Chinese Medicine Buddha Prayer

Today has, by far, been the best day of Singapore yet! This morning we met up with the group and took a bus to the Counseling and Care center near China town. We watched Len do two cross-cultural interviews with expert therapists. We interviewed Tan Boon Huat and Juliana Toh. Both of these therapists had such insightful messages pertaining to counseling across cultures. Two of my favorite nuggets of information were that we, as counselors, need to master our basics. “Basic skills are profound.” I loved how simply boon put this notion, but it really is capturing the heart of therapy. The other tidbit of information that I loved was “The ability to help is received.” What Juliana meant by this was that we as therapists are able to help when we receive help from others. Personally, this is something essential to my work as a future therapist, due to my incessant need to avoid help from others.

After our interviews we headed to Chinatown for lunch. Jen did a wonderful job of picking out a place for all of us to eat. It was a little shop right on the street called Yummy Viet. The other Amanda and I shared spring roles and chicken curry with rice noodles and potatoes. It was amazing! The food here has such a wonderful, rich smell, and it has so many authentic flavors. There is never a dull dish in Singapore! After lunch the whole group headed into the heart of Chinatowns shopping centers. The streets were lined with beautiful lanterns, teapots, Chinese scrolls, silks, robes, and flowers. Just to name a few. We then headed to the Sri Mariamman Temple. This temple was mostly an outdoor temple filled with vibrant statues and shrines. The colors were so incredibly vivacious and eye catching. At this point the majority of the group headed back to treetops and my roomies and I stayed in Chinatown. We stopped a Chinese medicine shop and bought something to aid in the horrible travel digestion and then we splurged on some Placenta Face Cream. Apparently women by this store out of the stuff. We will see what happens! We then went to the Buhda Tooth Relic Temple! Words cannot explain this temple and the ability it has to entirely center you in just thirty minutes. The entrance of the temple welcomes us to a Chinese Medicine Buddha Prayer. There was chanting, offerings, and prayer. After taking a few pictures we seated ourselves and just soaked it in. My mind went blank and you could feel the chants and prayers all the way into your chest. I’m not one to just sit and just let myself soak in all the sensory information I am presented with at any given moment, but I could have sat in that temple all day. It was the most peaceful experience I’ve had for years. We toured a few other floors of the temple but saved a few because we are tour temples with our class in a few days. On our way out of the temple we lit incense, prayed in silence, and rested it in ashes to burn. An indescribably experience.  Now we have returned to our apartments for a little down time. The heat drains you terribly.