Right in your own backyard

Having been in Singapore for 10 months now, I feel as though I have a pretty good handle on the country.  I have explored many many sites, celebrations and neighborhoods.

I have also come to accept a few simple truths:

1)  I cannot, and probably will not ever, understand a Singaporean on my "handphone."  I typically pick up about 1 out of every 10 words and let my brain try to string those few words together.  It normally ends up with my reply of "I am sorry but I am not understanding."  It's English....but it's not English.

2)  I am quite comfortable drinking my diet coke out of a cup which hangs in a plastic baggie.

3)  I have painfully accepted the fact that when I want cash, I can ONLY use an ATM from the same bank that issued my Singaporean ATM card.  They don't believe in charging "non-members" a solid $2.50 per transaction...they simply don't allow them access to their cash.

4)  A quart of organic skim milk costs US$8.00.

5)  The only people you see ever walking down the street in workout clothes are Americans (and yes, I am proudly one of them.)

6)  All outdoor sporting activities are at the mercy of the "lightening siren."  The last 5 weeks in a row, our softball practices have been negatively impacted by the "lightening siren."

7)  Radio stations here are amazingly absent.  My choices are "oldies" or "Chinese"....I couldn't tell you a single song in the current top 20.  I LOVE and appreciate my AppleTV - but sadly they have not yet invented a way to link that to my car radio.  I have come to truly appreciate my iPod and the car adaptor!

8)  If you make a purchase in Singapore, you had better plan on keeping it because they rarely do returns here -and if they do, they it make as painful as possible.


HOWEVER....

Every once in awhile something takes me by surprise.

Today we discovered a little bit of what Singapore used to look like.  Keri, Tiffany and I joined a group of women on a trip to "Pulau Ubin" which is a very tiny island off the northeast side of Singapore.  It is swampy, full of mangroves and all kinds of nature.  There is the last surviving Malay village on the island and is inhabited primarily by an older generation.  From what our guide told us (Raj), another of Singapore's islands was taken over by the military and the government moved all of the native residents into high-rise buildings.  He told us most of them did not live long after leaving their life on the island...city life is not for everyone.

The island does not have running potable water and all electricity is solar or generator driven.  There are fishermen and lots of shop owners renting bicycles to "tourists" like us.

Raj...our tour leader

Approaching Pulau Ubin

How would you like one of these dropping on you?  About 5 inches tip of leg to tip of leg!

Fishing boat...or in this case, a giant tub to hold caught crab

All of Singapore used to look like this

Just a little rustic

The land across the water is Malaysia

Although not a difficult bike ride, it was really hot!

Preparations are under way for Veesak Day, which falls tomorrow (May 17th).  This is one of the most important Buddhist holidays...and is a national day off

Filling up at one of our favorties....YUM!

With all of the travel we have done in such a short time - it was a great surprise to find this right here!