the year i melted: Singapore

As I mentioned in my last post, a few weeks ago I spent a long weekend in the thriving metropolis of Singapore. That city, and my cousin who lives there, are life-savers. The main reason for this trip was to get extra pages to my passport. In my recent years of travel and visa collecting, I have run out of places for countries to stamp my entry and exit of their lands. Aside from that, I had 5 days to explore, shop, and relax. Awesome.

Indonesian shops have the greatest names

The view from the guest room at Cousin Jim's apartment

My first 2 days were spent shopping on Orchard Road and getting my visa taken care of. The apartment is only a half mile walk from the shopping district and that is quite dangerous.

The ION center in all of its glory

Given that this was my 5th trip to Singapore it was about time that I made an effort to see Chinatown and Little India. Best. Idea. Ever. Both areas are within walking distance of each other and so after I got off the metro stop in Chinatown I spent the rest of the day wandering, eating, and taking pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

One of the market streets in Chinatown

The gorgeous and massive Buddhist temple

Entrance to the temple

An ornately decorated Hindu temple

Naturally, I run into a church wherever I go

My next stop was Little India and unbeknownst to me, Diwali (Deepavali), a festival about light, was just around the corner in November, so the whole area was decked out in amazing colors and signs for the holiday. Diwali is one of those festivals that I've been teaching to my ESL students for the past two years without any idea of what it actually entails. This was a very pleasant surprise.