AN UPDATE:

Life has been a wonderful sort of hectic in the last several months- Pris and I have celebrated Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, CNY, Valentine's Day and more. We've both added another year to our tickers and had some great experiences, including an unforgettable trip to Cambodia. I would love to share all of this with you, but we've recently received some life changing news (in a good way!) that is both the cause of the delay these last several months and the likely cause of a permanent end to our updating.

Before we do put a formal close to the posting I will share this news with all our readers, but in the meantime I hope you'll all hang on with me and wait for confirmation!

Thank you so much for reading about our experiences through the short lifetime of this blog. No matter if this blog is put to an end or not, we will always be happy to chat with any of our readers, and our posts will stay up even if we will not be adding to them.

Donating Blood in Singapore

First, a quick warning. This post is about BLOOD. It also has a picture of blood in a bag. If this grosses you out, please don't put yourself through it and scroll past this post!

(they even have a mascot!)

Back when I lived in Ohio, I made it a point to donate blood as often as I felt up to. I'm blood type O+, which always seemed in critical stock in my area, and since I fit the criteria in the States it seemed a necessary evil, even though I'm actually terrified of needles. And blood. Even making this post is kind of making me queasy, but it's for a good cause! Seriously though, I'm a huge baby and cry nearly every time I go- my parents can tell horror stories about me running through doctor's offices to escape the poor nurses tasked with updating my vaccines. Fortunately, I haven't yet run from anyone at blood drives, so I consider that progress.

At any rate, since I moved to Singapore about a year and a half ago I haven't attempted to donate blood, but after seeing a site detailing the current low stocks of type O blood, thought it was about time I gathered my courage again and went for it. It looks like at the moment the stocks have been raised out of the red and into the yellow, which I'm going to attribute to my own fearless bravery stop laughing now. 

(see, be nice. jerks.)

You would think that donating blood anywhere in the world would be relatively the same, but as there are a surprising amount of different criteria and things to keep in mind, I thought making a blog post and hopefully rallying a few more people to go to their nearest blood drive might be worth it. So first, a few of the facts to keep in mind:

• You have to weigh at least 45kg to donate, which is about 100lbs. If you weigh between 45 and 50kg you'll donate a smaller amount, but as the minimum weight for donation in the US is 110lbs, it's quite a big difference. 
• For most blood drives, you don't need to register. I walked in at the Pasir Ris East CC blood drive and it was so empty I was literally through in under an hour, and if I wasn't such a baby could have been through in about 30 minutes. 
• You can find a listing of upcoming blood drives here or head to one of the few blood banks in the country (Bloodbank@HSA or Bloodbank@Woodlands) any time.

Aside from the few differences in criteria, even the process was a bit different. Like in the States, first you have to read information about donating blood and pages that talk about who can't.

However, they also shorten the process by having you answer that long list of repetitive questions about your health and history yourself through checkboxes, rather than having a nurse ask you or take time answering on a computer. Locals will need to bring along their IC for identification, and although it tells foreigners to bring their passports, my EP was all I needed to get through.

(by this point the terror was just starting to build, you can't read more than a hint of horror in my eyes)

The procedure after that is all normal. You talk to a nurse who checks out your info and makes sure you have no questions, go through the dreaded iron test (actually not bad, I had a great nurse and it didn't even sting a bit) and take a seat on the long chairs to await the donation. 

Since it was seriously dead, they were pretty much waiting on me to get there and sit. Luckily it was all the same after that too, my extreme twitching and attempts to keep myself from crying even got the same response here as back in Ohio! That's when it gets different. Usually at this point in Ohio they'd stick me with a needle and I'd spend the next 5-10 minutes trying in vain to ignore the weird feeling and slight discomfort and do my best to not pass out after glancing at the slowly filling bag to my side. But Singapore is a haven for people like me, and instead they actually give you a local pain killer injection first. That may not seem like a big deal, but when you're as terrified of needles as I am, not having to feel the needle in your arm during the process is pretty much the best thing that could possibly happen.

(look, they even gave me a sticker since it was my first time in Singapore!)

 I'd been really hitting the water a few days before donating, and I guess it thinned my blood a bit because my bag was almost full after about 2-3 minutes and I had to lie down to not pass out.

