The Lord Vinayagar Temple

The impressive entrance.
A busy place guarded by Ganeshas.

Looking forward to the next phase.
Nice carvings.
So true in English and in Tamil.
A line of pachyderms.
Removers of obstacles.
And a good little vegetarian place across the street too!

Now that we have been in our new place for a few weeks we are beginning to explore the area. The neighborhood is bordered by several well known streets - Joo Chiat, Marine Parade and East Coast road. Each has it's own interesting local attractions and flavors.

I am sure I will write a number of entries about the various sites, sounds and sensations of the area. Today I will talk about our local Hindu Temple.

One of my favorite things to do here in Singapore is to wander in to the many Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as the Muslim Mosques. the closest Temple to our new place is the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple.

http://www.senpaga.org.sg/ This Temple was founded more then 150 years ago by a Tamil from Ceylon. Vinayagar is one of the synonyms in sanskrit for Ganesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh. Of course Ganesh, the elephant deity, is one of the most recognizable Hindu Gods.

I have visited several times and have observed a number of different ceremonies.  All very mysterious to me, but not so to followers.  I love the music.  Tabla, horns, bells and even the sounding of a sea shell horn on one visit.  also the rituals involving offerings of food, oil, milk and fire all make me want to learn more.

The Gimbel Passover Tradition

The Seder plate, albeit a little picked over already.

The "kids" table starts to take shape.
Elijah highlights the well worn Haggadah as well as his shiny braces.
Cousin Dana gets the honor of holding up the Passover symbols.
"The Last of the Gimbels"
The girls sing the four questions

Now it's the boys turn.
Doctor Barry - ace cardiologist and family prescription drug dispenser.
Uncle Seymour dispenses the gelt to the kinder.
In order of importance - Aunt Sara (the Chef), her world famous pickles........................................................................... josh.

Uncle Seymour and Aunt Sara have been hosting Passover since the mid 1960s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder Prior to that I believe it was held at my Great Grandmother's house for many years. Other then a vague memory of that house basically all of my Passover memories have been created at Seymour and Sara's.

Each year the ritual is the same. Starting out with a Kosher cocktail, usually some special Passover vodka, Grey Goose it's not.... followed by the Seder service.

For many decades the service was led by my grandfather Harold. His style was a blend of Jackie Mason and Don Rickles. We miss him and think of him every day, but even more so on Passover. After he died uncle Jack took the reins, known for speeding through the service in about 30 seconds, he too is gone and not forgotten. Other beloved family members who brightened up the holiday have passed on but are never forgotten including my Grandma Virginia, Uncle Stanley and Aunt Marion. The new young leader of the Seder is Uncle Seymour. Known as "the last of the Gimbel's, not only because he is the youngest of his generation, but because it is said he is the last Gimbel man to actually have some control over his wife and family. All of the subsequent Gimbel men are said to have had the special operation which results the ability to only nod yes when told what to do by their wives. While my brother Josh would like to believe he is actually the new "last of the Gimbel's"....he's not.

The Passover service is set out in a book known as the Haggadah. There are a myriad of Haggadahs available from short to long, old to new. http://www.slate.com/id/2139601/ The Gimbel family follows tradition. We continue to use a 1950s era Hagadah, most likely given away for free in 1960. These well worn blue covered pamphlets are a short a sweet version of the Seder service, yet it covers all the bases - explaining the symbols of Passover, the story of the Jew's exodus from Egypt, a few prayers, the famous four questions (always asked by the youngest member of the family who is up to the task), singing the Dayanu (where God's miracles are recounted) song (always best when cousin Jeff is in the house), setting up the various drinks of lovely sweet Mogan David Wine, eating matzo, eating chorosus (a tasty mix of apples and honey)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charoset and eating Seymour's famous home made head rush and eye watering horse radish. We always snicker during the Haggadah text praying for the removal of the "iron curtain" as the curtain was actually removed before most of the attendees were even born.

After the service we enjoy Sara's superb gefilte fish, matzo ball soup and a great dinner. Her home made pickles are also a feature not to be missed.

This year I was lucky to attend as my schedule worked out just right. The family has spread out a little over the years with people living in Chicago, Cleveland, Connecticut, Florida and me in Singapore. It was a light crowd as my Dad was in Florida and many of the other out of towners had recently been in Milwaukee for the wedding of Brandon Gimbel. there is also a healthy influx of kids - Josh and his two, Seymour's kids Adam, Andee and Debbie and their 6 or 7 offspring and with newlywed Rachel and Brandon (not to each other!) probably more to come.

Needless to say it was a perfect Seder and a continuation of perhaps the most enduring tradition that keeps the Gimbel family together.

La Chaim!

American Adventure - In Pictures

At the airport - off to the US. For Sophia and me - a homecoming full of visits with family and friends. For Myrna, her first time out of Asia. We were in for a fun, yet tiring trip. Myrna was in for a trip of firsts.

Already exhausted and we were only on a layover in Japan.

At the Air and Space Museum in DC. Explaining rocket science to Myrna (and she believed what I said). Cool waters.
Myrna and her new friend Eliza Marcus.
Estee - last time we saw her she was an infant, now she is a real person!
the Marcus kids at play.
Nothing like a sunny day at Mount Vernon. Pondering whether I can toss a silver dollar across the Potomac without throwing out my arm.

Myrna's first apple tree. If it wasn't so cold for her (she was frozen at 55 degrees) she would have waited until the blossoms became pickable apples.
The Colegroves, Marge and Homer.
Famous coxswain of the 2001 Miami University 7 man Crew team
Luz and Fernando in "fockus"
Glamour girl by the river.

Sophia and Samantha. First visit in two years. They grow up so fast....
With Sam and not so little Antonio.
Myna's second wish - to fish in the US.
And she got one. Biggest fish ever hauled out of that little pond.
Tom Wherry, fishing master, pulls the big prize off the hook.

"What to Do?"

Hot girls of Venice Beach, CA
Third wish, to be like a typical American. We told her all Americans wear glasses like this....
This dude was putting on a show.

Barefoot on a pile of broken glass.
Then he jumped off of a chair.
Tough way to earn a living but I'm sure he clears about $50 a show.
San Diego - the panda and the bamboo.
I see my nephew Elijah wherever I go. Looks like be put on a few lbs.

Spot the monkey
This mouse escaped from the zoo and made it big.
Fourth wish, as far as you know, to go to Disneyland.
Here are Happy and Dopey but where is my brother Grumpy?
Yes, that's the real Pooh.

And Tigger too!
Good to see this float of Beauty and the Beast as I always fall asleep during the movie.

The love rodents.
If you believe in Tinkerbell, she will be there.