Mustafa-Little India

No trip to Singapore or Little India is complete without a visit to Mustafa's.  It is a department store where you can buy anything-maybe like a cheap Walmart but bigger and better.  If  you need something you go there first. I forgot my cable to charge my IPad keyboard.  Anne Margaret checked online and found me an apple store miles away...then Luis said it was a typical cable, and I thought Mustafa's.   I went and found the electronics section in the basement, showed them my issue and they found the cable in 5 minutes.  Then they wrote up the ticket and sent me to a pay station where I paid and was subjected to the Mustafa high security system:  they put your stuff in a plastic bag and put a zip cable on the bag and voila!!  you can't steal anything.  They do not waste money on high  security cameras or anything like that. ( The zip cables are clear.   If you  come in the store from outside you check in at the outside kiosks and get a black zip cable put on your previously bought packages.)  This is all very good and a great low-tech solution if you can get past the plastic  that has nowhere to go but landfills...Singapore has not really gotten on the recycle bandwagon yet.   Many Indians stop by there on the way to Changi Airport and shop.  The same kiosks check your baggage for you so you can shop, pick up your bags, and head to the airport.

Anyway, this store is 3  blocks long and  has many floors.  You really need a map.   We joked a lot about what a new employee must go thru to memorize the place and what would happen when you ask a new employee where something is and they would just freeze and  not be  able to answer.  

Really, anything you need is going  to be there somewhere.  Its also where you go to get a cell phone SIM card (for which you have to show  your  passport  and get it scanned and registered with the government). Mustafa's is open  24 hours, but when we got there looking for SIM cards, no one  was there to do it-it was the famous Singapore shift change-we had to come back in 40 minutes.  There were people working at the counter but they were not in charge of SIM cards.  Luckily, we could get our other purchases done and then go back.

The amazing entrance.   You can exit out to the street to go back in another entrance-often much quicker than winding your way through long narrow packed aisles.  

This is what it looks like inside.

There are a million varieties of everything in many sizes.  The tea section alone is several aisles wide with shelf after shelf of any kind of tea from many countries.  Margie and I stood there for a very long time trying to choose-and that was with her prior knowledge of two six-month stints in the neighborhood.  Mom wanted chocolates for Robert at her apartment building.  Margie said Singapore is not well-known for chocolates and to get something else.  Mustafa's did not get that memo-there were hundreds of Singapore chocolates, in lion shapes, no less, to choose from.

They also do a rocking money changing business.  The volume is so great that their rates are fantastic and you lose very little on the transaction.

And here is a picture of the very famous high tech Mustafa security system.

Mustafa's-a most interesting Singapore and LIttle India cultural phenomenon.  Keep and eye on the EXIT signs; you could easily spend days in there. 

Pura Besakih

Leaving the beach was hard.  The morning light was so beautiful and the sound of the waves makes me homesick..so restorative. 

 We had a wonderful breakfast by the sea after another great swim in the pool.  I had Bali breakfast which is rice, chicken, Bali salad, tofu.  

Oh and don't forget the fruit...papaya to die for.

It was lovely to see mom so relaxed and enjoying herself...

We headed back through Klung Kung or Semarapura; the Chinese name seems more popular.  While there I was able to see the old palace, most of which was destroyed during the war with the Dutch.  There are some parts remaining.

This part is still from the old part of the palace that survived.  It's surrounded by this water pond. It's called the Kertha Gosa Pavillion, a sort of hall of justice.  It has extensive paintings on the ceiling which is the only surviving example of classical wayang art in all of Bbali.

Lovely old stone work surrounds this building and there are also some gorgeous carvings.

I came across a couple in wedding costumes being photographed.  They were so beautiful.

I know Luis would have found a way to get in front and get a full-on shot of them but I was too shy.  This was the best I could do.

Even though most of this palace is reconstructed, it still has a lovely old-world vibe.  

Then we headed up to Pura Besakih.  This temple is in the mountains and you can see our elevation rise.

This temple reminded me very much of Macchu Picchu. There is no way to avoid the tourist traps but you can try.  For example, a trip to the toilet was 4 times what it should have been and this is what you get.

It's a squat and flush with a bucket of water.  On the bright side you don't have to worry about sitting on a dirty toilet seat-squatting is your only option.  For our first try at this a couple of days previously, Margie had to show us how and was appalled that we had never done this before.  I told her Peru had commodes, but I am not sure she believed me...apparently, Mom and I are NOT seasoned travelers in Asia.  We got a guide-they try to tell you that you have to have one.  Our driver Mr.Sunjaya, told us how much to pay and then he sold us out and stood with the guides while we were trying to negotiate....over to the dark side.  Our "guide" didn't know much about the history of the temple-it's all "eleventh century".   Margie knows more and when she let fly a little gem of temple wisdom, our guide would say, "Really?"!!

The traditional gate in to the temple.  This is the main temple and most important in all of Bali.

These are the steps up to the main temple area-there are beautiful flower-filled terraces.  It's quite a hike but worth it. The main temple in the center is Shiva, the destroyer.

There are many more of these gates to enter each temple-there are between 28-38 temples at the site including family ancestry temples where tourists cannot enter.  You have to be able to trace your family back to one of these original family sites.

This  is what one looks like from the outside.

Bamboo, as well as dragons, protect the temples entrances.

There were lots of repairs going on and we think an important event was being prepared for.  Margie says cremations are very expensive and often families get together and cremate a bunch of family members together and share the cost.

This part of the temple was very high up and you have to hike it...so beautiful.

You can only go up to the gate on this one and look inside.  This  upper temple represents Brahma, the creator.

Here is another main offering table. And below you can see people bringing their offerings to the table to be blessed.  

Many of the towers have 7 levels-these are the 77 tiers of the cosmos according to Hindu theology,with human earth in the middle.

Trying to give an idea of how vast this place is-so many towers and separate temples.

Had to take this photo of old and new...Margie saw the shot and pointed it out to me.  

I am still learning about the panoramic function so some of these shots are a bit odd; also they are not edited...it was a cloudy day which actually was good as we were there unavoidably at midday...I will edit later to make the colors pop more.

On the left is Vishnu, the creator.  

There was also a very large procession while we were there.  We are not sure what it was about, but it could easily have been a mass cremation.