Another three-day weekend

I've really lucked out on holidays. During my stay abroad, there was only one in the U.S. (Labor Day) while I'm getting to take advantage of three in Singapore. Monday is Hari Raya Puasa, the Malay term for the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until dusk.

A lot of non-Muslims take advantage of the holiday by traveling, but I decided to stay here since Brian arrives in just 5 days! I really wanted to have a chill weekend before we kick of what he's been calling "the trip of a lifetime."

Several my friends in Singapore are Jewish and were celebrating Rosh Hashanah last night, so I decided to it was a good time to see a movie: The Time Traveler's Wife. I really liked the film as well as my popcorn dinner. Movie theater popcorn is universally delicious!

Today I visited Whitney's hairdresser, Cedric, for a much-needed trim and highlight. His salon is at the base of the Gotham Building I posted a photo of a week or two ago. It's also really close to Arab Street and since the crazy-hard rain that soaked me on my way into the salon had let up, I decided to walk over and explore the area a bit more.

Arab Street and the surrounding shop houses are lined with one fabric store after another. There are also many carpet stores.

I didn't buy any silks or fabrics, but I did buy a couple of colorful across-the-shoulder bags as a safety measure for our travels (vs. the omnipresent Dooney & Bourke bag I've been toting). Unfortunately, few places are as safe as Singapore.

Proximity to the salon aside, I also knew that the Arab Street area boasted authentic Mediterranean food. I had a yummy vegetable salad and some fresh hummus and pita. It was much lighter than many other types of Asian food, which was a welcome change. I wrote out a couple of postcards while I was there - my first even though I've been in Singapore for two months!

The last time I was in the area, I posted a photo of the Masjid Sultan (Malay for Sultan Mosque) above. Given the holiday celebration, I decided to go inside today.

Non-Muslims can only go into the entrance and not the main prayer area (designated by the carpet) and if you're not sufficiently covered you have to wear this cloak. But isn't it beautiful inside? There were a lot of visitors and worshippers alike.

I received some sad news today. Poppy's older brother, Uncle George, died at home Friday night. I think he was 88 and had been ill recently, but he would often come to holidays at my parents' house. I wish I could be there with Granny K. and Poppy.

On a MUCH lighter note, today is Ilana's birthday, so I think we bunch of us are meeting up later tonight to celebrate.