SADDAM HANGING VIDEO

This gives me very mixed feelings, as I am horrified by both Saddam's life and his death. Neither give me joy. Yet evading the reality of real horror, when we watch fictional horror ever week on the screen, seems too escapist to me. If you decide to watch (and it is not graphic except for the reality of impending death), choose not to be a voyeur but a participant in the reality of these times.

2006 Year In Pictures

Check it out! FLICKR

Blogging the Old Testament

This is a fresh look at the Old Testament by an admittedly lax Jew, who re-encountered these scriptures after many years and was surprised to find the drama, intrigue, and downright scandal contained within these books. For my readers who are of a Christian or Jewish persuasion, his blogging is quite interesting and perhaps even provides a new perspective on some classic passages that have grown stale due to re-inforced perceptions from our childhood. For those of my readers from other or no religious tradition, this unabashed look at these ancient writings makes for a fascinating read.

Reminder-Don't forget to fill out my 2006 survey!

The Newest Family Member

Keegan Randal Stufflebeam
November 22, 2006
10 lb. 2 oz. 22in. long!

A very jealous Kieran with Uncle Brian, saying hi to the baby. (Shortly after this Kieran dove for his head and grabbed his nose.)
Brian, holding Rachel (what a big baby!). Tricia, my future sister-in-law, holding Keegan. Laura, Keegan's mom, in the background.

Content by Maranda

2006 - Year in Review

As I see all the magazines and websites coming out with the Best and Worst of 2006, I thought I would compose my own short list (below).

I would like all my readers (yes, even the lurkers!) to copy the list below into a response to this post and replace my answers with your own. Don't worry about formatting, I can fix all that later. By New Years I will re-create this post with everyone's answers included. Please join me in this little exercise of community, it would be really fun if we had a bunch of respondents.

YEAR 2006

1> Best Memories (no particular order)

• My son Kieran learning to walk
• My trip to Singapore
• Surviving the flash flood during the Common Table campout in West Virginia.
• The arrival of our newest family member: Chloe the potbellied pig.
• Our first litter of puppies.
  

2> A funny thing that happened in 2006

• Realizing that I have the same girth as my Pot Bellied pig, ouch!
  

3> A sad thing that happened in 2006

• Death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. A charismatic t.v. personality, naturalist, conservationist, and founder/adviser to multiple zoos worldwide. Steve lived life with amazing passion, it wasn't a show for Steve, he simply overflowed with energy and curiosity. Here is a 2nd link that is shows more video of Steven in action.
  

4> Something important that I learned in 2006

• How to travel by myself and still enjoy it.
  

Happy B-Day Dr. Hussain!

A very Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Dr. Azfar Hussain!!

Azfar and my twin sister Melissa are currently residing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. They are both teaching at the University and parenting a beautiful 16 month old daughter Salma.

Maranda and I hope to visit them very soon in late March. Check out their latest info on Melissa's blog.

Love you guys!

Ken

My Son is Amazing!!!

Check this story out!

Last night I called Maranda on my way home from work. After a few rings the phone was picked up, and after a few scuffling sounds Kieran's voice came on the line. Maranda often puts Kieran on the line, so I chatted with him for several minutes. He was happily babbling to me as we "chatted" back and forth, with the occasional rash of beeps as he pressed buttons on the phone. Several minutes into the "conversation" I asked mommy to get on the line... No answer. It then dawned on me that Kieran had answered the phone by himself! Incredulous, I asked Kieran to go find mommy. Over his babbles I could hear his feet shuffling down the hallway. Then in the background Maranda's voice talking to Kieran. A few moments later the phone was disconnected.

I called back and Maranda answered, she was exceedingly surprised to learn that I had been on the line with Kieran for several minutes! Apparently he came into the bedroom and held the cell phone up to her saying momomomom (a string of "moms"). Thinking he was just playing with the phone she did not take it from him, and a few moments later he closed the phone (perhaps he was frustrated that Mommy didn't follow his clear instructions!! ;).

Wow, not bad for a 14 month old!

Beaming with pride,
Ken

Wanna Ride?

Jolene is ready to ride.
"Someone give me a leg up?"
Again with the girls. There are so many of them! And then Kieran came along and finally broke the trend. He is the first male Great-grandkid, following 8 girls.

Here are Nicole and Emma, Hailey and Jolene, and Rachel with Kyla.
Yes, we did just steal the horses from the children, in case you were wondering. Ah, the privelege of age...

