Singapore. Day 12.

We had the privilege of fellowshipping with other believers at Bethesda Chapel this morning. This is the church mom & dad usually attend when they are in town and don’t have other Sunday duties. We really enjoyed the service and the people were very friendly. This was our second Sunday, second church, and second time being asked to stand and being introduced to the whole congregation. So different from churches we’ve visited in the U.S.

 

It was a special Sunday so they had a bounce house.

On our 10min walk home from church we stopped by the hawker stalls to grab lunch. On the bottom floor of the HDB flats (aka: government built and subsidized apartments for sale) there are places to buy hot food ready to eat – like a food court – and also small “grocery stores.” This is what it looks like when you walk up:

 

 

Here is the inside food court area, called hawker stalls.

Here you’re looking opposite the food court into the grocery area.

And further into the store.

So, many people in Singapore actually convert their kitchen into a room for another use – like a study room (since studying is super important). They may have a rice cooker in their patio/laundry area and they’ll buy most of their food at restaurants, hawker stalls, etc. Many eat out for every meal. At the hawker stalls, you can get a good meal for $3. In a mall food court, that same meal is $5-6. And at a restaurant (where you sit and someone brings you food) that same meal is $9, but more foods are available in a wide variety of genres and a regular meal can be up to $15/person.

People eat all the time and always meet over food. There is inexpensive, ready, healthy food that is easily accessible at all times. (The first restaurant we ate at here is open from 11am-4am daily!) Also, the climate lends to people regularly grabbing fruit and/or juices to replenish what you lose in the heat and humidity.

We took our food home and had a pleasant lunch and a relaxing afternoon at home. We worked on our puzzle a bit and played some games on the computer. Then we headed out to the Gardens by the Bay. 

 We saw these earlier looking down from the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

 

We walked through the gardens and enjoyed the different tropical plants.

 The floating baby sculpture...

 

For dinner, we went to another all-you-can-eat buffet where you pick up your foods raw and cook them on a stove on your table. There is a bowl of broth in the middle to cook vegetables and noodles in. Around the broth bowl, there is a flat iron plate to cook your meat on. There is a small fuel tank and burner on the bottom. It was definitely a unique experience. Very fun and yummy.

 We ended the evening with a race home. Since yesterday, Sy was asking to go alone on the train with just mommy. I think he really wants to go by himself! so we were planning to go one train (3-4min) before or behind everyone. Scott got separated from the rest of them and ended up with us. We got down the stairs just in time to see their train pull away. We got on the train on the next platform. So they took yellow and we took blue. Both groups had to transfer to green to get home. We ended up first, but didn't have the keys to the bike locks. Fortunately, all the kids were great sports about the "race" and Jo ran the keys down to us as soon as their train arrived so Sy could take off for home. And he made it - first place goes to Sy! Hooray.