Singapore Lions Game

According to the Lions website, there were
7000+ fans in attendance.

HEAR THE ROAR!

On Saturday night I got to attend my first Singapore LionsIIX football match (yep, that means soccer game). The 'Twelve' in LionsIIX is a tribute to the fans, recognized at the '12th player' on the team - aw!

I attended the game with my housemate Reshmi (who is a BIG football fan), Karyn & her husband Alex, and their British friends Katie & Mike. And several thousand excited Singaporeans!



The Lions play in the 'Malaysia Super League,' and on this occasion were facing ATM FA, the Malaysian Armed Forces team. It was a really exciting game - lots of action, many yellow cards, some very coordinated chanting on the part of the ATM supporters, and even some booing of the refs! Actually, the booing was even pretty awesome, because it was really fun to see Singaporeans getting really into it! We even learned how to chant 'Referee, you're no good!' in Malay! But mostly there was lots of cheering and support and fun happening - my favorite, grammatically-awkward chant was 'We Want Goal! We Want Goal!' From the start, Singapore came out really strong against the Malaysian team, in a game in which they were not favored to win. So it was really satisfying when Singapore was ahead 2- 0 at the half and finished the game 3-1!

The other part of the game we really enjoyed watching were the fans in front of us - what we assumed to be a little league football team who had come to watch the game. The boys were about 7-8 years old, and they were SO into the game! They were instantly on their feet cheering and jumping up and down after the goals - and even quicker to their feet, gesturing and shouting in frustrating at bad calls. They were so cute - they were mimicking adult reactions so perfectly, we couldn't help but laugh.

Intent on the game.

As we watched them, I also reflected on just how cool it is to me that among these dozen or so boys, there were at least four ethnicities, but that was so clearly not even a factor in their brains - they were just watching the game. After a trying week full of heart-wrenching news from around the world, it did my soul good to see kids having a great time together, giving no thought to how they're different, just focusing on the game and, of course, their game snacks. THAT is what kids should get to do, and I'm glad that Singapore is place that allows that to happen.

ARE YOU KIDDING? BAD CALL REF!!

Singapore Wins!!!!!

Prambanan, Batik, and Pedicab Ride in the Rain!

Time to recount the rest of our time in Jogjakarta - before the details slip away!

Member of the Palace Guard - fierce!

On Friday morning we set off to check out the Kraton - the Sultan's palace. We got there early to avoid crowds - forgetting that it was Good Friday which is actually a public holiday there. There were several school groups there, but it was not a problem - we had a lovely tour guide to show us through the main grounds. (The Kraton is a huge complex, encompassing residential areas as well).

Swanky ceiling!

Palace Gazebo

Hey kids!!!!

Swimming pool!

We then left the palace and wanted to make our way on foot to the Water Castle, the 'pleasure gardens' of Sultans past. However, we had no real sense of where to go and ended up giving in to the vocal pedicab drivers who were anxiously offering rides. Good thing we did - these two guys not only brought us to the Water Castle (we would not have found it on foot - plus it was crazy hot, it would not have been fun!), but then assured us they would wait for us and then take us to our next location. We were a little skeptical about this - not wanting to get roped into more than we bargained for, but it worked out great. We toured the Water Castle, hosted by another tour guide who we didn't exactly ask for, but who was informative nonetheless. Near the end of the tour he took us to a gallery with batiks and shadow puppets for sale and asked us to support the local artists - fair enough, but we were already happy with our previous purchases and so declined. He was very gracious though - if long winded!

Swimming pool monster!

She is applying wax to to the design areas to prevent
those areas from being dyed.

Upon exiting, our dedicated pedicab drivers loaded us up and set off for a museum - which was closed. So they then took us down to the batik district, where we got to take a tour of the entire batik process. Highlight of the day - it was fascinating! I couldn't believe how detailed and painstaking the work was - and how long it must take to complete each piece!

Neat display showing the batik process.

Some batik is done entirely by hand, while other can be done (more quickly) using these stamps to apply the main wax patterns, then going back and adding detail by hand.

These ladies are very talented - and work a LOT!

