Seasons

My mom asked me about seasons - does it ever change or is it always the same?  What about the sun rising and setting?  Surely there is some change because of the rotation of the earth's axis, etc.  

So I did some research and discovered the following:

The official sunrise in June is 7:06 a.m. and in December it is 7:15 a.m!  The longest day is 12 hours and 18 minutes and the shortest day is 11 hours and 56 minutes.  The temperature is always between 88 and 91 for the high and 73 to 75 for the low (this doesn't include the heat index or what it really feels like).  It was 90 the other day and felt like 103 but there was a breeze and we didn't turn on the air con until about 2:00 p.m. because we had the ceiling fans going.  

The rainiest months are November and April with over 11 inches.  October is pretty high too.  "Cool" weather comes in November and December (we're talking 88 instead of 90).  March is the warmest month.  

But for the most part things stay the same day to day.  

We were in the US recently and got to see a bit of the leaves changing color.  That was very cool.  I think I miss fall the most.  I like waking up with that crisp feeling in the air.  But, I'm glad we are here too and I can always crank up the air con and make it feel really cold.  

Eid

Today is the beginning of Eid, or Hari Raya as it is called here.  September has been the month of fasting - or Ramadan for Muslims.  They begin their fast about 5:30 each morning after an early breakfast and then don't take water or food again until the evening - generally about 7:15 in our area, although it changed a bit each day.  About 60% of the population are Muslim, so you noticed the difference when you went out at lunch time.  The restaurants were usually only filled with Chinese, Indians and Westerners like us.  Occasionally there were Muslim mothers with children since those under 12 usually don't fast.  Dinner was an interesting experience.  You needed to get to a restaurant and order before 7ish in order to get your food in a timely fashion.  The Muslim families would come and pre-order and then their food was delivered right at the time when they could break the fast.  Restaurants often provided complementary dates and a refreshing drink which is how the fast is broken.  If you came too late to a restaurant, you run the risk of a) not getting a table and/or b) not getting your food until every Muslim in the restaurant had been served.  They had been fasting and therefore were a priority customer.

So, fasting ended last night and we heard fireworks late in the evening as people celebrated.  There were special prayers at the mosques and the PM gave a speech on the television.  Ramadan begins and ends with the sighting of the new moon, so there was official confirmation of the sighting on TV as well.

Today begins a long holiday weekend.  The tradition is for everyone to go to their home town and visit family.  All month long people have been buying new clothes and decorating their homes.  There are special cookies to be baked and also charity to give.  It is said that there is a special blessing to give during Ramadan.  

The roads were almost empty tonight when we went out to dinner. It was like Christmas Day or Thanksgiving.  Lots of shops are closed and of course the post office and banks.  Tomorrow will be the same.  Some folks will be off on Friday as well.  So it is a really long weekend.  Most of our friends have gone to see family and many of the students as well.  

It is interesting to observe the traditions and holidays.  I'm so used to not having a big holiday until November and December.  But here there is Ramadan and then Diwali will be at the end of October (Indian festival of lights).  There will be another Eid in 70 days which is right after the Hajj in Mecca.  Christmas isn't really a big holiday, but Chinese New Year will be in late January and that is always a big celebration.  More on these as we experience them!   

BBQ and Birthday Bash

As I mentioned in the other post - we celebrated Roy's birthday with our community group from church and combined it with other birthdays and the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival.  The See family who host our community group each week had 3 birthdays in September as well, so it was quite a fun evening.  Mr. See fired up the grill and we BBQd chicken wings and sausages.  People brought all kinds of good food - fried rice (not like what you get at a Chinese take away shop in the US!), fried noodles, a japanese soup, salads, fresh fruit and satay with spicy peanut sauce.  

We hung up lanterns with little candles insides.  One caught on fire, but was quickly put out!  

We sang happy birthday to Roy, Aaron, Sue Ann, Jen Ann, and Aunty...

And then we played games.  Our CG loves to play games and Roy and I have a bunch that we brought with us from the US.  Previously, we tried Cranium with the group, but ran into problems with too many cultural references that others didn't get.  Like when Roy had to imitate someone and I was the only one who understood, "And that's the way it is." (said in a gruff voice like a news anchor). Unfortunately for Roy, I was on the other team.  So this night we brought some other games - like Set, Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase.  Oh wow!  We had a blast.  It was so much fun.  It is a great blessing to have such a wonderful group of friends here.  

