Last weekend, Singapore, my home country, celebrated its 43rd year of independence. I have tried to celebrate the National Day each year in some way, more so after my friend Aik moved here. Although I have lived here in the States for 13 years, I am still proud of my home country. I have learnt to appreciate the freedoms both the US and Singapore have afforded us as citizens. As the old saying goes, freedom doesn't come cheap.
Aerial view of the Singapore downtown skyline - you can also see the platform on the water where the parade and celebrations were held for Singapore's National Day.
As a start to our own celebrations here, the Chen family (Aik, Lily & Janelle) decided to get together starting on Friday night. Not only were we celebrating National Day, we were also celebrating Aik's 35th birthday; and what better way to celebrate than to have Asian food, Indian food particularly, to start our weekend. We decided we would go to Shamiana, an Indian restaurant in Kirkland, WA. Aik and I used to live up the street from this restaurant and we would frequent it. It had been a while since we went there so we were very excited.
Garlic Nan and yogurt dip - Yum!
It was so much fun hanging out and eating good food.
On Saturday, August 9, there was a little celebration party put together by a Singaporean group at Microsoft and an online social group. The Chens and I went to this party to celebrate National Day with other Singaporeans living here. I actually brought Paul with me as well. Paul visited Singapore a few years back with me and so I thought it would be fun for him, plus he didn't have anything to do for a few hours.
Some of the people that came to the party.
Some of the folks were asked to cook some local Singaporean dishes and let me say that they were excellent. It was quite a treat to have food from home. After our meal, we all just hung out and the kids played in the park.
Aik, Paul & I (Paul seems huge compared to the "small" Asians)
Aik and I - friends since we were 2 or 3 years old.
Janelle and I posing with a Singapore flag.
Having a deep discussion, working out our plan to jump...
We did it! Now comes the chasing...
Janelle is a cool kid and I look forward each time to spend time with her. These kids grow up fast and it is fun to watch it unfold.
Aik suggested we gaze into the horizon - hmm...
After this celebration, I hooked up with Jarron and we headed to Seattle to find things to do. The weather was not very co-operative but we managed to have fun. Along the way, Lindsey joined us for dinner at Ivar's.
International Man of Mystery - Jarron Born
Well, after a long and fun filled day, Sunday rolled around early. I had the morning off from leading worship but this is what I got to do instead...
Both our sound engineers were out of town this weekend, so I jumped in to "run" the sound for the gathering. It was a little stressful since it was my first time on my own. It came together. The band, led by Aaron Crawford, did a good job leading worship.
That was my crazy weekend! Fun times!
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