Anyway, I woke up around 7:00 am, but didn't want to disturb anyone, so I allowed myself to drift back into a nap-like state. Around 10:00 I decided that I was not going to get on with my day. Charlie was bouncing about as the women of the program were rushing him and several others off to Sentosa Island. I decided that would make a good trip, as I really wanted to get some good sun and everything else was closed today. Afterwards, I would go to the Buddha Relic Tooth and Museum Temple around 5:00 to meet up with my professor and then go onto dinner with a number of UVA alums.
Sentosa is basically the tourist trap for Singapore. The port was basically founded on business, so attempting to discover fun has been something new to them. They mention that their pastimes here are eating and shopping, which is likely true. The different cultures keep a number of their own practices and many people have complained about the lack of a "culture" here, but after scratching a bit further down, there is a certain vibrancy to Singapore.
Anyway, back on the story. Sentosa is a major tourist trap, and entire island raised from the sea only to trap tourists. The beaches were pleasant and wonderfully artificial, along with a number of things to do along the beach itself. There were artificial wave and surfing areas, along with over-priced alcohol (the excise taxes are enormous here). It's great for me, as since the East India Trading Company has long lost its monopoly, have all the tea that I want, but the smokers and drinkers complain about the ability to get only a light buzz. Apparently, never learning social skills hurts when you don't have -OH bonds running through your system.
The Actual Trip to Sentosa
I ended up going out to Sentosa with Justin and Dave. It was the first time spending any appreciable time with Dave, and it was very pleasant. He's got a great sense of humor. I called a taxi that arrived early and he had to brush his teeth, dress himself, and gather his beach gear all within the span of two minutes.
The drive was pleasant and cost less than I expected (minus the six dollars you have to pay just to go onto the island), and I managed to get a good bit of sun (I'm now pleasantly pink and awaiting it to turn into a nice brown). We magically ran into a group of other MS Commerce students and decided to spend some time with them.
Michelle decided to experiment with the artificial surfing. We waited twelve minutes, standing about, watching for her turn to come. People of all different types were slowly being led out onto the surf generator with a rope and managed to fall in all a manner of creative waves. As Michelle approached, we expected a Youtube catastrophe; however, she managed only to get onto her board and fall slightly off. For many, it was a let down, but just like the Aliyah song, if at first you don't succeed, just dust yourself off and try again...try again. By the end, she wasn't doing too poorly.
Charlie and I then got together and sought out a place to do volleyball. This is one sport that I do enjoy, and, while I'm not amazing, can often hold my own in a simple pick-up game. Too bad for us, no one wanted to let Rudolph join in any of the reindeer games. No fat man showed up to let me guide his sleigh, so we headed back just in time to watch the thunder roll in.
Lightning here in Singapore is fantastic. It dances in all a manner of different ways. Apparently, it's the most dangerous natural disaster in Singapore, with over 40 people dying from it per year. However, Indonesia breaks up any typhoons, earthquakes rarely get above a 4.0 (so you can't fell them and they are totally negligible), and no other disasters affect the area. Talk about a great place to lay anchor!
Buddha
Rushing back to the visitor's lodge in order to shower and change, I managed to arrive at the Buddha temple by taking a taxi back to the lodge, showering, and then calling another taxi to take me out. At least I know where most of my money is going, but taxi is definitely the best way to travel in Singapore.
I spent some time in the temple gathering the sights and attempting to understand the strong symbols around me. Buddha was depicted in many forms, along with several different enlightened persons and deities. The monks at this place run a great business, as you have any number of Buddha statues and deities to protect you depending on the year that you are born in.
I happened finally onto professor Maillet and his former TA, Cecil. Both were observing the events around them and we managed to find an elevator that took us to higher stories in the temple. There was a pure golden clad room were the relic was being held and for worshipers during specified times, the roof had a garden that could make you forget that you were in a city, and the third floor included a museum with different important artifacts and the shortened story of Buddha's life.
All of this took place over a good bit of time, and wonderful conversation with Maillet and Cecil. Maillet recently turned 50, but he's like a child who has discovered the world all over again. He approaches everything with wonder and he listens more than he speaks. There's certainly a great deal to learn from someone like him.
THE TEA SHOP!!!
Coffee shops everywhere! That's what Singapore has. Maybe their "business" culture means that they have to somehow become the New York Italians of Asia. Anyway, I was shocked that they have so many coffee shops and tea exists only in the background. I politely asked at one restaurant if they had tea, and while Carson scoffed at such a suggestion, it was both the correctly polite way of asking for it, both because it saves face and because its not displayed at all. There's also no selection in most places that you go.
