3 MARCH SUNDAY: Little India, Arab Street and Orchard Road

Today we visited Little India.  As the name suggests this is the Indian quarter with shops and restaurants offering all kinds of Indian clothing, food and ornaments.

Scenes (and smells) similar to those we've seen across India in our travels around that country:



 Its a fairly small area - just a few streets bordering Serangoon Road but it was buzzing today as its the weekend.      I loved this beautifully painted house but it was difficult to photograph as I couldn't stand far enough away to fit it in the camera frame:

 I had memories of a beautiful Indian Temple with vibrantly coloured statues being nearby.  Back in the 80s I'd spent hours photographing the place as it fascinated me (I'd never visited India at that stage).

We visited the Sri Veeramakaliamman  Temple this morning in the belief that was the one I remembered ... it wasn't.  However, being a Sunday there were crowds of devotees there and lots of ceremonies taking place.   We spent about 30 minutes watching the proceedings and taking photos where/when possible.

It was difficult taking photos as I kept getting jostled and  I shouldn't show too many as I've realised the temple I really wanted to see is in Chinatown - and we'll visit it tomorrow so, unless its under scaffolding or closed for some reason, I know I'll be taking far too many photos - its compulsive!

Today's pics:

I get excited when I see roof decorations like this - usually means there's some decorative images to see

People were bringing milk and yoghurts and pouring them into the buckets here.    When full, priests tipped the contents into a huge vat in the room just behind where this priest is standing.   Another priest stirred in potions and herbs.

David and I assumed the product would be offered to the devotees (suitably blessed) but that didn't seem to be happening so I found a lovely Indian guy who spoke English and was happy to tell me what was happening.   Sadly I could barely understand him as he had a very strong accent.    He said the milk was enriched ritually with each added ingredient having special significance but it was for 'The Temple' and not shared with devotees.   I'm not sure what that means - if every I get enough computer access time I'll try to find out.

All these posts are written hurriedly at the end of the evening whilst David is zzzzzing.    Its a slow process as all the pictures taken by my camera are too large for Blogger and have to be downsized before being posted.    So apologies for any typos or glaring mistakes - they'll have to be rectified when I have the luxury of having time to read through all the posts once back in the UK.

We moved on towards nearby Arab Street -  As one of the three major ethnic groups that make up Singapore's diverse culture, this feels quite different from Little India and Chinatown - its cleaner for a start!

It has some lovely old shophouses and traditional/unspoilt buildings.

Masjid Sultan Mosque with its Golden Domes

We then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Orchard Road - the main shopping thoroughfare in central Singapore - mostly posh shops out of our price range and not really of much interest.   We visited the bakery in the basement of Tangs Department Store as they used to sell the VERY best curry puffs ever ... in fact I salivate just thinking about them.    Sadly, no more curry puffs available from Tangs.    We compromised and bought some from Robinsons (another famous department store on Orchard Road).   Although they were tasty they weren't a patch on the ones I remember sooooo well.

Got to go ... time for drinkies at the Executive Lounge where we'll decide which hawker centre to frequent tonight.

I have good memories of Newton Circus Food Centre as my apartment was close to it and I used the Centre frequently.   Its probably the biggest one in Singapore with a great variety of food stalls.  But since the film Crazy Rich Asians was partly filmed there its become more popular and prices have increased/standards decreased (according to Trip Advisor reviews).   The other contender is Maxwell Food Court which is one favoured by locals.   I'm just a bit worried I won't recognise dishes or see anything I can eat.   David's braver than me as he likes seafood/shellfish.   The Chinese don't waste any parts of the animals they cook and I won't eat unidentified body parts!

We'll make a decision and I'll post the results later.


update:  I asked one of the ladies working in the Lounge which they thought would be the better option and she said Newton Circus so that's where we headed.    Yet again, having bigged the place up to David, it fell short of expectations.    Yes there were still lots of stalls but not as many as there used to be and there were certainly no stalls beautifully stacked/presented with shellfish as I remember them.      It seems many of the stalls offer the same meals and are quite pushy in trying to get our business.    David found a craft beer stall so he was a happy bunny!

David watching the two very elegant young ladies at the next table eating their fried fish with chopsticks.   Then they got served with a dish of black pepper crab to share - complete with shell and covered in sauce.    The ladies were given polythene gloves to wear when tackling the crab - but as David remarked they didn't even smear their lipstick!