 

(serious, this was just barely more than a minute since starting)

But in the end I did make it through my first blood donation in Singapore and came out alive. I'll probably take a while to get my courage up again, but since it's a minimum 12 weeks between donations here, rather than the 56 days in the States, I've got a while.

Useful Links- 

Everything you need to know about donating blood in Singapore- youtube video

HSA requirements and information

Donorweb blood donation pledge form

Good luck with your donations and feel free to share any experiences giving blood in Singapore or around the world!

Send Yourself to the Singapore Philatelic Museum!

August is a very special month in Singapore, with Singapore's National Day celebrated on the 9th. August 2011 is even more unique, with Hari Raya Puasa coming next Tuesday (30 Aug) and the Presidential Elections today (more on that later, Pris is actually out at her polling station right now and she'll be making a post about that).

Through the month of August, in celebration of National Day, all Singaporean citizens and PRs have free admission to the majority of  museums in the country. Even better, on national holidays ALL people in Singapore are granted free admission. Pris and I have been taking advantage of this and while we haven't had much time to post about our experiences yet we have definitely been keeping ourselves busy.

Today, since I've finally got a few hours free (in between the Natas Travel Fair this morning and trip to Borders at Parkway Parade for special deals since the Wheelock Place Borders closed unexpectedly tonight) I can make the first of our museum posts- actually about the first museum we visited- Singapore Philatelic Museum.

For those who aren't in the field or involved in the area at all, philately is the study of stamps and postal history in general, and the Singapore Philatelic Museum focuses on stamps and the like produced in the Southeast Asian region, especially Singapore, as you can imagine.

Neither Pris nor I are very interested in stamps and whatnot and expected we'd likely breeze through the museum in an hour or less, but were pleasantly surprised that it was actually one of our favorites. No doubt learning the history of stamps and mailboxes can be boring, but with lots of exhibits and interactive things it made the trip much more fun. ...Actually, we were pretty childish through our visit and took advantage of their "stamp press" machines meant for the kids, where you can collect cute ink stamps on paper.

(this one was our favorite!)

There are plenty of exhibits and rooms to browse through, including a kid's room for drawing and cute stamp hopscotches on the ground, but we mostly just enjoyed the colors and look of old stamps and mailboxes.

While it's not the sort of museum I can see us stopping in to check out for each new exhibit, it's definitely worth at least one stop in if you have a bit of free time. Another benefit is that it's within short walking distance to the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and the Peranakan Museum (yes, we also made stops at all of those!) so if you're looking for an interesting way to spend the day you can take quite a few hours between those.

There are a few other upcoming events if you haven't had a chance to visit yet. There will be free admission to all on Hari Raya Puasa (30 Aug), Deepavali (26 Oct) and a Stamp Fair held 11 Sept. Admission on days other than National Holidays is $5 for adults and $4 for children, and the museum is open 1-7pm Mondays and 9am-7pm Tuesdays-Sundays. You can easily reach by foot from City Hall MRT, Clark Quay MRT or Bras Basah MRT.

If you absolutely can't find the time to make it down but would like the see what they've got, you can take the virtual tour instead!

( but you can't see the old mailboxes unless you go in person!)

HSBC TreeTop Walk

Opened in 2004, the HSBC TreeTop Walk is a very cool, but very exhausting way to spend a free afternoon. Considering you'll be hiking anywhere between about 5 and 15 km (about 3.1 to 9.3 miles for my American friends who cannot convert metric... on which to note I used google to convert because I'm still far below average in recognizing metric equivalents too) you should come prepared with good shoes, snacks, and someone else, because hiking that long alone would be boring as heck.

Just a note before we start to give everyone an idea of perhaps why Pris and I found this trek so exhausting, aside from the fact that we're both willing to admit we're horribly out of shape- we're idiots. We knew beforehand how long we would be hiking, we knew it would be difficult, and yet we chose to take the hike in flip flops. Do not do this.  Seriously, this isn't a nice little hike in the woods. This is a difficult, often up hill path made of rocks of all sizes in various holds. Some will slip out under your feet, you will have to climb over many large, strangely placed red bricks in the path now and again, and it is not at all paved. For the sake of your feet please let us learn the lesson for you and wear the appropriate footwear.

