Church

     Being the good Christians that we are, we went to church on Sunday morning. We walked maybe half a mile from our hotel to the 150+ year old church, St. Andrew's Cathedral, one of the first buildings in Singapore. Service was at 11:15, right after the Mandarin service. We arrived around 10:45 or 11:00, and the Mandarin service was still going on. It was packed. It was packed enough to where people were sitting outside because there weren't enough chairs. While we waited, we met an elderly lady who had traveled to Singapore all her life. Her first time to Singapore was from England on a ship when Singapore was still an English territory. She told us a little about the history of the church, and of the island itself. 

     St. Andrew's Cathedral was built around 1856. It is the third St. Andrews Cathedral to be built in Singapore as the first two were destroyed by both lightening strikes and by rumors of unhappy spirits. The church itself is huge and bright white on the inside. Before the service, we went to the restroom, and the inside looks like it hasn't been updated in a few decades. 

     The inside of the church is quite large. I'd say that the main nave could fit around 300 people in its seats. Oh, and there are no pews, at least not what we think of pews. The "pews" are pretty much rows of connected chairs. There are 5 or 6 decent sized chairs with woven wicker bottoms and backs in a row, and there are, I'd say, 30-40 rows. And there is a second room connected to the main nave with about 75 people in it. And on top of the pews, there are smaller pews on the sides of the building, disconnected from the main rows by pillars. There are TV monitors and speakers throughout the building to show the priest and his vicar/rector, I don't know which. They each have microphones. 

     The vicar/rector was pretty much the guide during the service. Because Singapore is a popular vacation spot, there are always a few first-timers, and the vicar/rector guides the congregation through the service. Not only did the video of the speakers play on the monitors, but there were also the words for hymns, and prayers. 

     After the service, we wandered around the park across the river from the hotel, went to the hotel and changed, and went to the small hawker center we visited yesterday for lunch. Dad had fried rice, I had fish ball and noodle soup, and Rebecca had some sort of curry soup.