Today was an interesting day. I got up and grabbed breakfast here at the hotel. Then I walked up to the MRT station and headed to Little India. I am not sure if it was the light rain or just the area but this place is dirty. It was very interesting to see all the little shops selling stuff I had never seen. There were fruits, vegetables, and apparently every type of dried fish on the planet. Plus there was what may be the most packed department store I have ever been in – Mustafa. I am pretty sure you can buy anything you could need, want, or have never heard of all within a compact 4 story store. Each aisle was barely wide enough to walk down and there were hundreds of them.
From there I walked over to Arab Street, which is Singapore’s Muslim neighborhood. I really enjoyed the vast differences in the shops and culture in just a couple blocks. I walked around the Sultan Mosque and then enjoyed a slow stroll around the neighborhood.
As I started the slow walk home an older Singaporean gentlemen asked me where I was from. Turns out, this was Peter. For the next 5 hours Peter walked me around the city, explaining the history and former uses for many of the buildings. Turns our Peter is 71, has spent his entire life in Singapore. As a result he is a wealth of information and knowledge. As you may know, Singapore has undergone a major “westernization” in the last 50 years and Peter had a front row seat. I must say it was amazing to listen to him explain where the water used to flow through what is now a major street. And again how he used to shower in the street with his family since there was no running water when he was a boy. I found the entire walk fascinating and feel lucky to have gotten an inside peak at the city. And in return, Peter told me he enjoyed being out and getting to walk around the city with someone.
About Warren
