We had a public holiday on Friday, so it was a 3-day weekend for most. Singapore has lots of public holidays because it celebrates the religious holidays of its many ethnicities and religions. This particular holiday was Vesak Day, commemorating the birth and enlightenment of Buddha and his entry into Nirvana. Not that I could tell by anything going on in Singapore what the holiday celebrated- I had to look it up. Public holidays really just mean shopping days in Singapore. It is like Boxing Day or Thanksgiving weekend every time there is a public holiday here. Orchard Rd is literally flooded with families and teenagers having a giant shopping outing. It's kind of sad. I want to shout at those parents sometimes to do something more valuable with their holiday and take their kids to the Zoo or Underwater World! Anything besides dragging them around the shops and stopping at KFC for real, valuable "family time." Right. First, this practice is instilling in them the shopping addiction and materialism that is so present in Singapore. Second, no kid loves to stand around in a store while their mom looks at purses! More often than not, the parents just leave their kids in some corner of the store to whine or scream while they then go off and browse the merchandise. Soooo annoying. Obviously I was shopping this weekend too, though, in order to experience the holiday madness, so maybe I don't have the right to complain! I went out to Orchard on Friday to meet Heather since it was her last day in Singapore before going back to Canada for the summer. And then on Saturday I went on an errand run that turned into a marathon endeavor, trying to negotiate the crowds, etc.