Giedre tyttö Leijonakaupungista

The exotic side of Leijonakaupunki

We both have been so exhausted and nervous after last week, so on Sunday we decided to forget about everything and just go to Bukit Timah nature reserve. It was pretty amazing as you can see.

They have quite big secrets hiding there in the forest. So, of course, "everything is protected"... I think this is the most clever restrictive statement you could think of. No need to specify what is protected. Everything. How about "everything is restricted"? There should be a board saying that when you arrive to Changi airport... And of course, no feeding monkeys, no no, can you see? - the fine is 10 000 Leijonakaupunki dollars (about 5000 euros). I think they had to put it as some of the monkeys grew so big... :)

The forest was really amazing and it is half an hour away from where we stay now. It is quite popular for local families to go there for a walk or jogging. First we wondered why so many people carry towels there, after half an hour we knew - can you see Kaitsu's forehead? Up and down the track in +30C, pretty tough..

We were just talking with Kaj that during these 2 weeks we haven't had yet "oh, if only I would be in Helsinki, I'd..." or "I wish we've never left..." (apart from missing all dear friends, of course...) We don't miss even Torkkeli. Maybe it will hit us when we settle down a bit more, because up until now its only running and trying to sort things out. And then doing the pleasant things - like this walking in the forest... The "everyday" hasn't started yet...

At night we went to Womad world music festival. As I understand, it is quite famous and there were some really cool artists performing. I myself never heard of Zap Mama, she's from Cameroon and sings songs from all over Africa with the band. The band was playing in a small hall, they were answering questions and improvising/jamming on the stage. It was so amazing! I missed Sateenkaari choir so much! (oh yeah, if only I'd in Helsinki, I'd go to Sateenkaari..." first time slipped off my mouth...:) Kaj also had some Reiki treatment where the guy was balancing his chakras, later he said that he felt some little animal moving inside his belly (like in "Alien"). I hope it will not become a habit...

Otherwise it seems that the freedom of speech is quite an issue here. The speakers corner that I was writing about in another post (place where you can speak up without getting a license to speak publicly) seems to have interesting restrictions - the talk can not be about religion or race, there can not be foreign lecturers, it is not alowed to use banners, megaphones and anything that could escalate into demonstration. There's also something about registering non-governmental societies, they changed the law to make it easier except if the society deals with: religion, race issues, questions position or necessity of any language, deals with sexual minorities, human rights, animal rights, environmental issues, martial arts, etc.. Hmm... Study hard (possibly in Australia), find a job, buy a HDB apartment, get 3 kids, pay your mortgage, shop till you drop, go on weekends to Malaysia or Bali and don't think...

Posted by gkligyte at August 31, 2004 09:54 AM