Thursday, March 15, 2018

Thursday – March 15, 2018

Today we will explore on foot after using the HO HO to get us to the right neighborhood. Our first stop is Little India. We have some temples to photograph here. We do not need the market as we did that on last night’s tour. We admired the temples, got our pictures and moved on to find Arab Street.

We had a map that showed where Arab Street was, but we were not sure what connector to use because there was a canal in the way. Our map was also a bit off on its scale of distance. I stopped to ask a shopkeeper the way. He paused and then gave me some landmarks to use, but said it was a long distance. We walked toward a HO HO stop planning to take the bus to get closer. Alice asked a young man waiting with us. He looked at the map. Then he consulted with his friend. After some hand waving and turn signaling they agreed that if we walked to the next street and just kept following it to the right we would get there. No, it was not very far. I must have looked very old to that shopkeeper. We followed their directions and soon we saw the tower of the mosque we were looking for.

In short order we were at the mosque. Now after getting some pictures we turned onto Arab Street. This is where all sorts of fabric shops are located. You may remember that we have been buying fabric along our journey. Arab Street puts all the others to shame. We have never seen so many fabric stores with so many kinds of fabric. Heaven! Unfortunately when you have so many choices, choosing becomes very difficult. We shopped and admired many things, but we were not buying yet.

Then it happened. We found a small shop with beautifully designed tablecloths. As we were looking, a customer told us how she comes to this shop every to buy tablecloths and napkins for herself and for gifts. She said the quality is excellent and they wash and dry without wrinkles. She just puts them right on her table. And the price is reasonably fixed so you do not have to bargain. What an endorsement. I mentioned to the owner that she looked like his sister and we all laughed. She was a truly satisfied customer. We found a design that we liked. Now all we had to do was convert centimeters to inches. Of course the owner did that for us. He was very helpful. Once we settled on the size of the tablecloth he showed us the matching napkins. He reminded us that we would need two extra ones for the breadbasket. We settled on eight. The basket would have to go naked.

As we were settling up, another lady came in with her husband and brother in tow. She is an American who moved to Singapore several years ago. She comes to the shop a few times a year. She had to show it to her visiting brother. Her husband had the credit card. We exchanged pleasantries, and bid Dilip, the owner, farewell. By the way, our tablecloth is hand block stamped batik from India, sold to us by an Indian immigrant on Arab Street.

We continued our tour. A few blocks away we saw Barbara and Harvey having lunch in a Turkish restaurant. They sit one table away from us in the dining room. They told us they have lunch here every time they are in Singapore. With the amount of cruising they do, that is pretty often.

We found a HO HO stop and took the next bus to Chinatown. We started to walk down Pagoda Street when we realized that it was 2:00 and we were hungry. We walked back to the main street and a couple of blocks away we found a food center. We checked out a few menus and ended up back at the first one we had seen. Lunch hour seemed to be over. We were the only customers. Our meal was prepared to order and came steaming hot. The beer was ice cold. Heavenly.

We returned to Pagoda Street. There were so many stalls and stores here. It was mind blowing. They all seemed to have the same stuff, but it was just different enough to make shopping necessary. We shopped. We did not buy. After walking the full length of Pagoda Street, we joined the rush throng at a bus stop. We were the only ones waiting for the HO HO, so boarding when it arrived was easy.

We got off at Suntec City. I failed to mention that this is the central terminal for the Hop On Hop off busses. Yesterday they ran a shuttle from the port to here. Today we had to take the ship’s shuttle. Where it dropped us off at Millennia Walk mall was just a few blocks away. Upon alighting, a kind gentleman directed us to a tunnel that led directly to the lower level of Suntec City. We did not have to cross a street. We returned this way, and soon we were back on Amsterdam. We love Singapore. We have a list of things to come back for.