June 24 2006 - Singapore - Changi Prison Museum

We’ve been luxuriously lazy so far today – well, and a bit educational as well. After sleeping in, Lee finally started to get restless while I was still on the PC. So he headed out on his elusive search for the perfect yellow polo shirt while I finished up my Yahoo-grouping, emailing, and blogging. I met up with him on Orchard Road and watched him reject shirt after shirt – not the right material, too big of a logo, wrong color, wrong size. Alas, that yellow shirt with his name on it was nowhere to be found, at least in Singapore.

We decided that it was more-or-less lunch time and decided to check out the food court underneath Tanakanasa Department Store. Another hoot of an Asian food court. This time Lee got some yakatori, Japanese “meat on a stick”, and I tried an Indonesian noodle bowl with tofu and egg. Spicy and good. I can’t remember what it was called though, sorry! As I was ordering a guy peered over my shoulder and asked what it was. I pointed to the appropriate picture and he said “looks good”! Actually I thought it looked kind of weird, but it tasted great!

We sat at a table with a young Asian couple. They were cute. At one point the girl asked the boy if he had any “tissues”. They don’t issue napkins in Singapore, they give you little paper tissues instead, and considering the messiness of some of the food here, that can be quite a challenge. I’ve taken to carrying a package of tissues and wet wipes with me everywhere (along with the ubiquitous sweater and umbrella). So I asked them if they would like some tissues and giggling and thanking me profusely, they accepted a couple.

Then it was time to do something constructive, so we hired a taxi and went out to the Changi Prison Museum. Changi was where the Allied prisoners of war were kept by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore during WW II. It was a horrific place. I was interested in it because it was mentioned frequently in Tai-pan, the book I read recently about Hong Kong. It turns out James Clavell, the author, was a POW there. I didn’t know that, but it explains more about his writing. It is really commendable that he went through that experience and yet was able to write so movingly about the Japanese in Shogun.

I just found myself thinking about the Edo Museum in Tokyo again, with their little comment about “and then WW II began”. The people in Singapore and much of Asia underwent so much grief and suffering at their hands. It’s not hard to understand why some people hate the Japanese to this day. But the whole thing bothers me on a larger level. Just the futility and human anguish caused by war, the destruction, the loss of life. It’s so discouraging to think that the human race can’t seem to learn to solve its problems in a better way. And visiting a memorial to a prisoner of war camp, I couldn’t help but think about Guantanamo. Will future generations view our activities there with the same horror and condemnation? I hope with all my heart that it doesn’t turn out to be the blot upon the American conscience that I’m afraid it’s going to be.

After Changi we were both tired, so we decided to head back to Orchard Road, for a bit of a break at Starbucks before we tried out another activity. As we sat there enjoying the coffee and outdoor ambience, a regular tropical downpour started. The rain was heavy, and it was fun watching everyone scurry for cover as we sipped our coffee.

Now we’re back in the hotel room, being lazy again. Lee is enjoying his new Ipod – it’s really an amazing toy, you can watch movies on it and everything. I’ve eaten an apple – this hotel puts out a “fruit treat” every day for the guests. It gets to be quite exciting to see what the fruit of the day is going to be. I don’t think we’re going to make it to the zoo today, but we’re definitely going for chili crab later. Maybe we’ll make it to the zoo tomorrow, maybe we’ll have some Singapore “toast” for breakfast….we’ll just have to wait and see. A nice thing about Singapore is knowing we’ll be back sooner or later. We know lots of people here, and Lee has to come back here for work, and I’d be happy to tag along whenever he’ll let me!