The guy on the far left with the pink shirt used to be in a gospel rock band and once shared a stage with U2. "They were on the way up and we were definitely on the way out." Hip dude.
Tim, Man, and I recorded a CD (music and poetry) which will accompany a new English language book Man wrote. I can start taking orders now.
Last week we finally had our first voice recording for "Hollywood Road," the film where I'm a sarcastic florist. I probably last mentioned this in October. Things are moving now.
At last, I met my neighbor. His name is Boon and he's old, which is great because geriatrics are cool.
I met with my tutee at--get this---Choco Cat Cafe. Devon, get over here. This cafe specializes in chocolate and has about 10 cats roaming freely. They also have a giant stuffed Garfield. Unfortunately, I can't ever go back there because I picked up a cat, which I now know is against Cat Cafe law.
Yesterday, I went on a bike ride with a potential suitor, Chris. We biked about 10km to this place, Ma On Shan ('horse mountain', I think):
And post-ride:
It was not Halloween, but 80s night. The picture really says it all:
The Merlion. Half-lion, half-fish. It was created in 1972, which seems young to be iconic, but this is how tourism survives--make something up, take enough pictures and voila, you have an instant cultural attraction. This is representative of the fishing past of the city and the legend that someone saw a lion there once, granting the name "Lion City" to the republic. Singapore is a city-state, with a president who lives in what appears to be a jungle. 
They had this informative sign, talking about how each orang utan (which means "wild man" in Malay) is unique. My favorite was Satria, who often refuses to go back to his night quarters. Perhaps he needs to set some goals. 
After the day at the zoo, we went on a "night safari" which is riding a tram through another, different, zoo-type thing in the dark. After that, we killed some time before our bus departure by seeing a fire show. We watched as men in tribal Malay garb breathed fire and swallowed fire. Soon, they had opened the gate and pulled me onto the stage. 
We settled for pink jellyfish:
Japanese Something Crab. And Joan:
White tiger on the prowl:
Hanging out with giant fruit:
Hindu temple; we don't have these in Hong Kong. I have seen innumerable Buddhist temples, but this was a first:
And at night:
Speaking of religious places, this mosque was just down the block from our hostel in Little India:
Speaking of Little India, Singapore's is legit. In our quest to find authentic Singaporean cuisine, we pretty much just ate curry and masala. 
Considering my geographical obsession, imagine my excitement when I saw this sign:
On the bridge:
If our cattle and horses can't come with us, no one goes. And we weren't sure if we exceeded 3cwt and didn't want to risk it. 
This innovated design combines a shower and sink in one easy-to-use facility:
We weren't sure, so we ate Corn Flakes:
Malaysia is a strongly Muslim country, and this was the first time I'd ever visited one. I was initially apprehensive--mostly a fear of being feared, but that proved to have no grounds, as no one ever seemed to judge the fact that Joan and I didn't have burkas on like every other woman in the city. I'm so thankful that the U.S. has a president with sympathies to--or at least an awareness of--the Muslim community. 
It was the tallest building from about 1998 to 2003 when Taipei 101 overtook it (and I hear that in a few years, there will be 7 buildings in Dubai taller than that). We even walked across that "Skybridge" between the towers:
For anyone who speaks French:
The Petronas towers as seen from "Little India" which wasn't Indian at all:
Our budget airline, Air Asia, not only provided cheap flight for us (2 round-trip flights for under $300 US total), but also neat umbrellas for the walk in the rain to our plane to Singapore:
I was "in charge" of the backstage crew, a superfluous position, as they are all, clearly, professionals:
The final pose of "All That Jazz":
A 
Every time we go to a Taoist school, they have this engraving in the theatre. Invariably, it is beneath the screen we use, so I always ask him, "Oh, golden one, where is the screen?" He replies:
Oh, it's up there. Thanks. This is the one Tim refers to as Jungle Boogie. 
Posts
