Singapore: Neighborhoods

After nearly five months I've finally made it out of China. Singapore is no doubt a nation with first world standing. The streets are immaculate, the buildings and infrastructure are modern, and the people are prosperous. After rushing through Yunnan to see as much as I could in a week, I decided to stay three nights in Singapore to explore the city at a relaxed pace.

GEYLANG SERAI

Our hostel was in the Geylang Serai neighborhood, which recently achieved historical preservation status for it's shophouse architecture. It is also the center of Malay culture in Singapore.

Shop houses in Geylang Serai are two stories and built in European style

Joo Chiat Road, the main drag in Geylang Serai

The streets are small and the sidewalks are wide with plenty of shelter from the rain

On the historic streets, no building can be built higher than two stories, so many buildings will have four story annexes built in the alleys behind them.

LITTLE INDIA

One of the more colorful neighborhoods in Singapore (literally). I only stayed long enough to get some delicious Indian food and a new swimsuit.

Seriously? 7/11 is the first  thing you see entering little india? Come on.

Here's that color I was talking about.

Most Indians in Singapore speak Tamil.

This Chinese Methodist church in Little India began in 1897. The building was bombed by the Japanese during WWII and subsequently rebuilt.

ARAB STREET

On purest downtown we stopped to check out Arab street. The neighborhood has the most impressive mosque I've ever seen (and probably the most impressive in the country). It also had the first Mexican restaurant I've seen since leaving the US.

Arab Street

The Mosque of Arab Street

A very pricy arcade leading to the mosque

An alley off of Arab street lined with shops and restaurants

DOWNTOWN

Singapore has a beautiful city center. The city sits at the mouth of the Singapore river, which is lined with historic buildings. The downtown skyscrapers loom over the river and marina bay recreational area.

Marina Bay towers

East of the bay. Singapore's ferris wheel is the largest obervatory ferris wheel in the world.

Downtown is east of the bay

Marina bay

The Merlion, symbol of Singapore

Singapore river

Restaurants along the river

Downtown

CHINATOWN

Just as crowded as the real China (at least during the dinner hour). Chinatown is filled with with souvineer stalls and hawkers selling Chinese food.

The gate to Chinatown celebrates the coming of the Year of the Dragon

I recognize this crowd from somewhere...

Wouldn't be Chinatown without a few lanterns