Duty free in Changi airport … A great chance to get more snail mucus extract for your money. Don’t fail to miss it!
Taxi driver talismans. The lights on the skull and jet in the center were hooked up to the brake lights.
Another view of the hotel. Again hazy sky… The sun never really came out for us. The double helix pedestrian bridge was very cool. The monstrosity on the right is the casino museum. More Vegas than Vegas.
Barricades and lighting are going up all over the city for the F1 race, the only nighttime race on the circuit.
Ships at anchor, Singapore harbor
Marina Bay Light Show, Part Deux
Anybody can spray water and shoot lasers like the kind that annoy pilots and baseball fans. However, it takes Sheldon Adelson AND a government with a strong belief in the power of positive propaganda to take the show to the next level and the next. By the time the 15-minute commercial ended, mistily projected healthy Singaporean children grew up to run and overcome and thrive, happily passing their work ethic and mental soundness to their own adoring children. There was smoke and a bubble machine and even gouts of flame (for overcoming). The Chariots of Fire theme was quoted and then eclipsed for pure dramaticness. There were very few dry eyes. And now bring it down with a little Louis Armstrong.
And now please Sir, to return to the hotel. Gucci and Rolex and Alexander McQueen are still open if you desire, as is the casino. Indeed, what a wonderful world.
Marina Bay Light Show, Part 1
Setup: You leave the hotel through the tunnel past the casino and into the mall. Then, exit the mall by Chanel and find a seat on the esplanade overlooking the water. Promptly at 8:00 and again at 9:30, the music swells slowly and three fan-shaped sprays appear. Cue lasers…
Passing the torch
This summer I’ve connected (thanks Chuck) with a group of cyclists who get a few miles in every morning at 6:30. I’m more of a 1-2x a week guy myself, but the group goes out religiously. The route always goes in the same basic direction, and varies from 15 to 25 friendly miles. A great warmup, and a chance to chat with several well-connected Brattlers. Brattlegians? Brattleburgers?
One of the regulars is Judge Jack, on the right, and the “long” route escorts him to work at the Newfane courthouse. On Monday, we had a much larger than usual crowd because it was his very last day of work. His law clerk joined the ride… Definitely not his first time on a bike but one of the first times he’s joined the old farts early in the morning. He’ll clerk for someone else now and continue his apprenticeship.
Even knowing Jack for a short time and as superficially as I do, it’s obvious he’s a Good Man. It was so nice to be part of the reminiscing and picture taking, and it presented a very motivational picture of how nice retirement might be: true sloth is moving your bike ride all the way back to 7:30.
Brattleboro Adventure – the Auckland Edition 