Sarah with daughter Riley, Kieran and I on the blind horse, and Aunt Paula with niece Emma.

Content by Maranda

Wanna Ride?

Jolene is ready to ride.
"Someone give me a leg up?"
Again with the girls. There are so many of them! And then Kieran came along and finally broke the trend. He is the first male Great-grandkid, following 8 girls.

Here are Nicole and Emma, Hailey and Jolene, and Rachel with Kyla.
Yes, we did just steal the horses from the children, in case you were wondering. Ah, the privelege of age...

Sarah with daughter Riley, Kieran and I on the blind horse, and Aunt Paula with niece Emma.

Content by Maranda

Hanging Out

A classic shot. How many cousin pictures do we have like this?

Haily, Rachel, Emma, Nicole.










Emma and Jolene at the tack shed.













Kyla surrounded by horses.
Looks like fun!












Kieran, straight from the car to the horse. No fooling around: he's ready to ride. He was bored with standing still, so he kept bouncing and hitting his hands so the horse would walk.


Content by Maranda

Thanksgiving Vacation at Home in Oregon

The Feast

Look at that spread!
I won't be forgetting this meal for a looooong time! Thanks Mom and all who helped cook and serve.








We were thinking about all the family members who could not join us and missing them on this family holiday: Trina, Ken, Missy, Azfar, Salma, Wes, and Elaine. We love you all and wish we could be with you! Hope your holiday was a happy and peaceful one.

Thanks and a few random thoughts

First I want to express a heart felt thanks to my Singaporean friends who made my trip so enjoyable and meaningful. I definitely experienced Asian hospitality first hand! While the list is too long to capture everyone, I want to especially thank Chung How, Stacy, Barry, Janette, Yau Tian, Amy, Oo Wai, and everyone else that I have failed to mention. You guys were great and definitely the highlight of my trip to Singapore. Really, relationships are far more precious than sights, especially when you share experiences together! I am deeply grateful to your friendships and your willingness to be patient with an overly talkative individual who was never afraid to invite himself to any/all happenings! Take care and see you all soon next year!

I also want to thank Maranda and my son Kieran for letting me travel halfway around the world for a full month. Their patience and love carried me many a lonely day, they are truly at the very heart of anything I do.

And now a few more random thoughts on hospitality. The Asian emphasis on respect and hospitality was evident even in less likely places, like the service I experienced in my apartment suite. With full room service (food if required, laundry, cleaning, etc), I encountered many of the hotel workers, yet I can say that every single one was exceedingly courteous and friendly. Now granted, this is a five star hotel, so perhaps my sample was artificially weighted by selective hiring, however even when I have experienced similar service in the states there is often a bit of resentment that one can pick-up under the "friendly mask." I have especially noted this with other men around my age. However, in this stay I only found sincerity, try as hard as I could I did not pick up hidden resentment or a sense of "I am only doing this for you because I am paid!" Instead, each person seemed genuinely courteous, beyond the point needed for their job.

This same impression was re-inforced many times over, enough to convince me that respect for others is deeply ingrained in the culture. Of course I had heard this before, but had never experienced it myself. I was quit curious if I could see past the "facade," but at least in the majority of cases, it seemed to be an inner quality, not just and outer quality. How wonderfully refreshing! Additionally, when giving you something the Chinese use both hands and dip their head in a gesture of respect. A small thing perhaps, but over the course of a day as a "consumer," it was amazing how much it impacted my mood.

Perhaps the most dramatic contrast was my flight from Tokyo to the U.S. I changed planes in Tokyo and had an early experience that brought to my attention that the flight attendants were no longer from South Asia. Early in the flight drink service was provided. My seat companion (a Roman Catholic Ph.D student in religious education from Singapore) and I were both a bit groggy and surprised by the sudden presence of the drink cart. My companion looked up at the flight attendant and said "sorry" (in the British usage) to indicate that he hadn't clearly heard her request. She stood with hands on her hips and said with a surly edge to her voice "Honey, take a look, why do you think I am here!" Abashed, my companion quickly requested a fruit juice and I did the same. As she moved on down the aisle, he exchanged glances with me, indicating his surprise at her response. I felt a need to explain that in the U.S., her "attitude" was not terribly uncommon and was "taken with the turf," but instead I just nodded my head indicating my own frustration as well.

