Food Court

Let me begin with one more entry from 1979.

 

 April 21, 1979— A day of contrasts. Began with a two-hour Indonesia trance dance called Kuda Kepang. The dancers “became” horses, stepping on and eating glass, tearing coconuts apart with their teeth and breaking the shells on their head, were whipped without flinching, all of this in an outdoor Shopping Center! There were about eight dancers, both men and women. It began with an introductory dance and then they sat astride 2-dimensional wooden horses hung by a strap over their shoulder. They all seemed to go into trance at the same time, accompanied by repetitive ostinato on three xylophones with drums and gongs. When it was over, the dancers sat around drinking Coke and whistling pop tunes as if nothing special had just happened. 

 

From a trance dance in an outdoor mall to another Shopping Center to see the movie South Pacific, which somehow I had never seen. Like I said, a day of contrasts! Not a fabulous movie, but some familiar songs (Some Enchanted Evening/ Bali Hai) and a surprising song about racism suggesting that “you’ve got to be taught how to hate.”

 

From there, to the airport and writing this on a classy Singapore Airlines plane with its purple carpet and jazz on the earphones, en route to Jakarta. Farewell to Singapore, at the end of my second journal and the first time I will have crossed the equator. On to the next chapter in this most amazing year. 

 

An intense trance dance in a shopping center was one of the more cognitive dissonances I’ve experienced in this life! Who would have imagined?

 

And so back to 2026, a night of some awakenings, but mostly managed to stay horizontal to 8 a.m. My usual morning routines and then in search of breakfast. My greeter from last night had recommended the IKEA store right next to the hotel, so sure, why not? Sure enough, there was a little Swedish restaurant tucked away in a corner and one of their offerings was a croissant, scrambled eggs, hash browns, chicken sausage, five cherry tomatoes, a juice and coffee for (drum roll here!!!!), 8 Singaporean dollars!!!!!! Which is around $6 U.S.! TOTAL!!! I was stunned. 

 

From there, I wandered the neighborhood in the way I like to do, checking out what’s around me. Wandered in two Food Courts and the people’s vibe from 1979 was still alive and well. Rows of small stalls run by families offering Indian, Chinese and Malaysian cuisines, a diverse group of people eating at the outdoor tables, pigeons wandering in and out. Once again, the prices were astoundingly cheap (see photos below). My hotel is expensive and my room’s high price doesn’t include breakfast, so this is good news. I will happily have lunch and dinner today at these outdoor food courts and enjoy the kind of earthy cultural vibe I’ve stayed comfortable with my whole life. 

 

And who knows? Maybe a trance-dance troupe will show up!