A Weekend in Singapore

Our Indonesian visa expired which culminated in a quick trip to Singapore to renew it.  It also offered a golden opportunity to get to a chandlers to pick up a few essential items for Calypso, items which are impossible to obtain here in Jepara and probably anywhere else in Indonesia.

We arrived fairly late on Friday evening but immediately dashed to the humongous shop of Mustafa's to purchase some basic food items which are also impossible to find here.  Oh how I wish I could do a whole monthly shop there.  Mustafa's is possibly the largest grocery store I've ever seen and open 24 hours a day.  Even at that late hour, it was extremely busy, but we managed to grab quite a bit before fatigue took over. 

The next morning early we rushed off to the chandlers.  We hadn't realised that we'd planned things badly; they were only open 'til noon which severely curtailed our chances of getting around to a few different shops.  No worries, we managed to get the essentials and, once they'd closed, wandered off to other open stores trying to locate a few more items before taking a break for a Singaporean laksa lunch.

By mid afternoon we were exhausted but we still needed to summon up the energy to get back into Chinatown in the evening to see all the festivities leading up to the Chinese New Year. Crikey, I swear half the world's population was out there with us!  And red - everything was really red!

Dinner was at a typical Chinese restaurant.  Not the American type but the real McCoy.  You know the kind of menu: snake, frog, pig organ soup, pig's ears and trotters, etc, etc.  However, we played it safe and ordered something we could recognise, just praying it was what it said.  It was delicious and to top it off, Paul ordered me a glass of wine!  That doesn't sound all that exceptional unless you're aware that I haven't seen, let alone tasted, a glass of wine since New Year's Day and that was a real and rare treat then!  It was Valentine's Day after all which is also our daughter's birthday so we could toast both occasions with something other than a glass of water.  

We'll need to go again in a couple of months but next time will definitely plan it a bit better to ensure the chandlers are open when we arrive and, hopefully, take in a bit of sight-seeing into the bargain.  Singapore is a fascinating place - it was such a treat to experience a little first world culture for a change.

PHOTO ALBUM:

 

Cat's tails

With one of her babies

Yup, quite comfy thank you very much

We seemed to have acquired a cat.  We found a poor bedraggled and undernourished kitty hanging around trying to feed two not-so-young babies and definitely looking worse for wear. She was far too young to be a mummy herself, very timid and apprehensive.  Sooooooo, I put out some milk. She eventually ventured near and drank it.  The next time I saw her, I put out some tinned tuna which went down really well at the speed of light.  Several tins of tuna later, I succumbed and made a trip to the store for some Whiskas and, yes, she's now somewhat of a permanent fixture.  

This, of course, poses a bit of a problem when it comes time for us to leave.  We haven't allowed her to move in (she's not house trained) so, hopefully she'll still be able to fend for herself when that time comes.  She's now a very regular visitor lolling around happily, eating us out of house and home and, once fed, looking as though she's swallowed a beach ball.  Too cute.  The photo on the left was taken when I was still trying to fatten her up.  She's really quite rotund now.

Ever since arriving in Indonesia last year, we've been fascinated by the cats.  Most (I'd estimate a good 95%) have either a very crooked tail, a stubby tail, a corkscrew tail, half a tail or no tail at all.  At first we thought that this may be some fashion that the Indonesians prefer but it soon became apparent that even the tiny newborn kittens Suffered with this same phenomena.  It had to be a genetic trait.  

Malaysia, Singapore and even up into Indo China proved to be the same.  Very few cats had normal tails.  In just one litter you could find every variety.  

Despite the many thousands upon thousands of cats in the region, this must have something to do with inbreeding.  I've heard of cats in the western world with kinks in their tails but that's not the norm.  Here it most definitely is.

I read a few little legends of how this came to be so bear with me.  One tells of a feline couple who lived in a temple whose sacred vessel went missing.  They went into the jungle to search for the goblet which they subsequently found.  The male cat returned to tell the priests while his pregnant mate stayed to take care of the goblet.  She twisted her tail around the vessel to protect it but the male cat did not return for four days by which time she gave birth to five kittens.  Throughout her exertions of giving birth, she never released her hold on the goblet which caused her tail to become permanently kinked.  Mysteriously, all the kittens were born with kinked tails too.  

OK, OK, I did say bear with me.  This part of the world is rife with legends for everything!