Chinatown & Little India

Singapore is huge.  We could have spent our time there visiting any number of attractions, restaurants, theme parks, and cultural sights.  We had to limit our schedule to just a few things, and even then we were pretty tired from running around the city over the course of two days.  It may not seem like we did much, but trust me, it felt like it.

Most of what we did involved eating, wandering around shopping malls to avoid the heat, socializing, enjoying views of the city, more eating…none of which is particularly photogenic (unless you enjoyed my iphone photo spread.)  But I did manage to get a few nice photos from the thrumming neighborhoods of Chinatown and Little India.  The red lanterns in Chinatown are leftover decor from Chinese New Year in January.

While there seems to be a Chinatown in every major city in the world, I’ve never run across a Little India before.  Probably they exist all over the place and I’ve just never noticed.  Singapore’s Little India is quite well known, and rather large.  The streets in this neighborhood are full of people shopping for Indian groceries and clothing, and eating at the many food stalls and restaurants.  We indulged in a meal here ourselves, and we certainly didn’t regret it.  The daal and chapatis were fantastic.  (There we go eating again…)
There is so much shopping in Little India, from produce and fresh flowers to books, clothes and electronics.  Just outside the many fabric and clothing stores you can find tailors set up on the sidewalk, working away on their sewing machines in the searing afternoon heat.
Our weekend in Singapore wrapped up pretty quickly, as weekends tend to do.  Before we knew it, we were heading back to the airport to catch a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  While we probably could have find a myriad of ways to while away a few more days in this rich metropolis, I think we had just the perfect amount of time in the big city.

I’d like to extend another thanks to Yee-Pin and Cheng for hosting us at their place in Singapore.  I taught them their first yoga class while we were staying with them, but that hour of time hardly matched how accommodating and kind they were to us all weekend long.  Couchsurfing truly is an amazing tool for meeting phenomenal people around the world.  With two successful interactions under our belt, I’m looking forward to the next opportunity we have to surf.

We’re now in Vietnam, eating our way through the street food carts of Ho Chi Minh City.  Photos soon.