Keep in mind the following is through my personal lens, so these are my experiences and my thoughts.

Was in Singapore, which is a city, country, and state. I was a guest speaker and lecturer. I visited the National Institute of Education Singapore. I presented the research I am doing with the indigenous healers and the folks living in the conservation forest. The Singaporeans seemed to be very fascinated with how people in Indonesia live. This was especially interesting to me because I thought being in Singapore would be like being in Malaysia or Indonesia. Those of you from Singapore who read this will be a bit upset with me, but please forgive me! I just had no idea. This is why we need to travel!!!!

Before arriving, I read Singapore is the most expensive city in the world. It is expensive. I thought outside the city would be much like what I saw in Malaysia (country next to Singapore) and Indonesia (right next to Singapore). Nope!!! I would describe Singapore as a Utopia (typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members). Of course, Singapore is not imaginary. However, the lifestyle and the country is what I imagine a Utopia being. The country seems like mostly concrete with splashes of built in nature. Everything must be multi-use because there is not much space. Even the trees are carefully placed and in some cases genetically modified (cloned) due to their location. The cleanest city ever!!! I wore new shoes and never got dirt on them!!

Those are my thoughts. Now to the fun stuff. I did work while I was there. My wonderful host Cynthia (lecturer and researcher at NIE on the right in the picture) took me to visit St. John’s Island National Marine Laboratory. She studied snails that stood up on end when the rock they were on got too hot. I saw pics. These little snails are amazing!! Wish I had a picture to share. At the Marine Lab they study sustainable aquaculture (fish). I told Cynthia about the aquaculture facility Daddy wired in Lillington. The Marine Lab looked like the one in Lillington.

I did go to HELL!!! But I did not go alone. My amazing tour guides Melissa and Sherwin (really they are researchers at NIE) took me to the Hell Museum. The Hell Museum contains dioramas of the gates of hell based on Chinese belief.

Allegedly–I get this on good authority, parents take their children to see this museum so their children will be good. Cynthia and Melissa said their parents took them to the museum when they were children. I can see why. The dioramas of the Chinese view of the gates of hell are small but powerful and detailed. I think Melissa is still traumatized by her childhood visit. She reflected on the visit a lot while we were there. Sherwin (from the Philippines) and I had no childhood memories, so we had a great time.

Next to each diorama is a list of the sins for which the person is atoning. For this diorama the person is on a red hot poker being cooked alive. The things they are atoning for are really interesting. I decided if I had to chose a punishment, I want to be a prostitute because they are thrown into a pool of blood–the top right picture. Prostitution seemed to have the easiest atonement/punishment. Enlarge the picture so you can see the detail. They were scary.

On the way to Hell are great statues depicting Chinese beliefs. If you are interested, you can scan through these photos to see more of Hell. Enlarge the picture and look at the rabbits, rats, and I think guinea pigs. They are vicious.

Thank you to the NIE crew for making these 2 days so much fun!!