Part 1
I started writing this 2023 travel blog during Chinese(or Lunar) New Year. Andrew. I will be in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam for the next two and one half months. This is the longest that I have been out of the United States since 1970 when Paulette and I spent the summer in Europe.
We are in Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year for the first time in four years before the Covid 19 pandemic began. While some restrictions still are in place we can now come comfortably without the threat of quarantine. Chinese New Year is a fourteen day observance of the new year’s holiday. Andrew is regularly keeping his mother company so his sister and niece can go on to family celebrations. While our reunion has been joyous it is also part of Andrew’s responsibility to attend to his mother. Each of us responds to the needs our mothers differently but in the Chinese culture care of the elderly is an important family responsibility. Andrew’s sister’s condo in Tampines will be our home base until we leave on March 28.
Like the USA tradition of turkey at Thanksgiving the Chinese have food traditions. We have attended two great family feasts where many traditional dishes have been served. Our first night was a dinner with Andrew’s mother, brother and sister and their families. We started our meal with a salad called a Yusheng. The ingredients are vegetables, fruit, honey and other flavors mixed together by the entire group who lifts the shredded vegetables high in the air and drop them back on the platter below. This is repeated with Chinese words and phrases until the dish is thoroughly mixed. There were multiple other meat and vegetable dishes which are traditionally served for the new year.
The second feast took place at Andrew’s cousin’s beautiful condo on the west side of Singapore. The feast was for the extended family of Andrew’s uncles, aunts, cousins, children and spouses. The picture gives you an idea of the size of the group. All but a few live and work in Singapore. There are fewer than twenty relatives who live around the world who didn’t attend.
Things began to return to normal as the the last day of the celebration approaches. Stores are reopening and markets are restocked. I shopped for our dinner in one of the many ethic grocery stores – Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Vietnamese. It did not take much for me to resist McDonalds, Popeyes and KFC all present here.
When Andrew is with his mother I am on my own to refresh my memory of the Singapore public transit systen. It has to be the best system of buses and subways in the world. The efficiency and cleanliness(there is no graffiti) is unmatched in any other city that I have traveled to.( I have been in 92 of the 100 biggest cities in the world not counting China. China has twenty cities with over 20 million people each. I have only been in four of those cities.)
Even though there is a wonderful mass transit system Singporeans still love their cars. On this island nation of 281 Sq. Miles(about the size of New York City) there are over 500,000 automobiles and almost a million vehicles. Owning an automobile like a 2022 Mercedes C Class will cost more that $200,000 including the government issued permit to own the car. A four year old pre-owned car will cost over $180,000. I can’t imagine paying that much for a car that drives in such a confined area.
With Chinese New Year celebrations over the food concessions have reopened. There is every conceivable type of food available in multiple locations throughout the city. Because of the ethic diversity of the city food from every region of China, Malaysia and India are easy to find. Food from Vietnam, Thailand and the west will take you a little longer. Because of the hot, humid temperature most of the year Singaporeans do not cook at home and buy-out often delivered by a Grub-Hub type service.
The diversity of food is understandable but the sheer number of food vendors is almost impossible to calculate. There are literally hundreds of shopping centers and hawker centers with food. Singapore may be known worldwide for its cleanliness and efficiency but I think it is the abundance of food choices that set Singapore apart. I have chosen to show only one food vendor sign and location in The Hub near Andrew’s sister’s condo.
There are fifty different food vendors in this one location. This scene is repeated in Singapore at hundreds of different locations. The amazing fact is few Chinese are overweight and, in fact, many appear skinny. By contrast the Malay citizens are more full figured but would not be considered overweight. I don’t understand how they can eat so much as stay so slim. We will see if it works for me at the end of our two month stay.
When you leave home there is always some uncertainty when you travel. I selected the title Asian Adventure before I started writing this blog. Our trip to Singapore required three flights before reaching our destination. Our flight from Miami to Chicago was on time however our flight to San Francisco was five hours late. Therefore we missed our third flight. We were successfully booked on the next plane which was twelve hours later. We were provided accommodations and food vouchers. We were told not to worry about our luggage because it would be on the plane with us.
We inquired of the agent at check-in to make sure our luggage was on the plane. She assured us it was but, in fact, it wasn’t. When we arrived seventeen hours later our luggage was not on the plane. In Singapore we filed a missing luggage claim and only then were told the airline would only load our luggage after the claim was filed. Our luggage arrived damaged two days later. We filed another claim and received reimbursement. Both of us had anticipated the problem and brought a change of clothes but had to acquire new toilettes which were not provided by the airline. I suggest always be prepared.
The second occurrence relates to immigration in Singapore which is notoriously strict. Andrew thought he had read all the new rules which included electronically filling out an entry form. Singapore in the last four years has gone digital with entry which we filled out on laptops provided at the airport. The form was complicated and required information personal data, plans during our stay, health and much more. Both of us were required to fill it out. We were told by the immigration agent the form needed to be filled out only once.
That was true for Andrew but not for non-Singaporean nationals. On our tenth day of our trip we went with friends Eric and Ser Haut to Johor Barhu, Malaysia which is across the causeway from Singapore for authentic Malay food and site seeing. However, when returning to Singapore I waited in line for an hour to show my completed form on my cell phone I was told I had to fill out a new form on my cell phone since foreign nationals have to fill one our every time they enter Singapore.
Andrew had already successfully gone through immigration leaving me to find an immigration officer to help me fill out another form on my old cell phone. Thankfully, the officer was helpful or I might still be in Malaysia. Unfortunately, there was no going to the head of the line so I waited another hour in line before being able to successfully enter Singapore.
The lesson learned is read the small print provided by the airline and the country you are entering. It was easy when we went to Mexico last month and an unnecessarily complicated process to enter Singapore.
I wrote these paragraphs to remind everyone that international travel is not like traveling in the United States. In short “Read the small print.” It is a new week and with Chinese New Year celebrations over I am into my routine of walking, swimming, shopping and eating. I will end Part One of Asian Adventure here. We leave for an extended time in Malaysia on Valentines Day. I will pick up my story in Malaysia.
lloydchengtrip 