Land of Contrasts

The day begins in Paradise with a bad soundtrack. A long morning swim in the Holiday Inn pool and then my dreams of summer bliss sitting poolside with a good book thwarted by soul-crushing musicrap raining down on me from the speakers. Why do we run from silence? What’s wrong with just listening to the wind rustle the water? Some time later, the music switches to some light pop with a bossa-nova beat, a blessed relief from the pounding disco beat and a just-right movie soundtrack that doesn’t intrude, but actually perfectly frames the moment and makes it yet a bit sweeter. 

 

Then off into the streets of Little India in search of lunch and doesn’t take long to choose a masala dhosa (South Indian thin crepe with potatoes inside) for $2.50 Singapore dollars (around $2 U.S.). Eat with my fingers as I used to do when I briefly lived in Kerala, India 47 (but who’s counting?) years ago, feeling the thread between that young man with an old soul and this old man with a still-youthful spirit. Wander down the crowded streets past the long chain of stores selling jewelry, clothing, electronics, food, none of which I need at the moment, none of which light my flame. But good to be out walking, even when a slight drizzle sends me under the eaves of the stores. 

 

Within five blocks or so, I pass a Hindu Temple, a Muslim Mosque, a Buddhist Shrine and a Christian Church. Diversity is woven into the very fabric of Singapore culture and while I’ve portrayed this modern city as one giant mall, the truth is larger than that. In-between those brightly lit shrines to Shopping are funky food courts, back alleys, strings of stall-like stores, roosters roaming freely, the hum of the crowds out on the streets and if you know where and when to look, some ancient festivals that include trance-dance and direct communion with the spirits. 

 

Out to dinner with some Orff acquaintances and catapulted back to the ultra-modern mall, where the restaurant charges $25 for a beer, $45 for a chicken and waffle entrée, all accompanied, naturally, with the disco beat from hell in the background and too-cold air-conditioning. There is a waterway inside the mall with boats you can board (for a fee). After dinner, we escaped into the perfect- temperature of the night air, just in time to see a light show over the waters with coordinated music soundtrack. Quite well done, I have to say, and standing there, feeling a bit of my childhood 4^th-of-July-fireworks-wonder.

 

Good to be a “tourist” briefly before turning to plan my next two-day workshop at a school. Stay tuned for the Photo Gallery.