Fireworks Galore

Happy Belated Birthday, Singapore!

Hope everyone had a grand time watching the parade. This is the first time in many years that I've not managed to catch it. Sad, especially since it's our nation's 40th birthday.

Strange to think that our country is so young. Joseph's school has been teaching the kids about different countries. The teachers did't know much about Singapore so they asked me for some information. I told them about our passion for food and shopping (nothing else more cultured came to mind at that instance). I also told them about our diversity in terms of race, language and religion. In the same breath, I mentioned durians. At first, they thought that I was talking about another people group. But when I said fruit, they all yelled "AH, DURIAN!"so loudly that Benjamin began to cry. I gathered that they all had memorable encounters with this wonderfully fragrant delicacy which I sorely miss. After that, I talked about how we just celebrated 40 years of independence. And then it hit me that we are such a young nation compared with countries like Japan. So much has happened within such a short span of time and the country has much to be proud of. So, although I'm not normally the most patriotic of citizens, I must admit that I took some pride in telling them about the little island that had made it good.

I used to think that the fireworks set off at National Day Parades were quite spectacular. I still do but I was amazed when they had a summer celebration here in Fukuoka. The fireworks lasted for a full one-and-a-half hours. No kidding. Wanted to post some pictures here but my dear husband had forgotten to charge the camera battery. Also, though we had a good view of the fireworks from our apartment, Joseph refused to let us watch the spectacle from the window. He was quite afraid and only let us watch it on TV. Sad, huh?

So, back to your books now. Hope everything's well.

PS. Agnestine, is there a way that I can write to you?