Singapore

I just recently got back from a trip to Singapore to visit Hiromi, my host sister from my exchange trip to Japan 8 years ago. I have kept in touch with the Terashita family since I left Japan and Hiromi had come to see me in Seattle while I was a junior in college. When I lived in Japan last year, I tried to make as many trips as I could to visit them. Hiromi, however, has been living in Singapore for the last 4 years or so. For the past couple of years, she has been dating a wonderful guy named Albert. Albert is Singaporean, but his mother is from Indonesia and his father is from Malaysia.
Albert and Hiromi finally tied the knot after a few years of dating. Judy and I went to the wedding and got to visit with both families as well as take in some of the culture of Singapore.
I'll talk about the wedding first. We didn't see the actual wedding, since it was done a few weeks before in front of a judge with a few witnesses. We went to the big wedding reception with about 200 other guests coming from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and of course Taiwan and America (that was just Judy and me, though). I had to wear a suit for the first time since leaving Japan, something I wasn't too happy about. But anyway, the reception was nice, albeit a bit long. There were two hosts, one for the English-Mandarin-Hokkien-Shantou speaking guests and one for the Japanese. There were also lots of games, like bingo, hot potato, and lucky draw. My favorite parts were when Okaasan (Hiromi's mom), Ma-kun (her brother), Noburo (her sister-in-law), and Sakura (her cute 2 year-old niece) got up on stage and sang her a sweet Japanese song about the eldest daughter getting married. The other part I really liked was at the end when both Hiromi and Albert made speeches, they were both heartfelt and touching - most of the guests were crying.
There was also heaps of good Chinese cuisine, but I'll get into the Singaporean prediliction for good food later.


Later that night, Judy and I met up with Hiromi's family and Albert at a restaurant called Jumbo Seafood. And boy, was there a lot of good seafood. The best were chili crab and black pepper crab. Considering how long it's been since I've eaten crab, I think I might have been a bit overzealous. Fortunately, Albert sat next to me and he makes me look like a light eater.


The next day, Judy and I took a self-guided tour of Singapore. This was a slightly ill-advised plan, considering we didn't get to see everything you would on a regular tour, but we had a lot of fun anyway.
For such a small island nation (less than 500 square kilometers and under 5 million in population), Singapore is filled with culture and life. Within spitting distance of each other are Chinatown, Little India, and Malay Village. And these places are not tourist traps but rather the centers of their respective cultures within Singapore. Judy and I went to little India the first night and it felt as though we had left the island nation and ended up in New Delhi. We had some delicious hummus and curry and naan bread.
The Singaporeans LOVE to eat and they do it with panache. There are not 3 meals a day but 4. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, AND supper. Dinner is around 5 with supper an hour or two before bed. Boy, can they eat.
Aside from our culinary tour (which was the true highlight of the trip) Judy and I went to Singapore's Sun Yat Sen Memorial. As some of you may know, Sun Yat Sen was the founder of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the leader of the revolution that ousted the final Qing emperor in China in 1911. He also founded the Republic of China, which, after the loss in the civil war to the Communists, is pretty much just Taiwan now. Anyway, the Taiwanese regard Sun Yat Sen as guofu "country father" or founding father and there is a big shrine to him in Taipei. Singapore also reveres Sun for his efforts in helping their own struggle. So, a house that he used to plan his various rebellions has been dedicated as a national park. Judy and I visited it and reveled in the history and the propaganda. I don't have enough space to get into it all here and I'm sure most of you aren't as interested in Chinese/Taiwanese history as I am. So I'll spare you.


After visiting the memorial, we went shopping on Orchard Road - and that's all I'm going to say about that.
Later in the day, we met the Terashita's plus Albert and his father Frank at an outdoor food pavillion and embarked on a eating extravaganza. Frank is tremendously gregarious and is always trying to goad his guests into eating more. Either that or talking their ear off about various things. This is all well and good, except the Terashita's can't understand him, since they speak limited or no English (except Hiromi, of course). Thus, I helped translate a bit but I imagine a lot got lost in the translation.
Still, it was a lot of fun and I was happy to see the families getting along. I was also really happy to be able to spend time with the Terashita's. Especially considering that I might not be back in Japan for some time.


After dinner but before supper, we went to watch Albert's mom perform Chinese opera. Though Albert's mom was born in Indonesia, her family is from Chaozhou, a region of China close to Fujian. They speak the dialect Chaozhouhua, but many of them also speak Hokkien which is known in Taiwan as Taiwanese. So Judy was able to converse with non-Taiwanese in a language she has known all her life as "Taiwanese". It was a very interesting experience for her. Albert's mom can also speak Mandarin but not English, so she would always talk to me in Mandarin. I think you can realize how many languages are floating around in Singapore.
Anyway, Albert's mom was performing a classical Chinese story, but speaking in Chaozhouhua. In fact, most of the audience was from that area of China and I was the only laowai there. Frequently, people would turn around (I was in the back, trying to be inconspicuous) and stare at me.


It was a really interesting performance. If you have never seen Chinese opera, I would recommend it. You need a lot of patience and perhaps some earplugs (it's very loud) but it is a unique experience.


After the performance, Hiromi and I went onstage to give Albert's mom flowers. The audience loved this and cheered wildly - and snapped a lot of pictures. After all, it's not every day you get to see an ancient Chinese general in battle attired handed a bouquet of flowers by a Hawaiian-shirt-clad foreigner.
Our group then went backstage to snaps some photos with Alberts mom before she got out of her costume. We all congratulated her. About this time, the Terashita's had to go home - little Sakura was getting tired. I said my goodbyes and promised to come see them again in Japan. Hopefully I'll get the chance.


Once Albert's mom finished changing we - you guessed it - went out for supper. Frank took us to a Malaysian night market where we feasted on meat satays and stingray. It was all delicious, as was everything we ate in Singapore.
The next morning, Judy and I returned to Taiwan. We enjoyed our time spent chatting, visiting, and eating with the two families. Maybe another trip to Singapore is on the horizon. But I have to work up an appetite first.