Sinapore Friends and parties

01/13, Friday
We walked around Malacca a bit before going to the bus station and checked out the progress on a gigantic dragon that is going up by the river and go to a historical museum. It was built in the 1600's as the governors home and town hall. It is a very large, striking building and stands out since it is deep pink in color and a market area surrounds it.

It will be crowded this week-end for Chinese New Year. We also take a trishaw ride back to our hotel, but we ask not to have the boom box blaring. They seem to compete and the noise level can be deafening. They are all colorfully decorated and the whole square is lively and picturesque.

Traffic on Friday evening in Singapore is like all big cities...bumper-to-bumper and slow. Our return bus takes 5 hours.

John and Yuko have dinner plans for all of us at a friendly family-style place as soon as we are off the bus. It features Indian food that was very good. There was a play spot for kids so the girls were busy. The area is always crowded and takes people watching to a whole new level. We will probably try taking the girls there when John and Yuko are gone, since it is walkable and they like it. Ordering Indian food might be tricky since we always leave that to Yuko and John.

John has to leave tonight for a week's trip to Hawaii via Tokyo. His flight leaves at 11:45pm, arriving Tokyo at 6:45am, a long layover there, not arriving in Waikiki until late Saturday (loosing a day).

01/14, Saturday
Emma has a tennis lesson at 10:00am, after which we play two sets of Scotch Doubles and jump in the pool to cool off.

Andy and Claire have invited us to their home for outdoor grilling. They live in old government lodging known as "black and white" houses. John and Yuko lived in a similar home 14 years ago which we had never seen. Today we got to see it on our way to the grill-out. These homes were used for military families in the 1940s. Judging from the interior of Andy and Claire's, they were/are very comfortable. They incorporate a courtyard for outdoor activities including showering and cooking.

As always, we enjoyed meeting new friends in the group...Sebastian, Peter, Bruce, Mo, Michael, Carolyn, Pang, Lumoi, Ravi, Kai, and their various children...Adain, Jo, Michael...and several others whose names I can't remember. Their layout is perfect for a gathering and everyone enjoyed themselves. Lots and lots of food. Dick and I brought apple crisp which seemed to be a hit.

01/15, Sunday
Tennis morning and biking afternoon. Again went to the water on the East Coast and rented bikes, but went in a different direction. Stopped for some cooling milk ice with mangoes that was tasty. Always a pretty sight to watch the many large boats coming into the harbor. Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world.