Singapore Day 4 - Wednesday Sep 16

We slept in a little this morning so Roger left without any exercise. I forgot to mention that he worked until 1 a.m. last night and put in more time before leaving this morning, in order to be prepared for his presentation. I received an email from Laura that Mom seems to be recovering, so went down to the fitness room and tried the eliptical machine for the first time. Not sure whether I like it or not yet. I decided not to swim so I could get an earlier start on my day out.

I called Sarah (Schmutz) Redd and found out she and her family live in the apartments right next to our hotel. That's more amazing than it sounds because most of the hotels are downtown and ours is not. She gave me some recommendations on where to go, so I changed my plans and took a bus to Little India. Because the bus stops arent' very clear, I told the driver where I wanted to go and he told me when to get off. I saw another Hindu temple









and some streets that probably look similar to what I'd see in India.











This is for an upcoming festival:





I only walked around for about an hour, after which I took the train (MRT) to China Town. The MRT is a lot like NY's subway system, only cleaner. I walked out of the station onto Pagoda Street, lined with shops selling just about everything at rock bottom prices. Yet, all I bought were post cards - 18 of them.





I saw two more temples, first another Hindi:




and the other Buddhist:





These two guys are out front to welcome visitors:





And so is the incense between them:



The inside is beautiful! Ornate and with more incense and a large bowl for offerings brought:








and this guy to wish you well as you leave:



I took a tour of the Chinese Heritage Centre where I learned the history of the Chinese immigration to Singapore. Some of that history was very challenging, but these people now form the majority of Singaporians, so they have more than survived. They overcame opium, prostitution, gambling, and poverty to become business and political leaders of this country.









After a few hours I took the bus back to hotel, knowing I will return to purchase souveneirs next week. I addressed and wrote on post cards for our grandchildren and then walked over to a post office I noticed the dy before. So watch your mail!

When Roger came back we walked over to the Mall and decided to order a half dozen items from one of the bakeries for dinner and a couple more for my breakfast the next morning. We couldn't tell what most of them were, but ended up with a ham and cheese bun, a couple of rolls with pork in or on them, a cheese roll, something with cream cheese piped into the center, and a peach pastry. As we walked toward the beach, we picked up a can of carrot juice and another of guava juice to with our dinner. We found a concrete table and sat on the dry part of a bench there,(it had rained in the afternoon) and ate our meal. It was interesting!