It rained again on Sunday in Singapore. However, for the most part we found ways to work around it and enjoy some activities without getting wet. Our day started by going to church. The service we planned to attend didn’t start until 11:30 so it was not an early start. On our walk to the MRT station, we were glad to avoid any rain. We got off at a different station to go to the church. It surprised me to see how busy and crowded this station was. One different thing we noted was some of the women wearing dresses that seemed to have an ethnic influence. More on that later.
St. Andrew’s Cathedral is an Episcopal church. They are a large church which offers three services in English. The one we visited was well attended. The service was a very traditional and liturgical service. The congregation sang in a chant form many of the scripture passages used. It was hard to figure out where the words went. I thought the young pastor’s message on God as a judge was quite sound.
After the service a woman from the welcoming committee came and talked to us. She was very friendly and asked what we thought of the service. I told her I struggled with the words of the music. She said many people did so I shouldn’t feel alone. We mentioned the large crowds in the subway station, and she said it was related to the fact that it was a Sunday. This day is the typical day off for domestic workers in the city, and they will come down and meet in the area with their friends.
We didn’t want to just go back to the hotel after church. I wanted some different photos of the church exterior, but it was raining pretty heavily when the service was over. We were able to walk through the transit station to get to a nearby mall so we did that to wait out the rain. We wandered the mall some then stopped at Starbucks and sat there a while. Later we wandered some more as it was still raining. The mall had some very expensive looking restaurants we could look down upon.
Eventually the rain stopped. We left the mall through a different door and ended up somewhat lost. As we walked around, we did encounter a beautiful old Catholic Church building which had been converted to an event center. This was the place for the young women to come and take photos of themselves and their friends. We passed by some other buildings that had some interesting architecture as well. Being lost often offers some unexpected experiences.
As we walked back toward St Andrew’s Cathedral, we passed a number of places where large groups of young people sat in covered corridors with blankets spread out for food. All the groups were having a good time. Some were even singing. It was amazing all the young people that were out.
We saw quite a few of the women in these ethnic looking dresses which were unusual. They had strings hanging from them and sometimes small pompoms. (see the second photo below) I finally approached a young woman dressed in this style and asked her about the dresses. She said that the people were from Myanmar. Their ethnic group is Karen. She told us the reason all the people were out this day wearing their native clothes and flag stickers on their faces was because it was their New Year’s celebration. I later learned they follow a lunar calendar, and the new year can be a different date each year.
The story of the Karen people is rather sad. When Myanmar (Burma) achieved independence from the British, the Karen people hoped to have their own country. Unfortunately that did not happen. The Burmese majority have treated the Karen unfairly so that many have left Myanmar and gone to Thailand. There they are living in refugee camps along the border. The conflict has gone on for some time. I am not sure how these young people came to Singapore. However I would say their lives are probably better than those who are stuck in the refugee camps in Thailand.
Despite the crowds of people, I managed to get the desired photos of the cathedral. With that mission accomplished we were ready to go back to the hotel. However, first we needed to get dinner. A Thai friend of mine back home told me about a special chicken dish in Singapore we needed to try. I didn’t remember the name of it, but there was a chicken place in the food court at the mall so we went back and got some to take with us. Then we got on the crowded light rail and returned to our hotel with only a few sprinkles along the way. We enjoyed the chicken dinner in our room that evening.
We were up early the next morning to catch our flight back home. Our quick taxi ride gave us plenty of time at the airport. Many consider the Singapore Airport one of the best in the world. It is a huge airport and has some pretty interesting features. We didn’t see some of the more famous attractions such as the huge waterfall, but we did see a few sites. The more interesting one was an interactive area with plants and a pond. Of particular interest was the area over the pond which had a whole action movie going on. The movie showed what swimmers might see if they were underwater looking up at the water surface.
Silvette took a video of the entire program which is around four minutes. Below is a short exert to give you an idea of what it is like. Remember this is on the ceiling.
Another display celebrated those orchids we had see so much of in the Cloud Forest along with some other flowers.
We had entered the airport with minimum security which surprised us. It turns out one goes through the main security check at the gate. An X-ray machine is at each gate. Once passengers are through security, they are in a separate room and no longer able to wander the airport unless they want to go through the security again.
Our flight home took us through San Francisco. It was a 14 hour flight, but it wasn’t too bad. Our layover in San Francisco was short after we went through immigration. However, by the time we reached Seattle, we had been up a very long time and were ready to be home.
Our time in Singapore was a bit of a disappointment mostly because the rain kept us from doing some of the things we wanted to do, and my bum knee didn’t help. However, we did manage to get a taste of what life is like in this city/country, and whenever we get an understanding of culture, we grow as human beings. Our entire journey in Southeast Asia has provided us with some interesting insights and understanding of this part of the world. I don’t know if we will ever make it back to this area, but we did enjoy our time there.
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Credit: Photo of me taking a photo taken by Silvette Lee. Video also by Silvette Lee