Last Day of Seventh

 The boys are officially done with seventh grade!  It was a good year.  :)

Sentosa and Punggol

Yesterday I went down to Sentosa, the "Disneyland" of Singapore. It's a small island where Universal Studios, the Aquarium, some resorts, and other attractions are located. It's extremely touristy and designed to extract the maximum dollars possible from visitors.  But this time the effects of the pandemic were very obvious -- walking across the boardwalk to the island, I had it almost to myself, and the little kiosks selling tourist items were gone, and even the bars and cafes along the way seem to have disappeared.  It was the same story on Sentosa itself -- many of the areas were a lot emptier and a number of the restaurants appeared to have permanently closed.  They're also doing a lot of construction there, though, which may account for some of the changes. One of the attractions used to be a giant Merlion (the Singapore mascot -- lion with a mermaid tail), but it's not there now and the garden walk that used to be near it is completely a construction zone.  

And I looked into it a little further, and apparently they just demolished the Merlion!  I thought perhaps it had been removed for safekeeping somewhere, but no!  

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sentosa-merlion-to-be-demolished-6-things-to-know-about-the-singapore-icon 

The central area and the beach was a bit busier.  (The beaches are not impressive -- they're small and overlook the shipping traffic.)  But still, a definite change from previous trips!

Later, I ran into a colleague who wanted to explore a new part of Singapore. (Usually, people would take weekend trips to other cities/countries in the area -- Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are all close -- but this time around covid seems to have  somewhat dampened the enthusiasm for extra travel.) So, we ended up taking the MRT (metro) to the end of the line just to see what was there. The area is called Punggol, and it turns out that what's there is mainly a lot of high-rise housing.  But we went to a restaurant known for its crab, and had delicious black pepper crab and something they called "shimmering sand" crab (in a white sauce with white pepper). Very yummy and very messy!  (And also very pricy!)

In the same area they had "prawning" pools where people were catching prawns with fishing poles -- or trying to.  We had to wait several minutes before we saw anyone have any success!

The other attraction in the area was the Container Park -- a set of restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, but the kitchen/bar areas were in old shipping containers.  It was a cute little area.

So, it was a nice evening, but I don't think I'll need to return there any time soon.  :)

Rocking Cleveland

Mike and the boys took a road trip to Cleveland for Father's Day weekend, to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Consistent with the theme, they also had dinner at the House of Blues.)  They had a great time -- the kids enjoyed the Hall of Fame more than they expected. :)

(And, it turns out that Aunt Emily was there the same day, but unfortunately they didn't run into each other!)

 

Chinatown

I walked around Chinatown for a bit, and had dinner at a hawker center. I tried popiah and kuah pie tee for the first time, and they were both delicious.  Popiah is like a larger spring roll, and kuah pie tee is a mix of vegetables and prawns in a pastry shell.  

Outside the hawker center there was a tent set up with music playing where people were dancing, and nearby were tables with mostly old men playing checkers. It was a nice community scene, and it made me think how hard it must have been for these elderly people to lose those gathering places during the covid lockdowns. 

Durians are in season now, and there's a stand right near the exit to the MRT (metro) -- you can smell them as soon as you step outside!  (Durians apparently taste good -- I have not yet tried one, though I tried a durian cream pastry and it was horrible -- but they smell awful.  They're prohibited on public transportation for that reason.)

Chinatown murals

Durians