Sunday morning walk

This morning I wanted to get out and enjoy some sunshine and the nice breezes we've been having so I decided to go for a walk.  The Formula 1 Night Race in Singapore is next weekend so I thought I would wander down near the pits to see if anything interesting was going on.  I am assuming that most of the drivers are already in Singapore to adjust to the time difference.

They actually begin setting up the lights and barriers and stands for the race in August.  It is a huge undertaking since these cars travel on normal city streets at speeds upwards of 200 mph.  Unfortunately for me, the pit area that is along one of my normal walks was completely blocked off in preparation for the race.  There were loads of 'race officials' wandering about and looking at the barriers and lights and then looking back at their plans.  Here are a few pictures...

 I was surprised to see that they had the lights on even in the middle of the day.

This is coming out of one turn (just behind me to the left) and then goes immediately into another one (up near the yellow taxi).

The cars will come from the right (where those guys are standing with the red car) and go just past the dark blue stands and make another quick turn to the right.

I felt a little defeated walking home since I wasn't really able to see too much interesting for the Formula 1 race.  I was about ten minutes from home and walked in front of the Sri Thandayuthapani temple and came across this...
(apologies for the shakiness and the zooming in and out)

This was the celebration of Purattaasi which I only learned after asking a very nice guy who was leaving the temple.  I always feel a bit weird taking photos of religious ceremonies and asking questions about them but he seemed genuinely happy to tell me about it.  He explained that it is one of many Hindu celebrations throughout the year and the people were praying and celebrating in honor of the gods.  When I got home I googled it and found that it is a celebration to honor Lord Vishnu who is thought to be responsible for preserving the universe.

What is hard to see in the video is the that the gold thing bouncing up and down is actually attached to one guy...by needles...through his skin...

The loud cheering in the video was when he started to walk up the stairs...which is probably not the easiest thing to do with all of that stuck to you with needles.

This picture doesn't show too much different than what is in the video but if you click on it to make it larger take a look at the skinny guy with long hair in an orange sarong (in the upper right-hand corner of the picture)...

He was obviously somebody important to the temple.  He would come out and signal for the different things to begin. 

As always, it was fun to just be walking home and stumble across something completely new.  Ironically, not two minutes after I left this exciting scene I passed by a catholic church who was tolling the bells for noon mass.  I just love the diversity of this country!