October 20, 2006:
Chinatown in Sinapore
Not many of my friends at home in the US have the opportunity to live and
work in another culture. We have been richly blessed with cultural
adventures in the USSR / Russia, Egypt, Nepal, India, Greece and now
Singapore. It is time to share some of our cultural adventures,
and for Joshua, Semantha and Stephanie - here is your first installment
in Culture 101.
On Friday nights, Ellen and I meet about 7 or 7:30 for a small church service.
Chinatown is only a short walk from my office - about 2 km - but the color,
people and entertainment is worth twice the walk. Tonight I had to get
a few photos enlarged and found a shop that would do it in 20 min. So what to
do for 20 min. I wandered around the Chinatown MRT (subway) station where
the evening entertainment was just starting.
Here, there is a quartet in the left corner and a juggler in the middle
A quartet with 2 Erhu, Harmonica and Pipa (I think - sort of like a lute).
another view
If you want a tasty treat - Chinatown is the place to be
Fresh fruit and spring rolls in addition to usual soups, noodles and
stuff
But the ensemble simply captured my interest
as did the juggler. Here he is playing the harmonica, dancing and
juggling all at the same time
another view
Evening traffic - a perfect opportunity to test my new camera next week
Across the pedestrian overpass is an alley filled with wall-to-wall markets
another view
Next week - maybe a better presentation and who knows what we'll find.
