Adventure Chronicles™

05.15.01 - A Quick Stop in Singapore
Singapore

We've spent the last two days exploring beautiful Singapore. It is as clean and nice as everyone says, but, for the record, we found a little litter here and there and you don't get arrested for chewing gum. Who told me that?

We ended up making a short transition through Malaysia, and plan to leave Singapore this evening for Bali (Indonesia). Although we've enjoyed visiting Singapore, we find ourselves itching to get back to the islands. We also find ourselves spending too much money in the city (all those Western comforts), so we have to head out before we burn a hole in our budget!

We spent yesterday exploring the city via foot. There is a nice riverfront area with many restaurants and shops called the Boat Quay, which turned out to be a great place to bury my nose in a book while I took a break from Jay (more on that later). It was so nice to see a clean river for a change! We also took in a few of the city's many shopping centers. I splurged on a new bathing suit, but we found that Costco prices match the electronic prices we found, so we held off on the video camera. Had a great dinner by the river and went to another movie. Get this - they have restrooms in the theatre itself, as well as assigned seating.

Today we visited the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, which was a treat for my flower and plant loving self. We enjoyed a peacful walk through the manicured grounds, which reminded me a doll house - everything smaller than usual. There was a beautiful Bonsai garden, filled with trees up to 100 years old, but only a few feet high. My urge to garden was renewed. The architecture of the garden's bridges, pagodas and temples was intricate and graceful. There is something about Chinese and Japanese characters that is subtle, but powerful. You have to appreciate languages where so much can be said with one small symbol.

OK, we have a small confession to make. Although still quite happily married, Jay and I found ourselves very weary of one another upon arrival in Singapore. We took a half-day off yesterday (aka went off in our own directions), which did wonders for both our dispositions. Travel is great, but there are definitely times when it can make you a little crazy, and a lot grumpy. After recalling some of the funny exchanges we've had during the "tense moments", we thought you might find a few amusing as well, so decided to share. Extended travel is a new journey for us as individuals, and for our marriage. :)

After our arrival in Singapore, we were walking in the hot sun looking for a place to stay, and I was feeling more than a little grumpy. I found myself feeling annoyed with everything Jay did and said, but for no particular reason. (OK - the reason being that he threw his "I know what I'm doing, just keep up" face on.) He stopped to wait at a crosswalk and I stopped to wait noticeably far away. He asked why I wasn't standing next to him, and I turned to him, straight faced, and said "because you smell bad" and turned away. He looked a little stunned, but I managed to keep a straight face for several seconds before we both burst out laughing. Another funny one, which I remembered when talking to my good friend Abbey today - remember how I said I had some difficulty on our trek in Nepal? Let me expand on that a little. On Day Two, the day of endless stairs and hills, I was so tired that I was on the verge of losing it. Poor Jay had to go so slow so as not to lose me. He kept getting ahead of me, which pissed me off, so he started walking behind me and letting me set the pace. But that pissed me off too. That didn't really leave him many options, so he tried to make me laugh to take my mind off my fatigue. Bad call on his part. First, he called me "Herbie", which all the graduates from Western's College of Business & Economics will recognize. Basically, "Herbie" is a description for the bottleneck in a factory. The slowest piece of equipment, around which everything else should be based. When that didn't bring about any smiles, Jay started to make the "Ye-hah" sound that the Nepalese men made behind the cows when they didn't want to go up the path. Normally, I can laugh at myself and would have given in to his humor, but at this particular point, the tears started to roll and I think I told him I hated him, but I'm not sure if I said it out loud. Then I sat down and told him I couldn't keep going, like sleeping on the path was an option. The whole day makes me laugh now, and Jay still shakes his head at the "range of my emotions".

Want to contact Jay and Lisa?

william.gibson@airtreks.com