Yehoshua's Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo TR: Flying Solo

[AJK]

Is R' Moshe's heter not written somewhere?
+lol

Were not talking about milk in Singapore and/or in hotels outside USA?

[@Yehuda]

Were not talking about milk in Singapore and/or in hotels outside USA?

Good point that his heter was only for USA. But, I think the debate over here was just a source for not keeping C"Y in general.

[yos9694]

"Minhag"? Mishnah Berurah is a minhag sefer?

Insofar as the MB reasoning goes, it would be sufficient to have a signle string dangling. No need for 32 showing.

Sorry to carry on the diversion, just bookmarking the thread really.

[Yehoshua]

Were not talking about milk in Singapore and/or in hotels outside USA?

I thought we were talking about CY in general. In terms of R' Moshe's heter applying to other countries, I think it applies to Canada and Australia according to most people. If it applies there, then why wouldn't it apply in any country where there are strong governmental regulations? I thought that that was the basis for the entire heter in the first place.

[Yehoshua]

Insofar as the MB reasoning goes, it would be sufficient to have a signle string dangling. No need for 32 showing.

Sorry to carry on the diversion, just bookmarking the thread really.

That's why some people wrap their tzitzis around their belt and tuck them back in their pants. Good point though.

[benjie1305]

Love it when TR's go suuuuppppeeerrr OT. At least this OP can handle it. 

[Yehoshua]

Love it when TR's go suuuuppppeeerrr OT. At least this OP can handle it. 

Thanks! I don't mind. The more posts the TR has the more people are likely to read it, especially when it keeps getting bumped to the top of the list. 

[benjie1305]

Thanks! I don't mind. The more posts the TR has the more people are likely to read it, especially when it keeps getting bumped to the top of the list. 

In it for himself. Sneaky!

[Yehoshua]

In it for himself. Sneaky!

lol

[Yehoshua]

Shabbos, January 23, 2016: Day 2 in SIN
Lots of people have different reports about Shabbos in Singapore, most of them say it was ok to good. I thought it was great!

First, the current shluchim (Yossi, Mendy and two I didn’t meet because they weren’t there for Shabbos) were both very nice and friendly. Yossi is also someone who likes a quick davening, so he made sure we finished in a timely manner (1 hour Friday night).

I also really enjoyed the meals. Friday night we had about 30 people, including 2 couple on their honeymoons: one from Manchester and one from NYC. I ate Friday night with the British couple and a bunch of French students on a semester abroad in Singapore. We had a great time! The food was quite tasty, with loads of salads, dips and fish for the first course and a buffet second course. The buffet consisted of 2 types of chicken, one type of beef, rice and a green bean dish.  The rice and green beans were very good, and my British friends said the beef was as well. The meal was over in 2 hours.

Shabbos day there was a simcha in shul: the naming of a baby girl. I found this out when they started passing out candies like at an aufruf, which they apparently throw at the dad after he names the baby. Because of this and the visiting relatives it involved, they added 2 aliyos, had a whole lot of mishebeirachs and quite a bit of singing. This set a new record (according to Yossi) for the longest davening he’d seen at 3 hours.

After a quick Kiddush right outside the shul (which was basically just booze and crackers) the whole community headed upstairs for lunch. The one-course meal was also nice with lots of sides (but no fish) and a meaty chulent. I ate with the British couple, the couple from NYC and a married guy with 6 kids from Monsey visiting on Business. We also finished lunch in 2 hours at which point I headed back to the hotel.

I spend the afternoon relaxing before heading back to shul for mincha/seuda shlishis/marriv. Seuda shlishis was in the restaurant on the 6th floor with all the tables put together in a U. I ate with the business guy from Monsey as the other couples didn’t return. Havdala followed maariv in shul, and I walked back to the GH. After making the trek 5 times over Shabbos I was tired so I just went to bed without a night activity.

[zow]

Nice installment. Are you a regular Chabad guy or a Chabad-when-I-travel guy?

[Yehoshua]

Sunday, January 24, 2016: Day 3 in SIN
I started the day early with a walk to the Botanic Gardens, about 20 minutes away. The free gardens are quite nice and a great place to relax and walk around. I was debating not going to the orchid gardens but decided to in the end.


Botanic Gardens South Entrance

Funny thing: they charge SGD$1 for students and SGD$5 for adults (cash only) for the orchid garden (well worth it btw). I told them I don't have a student ID but I do have an ID (my CA driver license). I showed them that I got in for $1. I never said I was a student, and they didn’t ask!


