Thunderstorm and lunch at Hawker

Today we experienced our first tropical thunderstorm.  Luckily we didn't get stuck in it since it was early this morning and we were still at our apartment.  We were able to see the lightning and thunder from our apartment, which was fun since we are on the 12th floor!  The rain didn't last long and we were able to get out and enjoy the day.  We started our day having lunch across the street at the Hawker (Center?).   The Hawker is similar to our food court, only with a ton of different vendors all selling Chinese, Indian and Malay food.  The Hawker is an outdoor establishment and each food vendor raises up their garage like door and cooks for you right there.  We all shared a dish of Chinese food, which definitely tasted different from that we get at home.  The kids are complaining about how the food smells so bad to them and they don't understand how the kids eat this.  This led to a good discussion about different cultures and how we tend to like food that we are exposed to!  The above pictures are at the Hawker.  Many of the businesses there were closed today because it was a public holiday for Deepavali (Festival of Lights--for the Indian population).