Yesterday we flew into Singapore, through a sky filled with giant fluffy clouds that looked like elephants on the march and over the straits between Malaysia and Sumatra that was filled with hundreds if not thousands of ships. We landed to be greeted by hot, humid, Delawarish weather.
As our room wasn't ready, we headed off to see what the neighborhood had in store. The first obstacle? Crossing the street. After 60 almost entirely sleepless hours, this was almost insurmountable. Luckily, a nice lady pointed out the pedestrian overpass and laughed at the fact that we tried to go up the down escalator. Being American in a country that follows British traffic and pedestrian rules has its challenges.
We walked through a quiet nondescript neighborhood to a building, a riot of color and statuary: the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple, a temple dedicated to Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god. After removing our shoes and washing our feet, we entered the cool sanctuary and observed the interactions between worshipers, priests, and the gods. A little girl showed us an interesting detail on one of the paintings on the ceiling. As we left, the temple closed for the afternoon with the sounds of bells, trumpets, drums, and chanting.
Returning to the hotel we passed a small shop selling Katong Laksa, a spicy noodle soup popular in Peranakan cuisine -a mix of Malay and Chinese found in Singapore. We also had otah - fish paste and other ingredients grilled in banana leaf, and nasi lemak - rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf served with dried fish (including some that look like guppies from our 1st grade science kit). Lunch for both of us was less than $10 and was more food than we could eat. The shop had a blown up news article about how their chef had bested Gordon Ramsay in a local cooking completion.
We returned to the hotel for a shower and a nap. 13 hours later, Luci is still sleepng - hence the length of this post. Off to Cambodia at 10:00.
Thanks for reading!