Eastern Singapore

I continue From Here 

Day-07 (Contd…) 05-May-2016

After returning from the Pulau Ubin island at around 5PM, I had some Chapati and sabji at the Banana leaf restaurant in Changi village. Before heading back to the hotel, I decided to complete the eastern Singapore while I was already there. I was looking for a bus to get to Geylang when a lady at the bus station asked me if I needed any help. She told me that she was heading that way and I could travel with her. We took bus number 2 and began our long journey towards the city from the north eastern tip of Singapore. 

Maria is basically from Philippines but has lived here for more than 15 years. She is fifty years old and has a son and a daughter. She works at a hotel in house keeping department. Her husband works as a technician in a factory. She was very excited about the new apartment they have bought. Her son is working in an IT company and her daughter is studying engineering; piping design. I tried to enquire a little about their life style to get a flavour of the life in this country. Maria was very friendly and she opened up a lot about her life. She told that on weekends they normally preferred to stay at home. Her children though, loved to go out. They would even party on weekdays and return as late as 1 AM in the night. And at 9 AM the following morning, they would be ready to head towards work or college. Both her children had partners and she awaited their marriage so that she could play with her grandchildren. No matter where you go, some matters never change after all. 

She invited me to visit Philippines and she also warned me that it could be a little unsafe there, unlike in Singapore. It was great talking to her and getting an idea of the lifestyle  here. 

I got off at Geylong and walked to some of the attractions listed in my Lonely planet book. The streets were packed with tiny pubs and shops. 

A few blocks on Joo Chiat road, you find these beautiful Perkanan terrace houses. They are very colourful and intricate in design. Perkanans are descendants of immigrants who married local women who were mostly of Malay origin.

Next, I walked to Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple. When I reached there, Pooja was in progress. A few devotees religiously attended the pooja. The feel was very Indian here.

I also walked to see one of the murals by Ernest Zacharevic. 

And passed by a stall that sells Singapore's most favourite fruit - Durian. A flavour of which is offered in most of the dishes.

During my day, I also completed my first urban sketch. A gift from this country that I take back happily. 

We dined at a resutaant called Gandhi Restaurant in little India. Cheap food but they had both Vegetarian and Non vegetarian food. Many restaurants in Singapore claim to be vegetarian but surprisingly they serve both veg and non-veg. We had typical south Indian meal.

Continued Here