On our second day in Singapore, we spent the majority of our day eating our way through Little India and the Muslim Quarter. The city is filled with these open air eateries called hawker shops, or markets filled with cubicle like stalls that sell incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap food. The stalls are in rows and in the middle is cafeteria like seating. We made a point to try as many dishes with as much variation as possible.
Meal 1: At local hawker shop a few blocks from our hotel. The particular stall was very famous with the locals because it used two kinds of noodles, both with require different cooking times. So, being able to cook both in the same wok and have it come out successfully is impressive. It also had egg (kind of like pad thai), some type of brown umami sauce, and clams. The clams were small, so you'd be eating, would bite into one unknowing, and would experience a surprise rush of salt and fish flavour. Very good. For Meal 1b, had a pancake filled with peanut butter, and another filled with red bean paste. The peanut butter one reminder me of Grandpa Bloch. Just add syrup, and you have one of his breakfast classics!
Next we took the MRT (their subway) to Little India. First, we walked around another hawker shop (but didn't eat). On the second floor of the shop were 20 stalls all selling the most beautiful saris. There was every color and every type of beading possible. They had both the dresses, with the sports bra like top and long sashes, as well as the longer shirts with the side slit and leggings called pant suits. Before I leave SE Asia, I want to buy at least the top half of a pant suit. They are just so beautiful.
We then walked around and saw several Hindu temples. They were very elaborately decorated, especially the roofs. You had to take your shoes off always before entering. Some temples were busier than others; perhaps the particular god is admired by more people, not sure.
We also stopped at a Buddhist temple that had a giant Buddha inside, over 3 stories tall. There was also a relic there, a branch from the tree under which the prince gained enlightenment and actually became the Buddha. Pretty cool!
Another thing that was really cool about Little India was the brightly colored buildings. Many had almost European architecture, but were then painted in very bright colors. The multiple colored one was by far my favorite. Drew, of course, liked the MI house.
Also in little India is a shopping area called the Mustafa Center. It's like a mall with everything you could ever need inside. One floor for groceries, one floor for tolietries, one floor for clothes, another for electronics, one for dishes and cooking utensils etc. I bet this store had several million dollars worth of inventory inside that building. And it is the only truly one stop shop place I have ever seen.
Meal #2: We stopped at a shop for doshi, which is a large potato pancake filled with cooked veggies that you dipped into one of three sauces. A real Indian vegetarian dish. Also had a mango lassi to go with it. The mangos here are amazing.
Meal #3: We had South Indian Food at a place called Banana Leaf Apolo. To this point, we've only had North Indian food, which uses naan. South Indian food, while having similar tiki marsalas, etc. is served on a banana leaf and is eaten with your hands. Not a very efficient way to eat, but alot of fun and very good food.
After that, it was time to move on to the Muslim Quarter. Much smaller in area, we spent only an hour here or so. Saw the huge Mosque (but didn't go inside) as well as several fabric shops with beautiful fabrics with the most ornate patterns to be turned into burkas.
After the Muslim Quarter, our feet were hurting pretty badly, so we went to the Raffles Hotel, a very hoity toity place that has catered to rich, middle aged visitors for several decades. We stopped by the legendary Long Bar, home of the original Singapore Sling which is a very fruity cocktail. I, or course, had the Singapore Sling, while Drew tried a house martini. The martini was served in nestled glasses, the bottom of which had a chunk of dry ice and made the whole glass look like it was steaming. The only bad part about the experience was the price of the drinks, $25 each. So we sipped very slowly, and made sure to eat our weight's worth in peanuts which you can crack and then leave the shells on the floor. Hey, it's all about the atmosphere right?
Last stop of the day was for meals #4, #5, and #6. We went to another hawker shop in a suburb outside of the main city. Meal #4 was a meat in delicious sauce and rice combo. #5 was more of a drink break for delicious chai, also known as Masala tea. Meal #6 was for putu piring, which was steamed rice flour rolls filled with brown sugar and covered in coconut. Sweet and delicious way to end the day!
At the end of the day, I realized that if indeed reincarnation does exist, I was previously an Indian. Considering the number of people in this world who are either Chinese or Indian, there stands a good chance that this was the case. Also, I love Indian food, LOVE chai, love the beautiful saris, and love the music and how they love to dance to it. Everyone says don't bother visiting India as a tourist due to poverty and dirtiness, but I think I have to go someday!
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