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Published: February 15th 2010
Old and New
The glass towers advance on the old colonyWell here we are, Asia, a lifetime of waiting and wondering and we’ve finally arrived. Our first stop is another place that I’ve got a feeling we will be visiting a few times, Singapore. It is to be our gateway into and through Asia. First impressions of Singapore are that it’s a great introduction as it has a very western, very modern feel, all signs and announcements are in English so not too much of a culture shock.
We landed from Perth fairly late and our transport picked us up and dropped us at the Hostel in Little India, and the area sure reminded me of Delhi. The hostel seemed quite cool and laid back, unfortunately we were plonked in a room in an annex the next street over and it was very uncool, dirty and noisy, in fact everything we feared from Asia. Luckily it was only for a couple of nights. The next day was about 10 degrees cooler than Aus but felt like a furnace, it chucks it down nearly every day, apparently, and the humidity takes your breath away, so off we went on foot to explore.
Singapore’s early history is somewhat sketchy, appearing on
Buddha Belly
And no it's not Chris painted gold maps as far back as AD300 but really its official history starts with the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. In the late 18th century Britain was looking for a port in the area and young Stamford arrived, backed one of the two rivals for the sultanship of the island and then 5 years later bought the Sultan out so from then on the Island was a free port. Raffles proceeded to plan the development of the city and in an attempt to head off any tensions he delineated ethnic districts that remain today. When you walk through Chinatown, Little India, the Arab Quarter and the Colonial District, like a lot of things in Singapore, it was the result of careful thought.
We wandered fairly aimlessly taking in the sights and the sounds. You pass rows of cheap market stalls, hundreds of shops and then along pops a beautiful temple or shrine right in the middle of nowhere. We passed a large Buddah, just sat outside a temple, and people were worshipping and rubbing his belly, wether for luck or not we don’t know but Chris did get a bit offended when he sat down and people started to rub
Mountains of Glass
No guessing where Singapores new wealth comes from his belly too (no worshipping though!!). We then tried our first trip on the very efficient and very cheap subway and came out in the middle of mountains of glass, we were right in the centre of the Business District (CBD). The first thing we noticed was how much of the city is underground, every building seems to have a huge shopping mall underneath it. We wandered though the CBD over to the river and walked along past some delightful restored shophouses that now house bars, restaurants and cafes. Over the bridge is the government area, the parliament building and then into the colonial district. If Little India and Chinatown is the soul then the Colonial District is Singapore’s heart. Walking past some magnificent old buildings you pass the famous Singapore Cricket Club, now a very upscale meeting place but home to a lot of the Islanders 2nd favourite obsession, sport. From here it’s a short walk to the Fountain of Wealth, the biggest fountain in the world (or it was in 1998). The idea is that you put your hand into the water, walk around it 3 times while making a wish, and although I haven’t checked my bank
Slinging down a sling
Just one of those things that has to be done statement recently I guess that the only wish fulfilled was the one for a wet sleeve.
After a quick lunch stop, we continued on to the next stop, one which we had been looking forward to for a long time, it’s simply one of those tick in the box things. We rounded the corner and the turbaned doorman showed us that we had arrived at the luxurious Raffles Hotel, probably the major symbol of the colonial past and an icon. So now we were here there was only one thing to do and that’s have a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. The sickly sweet cocktail was invented here and we know it’s sooo touristy but what the heck we coughed up and thoroughly enjoyed it. The interesting twist was the free monkey nuts on the table that you throw the used shells on the floor, nightmare for the cleaners. Task completed we hopped back onto the subway to go and see Orchard Road.
For those that have never heard of it, it’s Chris’s version of hell on Earth, it’s a veritable canyon of glass and steel all dedicated to the Singaporeans 1st obsession, shopping. Orchard Rd is
Nightmare St
All that shopping makes you turn to stone and go a funny colour Mecca for those that worship on the altar of the gods of retail. Gucci, Chanel, Louis V, all sit in one of the more than 50 malls along the rd. Given each mall has a minimum of 200 retail outlets you can guess at the extent. Lisa even managed to find a Monsoon (and refrained from buying!!!).
Moving on we returned to Little India and spent the evening exploring, soaking up the sounds, the smells and the atmosphere. It’s a got a great feeling to it, could easily be in Delhi or Mumbai. We decided to go local for our evening meal and chose a nice looking restaurant serving typical southern Indian fare. The meals were rated on a hotness scale of 1-10 so Chris chose a 1.5. Seeing as the first mouthful nearly burnt the roof of his mouth off (and is still smarting days later) we decided that Southern India probably wasn’t on the agenda for us. While Little India isn’t known for its guidebook attractions a couple of the temples, especially the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temp, dedicated to the goddess Kali, ( a bloodthirsty chick that one) was beautifully decorated.
The next day we did a
Tooth Temple
All this for a molar bit more general sightseeing before sitting down to our first sub £1 meal from a hawkers market, Chris knows how to treat his woman, and flippin’ lovely it was too. Then it was off to Chinatown. Given that the following weekend was the Chinese New Year, Chinatown was fantastically decorated, lots of shops and stalls selling rubbish and the occasional gem. We followed a guidebook walking tour, not wanting to miss out, which took us through the markets and alley ways before coming out on a huge pagoda like building. Built quite recently in 2007 the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum was built primarily to house a Buddha Tooth Relic (did the name give it away?) inside a 420kg solid gold stupa. The room and the whole 5 floored temple is dazzlingly ornate and includes a lovely, peaceful rooftop garden and the Vairocana Buddha Prayer Wheel. This is installed inside the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion (yep there are 10000 of the things in there) and is the largest cloisonné Buddha Prayer Wheel in the World. The wheel is commonly used by Chinese Buddhists who pop a Sutra inside these wheels and then turn them around, apparently this is the
Hindu Art
Magnificent detail on the temples easy way to recite the sutra rather than having to remember every word and seeing as the more times you recite the more rewards you earn, easy is good. We wandered on via Ann Siang Hill & the beautiful Sri Mariamman Temple, the island’s oldest Hindu temple and one of the most photographed buildings in the city. When our tour came to an end we found another hawker centre and ate in style this time (£2 each). Although the floating chicken’s foot which we found in the bottom of the soup somewhat dampened our appetites. As night fell the streets, stalls and buildings all lit up, Chinatown at night was an impressive sight. If anything the markets are even busier at night with loads of locals buying their lanterns and decorations for the weekend.
Yep, great place, vibrant communities, a rich history and culture, an incredibly clean and safe city, even walking around dark alleys at night we never felt in danger. We called it a day as we had an early start again but we are already looking forward to coming back to Singapore and seeing the many places we’ve missed. Bangkok next, will this be the step
Lisa's Heaven
If only there were room in her pack guess what next years Xmas tree would look like? into real Asia that we’ve waited for?
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