Paulie's birthday and Around the world in a day!

Paulie's birthday photo, Singapore

 March 7

Today is Paulie’s birthday and we are letting him call most of the shots.  We get up and have our breakfast and are not in too much of a hurry to get going, but finally get out the door around 11:00.  We start by going to Chinatown and enjoy all of the sights and sounds that go along with it.  A tailor offers to make Paulie a suit that very day out of the finest cashmere or linen….previous customers include Donald Rumsfeld and President Bill Clinton…..only problem is Paulie doesn’t wear suits….so that is a no-go!  We continue on our way and come upon a Hindu temple called the Sri Mariamman Temple.  It is beautifully adorned with all of the colorful carvings of gods and spirits that typify the Hindu religion.  Paulie gives us a brief lesson on some of the better known gods and their powers before we all are wilted and ready to move on.  Once again in search of food, we find an upstairs food court and enjoy a nice Chinese meal.  Afterward, we head back toward the waterfront to the Colonial part of town.  We enjoy a leisurely walk along the Singapore River and spy another Lamborghini – this one is

Sri Mariamman Temple,Singapore

lime green.  We check out the machinery and then walk across the bridge to the Asian Civilizations Museum.  As it is starting to rain, this is the perfect escape to keep us dry and occupied.  Plus, the exhibits are really interesting.  One of the first ones is an exhibit of artifacts that were found in the waters off the coast of Singapore in 1998 and included over 60,000 items of pottery from the ninth

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century.  Mostly Chinese pottery, there were also items of gold and wonderful examples of the prized and most highly sophisticated pottery of that time period.  We walk through the museum and once we leave we continue along the waterway in search of “high tea” British style.  We think we have found it when we sit down at a restaurant and are then brought some Chinese bowls of green tea…..not what we had in mind.  We excuse ourselves and continue on our way, observing some of the most unusual sea life in aquariums outside of the harbor restaurants.  We saw the most enormous lobsters and crabs that I have ever seen.  These creatures must weigh about 20 pounds and I am sure come with a pretty heavy price tag as well.  We  have decided to head into the belly of the beast of consumerism just to have a look….aka Orchard Road.  This street alone evokes notions of shopping heaven or hell….depending on your outlook and we must experience for ourselves in order to decide which one.  We make our way through the endless tunnels of the MRT and come out at the desired destination.  Wow….we cannot even figure out where to start.  We make a meek attempt to find a bookstore and then we are defeated by the retail demons and return to the safety of our underground lair….oh well….at least we know what it looks like J Now we are off to conquer the Arab quarter and hop a train back to Bugis station from where we can easily walk to Arab Street.  Along the way we encounter an amazing brickabrack shop and we enjoy rummaging around through the items while Paulie extracts directions from the owner as to where to go in the quarter.  We follow our instructions and find ourselves squarely in the middle of the middle east.  First stop, a perfumerie that sells essential oils and perfumes….Paulie picks up a small birthday gift of Classic

Sultan Mosque, Arab Quarter, Singapore

Jasmin and Citrus oils with which to anoint himself!  We walk along and finally discover a tea house….turkish style not British though.  This is a nice respite for our tired and aching legs.  We linger over tea and then conclude it is probably time for dinner anyway….just as we are walking away we spy two gorgeous Maseratis and then a bright yellow Bentley…..must be a lot of money in Turkish rugs, eh?  We eat dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in the plaza that houses the Sultan Mosque which is beautifully lit for the evening.  We only finish dinner around 9:30 and try to locate the best way to return to our hotel.  We walk a long way to find a bus and then get dropped off a ways from our entrance.  Once back there, we get our things packed up because we are leaving tomorrow to Bali.