Now certainly I have had many excellent experiences with flight staff in the U.S., but this one example would simply NEVER happen in Asia, based on my experiences, as it would be profoundly out of character in a place where respect for other's is so highly valued. Food for thought, and certainly a refreshing experience for someone like myself with a strong penchant for sarcasm!

Later,
Ken

Home Again

What a wonderful feeling it was to feel the plane touch down in Dulles after 21 hours in the air (with a brief lay over in Tokyo). A short cab ride later (actually, it felt exceedingly long!), I arrived home. Because me return was a day early (unbeknownst to Maranda), I wasn't sure if anyone would be home at 4:00 in the afternoon. Seeing the car was gone, I paid the cab driver and entered the house with my luggage expecting to wait for Maranda and Kieran's return. What a wonderful surprise to be greeted by our babysitter and Kieran!! When I entered the door, Kieran's response was complete surprise, he took a stunned look at me and then ran out of sight into the Kitchen. He made the loop through the dining room and came back into the room, but wasn't able to look at me (his face still clearly showed his surprise). He stood pointing at the fish tank, still unable to grasp my return. I crouched next to him, giving him time to adjust to my sudden return (Maranda hadn't prepped him yet, expecting me to return the following day). He pointed earnestly at the fish tank, intensely babbling and waving his arms.

After a few minutes of calming down, Kieran was finally able to turn and look up at me. My heart melted when I offered my arms to him and he slowly reached up to me. As I sat holding Kieran, his warm body felt both familiar and strangely foreign at the same time. I could tell he was feeling similar emotions, as he was still struggling to look at me but was reaching his hands back to touch my arms and my face.

The baby sitter left and I sat basking in the presence of my son, from whom I had been parted for four eternally long weeks! On a developmental level four weeks is a very long time in a one year old's life, clearly he had changed both physically and mentally. Kieran sat in my lap, not clinging but holding very still, as if he was afraid to move in case it was all just a dream. I talked to him and told him how much I missed him and how beautiful he was. His body began to relax in my arms and he began to turn his face up to mine. After a few more precious minutes, we went and took a warm bubble bath together, a wonderful relief for a wearied traveler and an amazing experience of re-uniting with my son.

Now, a full 24 hours later, the feelings of warmth and joy continue. My son is so precious, in ways that far transcend my meager words. This morning when he first awoke he again expressed surprise to see me, although without the hesitation of the day before. He immediately began to feel my face as if to validate that the prior day had not been simply a dream. Then with coos of joy he rubbed his face against mine and draped his body across mine, literally pulsing with love for his father, and his father reciprocating the same.

I have much more to write of my home coming and further reflections on my trip, but I will save these for a later post.

Ken

Foolish Peace

I found this painted doorway deep in china town in Melacca, Malaysia. I was struck by the message and very curious to know the full story. There is much truth that living peacefully comes at a cost at times (if not all the time?). Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jesus, and many others suffered for their courageous peacefullness. They were "fools" to believe that humankind could live together in openness and dialogue, even love. They were fools to believe that centuries of ethnic and religious barriers could be broken down, and ideed, they suffered greatly during their lives.

And yet, as I write this post I reflect on my time here in S. Asia. I have made many friends and found everyone warm, accepting, and engaging. At any given time there might be three or more religious traditions reflected in our group, yet accord, not discord, rules the day. Is it possible that those who suffered for peace have moved the very foundations of humanity, that kindness, understanding, and love may be more the norm today than 100 years ago?

And yet there is still much anger in the world today. For those who wish to intervene, to be courageous peacemakers, are we prepared to suffer for our belief in a better world? Watching from the side is much safer than being an agent of change, yet in our hearts (in my heart), is that really all we desire, all we are capable of?

Malaysia Trip

I traveled to Melaka Malaysia this weekend with six Singaporeans and six Americans. It was quite an adventurous trip (albeit hectic)! Malaysia is quite different from the predominantly Chinese Singapore, even though Singapore is just off the tip of Malaysia and the countries were actually briefly merged in 1963. Malaysia has less economic development and is more traditionally muslim in most parts of the country. This made this brief foray a very interesting experience.

This picture really demonstrates the type of city Melaka is, with the old city in the foreground, and a new modern building in the background. (It also demonstrates the significant gap between the poor and rich in this country).


The entrance to Melaka's China Town, wonderfully colorful!!


There are many Chinese temples and Mosques in Melaka. This is a picture inside an absolutely gorgeous temple.


In front of the temple are incense burners for prayers and blessings. Here a Chinese woman is lighting a bundle of incense.


