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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

singapore: day 1

juliet and i left for korea for singapore midday on august 4th.  our layover in shanghai was two hours late.  already having a late arrival time, this put us arriving at our hostel, drop inn, well after their desk had closed, which meant we had to pay extra for 'after hours check-in fees'.  thanks a lot china.

anyways, we rose the next day ready to see just what singapore had to offer.  as we left drop inn, which was on the skirts of little india, we came across sri vadapathira kaliamman temple.  this was a great first thing to stumble upon.  it was juliet's first temple and my first hindu temple.  i had read in the guide book not to take photos of worshipers and that some temples didn't allow any photography, so i was a little apprehensive here.  i g

we made our way to china town for some breakfast and to wander for a few hours. 
came across the buddha tooth relic temple and museum.  the building was big and not aware that it was a museum until later, we never made it beyond the first floor.
after stopping at a hawker center for some instant coffee, we found the thian hock keng temple, the oldest hokkien temple in singapore.  hokkien was brought to singapore via emigrants from china.

we made our way towards the quays next.
we headed back towards china town and went to jamae mosque, another first for both of us.  it was hot so juliet was wearing shorts and a tank-top.  she had to don a robe to enter.
just next door was another temple.  the sri mariamman temple is the oldest hindu temple in singapore.
after a bite to eat, we went back to the quays, hopped on a bumboat and went for a ride on the river.
from here we headed to a night market in little india before finding our way back to the hostel for the night.