Just next door was Hanis cafe, where Mom and I enjoyed pizza and Jacob tried a coffee-avocado-milkshake. (Verdict: pretty darn good!). During our leisurely lunch, it began to rain, but our pedicab drivers just pulled out plastic tarps to rainproof the cabs, and continued to wait for us. We asked them to take us to one more destination - our hotel. I don't think any of us realized quite how far away our hotel was - or just how serious this rainstorm was about to become. Thus began our half-hour pedicab ride in the pouring rain! We were cozied up with plastic over the front of the cab to screen the rain, but our poor drivers only had rain jackets for protection as they doggedly pedaled our lunch-stuffed selves uphill. My dad and I, in one cab together, tracked our journey on his phone - and realized just how far  e had left! But what could we do - it seemed like it'd be even worse to ask to get out and take a regular cab, after all their hard work. Plus, they were already soaked and unlikely to get another fare in this weather. So we carried on! It became comical, just how ridiculous this ride was! Finally, after a few wrong turns, we reached our destination - and paid our drivers what we hoped was far more than they expected. Even so, all said and done, I think we paid them each the equivalent of $6 - sounds crazy for the work they put in, but that is how the exchange rate works.

Dad kicking my butt at Cribbage

Romance!

We took it easy in the afternoon, playing cards, reading, napping and enjoying afternoon tea while it continued to rain. We played a game of Heart, which Dad won handily. For dinner, we headed back to the south part of the city to Via Via cafe, highly recommended by Lonely Planet. Well, they may have had a bit of an off night - they were out of wine and several other foods we asked for and then they forgot to place my mom's order! - but the food ended up being good and the live jazz was quite enjoyable.

We got some pretty wicked ice cream sundaes for dessert - Jacob and I split the 'Romance' sundae - ooh la la!












On Saturday, we slept in a bit and then split up to do a little more shopping and sightseeing along Malioboro. While Jacob and I haggled for a cheap watch and some belts, my parents enjoyed the World's Most Expensive Coffee. The Luwak is a type of small jungle cat which eats the ripest coffee berries - and I quote (from the package) - "unable to digest the coffee beans, the Luwak graciously deposits them on the jungle floor where they are eagerly collected by the locals. The stomach acids and enxymatic action involved in this unique fermentation process produces the beans for the world's rarest beverage " Thanks to packets my parents bought for us as well, I can report that it is indeed delicious. You can hardly taste the poo!

Fancy cups!

Dad attempting to convey the deliciousness of the coffee with his eyes - MMMM!

Mom & Dad came across a bridal expo in the mall.

Soo beautiful!

We had a quick lunch at the Superman Cafe (I think we hit at least half of the Lonely Planet restaurants while in Jogja), before meeting the driver we hired (through the hotel) to take us to Prambanan, another huge temple - this time, a Hindu temple.

Prambanan Temple - a bit rainy, but that didn't stop us!

Too cool for school

Umbrella Party!

The temple and its many surrounding smaller temples were damaged by a major earthquake in 2010. The main temple has been deemed 'relatively stable,' but they do require to you to wear hardhats to go in.

Such tourists.

Literally raising the roof!

More amazing architecture.

And lots and lots of rubble from the earthquake.

Modern technology - we found a geocache near the temple!

There are three other smaller temples near Prambanan, including this Buddhist one, which predates the Hindu one. Almost no other tourists wanted to walk this far, meaning we were all by ourselves among the buildings and ruins. It gave the whole place quite a feeling a mystery and history - I loved it!

Buddha in the rubble.

Ancient carvings.

It lends itself to contemplation.

Not sure if I can convey how amazing this place is - can you imagine
ancient people building something like this?!

Magnificent.

We finished off the evening with a delicious dinner at a steakhouse - and they DID have wine! Most excellent.

On Easter morning we were up at 4:30am again, enjoying the hotel's kindly prepared breakfast before taking a cab to the airport and heading back to Singapore. Apart from an unexpected airport 'service fee' (to be paid in Rupiah ONLY - one more stop at an ATM), travel was smooth and mostly spent dozing.

One more short blog on M&D's last few days in Singapore to follow - peace out!
'

A 9400 mile view from Singapore to Boston

Like most of you, I spent a lot of the day hearing about the bombings at the Boston Marathon. And while I don't think any of my thoughts on this are particularly unique or insightful, I had a lot of them racing through my head on my run this evening. Today I felt so distant from America, right when I was identifying with it the most. So here are few of my thoughts, from an expat perspective.

As usual, I slept through the event itself - we're 12 hours ahead, so we sleep through most of your day (if you're in the US) and you sleep through most of ours. For that reason, I started checking the news first thing, often before even getting out of bed. So this morning was a tough wake-up, sans snooze-button.

