We woke up (Danny woke up hating life, and is contemplating joining Ashwin in AA upon our return) and started planning the day's activities with our LonelyPlanet bible. A few minutes into the planning, Danny turned on his phone and showed it to Ashwin in disbelief - it was 4 pm. As we had slept through 2 meals, we were incredibly hungry and set out in search of simple Indian foods for Danny's troubled state. We found a promising looking restaurant, and while trying to order chapati (a south Indian flatbread), Danny asked for "Chipotle" (even our subconcious is craving Mexican food). When the man didn't understand his request, Danny resorted to pointing and asking for a "tortilla". Ashwin stepped in and told the waiter that we wanted two chapatis.
Despite our late start, we managed to squeeze a lot into the remainder of the day, or should we say evening. We toured Chinatown (making us feel as though we had travelled from India to China, despite being 10 blocks away) and saw a local artisan painting miniscule names on a grain of rice. To let you in on one of our recurring jokes, in Bangkok Danny saw a young boy peeling a mango with the utmost precision and speed. When he pointed this out to Ashwin, Ashwin responded by saying "If you were 4th generation mango peeler, you'd be good at it too." Whenever we see an impressive display of skills (anything from carving bamboo, to making the perfect roti) we justify the skill by acknowledging that they are most likely 4th generation (fill in the blank). The rice painter was no exception.
To finish the day we hit up the National Museum (turns out sleeping in paid off as the museum is free after 6 pm, saving us 10 USD each), and strolled down the famous shopping district of Orchard Road. Craving an American experience, as we have been strictly sticking to the local cultural activities, we treated ourselves by seeing the new Harry Potter movie. It was disappointing overall but was a nice way to spend a relaxing evening.
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before I say anything else... you two should be banned from drinking together. (no joke).
ReplyDeletebut I can fully sympathize with the time warp situation for when we were in amsterdam we woke up at 4:15pm....well we didn't go to sleep until about 8am that same morning but still, it sucked and I hated my existence.
the 4th generation joke is amazing and explains a lot of the times i have felt terrible about myself for not having a trade when i pass by those types... i never had one ingrained into me- genius. those people actually have something special too because you can't just LEARN to be a 4th generation peeler, engrainer, carver- you have to have had a couple hundred years of work done before you were even born to get to that status- and as far as i know, even with all our new science/technology, we still haven't found a way to condense/prolong time...
oh and orchard street (parallel universe to the rest of asian, huh?). I'm surprised to hear you grungy, bearded S.E.A. men haven't yet sauntered into Salvatore Ferragamo and sweet talked your way into a few new free suits and shoes form the pretty Singaporean saleswoman... danny?
last thing: don't go getting your hands chopped off there... i don't want a brother with stubs for hands because he tried to spit his gum out on the street instead of waiting for the next trash can. it's NOT worth it.
much love... stay safe,
anu
http://www.alcoholicsanonymoussingapore.org/ This is the web address for the Singapore AA. Why wait till you get home? You'll notice that 2 of there meeting locations are at Starbucks. Danny, good news, you are on the transplant list at Vanderbilt, if it is good enough for Steve Jobs it's good enough for you. Ashwin let me know if I need to add you to the list. Did you get a shower since leaving Malaysia? Nice stunt on the train! Did you not understand my warning about avoiding the cane? Caning is a legal and widely used form of corporal punishment in Singapore. And the blue card doesn't make you exempt. Just ask Michael P. Fay.
ReplyDeleteStay hydrated and go easy on the alcohol. Much love...stay safe, sober and away from the cane.
hahahahaha excellent work on the beer tower! the pump is an awesome place, good choice but HAHA even i've never been to one of those bollywood clubs and i live here. really must check it out now!
ReplyDelete- vaish
I am envious of the sada dosa (last entry) but that's about it. By the way I loved the new Harry Potter movie... it condensed into a few hours the confusing strung out plot in the book.
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