The local gas delivery truck! ;) I have found S. Asian's very ingenuitive and creative about what they can load on a motorcycle!


A working blacksmith's shop, see the anvil in the center. There were a number of these scattered about, and I watched one craftsman patiently work metal with obvious skill. Certainly takes one back to a time when the pace of life was slower, no running to home depot!!


I will place additional pictures in a 2nd post below.

Malaysia Trip x2

This is the 2nd post on my Malaysia trip to Melaka. The first post is above.

A chicken slaughter house I encountered in China town. I entered and told the owner that I also raised chickens in the United States. He was quite interested and proud to show me his shop.


Caged chickens available for purchase. Cost is 7 Ringgits per kilo, which is equivalent to $1 USD per 2.2 pounds of live Chicken.


A famous "chicken rice" cafe inside of China town. My Singaporean friends had lunch here, unfortunately I had a late breakfast at the hotel and skipped out.


I am on the left.


This statue really spoke to me, although I can't quite identify why?? On my next trip I will have to see if Maranda will let me put this in the living room. :P


Dining in a renowned Satay cafe. It was just a hole-in-the-wall but my friends from Singapore (not pictured) have a blood-hounds nose for tracking down good food. Indeed, I have it from many sources that Singporeans are renowned for the love of eating and it is considered the top national pastime. Here is one source.My lonely planet book says that it is common knowledge that Singaporeans will "swim a canal for chili crabs!"



Similar to fondue, the raw meats and vegetables were cooked in a pot in the center of the table. The sauce was heavily flavored with peanuts and chilis, quite sumptious!


My friends from Singapore after the meal (the resturaunt sign is at the upper right). The Singaporeans ate us under the table, we just couldn't keep up! My friend Stacy (the petite girl behind my left shoulder) ate as much as myself and another goodly sized American male, and looked no worse for wear, wow!!


It was really a great experience, although hectic at moments. Our 3 vehicles became separated at the border of Malaysia, resulting in my car driving alone to Melaka (1.5 hours to the north). Luckily we found the hotel after criss-crossing the town only 3 times! I was also stopped at the Malaysian border by the police and told that I had been caught at 143 km/hr at milepost 9. Knowing the Malay police are notoriously corrupt and always looking for bribes, I adamantly reasoned with the officer that Hertz rental cars from Singapore have a governor on the throttle which makes it quite difficult to achieve such high speeds (mostly true). In disgust he waved me on. I failed to mention that while difficult, 143 km/hr is not impossible given a nice downward grade! ;)

Later,
Ken

A Little Fishy

So for those who know me well, it will come as no surprise that I took a day off work this week to go fishing! It was a great experience, even given the fact that it was a stocked lake and a blazing hot day! The really cool part was that it was a salt water lake next to the ocean, so many interesting species of fish could be caught, including snapper, grouper, and sea bass.

It was a slow day of fishing due to a very sunny and cloudless day. However, I was well rewarded and quite happy with this 2.2 kilo bass (5 lb). I was fishing with very light tackle and 6 lb line, so it was quite a fight with lots of jumping! Even the local fisherman were impressed by the size of the bass, they told me I was quite lucky. Being humble, I chose not to correct them ;)



Here is my friend Stacy with a Mango Jack Snapper, a tasty bottom fish!


The Snapper an hour later, prepared Thai style. Excellent!!


We enjoyed our fresh fish, fresh prawns (also caught by Stacy in a prawn pool), and a nice red wine at a seaside diner, very nice!!


Paying the price - can you say sunscreen?

The Teaching of Buddha

The past few days I have been enjoying reading a hotel copy of The Teachings of Buddha, which believe it or not, was distributed by the Gideons!

(Okay, the last part is a lie! For my Singaporan friends, the Gideon's are prolific distributers of hotel copies of the christian bible). Thus far I am enjoying my read of this abridged text of the teachings of Buddha.


Some of my favorite excerpts thus far, more comments later.

From section II - Causation:

As a net is made up by a series of knots, so everything in this world is connected by a series of knots. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken.

Parable of the wealthy man and the poor son.

A poor little boy ran away from his father when he was very young. He lived in another country for many years. He wandered about in all directions, seeking food and clothing. While wandering here and there, he happened to walk towards his home country. At that time his father stayed in a city of the country. He had been vainly looking for his son ever since. He was now very rich. He had innumerable treasures. His storehouses were filled with gold, silver, coral, and crystal. He had many servants, carts, cows, and sheep. He dealt with many merchants and customers.

