After Thaipusam I think I may have been a little shell-shocked and took a rest in my explorations. I also managed to borrow a little Apple laptop so I could write longer entries. The first day I had the computer I simply sat in the room and wrote about Thaipusam. Late that afternoon I left the hotel and walked to an area called Bugis near the hotel. I explored more of the shops and went into a very large mall that sells only electronic gear. It is about 6 stores high and has shop after shop selling cameras, phones and a myriad of other things that have memory chips and electronics. I don’t know what most of the stuff was but I know Nick would. This store was like Fry’s, Nick’s favorite store, but a Fry’s on speed. It was enormous. I wish I could have bought things for Nick and Keegan but you have to know what to look for at this store.
I found a shop that sells many different kinds of bread. But not French style bread. These are steamed buns of every filling imaginable. There were little curry pies, chicken pies, bean buns, chocolate buns and I can’t even remember all of them. I got a mango bread with a light cream filling. I bought Shay red bean bread with sesame seeds. They have cream filled orange ones and apple ones. They have everything. You walk into the store with a tray and tongs and choose what you want. This was a delicious snack.
I also have explored an area of town called Orchard Road that has many, many department stores. I wonder about all the shopping being done in Singapore. There are so many stores, so many malls. These malls are simply crowded with people buying, looking and just hanging out. It is amazing. I wonder if this is because there just are many more people here than I am accustomed to seeing. Or is it because they do shop more than we do in America, but how could that be possible? Anyway I don’t know the answer but I assure you that some areas of Singapore have malls in every building on every street. And some of these stores sell nice things but others sell things I certainly don’t need. But I found an inexpensive skirt and tee shirt. Mostly, I feel I can either not afford what I am seeing or the sizes are too small for my mature shape. Shoe departments are interesting. They wear a lot of sandals obviously since the weather is almost always warm. The shoe department is large by American store standards but sell mostly sandals. No Uggs here thankfully!
I found a area set up to sell Chinese New Year gifts and I sampled everything. The dried tangerines were so very good!!! The little candies were beautiful to look at and they must have had hundreds of different little cookies wrapped in nice tins ready for gift giving. There were even large goldfish which were really cakes made to look like the real thing.
Around the back of a department store on Orchard Road I found the most wonderful area of old two-story houses in a traditional Peranakan style. These have a doorway at the bottom with a half door allowing air to pass through and on the second level there are many windows with decorative mullions. I think this area is called Emerald Hill. I’ll try to include a photo of this street.
Shay and I had a half-day on Saturday to explore so while she worked I managed to figure out how to use the metro. Singapore’s metro is called the MRT and is the epitome of efficiency. It is clean, modern, easily navigated and logical. I compare this to the NYC subway and wonder how such a modern world leader can possibly have such a dilapidated subway as NYC. Obviously I enjoyed the MRT.
So I managed to find my way across town to visit a design museum call The Red Dot. I love design museums! This one was nice but what I really enjoyed was a sale they were holding over the weekend. Many local crafts people were selling things. These were not the cute crafts often found at this type of sale but rather very trendy, stylish things. I bought a Plexiglas key ring that was packaged very creatively and a nicely designed tee shirt with great graphics. They had a DJ playing and generated a lot of energy. It was fun. The building is an old police station full of good restaurants and other creative organizations.
Shay and I then went to Little India again to have dosas. These were good and they did indeed have over 100 types but later my stomach had major problems. Shay did not so I it could have been the result of nerves. Anyway we had fun looking around Little India and Shay had found a little toy museum. It was full to the rafter with toys from China. Some toys were very old and had cute illustrations.
We then walked to the area I had previously explored called Arab Street. We visited a shop where I had met a woman who beaded shoes. Shay really enjoyed meeting the man who was working in the shop and spent a very long time talking to him as I wandered into the other shops that surround the nearby Sultan’s Mosque. We also went into a textile shop where Shay bought a beautiful textile made from old sari pieces and embroidered with beads. It was quite beautiful.
We then found a shop that had more of the savory breads so Shay would have something to eat. I was definitely not interested in eating.
On Sunday Shay’s coordinator picked us up early to visit the Botanical Garden. It is really one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. There are many orchids in bloom. One area had so many dendrobian orchids in white that were blooming that it looked as though it had snowed. There was a cool house with other flowers and this was a great place to stop for relief from the heat. There were areas with only fragrant orchids. These orchids were beyond description sometimes. So luscious was their scent. We went with the little daughter of Shay’s local coordinator and she loved smelling each and every orchid. Terry would have loved this place and I know Erica would have found many things to tell me about the plants. I missed both of them while we were at the Botanic Garden.
After the Botanic Garden we went to Chinatown. Early in the morning it was fun to explore and manageable but later in the day there were so many people in the street that getting around was nearly impossibly. I wasn't really able to take many photos either because there really were that many people! It was exhausting navigating such crowds! We did manage to find many shops with nice offerings. I especially liked a shop that sold combs and brushes and chopsticks carved from wood. These were all very beautifully presented and crafted. But Chinatown was so crowded due to the New Year that I didn't get any meaningful photographs. I guess my memories are in my head for Chinatown. Then we took the MRT to Orchard road again and had a nice ramen meal with the best tofu salad I’ve ever had. It was made from a creamy tofu and topped with a dressing of blended sesame and green onion and something like sesame butter. It was very good.
I think that might catch me up to this very moment tapping out keys on a borrowed computer. I’ve managed to adjust to the sleep routine and I’ve oriented myself to the town. I’ve held up to the weather and enjoyed my solo explorations. So I think I’m doing well. I was apprehensive before leaving about having to do all of this alone but you couldn’t ask for an easier place to be a solo, female tourist. If you like to walk and can read a map and if you love to explore cultural diversity then you must come to Singapore.
And to those who have taken the time to let me know what you think, thanks for all of your comments!
This is terrific for you and all of us. Love MIchele