About 11:30, we headed for lunch at Lau Pa Sat which is a hawker food area. It is also quite close to Jens's office. Jane and her boys scurried around gathering various dishes for us to try. They included Fried Kway Teow, Oyster Omelet, Radish (Diakon) Omelet, Carrot Cake, Chicken Rice, Dried Mu Polc with fish balls, fried yam (which we would call taro), Cha Sien Ben and Prawn Dumpling, followed by two different cold desserts. We tried them all. I enjoyed the fish balls the least, Bruce did not like the oyster omelet. We had sugar cane juice to drink.
We took our stuffed selves off to visit the Merlion statue/fountain guarding the Singapore River as it opens into Marina Bay. When Sir Stamford Raffles found his ship blown up here after a storm in 1819 he saw a very strange animal---a lion. The lion with a mermaid's body became the symbol for the British establishment, expanding the British Empire. I don't believe anyone asked permission of the natives of this small fishing village, as usual.
From there, we trekked to the Esplanade (Theatres on the Bay), which tends to look like a hedgehog or a durian---a large, spiky fruit loved by the Chinese which we would try later. We rested inside the cool, cool lobby about 30 minutes. Bruce lay across a square padded bench, but DID NOT SLEEP.
Once our core temperatures were back to normal, we headed off to the bus, passing a memorial to the civilian victims of the Japanese Occupation, 1942-45. During the war, the British guarded the sea heavily but the Japanese came down the peninsula on bicycles and overpowered them. The British surrendered.
That is why, said Julian, Singapore wanted to be independent and have its own military. They had depended on the British, but the British gave them away. Joel is now waiting to begin his 2 years National Service in September. Julian is waiting for a mission call.
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