Missouri Float Trip

Canoes on the Current River in Shannon County, Missouri.

The Passengers went to Missouri in July because J's brother got married in Columbia. After the celebrations we headed south into the Ozarks for some outdoor recreation. Southern Missouri is a beautiful karst landscape dominated by forested bluffs, riddled with caves, and laced with spring-fed streams. It's a great place for gentle canoe trips, and there are few better streams than the Current River, part of the protected Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

The Current River in the morning.

For weeks temperatures have been unbearable in the Midwest with routine highs around 104 F/40 C during our visit. Fortunately, our river was fed by springs with water temperatures below 70 F. A quick dip in the water always kept us cool during a ten-mile float downstream. There are more details and pictures after the jump.

More Christmas Decor

Thidwick (YouTube link) the fiber-optic reindeer makes spirits bright along Marina Bay in Singapore.

As a complement to an earlier post about tropical Christmas decorations, check out the silver reindeer sculptures downtown in Singapore. These whimsical cervids are just outside the new Marina Bay Financial Centre (already colloquially MBFC), overlooking the same bay as the casino and the streets that host the Singapore Grand Prix.

I can see there is a silvery, tinsel-ly artistic attempt here, but on second glance the reindeer actually looks like a rabbit with an impossibly spindly neck and legs with an even more impossible silver lichen rinceaux spewing from his head.

Also it's been rainy in Singapore this month. Today it rained for more than twelve hours straight. Viewers might notice some damp, shiny streets.

Indonesian Adventures

Sunset in Lombok

I told you The Passengers took a long weekend in Indonesia over the Chinese New Year holiday. We went to Lombok, the next island east of Bali, and one that still has some of Bali's Hindu traditions. We traveled with another couple and stayed at a fabulous resort called Qunci Villas. Here are a few glimpses of the place.

The beach.

The hotel grounds, as seen from our balcony.

Hindu shrine at the edge of the compound.

The cow and football match next door.

City Hotels - Tokyo & Hong Kong

Our room in Tokyo at Sakura Ryokan.

I have been writing furiously (on academic subjects) for the past couple of weeks so I have not had a chance to post here for awhile.  I owe pictures from Japan, but the Passengers just spent a fabulous weekend in Hong Kong, and I am still jazzed about that. Allow me to somehow combine the two.

Above is a picture of room in Tokyo at the Sakura ryokan.  We had a lovely stay in this traditional Japanese B&B.  The futons are pretty good for sleeping and we stayed in the old-style Asakusa neighborhood.  Our room did not have an en-suite bathroom and breakfasts were served downstairs at communal tables.  It definitely took me back to days of student hostels, but in a good way.

Our bedroom at JIA in Hong Kong.

 Last weekend the Passengers decided to go to Hong Kong in celebration of wedding anniversary number two. Since it was a commemorative event we decided to splurge for a couple of nights at JIA (sound alert). It's a boutique affair, opened by a Singaporean I think, designed by the ever chic Philippe Starck.  There is, of course, lots of white-on-white decor, and the only untinted mirror stands above the bathroom sink. But one doesn't spend a weekend in a design hotel in Hong Kong for practical living.  Quite the opposite, really.

Main room of our suite at JIA.

 The staff were very kind to upgrade us to a suite so we had plenty of space to spread ourselves.  I didn't include pictures of the kitchen or bathroom, but all the facilities are excellent.  The hotel even gave us a discount card to use at some of the shops near the hotel in the Causeway Bay neighborhood.  They also booked us into one of Hong Kong's private members clubs Halo on Friday night.  We were exceptionally well treated.  I have heard of people being placed at JIA for a number of weeks while working on business assignments.  Can someone get me one of those deals?

Dining table in the main room of our JIA suite.

Reading nook behind the television and stereo.  Love the gnome seats.

More on Japan soon, I hope.

Monkey Business - Langkawi

Enjoying the waters on Pulau Beras Basah.

More pictures from our holiday time in Langkawi... and the islands nearby.  We took a boat trip on one of our afternoons to a secluded beach on Pulau Beras Basah. The adventures included watching sea eagles and Brahmin kites and a beachside barbecue.

Tasty flower crabs fresh off the grill.

The island hosts a private beach club used by a few Langkawi resorts and families.  The breezy, wooden buildings on site look as if they are barely keeping the jungle back from reclaiming the shoreline.  Much of the natural habitats surrounding nearby islands have tangled mangroves growing far out into the tidewaters.

Visitors arriving and enjoying the sands on Pulau Beras Basah.

Even as the owners keep the jungle at bay, the wildlife has already decided that tourists make for rich pickings.  Wild boars and their piglets snuffle at the forest's edge.  Macaque monkeys show up to welcome every arriving group in hopes of a handout.  You can see pictures of the troop after the jump.  Click on the link below left.

Easy on the Turkey

President Harry S Truman admiring a Thanksgiving turkey in 1950. Presidents have annually "pardoned" one of the delicious fowls since JFK. The Guardian has a slideshow of past presidents getting the bird.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The Passengers wish we could be close to our nearest and dearest Americans to enjoy the holiday. Instead it's a normal working day in Singapore. We do get the gift of a public holiday tomorrow but not because of any navigationally challenged religious dissidents. It's the time for pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims, Hari Raya Haji in Malay. The Passengers will do Thanksgiving with a number of expatriates and sympathetic Singaporeans on Sunday evening.

The Thanksgiving holiday in America provides a number of benefits. Firstly, the occasion is secular and can be enjoyed by anyone willing to participate. It seems especially fitting as a reminder of the immigrant beginnings of our national experiment. Along with the absence of creedal partisanship, Thanksgiving celebrations are hardly commercial, mostly an excuse to eat as much food as possible while spending time with family or friends. There is, of course, NFL football and a parade with marching bands to watch. Yes, Americans can only go so long without shopping. The day after Thanksgiving, also a public holiday, marks the opening of the Christmas shopping season ("Black Friday") with "doorbuster (link to this year's Wal-Mart circular)" offers to those who can wait in the cold for a big-box retailer to open at 5:00 AM. It's a rather crass coda to a national tradition, but Thanksgiving continues to play an important role in keeping the Christmas decorations and holiday jingles off the cultural landscape at least until December is a reasonable possibility. In Singapore the Christmas decorations went up before November, in part because of all the visiting dignitaries for the APEC Summit earlier this month.

Deepavali in Little India

Welcome to Little India.

I have waited too long to present these photos, but here are some scenes from Little India here in Singapore. Last month marked Deepavali, the Hindu New Year, and Serangoon Road was lit up in a festive display of color. One of the side streets was converted into a seasonal market selling all manner of fireworks, decorations, lamps, and flowers. Much of Singapore's India/Subcontinental population includes migrant workers on a hard-driving schedule. This means on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons the streets become crowded with men, almost exclusively men, enjoying their only day off work.

The hustle and bustle around Tekka Market on a Saturday Night.

The lights along Serangoon Road. The holiday greetings here are written in Tamil, one of Singapore's four official languages.

The Deepavali market crowded with festive garlands and shoppers.

Mobiles and ornaments for the holiday season.