Market in Little India and Chinatown

We woke up early and headed to the Tekka Market across from the Little India Arcade.  It has amazing  fruits, vegetables and meat and fish...I thought the smells were difficult.  The meat and fish smells were very strong and although I know from Margie that this is a good market with fast turn-over and fresh seafood, it was hard to think of eating it.   Do I have too much of a western sense of smell?  The fruits were amazing.

Durian, of course-better left uncut.

I loved the people and the activity and was wishing to have time to shop, cook, and eat.

Beautiful fresh crap and prawns.

We walked around and had iced coffee, Mom's new passion..she loves this stuff which is surprising because it's so sweet....maybe it's the heat and the sugar...helps you survive? Margie had her people that she always shops at and she introduced us and she let them know she would soon be leaving.

We then headed for Chinatown-yes they are all the same, but not really.  I still love to see them even if I don't buy the shlock anymore,  There is a Hindu temple just bordering Chinatown so we stopped there first. It's gorgeous...Sri Marimaman,the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.  It was founded in 1827 and serves the South Indian Tamil Singaporeans. Unlike the Bali temples, no special dress was required but we did have to remove our shoes.

There are beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings.  Love the ornate figures and colors.

There was music for the ceremony.

There was a ceremony-we had tried to arrive at noon and the priest blessed the worshipers.  Some were beautifully dressed and these children stole my heart.

At the alter-one of the minor deities. 

Outside was just as interesting.

We finished the temple visit and headed outside and around the corner to Chinatown.

Lanterns and shophouses are everywhere.  Chinatown is close to downtown.

So colorful and beautiful.

Again, what I love about Singapore is the old shophouses and neighborhoods juxtaposed against the background of modern skyscrapers.

We walked around and had a great lunch..Italian..we tried for a noodle house but Wednesday is the day these little restaurants are closed at lunch time.

It was a really fun day and we saw a lot.....