So, today's posting is a bunch of random things I haven't had time to put on my blog before today. Enjoy.
On my trip back to Singapore from Iowa my plane was delayed and I ended up in Hong Kong and had to stay overnight there. This tree was at the hotel. I found it very interesting....
Yes, look at the trunk of that tree...here it is close up....amazing!
Now, while I grumbled quite a bit about missing my flight back to Singapore, I did manage to find a beautiful sunrise the next morning in Hong Kong....
Back in Singapore I went to dinner with Holly, Brian, Avery and Tyler...the family that is here from Des Moines (Holly works with me)....the kids had spaghetti and I couldn't help but take these pictures...they truly LOVED this food!!!
One evening I went out to Vivo City (a mall) and was walking around and they were having a production on the stage in the middle of the mall. The music was Chinese and the words to the music were in Chinese, so I have no idea what the story was about....but it was beautiful and fun and being done in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
These women had a beautiful headdress...it had a feather (looked like a pheasant feather, but I'm sure that's not what it was) that was so tall....and they would wiggle them, and tickle each other...I wish I knew what the song was about because it was very entertaining!
Then a group of men came on and all I could figure out was this song was about giving a rose to a woman...and the men were fighting over the rose. This man has the rose in his mouth and is jumping to get away from the others who were trying to steal the rose.
Yesterday when I was out and about I saw two very funny signs. This first one is one we certainly wouldn't see in the States...but it is so very true here...there is construction going on everywhere here. You know, in Iowa, we say there are two seasons: 1) winter and 2) construction...well, in Singapore, there is one season and that is construction!!!!
And I was going to a tourist attraction, got off the bus and had to walk up a stairway and over a walk bridge to get to the other side of the road...this sign was there...it made me pause...ESCAPE route...oh my!!!!
This man was sweeping the area I was visiting. All over Singapore you see people sweeping the leaves up, or just cleaning the sidewalk area. Check out the broom...it's made of twigs...it's so interesting!
This morning the apartment building had a demonstration of a Chinese Lion Dance. It was very loud (many children were crying and holding their ears), but it was also very neat.
All over town I've seen these trucks with flags and people dressed up, but I had no idea what it was...until this morning when the truck pulled up to the apartment building.
Here they are arriving...
When the were all "assembled" they came in the building and this is what they looked like. There are two men under that costume and they did amazing acrobatics to the beat of a drummer.
Here's a bit about the next picture....
During the Chinese New Year, lion dancers will visit the store front of businesses to "choi chang" (picking the greens). The business would tie a red envelope filled with money to a head of lettuce and hang it high above the front door. The lion will approach the lettuce like a curious cat, consume the lettuce and spit out the leaves but not the money. The lion dance is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to the business and the dancers receive the money as reward. The tradition becomes a mutual transaction.
Here's the lion getting the lettuce this morning.
The lion then "ate" the lettuce. Later it walked over a big platter that had candy and oranges on it. It picked it up and threw out the candy to the audience. While the front lion was throwing out the candy, the back lion was peeling the oranges and leaving pieces of it on the platter. This apparently symbolized something because later in the day the platter was on display and had the pieces of the oranges and a sign that said "display, do not touch".
This dance is very symbolic for the Chinese New Year. I am glad I got to see one. Below is a picture of the leggings the men had on it. Everything is so brightly colored!
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