Hopping Around the Island on Easter Weekend

This was my first holiday in Singapore - not counting St. Patrick's Day - and thanks to Sue and Carmen DeVito's invitation to dinner, I felt right at home.  Well, except for the fact that I'm halfway around the world and none of my own family was there.  Honestly, I can't thank Sue and Carmen enough for welcoming me into their home.  It was a really great way to close out a weekend that had me all over the small island of Singapore.

Easter in Singapore isn't all that different from the US, except that very few things are actually closed completely.  The diversity of religions is evident and nearly all stores, restaurants, etc. operate just like any other day.  And because there is a pretty large population of American and European expats, the grocery stores have a small selection of the Easter candy you'd find at any local US store. 

What was surprising to me was the number of places, namely the large malls, where special activities were available for kids to color Easter eggs and make Easter related crafts.  No Easter bunny photo ops, however, otherwise the photo to the right would have been much more entertaining.

In addition to Easter dinner with the DeVito's, I spent the weekend preparing a few things for my trip back to the US and the arrival of Jennifer and the kids.  I know that seems a little crazy, considering it's more than two weeks away, but my workload the next two weeks is worse than usual, including four days in Manila the week of April 16.  It won't be very exciting for any of you to hear the details, but one task I was happy to cross off the list was figuring out how to get dehumidifiers to run while I'm away.  Not very exciting, but required considering the 99% humidity every day - otherwise, we'd come back to a home full of mildew.

Aside from that, I did get to see some new parts of the island.  Here are a few highlights from two of my "adventures"....Mustafa Centre and the Handa Singapore Classic.

Mustafa Centre in Little India:

I have to apologize that I don't have any of my own pictures from this trip, but honestly, pictures can't adequately show what this place is like.  Here's one I found online.... but really, it doesn't do this place justice:

In general, Singapore is very organized, structured, and controlled.  (see my "following the rules" post).  You can throw all of that out the window when you're in Little India where there's little rhyme or reason to anything.  No place is this more evident than Mustafa Centre, the largest shopping mall in this part of town.

I don't know if I would call it a mall - rather - it's one giant store spanning the equivalent of the inventory of Walmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, Barnes and Noble, Dicks Sporting Goods, and a grocery store.  The crazy thing about this place is that it is five floors tall, but not near large enough to fit all the stuff offered for sale.  There's everything from furniture, DVDs, health and beauty supplies, traditional Indian clothing, souvenirs, sporting goods, a custom tailor, jewelry, and a full grocery store.   And that's just scratching the surface.  But that's not what makes it odd......what makes it odd is that you'll find a $7500 Tag Heuer watch in a display case next to a shelving unit full of DVDs, spray deodorant and 25 pound bags of rice.  There's basically no logic to what is where, which is what adds to the "fun" of shopping at Mustafa's.   Oh - and it's hot, kind of dirty, crowded, and the aisles are at most 3 feet wide, so you practically have to walk sideways through the store -which is what makes it not fun to shop at Mustafa's.

It's just madness, and something you have to see to fully comprehend...which you will if you come visit!

Handa Singapore Classic:

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the Orchid Country Club, where I enjoyed a few hours watching the Asian Golf Tour play the 3rd round of the Handa Singapore Classic.  A co-worker offered me tickets, so I decided I would check it out.  Not quite the Masters, but I didn't complain about a nice afternoon of walking around a beautiful golf course and seeing some pretty good golf.

Located about 30 minutes away from home, I got a glimpse of the northern end of Singapore, where you really see the tropical rain forest that Singapore was built upon.  It's very green, very wet, and there's a lot of open space.

There are two things you'll probably note in these pictures from the course.

1)  There's little to any crowd attending the tournament. 
2)  This beautiful country club, like most others in Singapore, has lights on every hole!  Apparently members take advantage of early morning and late evening golf when the temperature is much cooler.

What you can't see from the pictures is just how accessible the players are.  In fact, when I arrived at the course, I was directed to walk down a set of  steps where I found the players locker room and about 40 players enjoying lunch with their families on the outdoor patio.  Bags of clubs were set right next to the tables and caddies mingled with each other before heading to the practice range with their players (to hit off the artificial grass matts).  Bottom line - a very different experience than what I have witnessed at the PGA, US Open, etc. in the United States - but the golf was pretty good overall and it made for an enjoyable day.

So, that's another weekend for me in Singapore.  Tomorrow, I'm back to the office and continuing the countdown (now only 17 days until I'm back in the US to see family and friends).  I hope you all enjoyed a good Easter and I look forward to seeing you all soon.