The hours run from 9-5 on weekdays and 8:30-5 on weekends, so do make sure you get a head start, as they will not let anyone on past the 5pm mark. Two other things to keep an eye on: the size of your group (only 30 are allowed on the walk at any time, so if you are making a large group tour it may take a few minutes waiting to get on) and the weather (...please don't even attempt to get on a swaying bridge 25m in the air in a storm). It is definitely worth it to head out as early as possible, however, as the midday sun is a killer.

You can find a bit more information, including trails and whatnot, right here.

We headed out somewhat early, about 9am, but since we live pretty far we didn't really get started until around 10:30 or so. From the Marymount MRT it's about a 1.5km walk to the entrance of the trail, but pretty easy to find. Just follow the MRT map to St Theresa's Home and the start is right there. For those who will be driving or who want to make the trip with kids, you can shave about 5km off the total hike by heading straight to the Venus Drive entrance and starting there. They say in all the guides that it will take about 3-5 hours for the hike from start to finish, but in our experience it will be much closer to 3 unless you spend a long while eating lunch at the ranger station. We stopped for plenty of pics and our own lunch and still managed to finish right around the 3 hour mark, despite taking the longest route and keeping a steady, but not terribly fast, pace.

The TreeTop walk is located on a long path in the MacRitchie Reservoir, linking the two highest points within the area. It is about 250m long and 25m high, literally in the highest trees. It is also worth noting the actual suspension bridge is a one way route, so if you are terrified of heights you will literally not be able to turn around and change your mind once you start- the only option is to continue to the end. This isn't as bad as it sounds, both Pris and I were pretty wary about the height before we got there and neither of us flourish high in the air, but the walls of the bridge are high and it feels secure. Aside from a bit of swaying in the breeze there was nothing to make us nervous, and even that was totally welcome after about an hour and a half of up-hill hiking in 90-something degree weather (sorry, about 33c to my metric buddies, but you probably know how hot it is here anyway). 

The path is clearly marked, but also very busy. As a nature trail, you'll be sharing the first 5km with other joggers and hikers not looking to go to the walk, and sometimes it's a tight squeeze. The path is somewhat narrow and isn't paved, so watch your step and try to stick to one side so others can easily pass. The path out was nice, but as it was a lot of uphill walking also tired us out pretty quickly.

After 5km you'll come to a split in the path. This is where the path from Venus Drive merges and most hikers do not continue if they aren't looking specifically to get to the TreeTop walk, so after this things aren't nearly so crowded. To be honest, there isn't much to say about the hike itself as it's mostly the same thing, long winding roads surrounded on all sides by trees. Fortunately, nearly the whole walk is shaded so that helps take a lot of the edge off the heat.

A short while later you'll pass by the ranger station, where almost everyone will be stopping before or after the walk to relax a few minutes. There are bathrooms and free flow water, as well as blessed chairs, so take advantage before heading to the walk itself, as it's totally uphill from there (you're going into the trees, it's a tiring portion!). After what feels like forever, but what the signs tell you was only .3km (lies), you'll finally reach the suspension bridge.

The good news is not a terrible amount of people are willing to hike so far into the woods, so it was reasonably free and without too many others around. As I mentioned before, the bridge is sturdy enough to not cause worry, but it is a little frightening being so high up, especially if you don't love heights.

Enjoy the views and take your time! As far as things go, the TreeTop walk wasn't as suspenseful and exciting as we'd imagined, as most of the trees are actually right at your height and not hugely tall. It was definitely interesting and worth the trip out since we're not exactly crunched for time in which to see things in Singapore, but if taking half a day or so out of your trip would leave a gap in which other activities couldn't be done we'd both give this one a pass. To be honest, our favorite part of the trip wasn't the walk at all- it was:

MONKEYS!!!!

Pris still gets a kick out of my excitement at seeing wild monkeys, but this time even she was pretty pumped. We didn't see any monkeys the whole way out and thought we were going to miss them altogether, despite the signs everywhere reminding us not to feed them. Fortunately, about 1.5km from the exit we were absolutely ambushed. What started as one monkey climbing close to us (and actually scaring me farther away) turned into about two dozen a few steps down the road. These were mostly cute little guys, but obviously looking for and expecting some food. They lined all sides of the road and overhead and even got right in the path!

Many were actually close enough to reach out and touch. It was pretty funny too, watching all the foreigners stopping for pictures and to watch them and all the locals who take the path frequently zooming right around them without a second glance. Definitely the best part of this trip though.

