Random Travel Notes 15

It's been a while since I did one of these missives, so here's a write-up on a brief trip to Singapore and back:

Destination: Wedding. The reason for the trip was that my wife and I were invited to my former roommate's wedding, which just so happens to be the first wedding I've ever attended outside of the Philippines. And it was a blast. Winning moments: the priest asking the happy couple, "Are you nervous?"; the ceremony including blessings in English, Chinese and Hebrew; the bride singing to her parents and in-laws; the groom proclaiming to his bride "And I will buy you your favorite bags..." (Epic!).

A decade later. For the record: it's been more or less ten years since I graduated from college, and ten years since I lived (briefly) in Singapore. Time flies.

Irregularly scheduled programming. Something odd I came across while watching some tv at our hotel: at certain intervals, the Fox Premium Movie channel would flash an image of a cartoon soldier and the words "Landing Deck", "Barrier Reef", "Cross Country", and "Heat Stroke". I still have no idea what that was all about, but it did make me wonder whether the hotel's cable connection was coming from a private signal, or if there were some kind of subliminal non sequitur brainwashing going on.

Birding. Since we had a free day, the wife and I decided to spend some time at Jurong Bird Park. It must have been at least twenty years since I'd last been there (seriously), and I think I enjoyed it much better now, even more so than the Night Safari. It's mostly as I remember it -- hilly, organized, with and quite educational -- but I suppose the difference is that as an adult I appreciate it more, especially with a camera in tow. Perhaps the next time we're in Singapore I'll suggest to the wife that we check out the Singapore Zoo, as it's probably been just as long since my last visit there, and I'm guessing I'd be pleasantly surprised again.

Inhuman scale. The wife and I made it a point to pass by Marina Bay Sands since we never had an opportunity on our last trip to Singapore. We didn't go up to the SkyPark anymore, deciding instead to stroll around the theater and shops. I won't deny that the development is immensely impressive (as in: WOW!), but there's something about it that just feels out of whack. I think it's because the building feels way too massive and practically out of proportion to "human scale". But that's just my opinion, and I've been known to think small, if not simple.

Good Shepherd Cathedral. It never ceases to amaze me how, in a country as prosperous as Singapore, a Catholic Church can be in such a sorry state. I know it's not easy to fundraise in general, but I would presume that the funds it would take to restore and renovate the Cathedral would be a drop in the bucket for Singaporean Catholics.

Spill water, get cards. On the flight home, a flight attendant accidentally tipped over a glass as she was clearing my food tray, and was completely mortified that the water had spilled. I tried to reassure her I hadn't gotten wet, but she just kept coming back to make sure that I was fine. Then, as if a final act of penance, she came by and gave me a bunch of postcards and two decks of playing cards as souvenirs. This reminded me of how airlines would give away playing cards back in the eighties (we'd have decks and decks of cards at home from all the traveling my dad did for work, so it's a particularly vivid memory). But I digress: Hey! Free stuff!

In-flight ice cream. Singapore Airlines served ice cream on our return flight to Manila, but not on our flight to Singapore. Granted, it was just a Walls Cornetto cone (the one with KitKat in the middle), but it was a welcome treat. Personally, I think that this is a ploy designed to elicit pleasant emotions from travelers on their trip departing Singapore (similar to how Thai Airways treats travelers to all manner of beverage as you fly into Bangkok, as my wife and I experienced a coupe of years back). Sure, I could be wrong; but if I'm right, I will grudgingly admit that it works.