Singapore Part 3 - Little India, Arab Street, Chinatown and more!

Here's the view right off the Chinatown exit.  The 'shophouses' that are the most common buildings in this area were very beautiful and housed pretty great shopping!  (Our biggest complaint about the shopping in Asia so far is that you have to look pretty hard to get something uniquely "singapore" or "malaysia" etc., since a lot of the souvenirs seem to come from the same factories in China, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. . . It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it :-)  )

 Hindu temples are more common in Singapore, whereas we have found mainly buddhist temples in Hong Kong.  Hindu temples are a very different experience than other temples.  They are very colorful and have a lot going on.  The sheer amount of gods to place inside the temple is daunting.  Some of the shots below actually reminded me of Mardi Gras in Nola.

 Lots of sacred cows lining the outside walls.

 OH WAIT - that last one IS from Mardi Gras . . .

Here are Tiffany and Kristen in front of another Hawker Center (outdoor market in Singapore with lots of food).  James and Mary Francis, our friends in Singapore, introduced us to the most awesome pork-jerky-meets-baby-back-ribs-treat called "Golden Coins."  If you come across them in Asia, a MUST TRY.

 Here we are in Little India.  The FOUR official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.  Here, you are looking at English and Tamil.

 Little India was AWESOME.  They were preparing for Deepawali, or the Indian New Year.  Note the guy wearing his backpack as a "front pack" - super common here around Asia.

After Little India, we took a $3 taxi ride to Arab Street.   Here is the mosque at the center of the Arab Street area:

 The shophouses on Arab street tended to specialize in textiles and imported rugs.  We looked at LOTS of pashiminas and pretty all-silk rugs.

 Tiffany is a french-braid genius.

 Another Hindu temple in a different part of town.

 Here is Clarke Quay.  We had dinner here on last Saturday night.  Pretty cool area with modern roofs constructed over the older buildings.  It was Octoberfest, which led to some funny scenery.  Singapore has to be the most expensive place to drink a cocktail in the world - a liter Margarita was like 50 SING, or about 35-40 U.S. dollars!  A beer was about 14 U.S. dollars.  And I wondered why everyone was buying a bottle of duty free booze on the plane trip to Singapore.

 Here is one of the most pathetic examples of an Octoberfest drinking contest ever.  Four guys, seeing who could drink half a pitcher of beer through a straw the fastest.  Notably, it was like a $1000 worth of beer, so I don't blame the guys who went for it.

Our final day in Singapore, James and Mary Francis took us to the Botanic Gardens.  In the center of the gardens was a special Orchid Garden, which was pretty large and took about 20 minutes to walk through.

Tiffany wanted to make sure to include the ALPHIE - the ADPi mascot.

Finally, we headed to the Night Safari.  It was one of the most fun activities of the trip, but unfortunately we have NO pictures as flash photography is not allowed.  The night safari features nocturnal animals, so the flashes hurt their eyes.  The gist is that you walk around the zoo, in the rain forest, at night - and happen upon a pride of lions, a tiger or other creatures.  The zoo uses natural barriers instead of fences whenever possible, so you felt like you were in the wild with the animals.  It took two attempts, but Tiffany went through the bat cage - a gym-sized open area with like a 1000 fruit bats inside.  You are in the cage with them.  The sign said "Bats are not harmful unless provoked.  Do not enter if you are afraid of bats."  We were about 6 inches from a bat eating a banana at one point - the bat was bigger than the banana (about the body size of a chicken) and had maybe a 2.5 foot or 3 foot wingspan.  I'm not going to lie - bats flying all around your head is bizarre, if not a little uncomfortable, even for me and the other guys dragging their wives/girlfriend through.

We will be in China tonight!!!!!!!!!!!  Watch out Beijing, HERE WE COME!