4th of July with the American Association of Singapore

(you know you're at an American gathering when there are metal detectors at the door)

Alright, I know I'm an entire week and a half late, since AAS held their annual 4th of July gathering on the 2nd of July. But hey, at least I'm determined to be thourough with our event coverage, even if not timely. To be honest, I caught a cold soon after the event, rapidly followed by Pris, so we've both been miserable and unwilling to expend the extra energy on blogging. This is my second time ill in two months now, not to mention that wonderful two month trip with pneumonia at the beginning of the year, so hopefully that'll be it for the year.

In any case, onto the fun stuff: along with thousands of other proud Americans and those who just wanted to watch fireworks, Pris and I traveled out to the Terror Club in Sembawang for the yearly Independence Day Celebrations for the second time. I'll let everyone stop here to snicker at the name of the venue for celebrating American independence. Entrance is free and, even better, they provide free shuttles too and from Sembawang MRT.

We attended last year to Ben and Jerry's ice cream displays, awesome corndogs, real sno cones without beans and corn on top (looking at you, ice kachang), and the only fireworks I'd seen outside of National Day. Unfortunately, it was also during a storm, and 75% of the venue was unusable due to mud, though we still returned home dirty and disgusting even trying to walk on the wooden planks.

This year we enjoyed much better weather, though much of the same good times. AAS kept several live bands playing throughout the event, which actually went from 4-10pm, even though we were lazy and only arrived about 7pm to make sure we'd get a spot to watch fireworks. The bands themselves were much the same as last year, very country and very good for background noise. I don't think there was ever a big crowd gathered at the stage to listen, but it was good to have some more local tunes playing through the hours.

We agreed the crowd seemed a bit bigger this year, though that could be due to better weather bringing everyone out. Either way, the long lines meant we had to forgo the free popcorn and cotton candy handouts, though we did grab a Snicker's ice cream bar that was probably my favorite part of the entire year. And oh yeah, the corn dogs were still just as amazing.

(to a homesick american this is like crunching into rainbows covered in sunshine draped in happiness)

There were a bunch of stalls set up for people to walk around and check out, from the local American school to a Navy booth, medical resources and pretty much anything you could think an expat might need. Most didn't apply to us so we didn't have to spend too much time looking around, but they were handing out free tote bags at one of the stalls!

More than anything, it's just a welcome relief to be surrounded by your own countrymen now and again in celebration, and the spirit was definitely high. Everyone had a good time chowing down food from Fat Boy's Burgers (they look amazing!), Fridays and the like, although Ben and Jerry's was sorely missed. Oh yeah, and drinking enough to put out a fire. Just the the 4th of July celebrations back home!

We did get a decent place to watch fireworks too, but unfortunately they were a little lacking this year. Last year seemed pretty short itself, maybe a 5-6 minute display, but this year couldn't have topped 3 minutes. Ah well, you can expect much in the way of fireworks in Singapore.

(they look a lot better if you just put a bunch of them together!)

Overall we did have a good time, both this year and last, and we'd be happy to recommend anyone come join in next year!

A Farewell to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

Along with a huge crowd of others clamoring to get a few last shots before the Railway sent out its last train on July 1st, Pris and I headed down last weekend, but were so busy through the week we're only now getting a chance to post our own pics (actually, we've been running from site to site all over Singapore so we've got lots to blog about in the near future). It was a lot busier than we expected, but considering it was the last weekend the trains would be running it was also pretty expected. The station itself will remain open two weeks after the 1st according to a press report, so anyone who'd still like shots of the tracks should be prepared to get their shots in soon before the doors are closed for good.

The Tajong Pagar Railway has been one of two checkpoints islandwide leading from Singapore into Malaysia directly. Now that this station is closed the only option left is the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, though the routes and times there aren't anywhere near as extensive as that just shut down.

The outside of the building is worth the trip alone, just based on the fact that you don't see old architecture like that in modern Singapore often. There are four statues posed on the building with the letters F M S R overhead, for Federated Malay States Railways and an impressive entrance, though if you go now you can expect to have lots of heads blocking any decent pictures.