Naturally, I immediately open my computer and pull up several news sites, with that uncomfortable eagerness for news, even when I know it's going to be bad. And then begins what I'm going to call the 'camera auto-focus effect.' Imagine you are taking a picture of landscape, but there are some leaves in the foreground. Your auto-focus begins to waver back and forth, leaves sharpening against a hazy background as the camera focuses close-up, then disappearing as the landscape crystallizes. Sometimes even when you try to focus on one thing, the camera keeps honing in on the other. This is all to say that as I take in the facts, the story, I begin to rapidly flip back and forth between viewing the tragedy as a whole, and personalizing it, placing myself in the foreground of the picture. I don't think I'm alone in this, or in my struggle to figure out how to relate to and understand a tragedy without making it about me. Big picture vs me picture

Because attacking a marathon feels personal to me. I'm not a great or seasoned marathoner, but I've run a few and cheered at a bunch more. So how dare someone take something the displays the beauty and determination of the human spirit and blast it apart. How dare they ruin not only this race, this day, but also races and other events to come? It's not fair! Also, like every other marathon runner I spoke to today, the marathon clock in the videos jumped out at me. The bombs blew at 4:09 - my PR is 4:11. When I finished the Twin Cities Marathon, it was MY family lining the road, cheering me on. Blessed as I am with a vivid imagination, it is no struggle to place myself in the videos I watch. (Me picture)

But I wasn't there. Lots of amazing people were. Mr. Roger's advice to 'look for the helpers,' could not be exemplified any better than in the videos in which, moments after a bomb has exploded - and then another - police, medics, civilians rush towards the explosions (big picture)? Could I do that (me picture)?

My commute to work was disheartening, as it was quickly evident that almost no one knew about what had happened in my country. How come no one is acting any different, how come people aren't sharing sympathetic looks or making small gestures of kindness, banding together as you're supposed to after a national tragedy? Because it isn't Singapore's national tragedy. Just like the bomb blasts we hear about in Karachi or Kabul aren't our national tragedy. Just like today's 7.8 magnitude in Iran and Pakistan isn't our national tragedy - despite the fact that the death toll for that will surely outstrip the Boston attacks (big picture). My friends and coworkers have their own national tragedies - attacks in London, in Mumbai, in Norway. Natural disasters in Thailand and Japan. War in Afghanistan and Iraq and Sri Lanka and Kashmir. I felt so far away from home, because if I were at 'home' I'd be sharing in our mutual grief. I missed America - not my family and friends, but the country itself - which is somewhat unusual for me. I simultaneously wanted to tell everyone I met in the office and dreaded having to try to explain or excuse yet more violence in my country. As a friend put it, the longer you're out of the States, the more it sounds like the wild wild west - you only hear the bad. And in a place like Singapore (ranked 23rd in the Global Peace Index - the US is ranked 88th. Big picture.), which is very safe, the violence is especially striking. (I won't start on how horrible it felt, in the wake of the Newtown shootings, to have people ask me to explain America's gun problems...me picture).

Inherent in my whole camera metaphor is the idea that the camera lens is pointed at one event - and, therefore, not another event. I spoke to both my sisters today, and they reminded me that in our focus on one tragedy, we can completely neglect to see others - perhaps others in which we could be those helpers. It is absolutely tragic that people were killed and maimed in Boston. It is also tragic that Chicago has homicides on a daily basis. It is also tragic that there are children who don't have homes or adequate medical care, who sleep in police stations or parks. You can take your camera all over this darn world and find tragedies at all levels.

So where does that leave us? Where does that leave me?
Well, frankly, a bit baffled. More than a bit heartbroken. Frustrated. Angry, even.

I think it also leaves us with a charge - to do something.( Put that damn camera down! Get to work!) I don't mean you have to work on the tragedies on the news. Some pictures are too big, or too far away. But find a place where you can fit into the picture, where you change the picture. Maybe that just means reaching out and being kind to a neighbor or a coworker, or volunteering your time, or donating money. I don't know. This feel awfully preachy, world-peace-y. But I don't think it is off base. I won't pretend it is easy to leap into action. If I have any advice, it is mostly for myself - and that is to start by being good to the people you know, doing your best by them. Then start working on the people you don't know. If you have any ideas, please share them with me. I don't think I'm quite to the action part yet.

AND to really carry this metaphor through (!) - in the meantime, use your camera to focus on the GOOD. Look for the good - actively. Find it, capture it, and keep it with you. Show it to others.

And that, folks, is all I got for now. Sending lots of love from what feels like a looong ways away.