This morning Knik met us at our hostel at 10:00 ready to show us his town. We decided to take a walking tour, heading first to a Taoist temple, then a sculpture gallery in an old chapel, and the Singapore Art Museum, which is housed in the old mission school house built in 1852 – very old in Singapore time. They had an exhibit of their largest paintings, called The Big Picture. They decided these large paintings never get pulled out of storage for exhibits because they’re so cumbersome, so they had a show just for them. This is a modern art museum, and these pieces were made by artist from all over Southeast Asia. There were several pieces that I really enjoyed. This is a wonderful collection reflecting the many cultures and political situations of the region and I learned a lot from our guide and the art which will influence how I see the countries ahead.

Knik then took us to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant and asked if he could go ahead and order for us and we could share. This is the normal way for Chinese to eat out together, and I was so glad he suggested it. We had a variety of vegetable and tofu dishes as well as a big bowl of noodles. Everything was fresher and more complex than any Chinese food I’ve had in the U.S. Once again, we had an incredible conversation about Singapore and its people and the time flew by.

Both Knik and See Tho are true ambassadors for their country; both were frank, thoughtful and open. We get the idea that most Singaporeans are this way. I can’t believe how much we were able to learn from them in such a short visit. It has made touring this city much richer than it ever could have been left to us and our guidebook alone. Thank you both for your incredible hospitality!

Knik had to get to work, so he dropped us off in Chinatown before continuing on in the taxi. We then walked around, looking at the extra-festive shops getting ready for the Chinese New Year coming up in a couple of weeks. Then we walked along the river to the Esplenade, where we saw some men up on the building washing all the windows. They waved from all the way up there. We then hopped on the subway to get back to Little India, as our feet were getting sore. I was wilting and in need of caffeine. We got back to the hostel, had a couple of cups of coffee and then Dave got to work on the bikes while I wrote these last two posts.

Tomorrow we venture out on the bikes to get used to the crazy traffic…