Roy's Birthday Cake

Roy's birthday is September 13 which this year fell on the same weekend as the Mid-Autumn Festival/Lantern Festival/Mooncake Festival in the Chinese calendar.  September is also a big birthday month for our community group, so the group decided to have a big BBQ to celebrate everything at once.  (see other blog for more on that).  So, my friend Hannah and I got to talking and decided to combine forces to make a spectacular birthday cake.  She has been taking a cake decorating class and wanted to try her hand at fondant (thick paste of sugar and water that covers cakes and makes them look smooth). I would make the cake.  We met and my house about 11 a.m. and started the work. It took 6 hours!  It was lot of fun and I learned a lot - especially to be very appreciative of those bakers who do this for a living.  Here are some photos of the process!  

Making the daisies:

Daisies drying:
Buttercream frosting first to make a good contact area for the fondant:
We used the leftover cake batter to make cupcakes for each birthday person (there were 7!)  We colored the buttercream frosting yellow to match the fondant on the cake.
Hannah rolling out the fondant.  The cake was two layers and each one is done separately.
Attaching the daisies with gum paste.
Ta Da!  The finished product:  

Jakarta

Roy and I went to Jakarta, Indonesia earlier this month.  Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world with over 179 million Muslims (222 million total population).  It is spread out over an area as large as the US with over 17,000 islands!  Jakarta is a bustling capital city with lots of traffic and smog - crowded with more motorcycles than you've ever seen.  But there is a new building against the skyline now - a beautiful church building.  Roy and I were able to attend the dedication of the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia's (GRII) newest sanctuary - the Messiah Cathedral.  The complex includes the sanctuary, a concert hall, a museum, offices and dormitories for seminary students.  Stephen Tong, who is the head of the GRII, has been ministering in Asia for 50+ years.  He travels each week to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to lead Bible studies.  The one in Malaysia has over 1200 people attend and is in both Chinese and English.  Here is a photo of the new church:

While we were in Jakarta, we attended a classical music concert at the church as well as an evangelistic rally at one of the large stadiums.  On Saturday morning, thousands gathered to sing and rejoice for the gift of this new church complex.  

It is very difficult to get permits to build new church buildings in countries like Indonesia.  Many churches meet in office buildings.  The permits for this new church took 15 years!  It is to the glory of God that it has been completed.  We are thankful for the opportunity to have joined in the celebration.

Landscaping

When we rented the house it was a little bare on the outside.  I wanted to get some plants and fix it up a little.  So I hired a landscaper and he fixed things up a bit.  I had him lay some sod around the lipstick palm and add some plants.  I also bought a jasmine which is in the pot next to the grass.  We joked that instead of a riding lawn mower, we ought to get a remote control lawnmower!  

The outside flower beds were filled with weeds and so they started from scratch pulling the old out and putting in some new plants.  
I bought this bougainvillea at a local nursery.  It has been blooming beautifully and I'm hoping it will grow larger and climb up the column.
I bought some hanging plants as well.  Here is one of the petunias.  I also got some impatiens, a chinese rose plant, a philodendron and something the lady called a monkey plant.  
It's nice to have some color out in the yard and we are enjoying the greenery. 

Singapore

Roy and I went to Singapore last week to renew our visas and meet with some folks who work there.  I had heard lots about this city, state, country, island from others, especially my friend Karen who has fond memories as a child of going there.  The city is really clean.  Even the sidewalks and subway systems! Everything is compact because the island is quite small.  I was surprised at how cool it was. Singapore is in the same time zone and has a similar climate as to where we live but the temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler.  

It is a similar culture as our own city although there are some differences.  There is more freedom in terms of religion but still no freedom of speech.  Like England there is a Speaker's corner, but in contrast to the English corner you have to have your speech text approved by the local police and get a license and the topics cannot be religion or race.  

We took a hop on, hop off bus tour which was quite nice.  We saw this really cool building.  It looks paper thin, doesn't it?  But it isn't - just the way it is designed.

The bus dropped us off at the Botanic Gardens and we spent a lovely hour in the Orchid garden.  Asia has wonderful orchids - there are so many varieties.  Did you know that vanilla comes from an orchid!  






Later in the evening we took a river cruise which was really nice.  We got to see Singapore from a different perspective.  Here is a shot of the old and new supreme courts - no that isn't a flying saucer!
Without any natural resources, Singapore has become a big financial city/country.
The Merlion is the symbol of Singapore.  He sits at the entrance to the river at the harbor.

The boat captain said Roy could steer for awhile!  

The sun was setting as we came back.  This is one of the many quays on the river. There are lots of restaurants and shops along the river.  

Here is a photo of our boat.

Of course we also ate lots of interesting food in Singapore as well!  Their specialties are chili crab and black pepper crab.  Oh my, they are really good.  On Friday of our trip we went to the Asian Civilizations museum.  That was a fascinating couple of hours.  They have galleries on the different countries and regions that influence Singapore's history.  I highly recommend a visit!