fort Canning also contains the house of Sir Stamford Raffles of the East India Trading Company, the founder of modern Singapore. Unsurprisingly, Raffles' name is all over everything here. There's a hotel, a shopping center, and lots of other places. When I first arrived here, I saw the "Raffles Center" and assumed it was some sort of arcade or something. Makes sense, right? Ah well.

This cemetery was the populated by members of the Singapore governmental offices from the 1800's, some local, some foreign. I always enjoy cemeteries, so I lingered here a bit reading the headstones. And hey, I didn't even take any photos of toy robots on the graves! See? Respectful.

This was kinda interesting. There used to be a much larger cemetery on the Fort Canning grounds, but its occupants were relocated (I'm assuming to reclaim the open space). Many of the tombstones weren't relocated with the graves, but were instead built into this wall.

It's sort of like the opposite of Poltergeist. They moved the bodies, but not the headstones! Didn't ya! You only moved the bodies!!!

For the record, I don't think Fort Canning has poltergeists.

Fort Canning Park #2

Fort Canning has some fortifications, including this cannon.... but it has never been fired in aggression, only to signify special occasions.

Sideways feels like a man.

There were a couple of pieces of art from a wood-carving competition, including this giant plug. I'm embarrassed to say that it took me a good thirty seconds to realize it was a plug. I really gotta get out of the U.S. more.

This one was easier to figure out. I like that the baby is wearing a swim cap.

Fort Canning Park #1

Walking around the city I sort of stumbled on Fort Canning Park, which actually ended up being someplace noteworthy! Mostly I was drawn to it because it was a patch of green, and I at the time I was getting tired of sidewalks and buildings. Since then I've realized that Singapore is actually pretty green and lush, despite its thick protective coating of shopping malls.

Fort Canning is on a hill, and apparently this hill was a popular spot for past rulers of Singapore to set up shop. The original Malay settlers put their temples and tombs here, the Chinese immigrants set up trading posts, the English colonists built fortifications... even the Decepticon conquest that Sideways assures me is coming have their eyes on it for a possible protoform daycare center.

Nowadays they have things like music festival, art shows, and other cultural events here. But it was pretty quiet and peaceful when I was there. Well, except for the truck that almost ran me over on the road pictured below. The truck is not pictured, as I was too busy not getting run over.

By the way, Sideways IS in this photo. Can you find him? It's not easy.... he is a robot in disguise, after all.

"Where do these steps go?"

"They go up."

Incidentally, I've heard that quoting movies makes you super cool.

I guess Fort Canning underwent a big renovation around 2001. One of the things they did was to re-create a small part of the big spice garden that once sprawled across the grounds and included occupants like this cinnamon tree. I'm not sure why they built the tiny action figure hot tubs. I mean, Singapore is already pretty hot.

During the renovation they opened this archeological dig site, in which they are excavating some ruins from colonial times. They also had a neat, very interesting timeline on the wall showing the history of the settlement of Singapore.

Sadly, no mummies or dinosaurs. I'm not sure I can fully endorse any archeological dig that doesn't unearth mummies or dinosaurs, but they did have some old Chinese coins. I guess you could use them to BUY a mummy.

Random Street Shots

Just a few more random shots from the streets. Sideways enjoys the streets, as he is a car.

Sideways enjoys some red bean coffee.... that is, coffee mixed with azuki beans. I think he enjoyed it more than I did; I like azuki beans, but I've decided they don't really complement coffee.

Sideways laughs at pathetic flesh creatures turned to stone!

Singapore begins construction of its first Star Destroyer.

A life-sized Lego minifig on security detail for a shopping center. As a Lego collector, I find this to be one of the most confusing and troubling things I've ever seen.

Jesus Christ, there's another one! That's it, I'm outta here.... see you in the next post....

Clarke Quay

After the employment pass stuff, I wandered over to Clarke Quay, a restaurant/entertainment complex. It's right next to the Singapore River, which makes for some pleasant settings. However, it turns out that noon on a Saturday is NOT the time to be here. As best as I can tell from my short time here, Singapore does not seem like a country of early risers. Clarke Quay was dead, dead, dead: barely any restaurants open, and no more than a couple dozen people meandering around. Still, it was really nice out, and I enjoyed just leisurely walking around.

Look at this! Noon on a Saturday! Where the heck are all the people?

It was so deserted I didn't even feel weird taking pictures of Sideways. Here he is by the Singapore River.

So I guess I'm dumb, but I always thought "quay" was pronounced "kway." But everyone here pronounces this "kee." Like "Clarke Kee." I suppose maybe both are acceptable? I don't know. I haven't been around a lot of quays.

Ah, the beauty and exoticism of the Far East... the colorful riverboats festooned with cherry blossoms for Chinese New Ye-- wait, is that a Hooters?

There weren't many restaurants open to choose from, this chicken curry hit the spot for lunch.

Anyway, I think I'll come back to Clarke Quay in the evening sometime... maybe it'll be a bit more lively. Wait a second, why would I do that? I don't like people. Never mind.

Employment Pass

The Employment Pass place finally opened, so in I went. I guess I need an Employment Pass to do things like open a bank account, so it's important I get one. While I didn't take any photos inside, the Employment Pass Office was quite nice and pleasant. I was expecting something like the DMV, but it was more like a nice bank with comfy chairs and a good view.

This was on display on the way to the office. What the hell is this? I guess the Singapore armed forces employ pumas.

Sideways was not only ineligible for an employment pass, but as an illegal alien he thought it best to remain in disguise. Hey, here's a fun tip: if you want to get weird looks from people, fiddling with a Transformer in the middle of a government office is a great way to do it!