January 17,2025
We check the weather everyday and every day the radar looks something like this:
Prior to our third and last full day in Singapore, we managed to escape all but light sprinkles on our tours. Fingers crossed that the trend holds.
Breakfast in Fiamma …Timmy started off his day with two bowls of coco puffs…they are small bowls…
I had truffled goat cheese and Iberico sausage, avocado toast (not pictured so the calories do not count) and yogurt 😊
Tim also had Onsen egg and kaya toast. A creamy soft egg with coconut toast.
Jamie and new driver Tan, fetched us and we began our tour with breakfast in the Joo Chiat area. Yikes! Breakfast? So evidently I missed the part in Ralph’s tour description that stated we’d be eating all day as we toured the ethnic neighborhoods. The neighborhood is picturesque and lined with well-preserved shophouses.
Our first stop was Soon Soon Huat…for curry puffs.
Curry puffs are yummy…very yummy and reminiscent of empanadas …but different.
After enjoying the Curry puffs and learning some Peranakan cultural heritage, we walked a few doors down to 328 Katong Lapsa. …For another “tasting” …oh no. Really?
This is Laksa…typical for breakfast. It’s a spicy noodle dish, originating in Peranakan culture. It was way too spicy for me, but Timmy enjoyed it.
After the Laksa, Jamie brought out “Chicken and Rice” …the coconut rice with lemongrass was delicious and the chicken …so tender. But again… more breakfast? So much food on top of our first breakfast back at Capella. 😢It was then that we realized that our tour was to include “sampling” ethnic foods. Oh my.
We walked through the neighborhood, enjoying the sights and window shopping.
These are fried anchovies.
These next few photos were taken in a street corner Heritage Gallery. These galleries are registered/sanctioned by the government…serving the purpose to preserve Peranakan culture. The Peranakan people are indigenous to Singapore.
Beautiful needle work.
Typical Peranakan dress
A different type of needle work.
When you see a box like this, you know the gallery is sanctioned by the government.
Our stroll found us in the Kampong Glam area … the name is derived from a Melaleuca species tree, called “gelam” in Malay. Kampong simply means village.
The tree bark from the gelam (glam) tree is unique and was once used by sailors to patch holes in their ships.
The bark is soft and feathery…like a croissant.
Kampong Glam is home to the Sultan Mosque
Because it was Friday, we could not visit…oh well…next time.
There is one pedestrian street in the Arab quarter… we enjoyed our walk, but demurred on visiting a Malay cafe.
We moved onto Haji Lane…
We eventually made our way to Little India…sadly this Temple was closed because of an annual festival, but we walked throughout the district, enjoying the sights, undeterred by the light rain.
So many flower shops…believers purchase flowers and offer them at their temples
These banners that are strung across the streets in Little India are part of the festival.
There are many,many mom and pop gold stores in Little India.
This is the largest jewelry store in Little India.
We loved window shopping in the uniquely diverse shop windows
Crossing a Little India street.
Another of the many murals
Grateful that the rain abated,we strolled and strolled.
Singapore has strict fines and penalties for a variety of offenses, including drugs, littering and jay walking. There is no distinction made for foreigners committing transgressions. There’s no importation nor sale of chewing gum. First offense for chewing gum warrants a $2000.00 fine. Importing chewing gum will cost you $10,000. And if you feed pigeons, you are subject to a $10,000 fine. There were 25 executions in Singapore in 2024…mostly for drug offenses.
We eventually made our way to the Tekka Center. Tekka Center in Little India is a multi-use building, comprising a wet market, food center and shops.
This is a view looking down into the wet market. Lots of fish.
We remained on the second level…so many choices. And if you cannot find a dress that you love, among the thousands on offer, you can engage any number of artisans to design and sew you one.
After a lovely Little India visit, we set off through Ferrar Park for Chinatown.
This building features the only external elevator in Singapore.
Since the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is the first temple I’ve ever visited, I have no other metrics to use for comparison.
This temple is quite large and houses lots of Buddhas.
I was impressed with the number of altars and all the mini Buddhas.
This is my favorite item in the temple.
Entrance to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Leaving the temple, we continued walking Chinatown’s streets.
Jamie snapped this photo in front of a Leggo display of Chinese astrological signs. We are both born in the year of the Hare.
Chinatown is in full preparation for the Lunar New Year. I loved browsing the various vendors.
Did you think I was kidding about the Singapore fine culture? This is a statistic board showing the number of people ( citizens and tourists) arrested and fined for littering.
Shops in Chinatown and Little India are very similar.
So many choices.
As we passed by, Timmy named this statue: “Darth Buddha”.
We eventually found our way to a Hawker food hall. Hawker is another word for vendor.
Timmy was still stuffed so refrained from sampling anything. I had a delicious spring roll. Sadly I devoured it before I thought of taking a photo. I’m not sure what Michelin selected means…but the roll sure was yummy.
We were exhausted at 3:00 pm and once again choose to cut our tour short. I was in sensory and information overload. We returned to our villa and rested until our 7:30 dinner reservation at Cassia, an Asian restaurant at Capella.
We both chose the Chef’s Tasting menu
Amuse bouche
Duck, prawn and truffle dumpling
First selfie of the day♥️
Baked cod
Scallops and noodles
Chilled mango cream
Back at our room after that amazing meal, we found another present from the hotel…a mindfulness coloring book, with the most beautiful crayons. So yes, I was correct in my initial estimation about liking Singapore and Capella. We really enjoyed our visit and look forward to our 16 days on Symphony. Thanks for following along ♥️
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