Hello!

Erica here with an update on our visits to Chinatown and Little India here in Singapore. Never fear, Kaelin is still alive and has promised to write a post about our trip to the botanical gardens yesterday. First though you must suffer through my relatively bland account of two very un-bland neighbourhoods.

We went to Chinatown on our first full day in Singapore and this was the view as we stepped out of the subway:

Everywhere we went there was a riotous profusion of colour and neat little nooks and crannies that had all sorts of intriguing things.

These traditional shop houses lined the streets. In the past the owners, who lived above the shop, would put out their wares on the sidewalk under the awnings for people walking by, but it blocked the sidewalk so they're not allowed to anymore. 

A display of kites and fans in a typical store

Weird and interesting jars filled with questionable things. Don't look too close if you're squeamish.

A cat sleeping outside of a clothing store. It had a bell and everything.

These little orange trees were everywhere for Chinese New Year

At the end of one street there was a Hindu temple, which was interesting since it was in Chinatown.

We couldn't take pictures inside without paying, but the facade was incredible

Close up of some of the figures. The detail was just amazing.

We went to Little India two days later, and I've never been anywhere that was so fragrant (in a good way) and alive with colour.

A stall selling jewelry and decorations

Jewelry boxes for sale for a dollar or two each

Bolts of silk and other fabrics for saris

Closer view to see some of the myriad of patterns.

Walking through these neighbourhoods was just amazing. The pictures just don't capture the true essence of these places, especially since I didn't think at the time to take pictures of the fish stalls (with live and recently dead fish), the meat vendors (with cooked whole chickens and rabbits hanging from spits), the flower and spice stalls, or the people selling coconuts by the side of the street. The combination of all of them makes for a truly indescribable experience.

That's all for now, but Kaelin should post soon about the botanical gardens and I'll likely throw up a post about our trip to the bird park, zoo and night safari.