Arab Street & Little India

Birds

No question, the strangest exhibit at the Singapore Art Museum

Awesome fire escapes

Arab Street

Arab Street is the name given to Singapore's Muslim district. During the 1800's it was a bustling center for trade and commerce of goods such as textiles, spices and wicker furniture. Today, it remains a busy area, but not for the same reasons. While textiles, spices and furniture are still sold there, the majority of business goes on in the many restaurants and boutiques that have taken over the shop houses of merchants that have left. Today, it is noted as a 'shopping must-see' in Singapore because of the abundance of fashion designers displaying and selling their products.

We're always down for some shopping, don't get us wrong, but the real appeal of Arab Street for us was the promise of tasty Islamic treats!

Hey there, Korean friend!

Judy & The Sultan's Mosque

Sadly, it was as bright as hell out, so the vibrancy of each building's colors don't come through in all of the pictures. No color seemed too bright or too bold. It was really pretty.

Home Sweet Home

That is one spooky zooky!

Andrew made a friend

The front of the Sultan's Mosque

Coolest 7-11, ever!

Lunch @ Cafe Le Caire

Hummus with grilled lamb and pita

Falafel sandwich...both were amazing!

Arrange your plate accordingly
Thank you
I am watching you!
-Madam
PS: U know who u are!

We assumed this scary creature was Madam

Nip Shot!


Little India

A few blocks from the Arab Street neighborhood was Little India, the area of the city chiefly influenced by it's Indian, Pakistani and Tamil populations. This neighborhood, like Arab Street, was formerly a center of trade and commerce, but has now become less known for its traditional goods and more for it's traditional foods and flavors. Again, like with Arab Street, we were in it for the feast!

Mustafa Centre

A giant, 24-hour shopping center in Little India, Mustafa Centre, was one of the strangest places we saw in Singapore. It was like a grocery store the size of a shopping mall, and carried tons of everything imaginable, from electronics to fresh produce to spices, tailored suits and even airline tickets and vacation packages. No matter what you were (or weren't) looking for, you could find it here.

The Banana Leaf Apolo
aka Tourist Trap

(from left to right)
Pomelo Salad, Something with Chickpeas, Yellow Dahl

Since we were in Little India, we were hoping for some good Indian food. All the restaurants we passed were either completely empty or else buffets, and those are two types of restaurants we try to avoid while traveling (unless there is an all-you-can-drink option, of course). After some wandering, we found the Banana Leaf Apolo, which we remembered reading about in the book, and it was packed, so we decided to go for it. Once our food came, we discovered that the real reason the place was packed was because of the novelty of eating off of banana leaves instead of plates, not because the food was necessarily delicious. It wasn't bad, just not the spectacular meal we were hoping for.