Plants growing out of a tree






Orchid Garden


At the Botanic Gardens

After finishing up there and the rest of the free part of the gardens, I made my way to the MRT stop (Botanic Gardens) at opposite end from which I entered and took the train (changing at Newton) to Coffee Bean for lunch.


MRT


Caesar Salad and Pasta with Marinara sauce at CBTL

After a quick lunch of pasta and salad I was off once again to Sentosa via MRT. At HarborFront (the last stop) I followed signs and walked to the cable car building about 5 minutes away. Turns out the cable car costs SGD29 and comes with a Singapore Airlines boarding pass discount. When I asked for that he just gave me the ticket for SGD19, the local residence price, instead of just 10% off. Another score!


Cable Car to Sentosa


View from the Cable car

The ride to Sentosa was nice and quick. Once there I took the Sentosa Cable Car line to Siloso Beach. I went to the war memorial area (free) and spent some time learning about Singapore’s military history. I then was off to the Merlion stop to check out that area. There are more high-end shops there, as well as Universal Studios, some hotels and a casino. I skipped all that and spent some time relaxing in a wonderful breeze along the water.


View from the top of the war memorial pillar, looking down through the glass floor at the pillar and street




Walkway at war memorial


A Merlion


Covered arcade at the Merlion stop

I then headed back to the Imbiah stop (the middle, main one) to walk on the Nature trails (also free) which were nice but a bit short. I opted to skip the Luge since I was alone and the lines were quite long. Maybe I’ll take DW and we’ll go in Calgary.


Nature trails

I spent some time looking around the shops at HarborFront before taking the MRT to shul for Mincha and dinner.

Mincha/maariv during the week is on the 6th floor beis medrash next to the restaurant. After mincha I went to have the most awkward dinner of my life.

Not only was Awafi not operating it’s full menu (with the Singaporean dishes) due to an event the next day (Tu B’Shvat), but the only fish option was overpriced and not that great. To make it really awkward though, I was alone in the restaurant with a super nice and friendly waiter. Well, almost alone. The 4 shluchim guys were there getting their (free) dinner and discussing who would be doing which of their various duties that week. I shudder at remembering that experience.


Awafi Restaurant


Dinner at Awafi: Fish, rice and salad

I ate as quickly as I could, paid and got the heck out of there, opting to take the MRT back to the hotel instead of walking. I was so tired I just called it an early night.

[Yehoshua]

Nice installment. Are you a regular Chabad guy or a Chabad-when-I-travel guy?

Nope, not at all. I just frequent Chabads when I travel if there is no other option. I think most frum people do.

[Work-for-ur-muny]

Thanks! I don't mind. The more posts the TR has the more people are likely to read it, especially when it keeps getting bumped to the top of the list. 

Do you really look down at your TR that much that you need it bumped up? I think it's worthy enough for people to read even without being constantly bumped. 

[Yehoshua]

Do you really look down at your TR that much that you need it bumped up? I think it's worthy enough for people to read even without being constantly bumped. 

No, not really, but when it gets buried in the list people just forget about it. Thanks for the compliment though.

[zow]

Nope, not at all. I just frequent Chabads when I travel if there is no other option. I think most frum people do.

Yes, me too.
Another great installment.
You might want to wait a few months before taking DW on the luge.

[Yehoshua]

Yes, me too.
Another great installment.
You might want to wait a few months before taking DW on the luge.

lol! We don't have a Banff trip planned just yet, though I don't think the luge is going anywhere soon. It's actually in the Olympic (1988) park IIRC.

[Feivish]

Shabbos, January 23, 2016: Day 2 in SIN
 . . . Havdala followed maariv in shul, and I walked back to the GH. After making the trek 5 times over Shabbos I was tired so I just went to bed without a night activity.

Now that you did the walk on Shabbos quite a few times, do you recommend that?

Schmoozing with other guys at the meals, did you gather where they were staying?

[tzifanya54]

I thought we were talking about CY in general. In terms of R' Moshe's heter applying to other countries, I think it applies to Canada and Australia according to most people. If it applies there, then why wouldn't it apply in any country where there are strong governmental regulations? I thought that that was the basis for the entire heter in the first place.

That's correct it has nothing to do with USA. It's directly dependent on how strict the governmental agencies are.

[DMYD]

Nice nice can't believe I missed this TR till now! Thanks for all the info