Cycling, eating, gambling and the old testament

- July 26, 2014

Our days in Singapore sort of pan out like this: I run in the mornings, around 6 am. I get back and have breakfast with my mom. The boys are up watching TV. We then go and do something aroundn 9, just before it gets too hot to do anything. Often it is breakfast for them...

At McDonalds... i know, don't give me grief....

Then we either do something active to go somewhere different... this past week I taught Ghin to cycle...

Here is Ghin at Bishan Park cycling on his own for the first time.

Here is lovely Bishan Park

Last year Bishan Park had been just cobbled together. This year it is already showing signs of becoming a really lovely place for people to hangout in.

The Grub cafe

Ghin takes his reward of a burger at the cafe.

A cleansing biotope, aka a reed bed filtration system

You know having seen how well nature does especially in places which are hot and wet, like Singapore, i have come to this conclusion: as a civilisation we need to ask ourselves what are the important things for us, which we will discover is actually not money and status and all that shit, but tenderness, love, safety - REAL safety not the safety you will see in the next post - being cherished and appreciated, and being able to do the same ... those things, those real things, knowing we are creative, unique and good people - if we get this right, then we will also get it right for the world. For nature.

It is fascinating reading the Old Testament. I am still in Genesis, but the overriding sense i get from it is one of blatant amateruism. In Genesis, human beings behave like amateurs. I mean they are trying their best, but they are also a complete mess. It is like watching a Taiwanese soap opera. For instance, Lot's daughters, after they escape from Sodom and Gemorrah, decide to get their father drunk and have sex with him and then have children with him. The result are the Maobites and Ammonites. It really is like people with more moral compass. They are like overgrown children. It's like they have no developed emotional life - if they feel like it, they just do it. So i now understand why Moses had to give them laws.

I am also contemplating the notion of the monotheistist. I was thinking about other mythic systems - like Native Americans, Hindus, Chinese, Norse, you get the picture... and i was thinking how the divine walked very closely with human beings - the world to many of these religions is still alive with spirits. But in the Old Testament, there is only one God who goes around granting favours. He speaks to people, prophets, whom he has chosen - it is a he in my version of the Bible - and to be perfectly honest the entire episode is open to interpretation. OK, there are angels, but they are agents of God, rather than like say, water spirits or air spirits or garudas or nisse, who have an independence of their own. Anyway... the questions just keep on pouring in...

I celebrate with a pear cider

This place Grub sells many kinds of different and reasonably priced - for Singapore - beer. I also managed to get my camera fixed in Vivo City, but their is a whole different story.

I promise you Ghin did not take any pear cider, although
you wouldn't know

Cheeseburger and fries

They do awesome cheeeburger and fries....

Geylang

OK, back to what we do... after the cycling i told my mom that we should go to Geylang to buy some muslin, which is what i did. Here is the Ramadan bazaar - and there were miles upon miles of shops selling everything. Here my mom gets some ubi kayu goreng.

We are a bit early so it isn't sooo crowded

Drink shop

Roads are decorated for the coming Hari Raya Puasa

Photos don't tell half the story. It is really REALLY hot in Singapore now. It has not rained for more than a week. The temperatures are around 35 degrees. These stall holders are heroes. The heat is crucifying. We are running with sweat as we walk down the roads and there is no cool breeze. It is hot hot hot. Ghin is suffering with the heat. I am slowly getting used to it again, but i don't ever remember it being this hot. It is impossible to think clearly at all.

And now for something really different... Imperial Treasures

I had expressed a wish to eat Chinese food. Somewhere like Crystal Jade kitchen, i said to my dad. So of course he books us into Marina Bay Sands. It is about five times more expensive than Crystal Jade. I am resigned to this.