One of the nicest things about Singapore is the diversity of cultures. More so that any other city in eastern Asia, Singapore offers a combination of Chinese, Indian, Malaysian and British cultures, each with its own district, people and cuisine, somehow living together in harmony and mixing in together. There are also hints of other less dominant cultures, like the growing Muslim population, not only Malaysian and Indonesian, but also Arab.
One morning, I set out to the area of Little India and Arab street to try and get a bit of that side of Singapore.
I started off with a very local Dosa breakfast at a small Indian eatery. It was quite delicious.
Nearby, lots of Indian everyday cultural activities taking place…
I visited the very very small and very very busy Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple but it was under renovations, and not very tourist friend.
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So I decided to make my way to the first Mosque…
And went inside for a quick look…
The districts are not 100% homogenous, so even in that area you’ll occasionally bump into a church…
The highlight of the Arab area was this Masjid Sultan Mosque…
Going inside…
There was an Indonesian wedding taking place…
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Which, I think, was the first time I ever saw a Muslim wedding. That was definitely different…
All over are small quirky shops with all sorts of neat things going on inside. Like this next one…
There’s also a small museum upstairs. Nothing that’s worth your trouble to find it and pay for it, but if you’re already there, might as well go up and back in time to see some long lost vintage fashion ("Children Little Museum", they call it).
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Little India and Arab street are a wonderful cultural experience. Make some time to walk through these districts.