Walking in the Rain...

Day 7 Thursday October 8, 2009

I awoke around 8:00 this morning and was excited to catch Talia on line so that we could at least chat through gmail since my skype is having some issues. Richard's is working fine so if anyone wants to reach us the weekend will work well.

I ordered my usual light breakfast and planned my day. I still had not seen the Merlion which is the symbol of Singapore. Half lion / Half Fish. I planned out a walk for the day to take in the Sculpture walk the Merlion and to end at the Esplanade to finally sample the Chocolate Bar.

The walk was about 2.5 miles one way but since I have been walking every day I figured 5 miles for the day was doable. As I was getting ready to head out I heard a lot of rumbling of thunder and the sky looked ominous. But I was determined and there would be Chocolate at the end.

I started upon my walk and there was light drizzle but I kept going hoping I would get something else crossed off my bucket list today. The rain held out for me as I traveled along the Singapore River and came through Boat Quay. It appears to be less sophisticated then Clarke Quay which is just across the river and looks like it may attract more of a local crowd. I continued my walk praying the sky would not open up on me. I finally reached the Sculpture Walk. The first sculpture was by Salvador Dali entitled “Homage to Newton” and true to his style was somewhat hard to describe but non the less a wonderful piece of work. The next one was “The Bird” by Fernando Botero much easier to understand and appreciate. Luckily the rain was only a drizzle by this point so I kept going the third and fourth sculptures were both done by Aw Tee Hong and depict the Cooleys loading a wagon as well as three merchants one Malaysian, one Chinese and one Caucasian engaged in trade negotiations. The final sculpture was of boys playing in the river I was unable to locate the artist.

At this point the rain was somewhat heavier but still not pouring and I had only a few more yards to go before I got to the Merlion. I kept along the way and finally reached my quest. I was pretty wet but still determined to get to the Chocolate Bar. I crossed over the Esplanade bridge and ducked inside the building until I found my destination. Upon my first look no one was in the establishment and I thought oh no, I came all this way and it is not open. I saw the store clerk and she welcomed me in. I ordered a Dutch Hot Chocolate and two chocolate petit fores. The hot chocolate came in a mug they call a hug mug, you are to place your hands on either side of the mug and use the spout opening to drink...what an invention! This was the deepest, darkest, decadent hot chocolate I had ever tasted it was more like something you would pour over ice cream. I was able to drink maybe one quarter of it but it was wonderful.

By then the rain was pretty heavy so I caught a cab back to the hotel happy to have checked two more things off of my bucket list.

Tonight will be a quiet night for me since Rich has a working dinner meeting.

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