Little India

The next day I did my most sightseeing of my time in Singapore and started off at Little India. I had planned to meet up with a tour group for a guided tour of this ethnic enclave which was free with my two-day bus pass but I couldn’t locate anyone so I just walked around a bit by myself. My hostel was very close to Little India. During my time in this country, I thought there were many more Indians in Singapore than the official statistics would suggest. Little India's main drag is Serangoon Road. The shop houses (which Little India is famous for) are tightly concentrated a few blocks on either side of the road, and can be easily covered on foot. You can buy everything from incense, flowers, textiles, sweets, clothes to HDTVs.

Probably Little India’s biggest tourist attraction is Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. It’s a Hindu Temple and is Little India's busiest and oldest temple, dating back to 1881 — although the present structure was completed in 1986. It was a little crowded when I went there and was free to go inside though you had to take your shoes off before venturing inside. After visiting the Temple, I bought this pastry/potato type of thing below at a 7-11 and waited for another open-top bus to come along. I know what you may be thinking, I’m in Little India and my favorite food (bar-none) is Indian food and I’m having a snack at a 7-11 instead of authentic Indian food for lunch? My rationale is that I always overeat when I go to Indian buffets and didn’t want that to drag me down during the afternoon as I was going to do a lot of walking. I caught the bus and headed to another, different ethnic part of town…