Weekend

Our first weekend in Singapore! Saterday morning, we went to Little India. This is a section of town that, as you might expect, is inhabited by many Indian people. Basically, it’s a little Indian town in Singapore with lots of Indian businesses/shops, food stalls/restaurants, and religious places (mainly Hindu and Buddhist). Amanda had been there before so she knew where to go. This way, we could see a lot of the temples and the market efficiently. It’s interesting to see how serious people take the Hindu rituals in the temples. The temples are really colorful and full of gods. In every temple, a few gods have their own private place with their own servant. The servant takes peoples money/offerings and performs whatever rituals are necessary. Often people walk around the god a number of times. It’s almost like the obligatory catholic hail mary’s J
The Buddhist are a little calmer, they light incense mostly. They also offer ‘gifts’ (candy mostly) to the Buddha which seems weird since you are supposed to get rid of all earthly attachments. Interesting stuff.

After the temples, we went to a mall where I bought a new watch. The brand is Titan which is the 5th watchmaker in the world and India’s largest. I think it was founded by the Tata group (the imperium of one of India’s richest families). It’s a pretty cool brand with good designs and decent prices. So I am contend J

After some souvenir shopping, we went back to the apartment building to hang around the pool. I have been reading the book about ABN AMRO’s demise. It’s very interesting how corporate politics works but scary at the same time. Big ego’s and other inter-personal factors in management really determine the company. It always makes me wonder how and what I would do in such a situation. Would I want to play those games?

Sunday, we went to church, the same church as last week. We met up with Elain and her friends again (who I met last week). After church, we had lunch again which was nice. I think we will start hanging out with these people more during the week. That’d be nice because I’ll be here alone after Amanda leaves and I don’t like spending weekends alone! After church I got sick. I felt dizzy, weak and I couldn't eat. After an afternoon in bed and a get nights rest, the flu seems to have gone. Lucky me. It's probably a transitional thing...

Next weekend is Chinese new year. I have Monday and Tuesday off. Maybe we’ll make a trip or something but we really do want to see the Chinese firework and the new year’s parade!