The poor son came to the city where his father was living. The father had been thinking of his son ever since he had lost him. He thought, "I am old and decrepit. I have many treasures. But I have no son other than the missing one. When I die, my treasures will be scattered and lost. Therefore, I am always yearning for my son."
At that time the poor son happened to stand by the gate of the wealthy man's house. Seeing the rich man, the poor son was frightened and thought, "Is he a king or someone like a king? This is not the place where I can get some work to get food and clothing easily. If I stay here any longer, I shall be forced to work." He tried to run away.

The rich man recognized him at first sight as his son. He was delighted. He immediately dispatched a man standing beside him to quickly bring back the poor son. The messenger ran up to the poor son and caught him. The poor son was frightened and cried, "I have done nothing wrong. Why do you catch me?" The messenger pulled him by force. The poor son thought, "I am caught though I am not guilty. I shall be killed." More and more frightened, the poor son fainted and fell to the ground.

Seeing all this in the distance, the father said to the messenger, "I do not want him any more. Do not bring him forcibly! Pour cold water on his face to awaken him!" The father said this because he had realized that his son was too base and mean to meet a noble man. He knew that the man was his son, but expediently refrained from telling others that this was his son. Waking up, the poor son stood up and went to a village of the poor to get food and clothing. The wealthy man dispatched messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, "Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day's pay. If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work to clear dirt and that you two also will work with him."

The poor son drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt. Seeing him, the father had compassion towards him and took off his necklace, his garment and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing. He came to the workers and said, "Work hard! do not be lazy!" Seeing this poor man working hard, the father told him, "Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar, as much as you need! Make yourself comfortable." Years later, the rich man gave him a name and called him son. The son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was an humble employee. Still more years passed. After that the father and the son trusted each other. Now the son felt no hesitation in entering the house of his father, but still lodged in his old place.

Now the rich man became ill. After a while the father noticed that his son had become more at ease and peaceful, that he wanted to improve himself, and that he felt ashamed of the thought that he was base and mean. The moment of death for the father drew near. The father told his son to call in his relatives, the king, ministers, and members of his household. When they were all assembled, he said to them, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is my son, my real son.

I am his real father. He ran away from me when I lived in a certain city, and wandered with hardships for more than fifty years. His name is so-and-so. All my treasures are his now." At that time the poor son was very glad to hear these words of his father. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He thought, "I never dreamed of having this store of treasures myself. It has come to me unexpectedly.

The wealthy man is the Eternal Buddha while the poor son is ourselves who do not realize that we are Buddha's children. We often ask Buddha, "Give me this! Give me that!" It is still a stage of shomon who is base and mean. Through the advice of the Buddha, if we put forth effort without giving up, we will be given precious treasures of Buddhahood.

Bare Foot Conversations

So I said I would post more on my dinner at the Bare Foot restaurant. Well, to begin with, I was luck to stumble into this non-descript building. If it hadn't been for the sign with a picture of feet and the catchy name, I could have easily passed it by. Located on a side street in little India, the restaurant offers traditional Southern Indian dining which consists of removing your shoes and sitting on pillows around a very low table. One important lesson I learned was to never underestimate the power of Southern Indian spices! When asked how spicy I wanted my dish, I chose level 4 out of a possible 6 given my normal penchant for rather spicy food. She hesitated and asked if I really wanted that level of spice, but I felt confident that I could handle it. Boy was I wrong! The first bite kicked me in the mouth like a mule and by bite six I could no longer feel my tongue. When the hostess returned and inquired whether it was too spicy I tried to look composed through my watering eyes and casually stated "nope, its perfect!" Lets just say I suffered later that night for my lie...

The best part of the night was that things were incredibly slow at the restraunt, so the hostess came over to check up on my meal and ended up sitting down to chat for a bit. Before we knew it we were discussing cultures, religion, human goodness, and all kinds-of other fun things! She claimed to have very little formal education in the area, but a Hindu priest had told her she had an "old soul," meaning that through many re-incarnations she had gained much wisdom. While she discarded such notions, by the end of the night I was inclined to believe it! What fun to meet up with such an interesting person in a very random place! In a microcosm this captures my fundamental joy of traveling thus far in my life, meeting people who approach life from very different vantage points, yet finding common ground and shared understanding.

