I had a mission today to buy some silk, which I had missed doing last year. There is Thai and Indian silk available in the ethnic markets that is much cheaper than even Thailand, or so we were told. Karen, Leslie, Peggy and I had the same bus at our disposal, for 4 hours. When they modernized Singapore, they grouped the ethnic markets into areas. First we hit the Arab area, where I was delighted to find exactly what I was looking for. The rest of the group was doing their usual fly by in every shop, and I finally caught up with them. The fabrics here were very fine and very expensive. Many of them are Indian. Peggy got some beautiful golden lace.
Unfortunately, the only place that sells the embroidered jackets that we all had our eyes open for, was closed for cleaning! So we met Toa and went over to little India. Now I must say that when you are in these markets you actually could be in the very country, so authentic are they, and the people here are all Indian. Singapore has a large Indian, Chinese, Arab and Malay population. It is such a safe city as well. We visited some of the places we discovered last year, and one lady from who I bought sandals last year gave me a better discount this year as a returning customer.
We were back at the Terminal by 2, hot sweaty and hungry. We grabbed a quick lunch, then I went back to our cabin. Jonathan and Barry had been on their own today, and since Jonathan had some unexpected duties to attend to, they didn't do much except visit some camera stores.
The main event for us for the day was to be meeting Jessica, our daughter -in-law Lisa's niece who is here on a university exchange between University of Western Ontario and the University of Singapore. We were excited to be able to learn what she was doing and see a familiar face as well as to let her family know that she had some people from back home visiting her. We decided to take the metro (MRT) which is the most modern subway in the world. We had been so impressed with it the last time, and this time was no different. We hopped on, and were whisked away directly to Clarke's Quay again, where we met her on the Colman Bridge. We were on opposite corners for a few minutes, but connected and found a Vietnamese restaurant overlooking the river. Jessica is just loving her experience (who wouldn't?). She first of all loves the course which is very practical and hands on - different from the theory she is learning in Canada. For 3 full days she has lectures and assignments. The rest of the time she and her friends can hop on cheap flights to see this part of the world- like Bali, Thailand, Hong Kong, Burma etc. We were impressed that she is so keen to learn about these countries and how she is doing all the kinds of tours that will teach her about history. What a marvellous opportunity to have some international experience on her resume.
Because we had to be back onboard at 9 pm., we had to leave by 8, but we so enjoyed our visit, and she also brought us a recent picture of our great grandson Tristan, that her Mom had sent. Oh boy - homesick again.
We tried to call home when we got to the terminal, but it was early morning and everyone was on their way to work. Hard to co-ordinate contact. Exhausted we crashed in bed, vowing to come back to this part of the world for an extended visit. These little tasters are not enough to do justice to these great cities.
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