Singapore

And so it went on my journeys, that about two weeks ago, I departed Japan for Singapore. I left my dorm late at night, with all my luggage in hand, only to leave my beloved electric violin on the Japanese subway. I immediately got in contact with my trusty roommate, Sam, who gave me the number for the Tokyo subway Lost and Found calling center. One of the amazing things about Japan is that they have a system for finding anything lost on the train. Another amazing thing is that nobody steals the stuff you lose on the train. Sam had earlier re-obtained an iPod Touch he had lost on the train, so I was feeling optimistic. Luckily, they did have my electric violin, and Sam picked it up for me.
In the airport, I met up with Okaasan (Japanese for "Mom"), who was my Singaporean friend Andy's host mom when he studied abroad in Japan. We got on a plane to Singapore to visit Andy together. Okaasan is 80 years old but very energetic.
Me, Andy, and Okaasan at the Singapore zoo:

I even convinced her to try riding a Segway. She did pretty well!

I was very surprised to ride the Singaporean subway and find out that there is not only a "Newton" in Singapore, but a Somerset also. I thought maybe I'm in Massachusetts, but then realized that the Newton I come from is not next to Toa Payoh.

Singapore was formerly a British colony. Interestingly, it's first prime minister, David Marshall, was Jewish. It became part of Malaysia for a while, but then broke off. I asked Andy lots of questions about Singapore and the surrounding countries. I asked him, "What's the best thing to come out of Malaysia?" He instantly responded, "Singapore." The ethnic majority in Singapore is Han Chinese, but the national language is English. Chinese is widely spoken on the street, but English is used in the schools and in business. Singapore is technically a democracy, but the opposition is very weak, and so the same party has been in power since independence 44 years ago. There are four main ethnic groups in Singapore; the Chinese, the Malay, the Indians (mostly Tamil), and the Europeans. For the most part they live together harmoniously, although there is certainly racism, which is widespread although low in intensity.
Singapore has developed extremely rapidly since Sir Stamford Raffles discovered it in 1819, when it was just a small Malay fishing village. Singapore's economic development should be seen as a model for other developing countries. When I was there, I saw an enormous amount of construction:

Singapore is famous for its strict, nearly draconian laws. When I got off the airplane, I was warned "The punishment for drug trafficking is DEATH." One of the more ridiculous laws is this one:

You're probably confused by the "No Durian" sign. Durian is a tropical fruit which is actually quite delicious, although extremely smelly.
That was one among a number of ridiculous signs in Singapore. Here are a few more:

Apparently, in Singapore, small ferries are called "Bumboats." Have you ever considered a promising career as a bumboat operator?

This is an advertisement, posted all around Singapore, for a canned food company known for its "Qaulity Management":

And this beverage is the pride of all Singapore, Kickapoo Joy Juice:

It wasn't as good as the name suggested.
We spent a lot of time in the Singapore zoo, and I took pictures of all the animals. There are very few cages at the zoo, and most of the animals live in wide open spaces, with only a moat separating them from the visitors.






Amazingly, the Orangutans are not separated from the visitors at all, and will climb around on ropes directly over your head.

We also went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens, which is very nice, but unfortunately not as exciting as the zoo because most of the things there don't kill things. But, there is this one carnivorous plant, that traps insects with is slippery walls and then drowns them in liquid:

And finally, a picture of me doing a ninja pose in the mist:

From Singapore I went on to Poland, and I'll write about that in a few days.

Weird Signs

Here's another silly post. In my travels, I've come across a lot of weird signs. Here are a few I'd like to share with you.
From Ecuador:

Text: (Person 1) "Is that fried yuca? Is it a cheese finger?"
(Person 2) "NOOOOOO!!! IT'S BEMBODOG!!!!!!!"
Also from Ecuador:

It's "Japan Pharmacy." On the right is an "Ecuador First" sign.
From Peru:

I was pretty upset that I missed Thai Festival 2009.
Believe it or not, this is from Lima, Peru as well:

From a Kyoto Bus:

The priority seat is supposed to be for pregnant women and women with small children. If you didn't know Japanese, though, you could be forgiven for thinking it's for marsupials, and people who's stomachs are exploding.
Tokyo:

Text: "Only the guys who can enjoy games are hero. The game in that you are a hero has just begun." This almost makes sense because it's on the door of an arcade.
Cyrano de Bergerac, the Musical, in Japanese:

Tokyo, Japan:

The sign is attached to a bicycle on the street, missing a seat. It reads "We borrowed your seat." The poor bike owner is told that the seat will be used for the Red Bull (an energy drink) Box Car Race. He has to come to the race if he wants his seat back. Is that even legal?
Tokyo, Japan:
No explanation here.

Also from Japan:

The label reads, "Blueberry Bagel. Traditional bread of the Jews. Made by mixing blueberries into a plain bagel."
Here is my roommate, Sam, a fellow Newtonite, holding a copy of "Newton" magazine in Japanese:

Beijing, China:

I guess somebody thought that "Sex and Da City" would be a great name for a bar.
Japan:
This is some kind of advertisement. I'm not sure what it's about, but I am sure that it says "Emergency Juggler" in huge letters.

This is a sign for a fortune teller. I guess this fortune teller thought that using an exotic Jewish Star would add to the mystique of his/her fortune-telling abilities.

Food

My apologies for not posting in a very long time. Instead of facing the daunting task of writing a post about all my experiences during my study abroad in Japan, and my weekend excursion to Beijing, I've decided to make a silly post about food.
Warning: some of the pictures may be kind of gross.
I was offered some sort of jelly eaten out of a leaf by a Diet member's (Japanese congressman) staff.

This is Bisli, the popular Israeli snack, but in Japan. It goes for about 150 yen.

This is a noodle soup from a vegan restaurant in Kyoto.

Only in Japan would you find such a thing as this:

Can you guess what this sign says?

It's "Starbucks," in Chinese.

This one should be obvious:

This is some very sour fruit on a stick I got in China. It's pretty good.

And in China, this is considered to be food as well:

Some interesting Japanese inventions:
1. The Soy milk and Edamame bagel

2. The Square Watermelon. Sounds great, until you take a look at the price tag: $150.

3. Some weird Japanese variation on the cake

And finally, that cheap peddler of crappy food, Colonel Sanders, in traditional Japanese garb.

Twelve Hours in Peru!

I arrived in Peru on Thursday, March 19 at 10:00 AM, and I would have to leave that evening at 11:00 PM. So when I arrived in the airport, I went straight to the Starbucks, opened up my laptop, and used their wireless internet to research what fun things I could do in Lima. I found Bike Tours of Lima, made a reservation, then took a cab to the Miraflores district of Lima and started my biking journey.
Views from the cab ride:


The bike ride was great fun, there were about 5 other people, all really nice. I made a friend, Hiromi, who is a Japanese-Venezuelan tennis player.

One of the nicest places we visited was the Yitzhak Rabin Park, which was donated by the Jewish community of Lima.

The caption reads:
"Peace is the greatest aspiration of the Jewish Community
Itzhak Rabin 1922-1995
Statesman, Fighter, Nobel Prize Winner, Prime Minister of Israel, and prestigious military general. Assassinated on November 4, 1995, during a great demonstration for peace."
We saw some ancient Inca ruins and two Peruvian Hairless Dogs.






I had dinner at a great vegetarian restaurant, for about $3:

And yes, this is exactly what it looks like. That's why it's called "Love Park."

Overall a great day in Lima, I got to see a lot in a short amount of time.