We missed Jenn so much over Christmas. We were sad that she didn't get to experience fully in the month that our family had together. That was the bad news. The good news, though, is that on March 11, she showed up in Singapore to spend her month with us. We were so glad to see her! She looked lovely and self-possessed and happy. She had two goals...to relax, and to get a tan.
We went easy on her at first...jet lag can really knock a person for a loop and that 'relaxation' thing was paramount. So...we went out for sushi, took a stroll down Orchard Road, and went to dinner with friends. She got to experience fish ball soup, lime juice in a baggie and sweating in the dead of winter. We went to the wet market, the flower shop and found our way around the island in a taxi or on the train. We went to the beach for a preliminary tan. It rained that day, but we had a great time anyway. She slept in, relaxed...ahhhh.
The first weekend she was here we planned a dinner with friends. Our job was to get Sri Lanken Crabs for a crab fest. A friend of mine and I had scoped this out weeks before. We found a guy who supplies to all the restaurants on the Island. He claims the crabs to be Indonesian Mud Crabs, though ("I just sell them. People call them what they want.") Whatever they are, we knew just where to go.
We got there early on Saturday morning. The place was pretty much empty - the restauranteers had picked up their merchandise already. There were a bunch of mangy dogs, and some crabs in tanks. We waited, and in walked a small guy in oversized rubber boots. He was drenched from head to toe and smelled extremely ripe. We tried to ask him about the crabs. He spoke no English. He waved his arms around a bit, and walked out the door. We followed him, assuming there would be someone out there for us to talk to. There wasn't, but the guy climbed into a huge tank of frogs and began grab them and count them and throw them into bags. We noticed right away that the boots were affording him very little protection...
Finally a guy we could communicate with turned up. There were no crabs available that day - they were sold out. I'm not sure about the frogs. We weren't ready for that yet, although I hear they are delicious....
We took a little day-trip to Malaysia to a pottery place, too. Jenn was unimpressed at first, but when she discovered a set of dishes she loved for the low price of about $35 US dollars, she perked right up. They weigh about 9,000 pounds, but she managed to get about half in her carry on...John will bring home the rest in his luggage this summer. Don't tell him tho. I want it to be a surprise.
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