I guess it's a little late to be talking about the services that used to be provided since it's not like anyone can make use of them by now, and especially since we can't say much about it since we never did make any trips on the rail anyway, so instead I'll just post the time-table for anyone interested:

 

In any case, we did manage to brave the crowds and head down by the tracks for a few quick shots of what will soon be closed to the public. There were no trains coming or going while we were there, but the tracks themselves were nice to look at, and knowing we were going to be some of the last few able to head in was exciting.

Alright, truth be told, it's pretty difficult to sound as excited as I'd like about this visit, not because it wasn't nice to look at or boring, but just because there's not much to say about railroad tracks in general, especially those that we can't recommend for a visit since they aren't running and will soon be closed even for a visit.

I'll just leave it to say if you have time in the next week make it a priority to stop down and take a last look at a national monument (since this year, actually) which has been running since 1932 and which holds fond memories for countless people.

(what's happening, i haven't had anything snarky to say this whole post!)

Pink Dot 2011 Coverage

(i'm sure this is unnecessary by now, but... click here to go to the official site!)

Even though it's pretty late over here, Pris and I were so excited after our day at Pink Dot 2011 we had to make the post the same night. (We've already covered the basics of what Pink Dot is all about in our pre-post here, so check that post for a bit of background first if you don't already know!) We had a bit of early preparation to pump ourselves up with a trip to the neoprint machines in Bugis for a Pink Dot photoshoot and afterward headed straight to Hong Lim Park, despite the fact that nothing began at all until 4:30 and we were two and a half hours early.

(camwhoring for a good cause!)

To our surprise, the event preparation was well under way and there were already a few die hard souls gathering and grabbing some choice spots as well as a ton of volunteers hard at work setting things up. We got ourselves a spot too and watched as the first few dozen people or so quickly turned into several hundred, even though it was still well before starting time.

As expected, the Speaker's Corner turned into a sea of pink before we knew it, with great weather and everyone in high spirits making our time even better. We wandered around a while to see everything going on, but this turned out to be unnecessary for two reasons: 1) By the time things really started it was so packed walking was almost impossible, and 2) the volunteers were ridiculously on top of things, with dozens of trays being passed around with free drinks, cupcakes, informational brochures, pins and other fun souvenirs.

(this won the award for sweetest drink. seriously, go here if you can, these people are awesome! www.thegardenslug.com)

(go here too, these mini cupcakes were delicious! @thewokandbarrel)

 All the great free treats were definitely the icing on the cupcake, totally unexpected but wonderfully welcome, but the real stars were the staff who kept everyone laughing and happy, so props to all the Pink Dot 2011 crew, you all definitely brightened our day!

 Several staff were patrolling the area with sticky hearts they were asking people to write messages on. Both Pris and I wrote our messages and got to stick them on the walking message board (see above), but when we saw where they all ended up it was even more fun and touching.

(Pink Dot message board! Instant written pick-me-up)

Soon after that the promised concert got underway, with performances by the Dim Sum Dollies, Voguelicious and Rima S and plenty more. 

(told you they were there. unfortunately, we didn't get to hear the MRT song today)

 (they had some serious dance moves. also, look at those heels!)

The concert was great, but the best part of the event came when all over 10,000 of the participants tried to form a huge human pink dot. Unfortunately only citizens and PRs could form the dot, as per the rules of the Speaker's Corner, but even they alone managed to take up the entire space. I'm going to link here to pictures from all the Pink Dot events just for comparison to how insane this was:

Pink Dot 2009- 2,500 particpants

Pink Dot 2010- 4,000 participants

Pink Dot 2011- over 10,000 participants!

We're not sure if they actually expected this high of a turnout, but if they didn't no one could tell. Despite the huge crowd, there was excess of everything; drinks, snacks, brochures, balloons, pom poms and pretty much anything else you could expect. We got a few of our own pics of the dot forming (well, I did, Pris was already in it. Try and spot her in the photos!), but definitely check out the links, the aerial view is fantastic.

 Once everyone was gathered there was a countdown and all at once hundreds of balloons were released by the crowd. 

I gotta admit, that was a pretty tear jerking moment, with everyone yelling in support and cheering and the general excitement in the air. Not something you'd expect in a country where it is still officially illegal for two men to be together (of course, there are no provisions on women in the law, I suppose the government doesn't think that exists?)

We even got a quick snapshot of ourselves before heading off.

