Chinatown, Singapore. Welcome to China!!!

Today is Vesak day, holiday in Singapore. We took advantage of that to go around Singapore and visit areas that we have not been to yet. Taylor, Susie and I visited Chinatown since it was highly recommneded by locals.

Around 11 am today, we hailed a cab. It dropped us off a few minutes later by the market in Chinatown. Our stomachs were grumbling though so we decided to first get something to eat and then we would go along the little alleys in the area and find what we wanted.

We quickly found a Chinese restaurant with very reasonable prices. We entered, sat and chose what to eat. Once we decided what we wanted, the waitress came to take our order. Soon, we all realized that our communication skills were being tested. Problem: the waitress does not speak english and cannot answer any of our questions. Other problem: we cannot even make her understand exactly what we want and how many we want. This is the first time that any of us has come across such language barriers. Soon, what was supposed to be a minute ordeal became a 10 minute one. We were pointing and using our fingers to tell how many of each. The worst was the fried rice. We could not well communicate that we wanted chicken in one and shrimp in the other one. We managed and it all worked out well!!!

I was very excited to enter that restaurant for one reason. Once seating down, I saw that they served coconut. I have not drunk coconut milk since I left Haiti 6 months ago and to me drinking coconut milk is similar to being in heaven. See for yourself in the picture.

The food was delicious and like I said they managed to bring the right orders. Once we paid the bill, we went back to the outside market,from little shops to little shops looking, admiring talent and buying. I had gone to chinatown to buy a purse. Soon, I saw myself buying chop sticks with different animals designs, a watch (they were 3 for $10), pashminas (5 for $10), nice bottle covers (too nice to let that pass (on the picture)), posters etc. We saw many other things that unfortunately we could not purchase because of weight restrictions on our luggages. We enjoyed looking at the jewelry, the kites (see picture), clothes, paintings, barettes etc...

Do not get the wrong idea though. Even though we purchased and spent a lot, we did some sight seeings. While in Chinatown, we saw a Hindu temple. It was magnificent, beautiful and was an opportunity to learn more about another culture. Statues were mixtures of bright colors, gods, gold, animals etc... It was amazing to be standing in front of such temple.