national day

National Day, 8 August 2000.

National Day is Singapore's anniversary of independence from Malaysia. It is like our 4th of July and it is a holiday. I'd seen them practicing the flybys and street lineups and really wanted to see the tanks driving down the street. Plus, there were supposed to be fireworks! I called Kim Paulson to see what her group was up to. She called me at 8:30am and said there was canoeing at 1. This seemed close enough to kayaking for me so I grabbed my kayaking gloves. I knew there was a free shuttle from Liang Court to City Hall MRT that ran on weekends and holidays, so I jammed down there and jumped on the shuttle.

Bus Driver: Where you going?
Me: City Hall!
Bus Driver: Cannot go! Road closed! National Day Parade!
Me: So where DO you go?
Bus Driver: Somerset MRT.

Which was fine; I could just ride a few subway stops from Somerset to City Hall.

Bus Driver: No one on the road today! Holiday!
Me: Yep.
Bus Driver: Except for me! I have to work all day!

The bus drivers and taxi drivers will ALWAYS let you know how hard they are working. One taxi driver who picked me up at work commented on how late I left (8:30pm).

Taxi Driver: You working late!
Me: Yep…
Taxi Driver: You work like a dog!
Me: Yep.
Taxi Driver: I work like a dog too! I have to work for 20 hours every day! No holiday!
Me: Really? That's terrible.
Taxi Driver (singing): "I have a hard days night, I am working like a dog..."

He was a pretty good singer, too, actually.

We get to East Coast Park and make our way to the kayak rental place. East Coast Park is packed with families. However, the loud booming sounds turn out to be thunder and the kayak guys don't want to let us go out. "Can only go out short distance!" But I was dying to go, so we said we'd stick to the rules. Right before it rained the wind blew up pretty hard. Hence signs like this one.

The swells were pretty large and we were soaked just getting the kayaks off the beach. But the water was very warm and when it started to rain on us, it didn't seem to matter. Thank god I didn't take my backpack--it would have gotten completely soaked. Here's a picture of us after using the showers (S$0.30 to use the toilet, S$0.40 to use the shower).

We went to eat at the famed Lau Pa Sat food court, near Chinatown and the harbor. This is not a tourist place like Satay Club, with average food and high prices, but where the locals eat.

Between the 10 of us we amassed a huge table of food. Notable were the BBQ sting ray, satay, chicken tikka, fried kuay teow, fried carrot cake (which is NOT made of carrots and is NOT cake. It is more like fried fishcake) and a bunch of stuff I don't remember the chinese name for…

While we were eating, the fighter jets and helicoptors roared by on their way to the flyby for the parade. We caught the last of the parade (I saw a tank driving on the street!) and went to the harbor to see the fireworks. Here's a picture of the harborside with everyone waiting for dusk.

Last but not least, if you remember nothing else, it is illegal in Singapore to have the durian fruit inside enclosed spaces (hotels, MRT stations, etc). Here is the reminder. As you may remember, durian tastes like a cross between a banana and a pineapple, but smells like a sewer. It is said that tigers will climb trees to get at the durian and it's high energy content. I ate a spoonful once. Now I can turn down all future offers to taste durian. Kind of like being immunized. Here there are cutting it open for sale in Malaysia (where it is NOT illegal to have it indoors-you can smell it thruout the entire mall). You couldn't pay me enough to take that job.

We get to East Coast Park and make our way to the kayak rental place. East Coast Park is packed with families. However, the loud booming sounds turn out to be thunder and the kayak guys don't want to let us go out. "Can only go out short distance!" But I was dying to go, so we said we'd stick to the rules. Right before it rained the wind blew up pretty hard. Hence signs like this one.
	The swells were pretty large and we were soaked just getting the kayaks off the beach. But the water was very warm and when it started to rain on us, it didn't seem to matter. Thank god I didn't take my backpack--it would have gotten completely soaked. Here's a picture of us after using the showers (S$0.30 to use the toilet, S$0.40 to use the shower).
We went to eat at the famed Lau Pa Sat food court, near Chinatown and the harbor. This is not a tourist place like Satay Club, with average food and high prices, but where the locals eat.
	Between the 10 of us we amassed a huge table of food. Notable were the BBQ sting ray, satay, chicken tikka, fried kuay teow, fried carrot cake (which is NOT made of carrots and is NOT cake. It is more like fried fishcake) and a bunch of stuff I don't remember the chinese name for…
While we were eating, the fighter jets and helicoptors roared by on their way to the flyby for the parade. We caught the last of the parade (I saw a tank driving on the street!) and went to the harbor to see the fireworks. Here's a picture of the harborside with everyone waiting for dusk.
	Last but not least, if you remember nothing else, it is illegal in Singapore to have the durian fruit inside enclosed spaces (hotels, MRT stations, etc). Here is the reminder. As you may remember, durian tastes like a cross between a banana and a pineapple, but smells like a sewer. It is said that tigers will climb trees to get at the durian and it's high energy content. I ate a spoonful once. Now I can turn down all future offers to taste durian. Kind of like being immunized. Here there are cutting it open for sale in Malaysia (where it is NOT illegal to have it indoors-you can smell it thruout the entire mall). You couldn't pay me enough to take that job.