One last note before signing off here: if you haven't already watched the Pink Dot 2011 video, you need to watch it now. I don't think anyone with half a heart could finish through that without shedding a tear or two-

edit 19 June: Pink Dot made the local Yahoo news again! 

Pink Dot 2011 Pre-Post

 Pris and I are big supporters for equality in all aspects of the word, so we've had this coming Saturday blocked out on our calendars since the date for Pink Dot 2011 was announced. We'll be doing follow up coverage on the event after this Saturday, but we thought we'd put out an invitation to anyone in Singapore who may not have heard to come join us for an exciting afternoon!

Pink Dot is an exciting one day activity hosted to show support for the GLBT community in Singapore which is often forgotten and rarely heard. It's a celebration of the ability to overcome obstacles and love without regard to gender and stereotypes and we're incredibly happy to have the opportunity to take part this year!

PINK DOT 2011
WHERE: Hong Lim Park
WHEN: Saturday, June 18, 2011
Time: Activities Begin Promptly at 5pm

More Information: here!

As you may imagine thanks to the name, visitors are encouraged to wear pink. This is a family friendly event so bring along friends, relatives and anyone you know who may be interested in supporting the cause. 

The Dim Sum Dollies (now best known for their hilariously bad MRT jingle we were all forced to listen to a dozen times a day for months) will be the sort of guests of honor present at the event, though there's quite a line up and it looks like the entire evening is going to be a blast.

We'll be arriving early to stake out a spot and enjoy the atmosphere, so feel free to come down and say hello and show your support for an important cause!

(see you there!)  

edit 16 June: Pink Dot was posted about on Yahoo Singapore! News article here.

Suntec City - The Fountain of Wealth

Since I arrived in Singapore more than a year ago, Pris and I have made several trips to the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City and to be honest have had pretty good luck following each trip. Neither of us are terribly superstitious, but a little luck put into getting better fortune never hurt anyone, plus the fountain is pretty cool looking.

 (making an impression the Singapore way)

The Fountain of Wealth has a pretty imposing reputation to live up to, being the largest fountain in the world and all. And it's held onto its spot for quite a while, considering it was built in 1995, 16 years ago. The idea of the fountain helping one's fortune didn't come out of thin air either:

"Five surrounding towers representing the fingers and thumb of a left hand, with the Fountain Plaza as the palm of the hand, and the Fountain of Wealth forming a ring inside the palm. The ring is a symbolic guarantee of the retention of wealth. The design is based on the Hindu mandala, or universe, and is a symbolic representation of oneness in spirit, unity, and harmony among the four races inhabiting Singapore (which are considered to be the Chinese, Malay, Indian, and British)." While it's interesting to describe, you'll find better info and a description here for all your fountain visiting needs.

You have two options for fountain visiting, although if you've got the time it really is worth it to take advantage of both of them. During the day you have the opportunity to actually increase your fortune (more about that later) and at night you can watch the fountain turn beautiful colors and check out a light show. If you HAVE to pick between one and the other, I'd pick the day trip, because though the lights are cool, the laser show is somewhat lacking and the trip around the waters is a much more fun experience. 

Day time:

(look at that, you've even got instructions to getting lucky)

Maybe it's just good luck, but the last time Pris and I visited the fountain we both found new (higher paying) jobs within a week. Now that we have a new wish we're hoping on, we decided to pay another visit today. Increasing your fortune is much easier than you'd think, just walk up the boards to the smaller center fountain, circle around three times going clockwise with your hand in the water and think up a good wish. 

(you can actually feel the fortune shooting up your veins)

Simple as that, who knew a giant fountain was the key all along?

Night time:

Although you won't have much of a chance to walk around the fountain at night, it's infinitely more beautiful lit up by multi colored lights. And if you arrive at 8pm on the dot you'll be treated to a short laser light show, which admittedly isn't as nice as it sounds. But hey, it's free, and in Singapore you take everything that's free, whether you want it or not. 

(this is about as cool as it gets)

Another nice touch, you can elect to have a name or short message written in the show for all to see (for a small fee, of course) or even get a song dedication.

(or be cheap like us and just take the photo opp)

Even if you don't have any specific wishes or don't see your own luck increase after the trip, it's definitely worth the side trip for the cool photos you can bring back.

(pris really likes the fountain)