Singapore Day 3 - Tuesday Sept 15

Tuesday began with a walk along the beach. As we walked we passed a few groups of people doing what appeared to be Tai Chi. It was surreal to watch them and listen to their Asian music. When we returned we received the news that my mom had had a heart attack. I quickly found out how to make a phone call to the U.S. and joined a conference call with all my siblings. We received information and recommendations from the doctor and all agreed to disconnect the external pacemaker. I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room awaiting news of her condition. To our grateful surprise, she rallied and continues to improve.

I took a break and swam another 30 laps in the pool. My hair continues to look absolutely gorgeous, as you will see. I took another quick break late in the afternoon to ask the concierge for directions on catching the bus and MRT to a few tourist attractions tomorrow.

Roger returned to the hotel at 7:30 and we spent the evening with Joseph and Theresa Cheong, a sweet couple who took us to dinner and then on a tour of the island.


We met Joseph at the food court on Sunday. Dinner was at the East Coast Seafood Centre and was amazingly wonderful!!!!


We had calamari, prawns, cuddle fish, another spicy fish wrapped in banana leaves, rice, vegetables, chicken, and 2 kinds of crab.

We ate and ate and ate until we were so full that neither Roger nor I even tasted the chile crab. Everything about it was wonderful, including Joseph and Theresa. They taught us so much about this island and its people, history, customs, and beliefs.




After dinner they drove us the Mount Faber where we parked and walked around the top of the mountain overlooking all of the island except for what was blocked by vegetation or darkness. It was beautiful.



The pathway was partially lighted from underneath, and pointed the way to various tourist spots on the island and other bodies of land around the area, such as Bangkok, Australia, and Sri Lanka.




They explained that the government has built housing to improve the living conditions and has mandated that each is habitated by the population according to their country's percentages. In other words, mostly Chinese, with smaller groups of Malay and Indians. They are very proud of their country's attitude and ability to contribute to the population's happiness.

This is a miniature of the famous Merlion Statue.



We got back in the car and drove around the business district, seeing a former post office that is now a posh hotel, as well as many well designed and engineered buildings. There is a great variety in styles but even the parking garages are works of art. We drove through some areas which are designated ERP where the government charges a fee to drive through in order to limit the traffic congestion. They told us there is an expression, "Singapore is a "fine" country, meaning there are an abundance of fines. They also informed us that race and religion are topics that most people stay away from, but we've shared many of our beliefs and asked about theirs with those we've met without any negative effects.

Joseph and Theresa also told us about Singapore's history. The country became independent from Malaysia about 50 years ago. And I guess it's too early in the day for me to remember much more, although we learned a lot that evening. We returned to our hotel after 11 p.m. Eric had left a message that my mom was awake and able to mover her fingers and toes. She's amazing! And we are so grateful for this blessing!