Singapore's Chinatown

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I was up early this morning (a little before 4 am, in fact) so I could make it to the Perth international airport for my flight to Singapore. I got to use the Qantas lounge and that was nice - they even had a barista on duty to make espresso drinks. Before leaving Australia I exchanged my thirty seven leftover Australian dollars for Singapore dollars. Each one is worth a little less than a US dollar. The flight was smooth and we got into Singapore on time. There are a series of steps one must take when arriving in a new country (Singapore is the name of the city AND the country). By the time I got through passport control and collected my bag, cleared customs, used an ATM to get local currency, stopped at the information booth for a map, and got a taxi, I finally had a chance to take a breath and look around me. I felt a little surge of excitement at that point just because it is thrilling to be in a new country for the first time. After checking in at the hotel, I left my bags in the room and took a shuttle bus to Chinatown where I spent the afternoon walking around. The vast majority of people in Singapore are ethnic Chinese, so really the whole city is "Chinatown", but the area I was in is the traditional neighborhood where they lived in the early days of British rule. Singapore is a collection of many cultures and so it is not unusual that on one Chinatown street, within the space of two blocks, there is a mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Buddhist temple. I stopped in all three and took pictures where it was allowed. The mosque was a disappointment after the ones I had seen in Istanbul. The two temples were notable for the over-the-the-top displays. The Hindu temple has carved and painted life size figures of deities all over the roof (see photos). The Buddhists go for interior sculptures that, I think, are all of the Buddha, although each figure is slightly different. (See photos - there are over a thousand little Buddhas along the walls) There are markets all over Chinatown selling a wide variety of things including fresh fruit. (See photo) Those are not green hedgehogs on the table behind me in the photo. Those are durians, a popular fruit here, but so smelly that they are not allowed on the subway! I actually spent money in the market today, but not for food. I decided to buy an inexpensive shirt because the weather in Singapore is so hot and humid. I figured I would save the more expensive shirts that I brought with me for more temperate weather. I found a stall in the Chinatown Complex selling just what I had in mind. The patron and I haggled a bit - he trying to get me to buy more expensive shirts, me trying to get him to sell me the shirts for less. In the end I spent S$30 for two shirts (about USD$24), one of which is really rather nice and the other looks alright if you don't examine it too closely. (See photo) I think they will serve my purpose. As I left the area of the stalls, thunder started rumbling through and it was getting to be after 5 o'clock anyway, so I headed back to the hotel. It turned out to be closer than I thought and was an easy walk. After a refreshing shower and a bite of dinner, I finally got around to unpacking. I ironed my new shirt to straighten the collar and now I need to check my notes to plan for my activities for tomorrow.

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