Junk/Antique Shop

Have you heard the phrase, "One man's junk is another man's treasure"?  Well, the owner of Tong Mern Sern Antiques, Arts, & Crafts, Ken Ah Tong has a twist to that phrase.

On a banner in front of his Craig Road store, his words of wisdom are , "We buy junk, and sell antiques. Some fools sell, some fools buy".

I was walking around the Duxton Hill area and ran across a fellow kitty named Minki.
Minki is a beautiful black cat with bright green eyes. To be honest, she is not real smart. When I approached her she was laying in a flower pot "hiding" behind a very slender stalk of a plant. However, she nicely offered to walk me through her neighborhood.

Minki told me there was a very interesting place a block away that she wanted to show me. We quietly approached an old building. When the proprietor of the antique store was not looking, we slipped into his 3 story shop. She was right! This place was fascinating! Every nook and cranny from floor to ceiling was packed with musical instruments, statues, furniture, clocks, nautical equipment, slot machines, paintings, posters, glass wear, tools and all other kinds of bric-a-brac.

 

 

 

Minki told me Mr. Ah Tong had been running his unique store for 40 years. Besides buying and selling, he also repairs and restores customer's treasures in his upstairs work shop.

I hated to leave but I was getting hungry. Minki knew just where to go for some roasted duck, her favorite food. She took me to a hawker in the Maxwell food center, located just a few blocks away. The kindly gentleman operating the stall placed a bowl of sumptuous, freshly cooked, duck in front of us. We gobbled up every greasy morsel.

Minki was getting tired and wanted to get back to her nap. I needed to get back on my bus to hurry home so we bid each other farewell. I had a fun day and a great meal. It doesn't get any better than
that!

My Trip To A Monastery

On a very cloudy day, I hopped off my bus in front of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery. It is very impressive in size as well as in beauty. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore. It's website www.kmspks.org states, " You are welcome here to follow the steps of many before you as they have used this temple for education, healing, study, rest and refuge as they have had need."

The site was founded in1921 and currently consists of 5 major buildings with more under construction. The largest building is the Hall of No Form which houses a 13.8 meter (45 ft) high

Buddha.                   

As I wandered through the entrance gate I was awestruck with the beauty of the place.
There were not many people on site so I was able to ignore the "no pets" sign as I normally do. I know those signs are not really meant for me, a clean, pretty, intelligent, sophisticated  kitty. I think they are meant for dirty, ugly, dumb, mean dogs... Why don't the signs just say "No Dogs"? ( Maybe I need to calm down and follow the peaceful precepts of Buddhism.)

                        

I really did like the atmosphere at this monastery. The well manicured landscaping between buildings gave the entire site a park like setting.

 One of the areas had a number of small child like statues of of mini Buddhas. I was especially struck by the one that had a rat on the child's shoulder and leg. The Rat in the Chinese calendar represents ingenuity, intelligence, and independence.

As I sauntered into a shady area between buildings, a very nice lady was serving people free bowls of noodle and vegetable soup. She must be a cat lover because when no one was looking she slipped me a bowl. I lapped up the warm broth with great gusto!

I hated to leave but it was time to go. On my way out, a gardener saw me and stated, "I am happy you came to visit this peaceful place and graced us with your presence."
Wow! What an impression that made on me! Everyone should make a point to visit this wonderful place.  

                                                                        

Hindu Temple

I seem to be drawn to Little India for some reason. It is such an exotic area. On my third bus trip to this wonderful place I followed a lady in a beautiful Sari. The walk we took was long but it was well worth it.

    

We ended up at her temple called Sri Thendayuthapani. The temple is also known as Chettiar's  Hindu Temple as well as Tank Road Temple. It was absolutely beautiful and amazingly intricate in it's design.



As she entered, she removed her sandals. I, of course, did not have to remove anything because I was bare pawed. The pretty lady went to pray as I wandered around trying to remain undetected.

I was amazed that the inside of this place of worship was just as beautiful as the outside. There were 3 dimensional depictions of all sorts of heavenly figures throughout the building. Some of these gods looked like multi armed people and others appeared to be animals. Tourists are encouraged to enter to see the beauty but as non believers, they are discouraged from going beyond a certain point.

It was time to leave. As I headed back to my bus stop I meandered through the tiny Istana Park which is full of lovely flowers. It reminded me that humans can paint and sculpt beautiful things but nothing matches God's ability to create the beauty of flowers.

St George's Church

I alighted from the bus (You don't get off a bus in Singapore. You alight...) across the street from the Botanical Gardens and walked up a very steep hill. It was very hot and I was exhausted when I finally got to the top. I spotted a unique looking, wide open, brick church and went inside to get some shade. As soon as I entered I sensed a wonderful feeling of peace.

I noticed a plaque that explained that the church was built as an Anglican troop church for the British soldiers that were stationed here in 1911. It became a civilian church in 1971 and continues to provide services.

The church has no air conditioning but air flows through openings high up in the walls and through covered alcoves on either side of the sanctuary. In addition there are numerous ceiling fans whirring above.

Another striking feature of this gorgeous place is the colorful stained glass window over the altar.
The current window was installed in 1955. The original one was removed and hidden just prior to the Japanese attack of WWII. Unfortunately it was never found again. The new window depicts Jesus holding a Bible and the badges of the eleven military units that tried to defend Singapore during the war.

After a cool and peaceful nap, it was time to go home. I am sure this church is a wonderful place to worship and have fellowship with believers in Jesus Christ.

Wholesale Center, Pasir Panjang, Singapore

The double decker bus I rode on a few days ago took me along the beautiful West Coast area of Singapore. There is a long, narrow park that meanders along the road on one side and Jurong Channel on the other. I jumped off in front of a collection of huge warehouses.

 As I walked towards the buildings I realized these warehouses were not just places to store old dirty stuff. The warehouses collectively are known as the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Center. As I approached the closest building I was met by a nervous Jack Russell terrier named Tan.

Tan was very hyper but offered to give me a quick tour through the buildings. There are four buildings and each are temporary storage for food stuffs. The first one stores refrigerated products. The second one holds fruits. The next one has vegetables and the last one maintains dry goods like rice, nuts, grains, dried fruit and dried fish.

 

As we walked around the buildings I found out why Tan was so nervous. We turned around a corner near a stack of crates of oranges and there stood the ugliest, meanest looking dog I had ever seen. Tan told me his name was Adolf, who thinks he owns the place. I am pretty feisty, but I did not want to deal with Adolf. Tan and I wisely scooted down an isle full of pineapples to avoid the "Demon Dog from Hell."

The other reason Tan was so hyper was all the forklift traffic. The drivers have a lot of work to do loading and unloading trucks. They start work at midnight, emptying trucks that are filled with product that is locally grown, as well as product flown into Singapore from all over the world. It is neatly stacked and then loaded back onto trucks bound for grocery stores and restaurants all over the island. The forklift operators don't have time to worry about looking out for silly dogs that might be in the way.



After the trucks all leave, non business people can purchase any goods not required by the retailers. What a great way to obtain really fresh produce right off the loading dock!          

It was time to run. I thanked Tan for the tour and as I left the Wholesale Center, I made sure to avoid crossing Adolph's path.