Here in Singapore, we are just coming out of a 5 day weekend in honor of the Lunar New Year. However, since Bobby was away in Malaysia helping out with a triathlon camp this weekend and I was loathe to drag the kids down to Gong Xi Fa Cai central (China Town), we sort of steered clear of the festivities. Where we used to live, there were a lot of local lion dances and it was always fun to hear the banging of drums and symbols as the trucks decorated with flags and performers all dressed up in flashy, coordinating outfits drove past on their way to a performance. We were lucky enough to be invited twice to a neighborhood lion dance to bless our neighbor’s home for the coming new year. The first time, Caden and I ran breathlessly down the street following the sounds of the drums and the next year, both kids got to see it. We sat transfixed watching all the maneuvers of the lion as he checked out the offerings the people of the house had left for him. He would then “eat” the salad and oranges throwing the peel out at the small audience and finally leaving the house with the orange segments arranged in the shape of a Chinese character and a lucky number.
offering for the lion
lion "eating" and scattering orange peel blessings
This year, we spent time celebrating with friends instead and doing a spot of organizing in the Chinese New Year spirit of cleaning and cleansing. I went for a plodding run the morning after a BBQ that involved one too many glasses of champagne with guava juice (first time I’ve tried that combo and it was very much to my liking, I’m afraid!) Then this morning, I took a newby runner friend around the 11.5K MacRitchie trail. It was an especially sticky morning but overcast and as we trotted along the final 2.7Kms of boardwalk above the reservoir water, we were graced with the semblance of a cool breeze. Lately, when I’ve been running and having a hard time, I’ve talked myself out of the accompanying gloomy, self-doubting mood by thinking about the women I will be running for (www.runforCongowomen.org). The depth of their suffering immediately eclipses any of my own sensations of pain, weariness, or what-have-you. I am constantly amazed at what the body can endure but what the mind can do, of course, trumps the body any day.