However, Cecil turned into from a generous native to my favorite person. He brought Maillet and me into a traditional Chinese tea shop, and we had tea. But we didn't just "have tea". We HAD TEA! A nice oolong was chosen with a few snacks of buns to eat along the way, but the event was in how you drink the tea.
As part of what you were drinking, a nice old Chinese lady came out with several beautiful instruments and explained to us the proper way to drink tea. Everything was extremely tiny and could barely hold more than a shot of tea in the personal glasses, but it worked in the most fantastic way.
STORY TIME: Complicated Tea Dance
A wooden clamp is used to place a fragrance cup and a drinking cup upon a small tea tray and distributed to each of the tea drinkers.
You begin, then, by warming the water pot. The hot liquid is then poured onto the clay pot, which is then poured into the fair cup, which is then poured into the fragrance cup, and finally into the drinking cup. After this has been done. A wooden spoon of a very special shape is placed within a bag of tea leaves, and then flipped over. This is to make sure no leaves are damaged.
Tea is placed into the clay pot, and water is used to fill it up. The first fill is then poured into the fair cup, which is then poured back onto the clay pot and into allowed to fall into the tea tray, which captures any and all water that you just pour around.
From then, you can pour the first cup to be drunk, and the tea is left to steep only a short while. It is then poured into the fair cup, which receives its name because a fair portion of tea is then partitioned into each of the fragrance cups. Upon being poured into those cups, you pick up the cup on the lips of the cup with two fingers in one hand. It is then sniffed and placed down. It is then allowed to warm up and sniffed again. Finally, it is poured into the drinking cup, and rubbed between two hands in order to cool. This is very relaxing. The fragrance cup is then set smelled once again, and put down.
The drinking cup is held with three fingers in one hand. Two fingers cup the lips and a final one rests the bottom of the cup. The other two fingers are left out if you are a woman or curved inward if you are a man (trannies get to choose). A small sip is taken and swished around the mouth in order to clear anything that would inhibit the full enjoyment of the tea. A second sip is taken and allowed to rest upon the palette for a short while. Finally, the third sip is taken like a shot and allowed to go down.
This process is repeated three more times, until the clay pot must have the tea leaves changed. A wooden "teaspoon" (nothing like what you are thinking), it used to remove the tea leaves, and the tea gathering utensil is then used to fill it once again. You must exfoliate the tea leaves again and repeat the process.
Sounds complicated. It is. BUT IT'S WONDERFUL.
Dinner with the Alums
Finally, Cecil, Maillet, and I went off to find some UVA alums who live in Singapore in order to have dinner. Maillet abandoned Cecil and me as he was feeling under the weather. After much searching, Cecil found the restaurant.
This was fancy. However, even greater events occurred here. The Dean of the McIntire School, often referred to as Dean Z (his last name is a hard to pronounce and hard to write German name for most people, Zeithaml), was sitting at a table with a good number of MS Commerce students and a few alums. As I arrived, I was pushed onto another table that became myself as the only MS Commerce and table filled with alums.
These people were fascinating. Some were native Singaporean, some were a mixture of other Asian, and one was even of European ethnicity. They had the most interesting stories and tidbits to tell, and I was able to be privy to it all. The perspectives I gathered were enormous.
Conclusion
I came back to my room and took a shower. I'm very pink and hoping this turns into a tan. Some people apparently went out to drink and party again. I feel sorry that they won't have the same amazing experiences that I did. I've gathered more cultural knowledge tonight than they probably ever could by going out to bars. This post may seem long, but it truly is an abbreviated version of the amazing conversations, discussions, and stories that were told throughout the day.
Professor Maillet has shown himself to be amazingly insightful, not only in this trip, but about the state of colleges and universities and the necessary future that Virginia colleges will have to take. Cecil is my hero, and the alums have impressed me beyond measure.
I constantly feel awful being on this trip without a job and any prospects. But the more I talk to people, the more I'm convinced that I'm going to have to suffer for what I really want, but, also, that what I really want is even more important than what I originally thought. God has a wonderful sense of humor. I just wish he'd let me in on the joke from time to time.
To close out everything. I've talked a lot about this smelly fruit Durian. It's horrendous. Anyway, we had a professor of Cross-Cultural Communication who told us that going to another culture was often like having a "try the durian" moment. So, finally, at dinner, I tried a dessert that had durian. It was repugnant, awful, and almost every time I breath I can get a small hint of it on my breath. However, I'm glad I tried it.
jacob hill, i miss you! we need to have a group skype date (the leslies + me and you,s, and c). i loved this post and i'm so glad you're having a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteayisha