Update from the Far East

 It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.  Actually, nothing could be further from the truth, but this afternoon finds me comfortably back in my home office.  Where's Waldo?

I get to watch and hear all the events in the neighborhood, including the continuing march of the ants back and forth along the telephone (internet) wire).  The ants go marching one by one, hurrah!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xa7YN9AgG4GxLGqw6 (Click the play button on the previous link to get the full experience.) 

Before getting into the bad news, and in light of my recent Debbie Downer email, I'd like to share a short video clip which is like water to a thirsty soul, restoring one's faith in humanity:  Click the link below and turn on the volume....

https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/1663674562859417600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1663674562859417600%7Ctwgr%5Eed4c13631ff6498419d86efd8657da87a4de4dd5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-10730925632232892875.ampproject.net%2F2303151529000%2Fframe.html 

If you don't get Twitter, you can get the idea on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7__ptFjYhV8 

On the more traumatic news.  

• First, I've come through the last week as a committed Asia-phile.  The people in Singapore were some of the friendliest I've ever encountered.  And the Philippines is not only much more more modern than before, but even more friendly in my experience
• Technology is a big nothing burger in both countries, in a good (Buddhist) way.  .  When it works, and it usually does with some patience, the end result is nothing.   Your bureaucratic problems are solved because of the technology, and all you notice is that you can get on with enjoying the people and environment around you.
• Speaking of technology, our travel arrangements to Singapore, handled completely from Detroit over the Internet, worked out perfectly.  Cebu Pacific Air was a delight, as was the Swissôtel Stamford Singapore
• I've never spent so much on a hotel before, but with Lily's difficulty walking, I wanted to be right in the center of the action.  I was able to save significant money by not buying any travel insurance on the flight and hotel.
• The first 4 days were a challenge but went as I'd hoped.   We toured Gardens by the  Bay, Little India, Kampong Glam, the British colonial district, home of the SIngapore Sling, dazzling technological, floral, and botanical displays, subways, taxis, buses, underground malls, incredibly diverse linguistic and cultural society with apparently thriving markets, harbors, historical treasures, ...
  a few photos

I'm a great believer in the miracles of neoliberal capitalism!  Ok, I'm partly kidding here.  I think technology along with greatly increased trade and "development" are generally good things, but also lead to hardships on the lower classes whose ways of life become endangered prices (e.g. energy) soar). Great for tourists however!

Seriously, though, I've been knocked off my feet by the friendliness of the locals in Singapore and Philippines.  Something serious and cross-cultural is going on.  I had been tipped off by a friend to look for signs of Lee Kuan Yew and his Asian Values movement.  I did look for signs, saw them, and as usual enjoyed an ego boost through confirmation bias.  Hooray for the Lees! (Lee Kuan Yew's eldest son Lee Hsien Loong is current prime minister of Singapore, and BongBong Marcos (son of old favorite dictator Ferdinand) is current president of the Philippines. I've been listening (via Audibile books). to a 1990s   non-fiction classic - The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, by Samuel P. Huntington.  He seems to have pretty much nailed, 25 years before the fact, the Ukraine War and the ongoing crises of civilizations.  

 

Back to the personal saga::  On day 5 of our 8 day pilgrimage in Singapore,  we woke up with what I can only describe as an acute respiratory illness of some sort.  That was pretty much the end of our Singapore vacation, with the main excitement then being getting out of the hotel amidst a non-stop barrage of phlegm and nose running and coughing. and embarking upon the 12 your excursion back here to Home Sweet Home!!!! (Be it ever so humble and all that.) We left the air-conditioned hotel, took a air-conditioned taxi ride to the air-conditioned airport, I lost my cool swearing at the technological obstacles to check-in, we sat on the plane, packed like sardines, wearing n95 masks while continually coughing sneezing and blowing my nose, were picked up at the airport in air-conditioned van by Lily'y neice and additional relatives, drove several hours to the port city of Batangas (southern Luzon), waited several hours on the van which was in turn on a roll-on-roll-off (ferry) boat headed for Lily's hometown of Calapan.  Another relative met us at the Calapan pier, after the 2 hour RoRoRide (say that five times real fast) and took us the last five minutes to Lily's abode here in barangay Libis in Calapan.  I proceeded to have the best night's sleep of my life as a massive storm swept through town in the wake of Typhoon Betty.  

Parts of Western Visayas and Mimaropa see heavy rain from 

the southwest monsoon, which is being enhanced by Typhoon Betty 

(Mawar), on Tuesday evening, May 30

Okay -- Back to watching the ants!