Pat Whyde – Page 2 – The Chicken Scratches

Balloons on Vacation

by Pat WhydeApril 11, 2015January 4, 20200

Patti P. from Minneapolis visited Singapore last week. She brought Drew and Drake balloons one of which enjoyed some pool time. Ray and I gave Patti a walkabout downtown, including a reflecting ball sculpture. Drake got to show off the Tiong Bahru Market with it’s array of fresh fish, vegetables, and fruit as well as a local restaurant with a gelato case. A flavor for everyone. Patti treated me to a night out at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Resort and their restaurant Sky on 57 overlooking the freighter-filled bay and Gardens by the Bay. There even is …

3.14 – PI Day in Phnom Phen

by Pat WhydeMarch 15, 2015November 14, 20220

Did you know the Kymer alphabet is based on Sanskrit? And that the written language uses accent marks over other accent marks? Two of the many facts we learned yesterday in our one day blitz in the capitol city of Cambodia. I’m tired just thinking of it today after two Angkor beers and a comfy bed. We saw some amazingly beautiful sights – some very sad and heart wrenching ones, but nothing was quite as amazing as the traffic and driving skills in this town. Or I should say lack of traffic patterns! I saw maybe two traffic lights all …

2015 The Year of the Goat/Sheep

by Pat WhydeFebruary 23, 2015November 16, 20220

Ray and I took a guided tour of Chinatown the week before Chinese New Year (CNY) to gather some more facts and legends related to CNY in Singapore. As with any media and market-driven holiday many of the “must have” items are not part of the traditional celebration. As newcomers in Singapore we have been asking everyone what we need to know. Many of the traditional foods and decorations are chosen for their names and what they sound like. Many Chinese traditions have evolved because the word for something sounds similar to powerful or fortunate words. The key CNY words, …

A Visit to Arab Street, a Place of Material Beauty.

by Pat WhydeFebruary 8, 2015November 16, 2022

My inner-Hippie has been satisfied. A trip to Arab Street in Singapore transports visitors to the likes of Istanbul and Moroccan street markets: brass pots, hookah pipes, and pashmina scarves in every imaginable color. Arab Street is in the Kampong Glam neighborhood of Singapore and the home of the Sultan Mosque. Arab Street is where people go when looking for beautiful fabrics for dresses and decorating. In fact this is what prompted us to bus down there – a hole in Jen’s couch cushion. Each shop offers rows and rows of material beauty. There are tailors in each shop willing …

Home again in Singapore

by Pat WhydeJanuary 8, 2015September 10, 2022

Ray and I are back in Singapore filled with memories and jet lag. We were in airports and airplanes for the last 43 hours. Enough of that for awhile… Our Patagonia trip was exciting, educational, and fulfilling. We saw volcanoes, glaciers, and mating guanacos. We drank mate (Yerba Mate) like the locals, ate Argentinian beef and lamb, and met new traveling friends. We were as South in South America as you can go. Punta Arenas was one of our brief stops and is the last large city in Argentina however we did get to fly even more South into the …

Happy New Year from Patagonia

by Pat WhydeJanuary 3, 2015September 10, 2022

Glaciers, mountains, & icebergs. Visiting these are our first New Years resolution for 2015. Done!! Lagos Grey, Chile.

A Book Club in Singapore. Yep They Are Here, Too.

by Pat WhydeDecember 8, 2014September 10, 2022

Ray and I attended our first book club meeting last night. This is going to be a very interesting and enlightening group to belong to. I always thought the books selected were the key to a good book club but I’m not sure now. The Friends of the Museum book club members are a collection of expats from all over the world – Brazil, Malaysia, UK, Australia, Turkey, India, US. It’s going to be fun to get to know them. The book we read for this meeting was a non fiction book called Once a Jolly Hangman by Alan Sandrake …

Durian – The King of Fruit

by Pat WhydeDecember 7, 2014November 17, 2023

For many years I have been curious about the durian fruit. I saw them for sale at Super G on Independence in Charlotte but because of the size and price I was not brave enough to buy one. They are one odd fruit. We first saw these at the fruit stand across the street back in August which is the Malaysian peak season and now as it gets close to the holiday season the supply is back but imported from a different part of Asia. This batch is smaller but they still are about the size and shape of a …

‘Tis the Singapore X-Mas Season

by Pat WhydeNovember 29, 2014November 17, 2023

X-Mas music is playing everywhere in public spaces and malls. My internal music machine is overwhelmed. I’m humming more than just “Good King Wenceslas” now. The wreathes and hangings around our condo complex look like they’ve been around for quite a few years. We stopped by Ikea yesterday and the artificial trees were all gone. Live trees were flowing out of the store. Even our local Japan Home store had small artificial trees for sale. The white tree above was in Liang Court Mall and is made up of dolls donated for a charity drive. The downtown streets were nicely …

Singapore Green Corridor Hike

by Pat WhydeNovember 9, 2014November 18, 2023

Before we came to Singapore and were researching it to see what to look forward to, we read about the Green Corridor or the Greenway. It is a railroad track no longer in use that runs through the island. It was the original train line going into Malaysia and is about 16 miles long. We made two short walks on it just to get a feel for it. Then in October we met several women on a cemetery tour who also mentioned wanting to walk the Corridor. So Gwenn and I started emailing each other until we set up a …