Dinner update - tonight I enjoyed "clay pot frog legs" with friends at a rather well known establishment in an area known for its dining (Geylang). The frogs are live until shortly before your dinner, if they were any fresher they literally would be hopping! If you are a bit morbid, or just curious, you can pass by the side windows where lots of little Kermits wait their turn... If it makes you feel any better, I am told that the frogs had all enjoyed excellent lives and were "ready to go" as it were.

Little India

I spent the majority of today in Little India, checking out the local handicrafts for sale and dining at a wonderful restraunt called "Bare Feet Restaurant" (more on this tomorrow!).

I simply have to post the following picture of a bicycle taxi, Robin's day job!



A table setting at the "Bare Feet Restaurant" (more on this tomorrow).


Pastel anyone? A least directions to your apartment are a cinch: "I am on the 7th floor of the lime green building!"

Want to buy a bridge?

So a closely guarded secret in the Tennyson household is that Ken is fairly insufficient in the area of bargaining. Now this may come as a surprise, given his reputation for cleverness, wit, and brashness! The dark truth is that he has an uncanny ability to trust the slickest, most manipulative, and downright evil hawkers. One could argue that a willingly naive outlook on human nature, coupled with a positive view of the potential of all human beings, would justifiably result in such a state. My wife just takes the credit cards away...

So, given my keenly developed bartering skills, I descended into the infinite jungle of electronic shops that are on every corner in Singapore. My first goal was a 2nd battery as I have been quickly depleting my first one. I entered a shop covered in signs for Canon, Sony, Nikon, with a sense of smugness that indeed, this was my time to shine! In short order I walked out of the shop with the battery I had sought, a telephoto lens and adapter, and an ORIGINAL Canon camera bag thrown in to boot! All for the paltry price of US $300. When I got back to my hotel I thought I should check online for comparison prices (always a good thing to do AFTER you purchase...) to see just how good I did. The results were certain to be good, as I talked them down from $450 US, not an endeavor for the weak or faint of heart!

Much to my terrible surprise, I found that the telephoto lens was a poor quality lens that could be bought for less than $50 in the states! Perhaps I should have noticed the lack of Canon or any recognizable name brand on the lens... Indeed, the package including the battery, lens, and "original Canon" camera bag was worth $100 at best. Hmmm, the dark curtain descends.

Determined to rectify the situation I returned two days later, justifiably outraged and armed with copious amounts of knowledge regarding the prices of cheap spin-off Camera parts in Asia. In short order I threatened to contact the US embassy, the Singapore consumer association, and my credit card company. The now reticent salesman realized his mistake and after consultation advised me that his store does not accept returns and I had signed for the merchandise! Damn!

So, I now sit looking at a poor quality "GroBartig" tele lens that was apparently worth more than many digital cameras. Indeed, I shall not even share a subsequent triumph in which I shrewdly bartered for a 1 Gig memory card for my camera, having done my price comparison prior to shopping, only to find that a day later it conveniently has quit working. I would try to return it but I don't want to embarrass Singapore salesperson's any more than I already have. If anyone has heard of A DATA memory company, they owe me a CF flash card that works!

Signing off for a day of shopping,
Ken

China Town

Today I spent most of the morning and afternoon imersing myself in Singapore's China town. Here are some of the best shots from the day.

An outdoor flea market


An ancient carving in the Tibetian Art Museum.


An ancient remedies shop, selling all kinds of unusual items for anything that ails you!


Not sure how this guy helps, but I decided to stick with my cold medicine!


Inside a hindu temple in the middle of China town, gorgeous!


Standing under these paintings strongly reminded me of the Sistine Chapel!


Roadside market

Singapore Barbeque

Friday night I attended a barbeque at friends Stacy and Chung How's apartment. We enjoyed Satay (chicken-ka-bobs) with a traditional tasty peanut sauce, otay (fish cake wrapped in a leaf), grilled chicken wings, sting ray, a noodle dish, yams, and corn. It was a very nice setting in a courtyard surrounded by the high rise apartment buildings.

Here are the ladies


Otay (fish cake in a leaf)




A candle light table. The buildings in the back are government owned "flats," high rise apartment buildings.


Chung How displaying his barbequing expertise!


The men


Hanging out in their beautiful apartment.


Playing spoons in the study room. Perhaps one drink too many for Oo Wai!


Nothing is free in Singapore, I had to work for my dinner.


A temporarily full bottle of cognac.


Beautiful couple! Barry was saying something very wise at this precise moment! ;)