My Singapore Must See #3: Little India

I FINALLY got around to visiting Mustafa today! I can definitely testify to the fact that it is one crazy place to shop.

I was told not to visit on the weekend as it gets incredibly busy, so I visited during the week and even then in some areas I struggled to make my way through the crowds of people.

This shopping centre is definitely one of the most unique I have ever visited; it literally stocks everything you can think of! You can find groceries, appliances, electronics, cosmetics, perfume, clothes, shoes and so much more!! It’s almost scary to think how much more I didn’t have time to see. 

On each level it took me what felt like almost forever to locate an exit or an escalator as every level was stocked to the brim. It reminded me of something that could be likened to some kind of labyrinth.  Each level of the store is dedicated to a different type of product.

I spent hours here simply exploring all the levels and spotting unusual shopping items and foods I had never seen before.

This shopping centre is perfect for those who enjoy unique shopping experiences and like to have everything they need in one place, and I may have forgotten to mention; for cheaper prices!!

After spending a few hours at Mustafa, I thought it would only be fitting to wander around Little India and see what I could come across.  There was one place in particular that I had in mind. I had seen images of an extremely colourful and vibrant house located in the area on the internet a few months ago and immediately put it on my list of things to see in Singapore. Its colourful exterior caught my eye and I just knew I couldn’t leave without seeing it.  

This house, which stood proudly in the centre of Little India, was really simple to get to from Mustafa. It took me about 5 minutes to walk. I noticed it immediately as it stood out among the surroundings in all its bright and colourful glory.  I assume this house has to be one of if not the most colourful buildings in Singapore.  

You can’t help but feel excitement and happiness as you make your way towards such a beautiful array of colours. The detailed paintwork is something only worthy of being admired in person. None of the images on the internet I saw beforehand came close to the mesmerising display I saw in person.

37 Kerbau Road

 

There is so much to see and do in Little India. Whether it be visiting ornate Hindu temples, shopping at small stores selling nick nacks or feasting on finger licking Indian cuisine. It is an incredibly interesting area dripping in culture and interesting sites around every corner! The decorations still delicately hanging over the streets from Deepavali added to the exciting ambiance. 

                                                Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

This area proves that you don’t have to leave Singapore to have an authentic Indian experience. I find this incredibly valuable as I am able to learn so much and get a taste tester of life and cultures around the world without having to leave my home.

The sheer level of life, excitement and colourful architecture easily makes Little India one of my ‘must sees’ in Singapore!

Previous 'My Singapore Must See':

My Singapore Must See #1: Lian Shun Shuang Lin Monastery

My Singapore Must See #2: Gardens By the Bay

Kranji War Memorial

Last week I decided to go and visit the Kranji War Memorial. I wasn’t actually aware that Singapore played a role in World War II.

The memorial area was previously a military camp at the time of the Japanese invasion of Malaya. After the war it was decided that Kranji would become the location for Singapore’s War Cemetery.  Today there are a total of 4,461 World War II casualties buried and commemorated at this cemetery. 

The memorial is dedicated to the men and women from the United Kingdom, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Canada, the Netherlands, Malaya and New Zealand who died defending Singapore.

The cemetery is so incredibly peaceful.  You can find war graves, memorial walls and military graves here. It is perched comfortably on a hilltop meaning that the beautiful surroundings are accompanied by a delightful breeze which is incredibly valuable here in Singapore. You can also get wonderful, panoramic views of Singapore.

The stunningly designed gardens and stone carved faces really encourage you to be immersed in your surroundings and reflect on the immense sacrifice the soldiers defending Singapore made to allow for the freedom we have today.  The sheer number of graves was overwhelming.

I was completely and utterly blown away by the surroundings  at the Kranji War Memorial; it definitely exceeded my expectations. Everywhere you looked there were colourful plants, planted between each headstone and lining the memorial. It was perfectly maintained.

I recommend everyone to visit the memorial, especially those who are history lovers like me! It is an incredibly eye opening and a sobering place to understand the history of Singapore in World War II.

Why has living in Singapore become the best experience of my life?

Before I moved to Singapore people repeatedly told me, 'It will be an amazing experience for you' and 'I love Singapore, I’m sure you will love it there'. The funny thing was that the people who were encouraging me had never actually lived outside of Australia for a year or longer, in fact most had never even moved anywhere around the world! Naturally, when people told me this, I tried incredibly hard to believe them, although I found myself to be blinded by my own fear and the assumed certainty that I would hate living in Singapore even though I had never actually experienced life there before.

 Now that I have been living here for almost a year now and have conquered some of the struggles that come with moving overseas, I am proud to say that this has by far been the best experience of my life. I have come so far; from the girl who desperately wanted to stay comfortable, never reaching out and exploring new things, to the person who now finds thrill and extreme amounts of excitement in being challenged, trying out new things and getting out of my comfort zone.

I am writing this blog post as I would love to share with you all, why exactly living abroad has become the best and most rewarding experience of my life:

I have become more adventurous:  This factor extends into many different aspects of living here. One of the more obvious is that I enjoy trying out new foods of which I may have steered away from when I first moved here, whether it is because they are extremely spicy or have unique flavouring which I am not that used to. In case you were wondering one of the more daring I have tried is dried Cuttlefish and I can definitely say that I am not a fan!!

I have also become more daring in the sense that I have really been aiming to get the most out of each experience.  I have dared to be different; opening my eyes to new experiences, getting to know new people, understanding all aspects of this culture; mostly doing things that I wouldn’t be able to do in Australia. 

I have learnt to enjoy challenging myself: When moving somewhere new is it obvious that there will be many challenges to overcome in order to enjoy your new home. For me, challenges came in the forms of breaking language barriers and making friends in a country where I knew no one.

When I moved here it was initially difficult to hold a conversation who did not know strong English as I had never really experienced this living in Australia. I embarrassingly kept saying 'pardon'!! Although with time, practice and attentiveness I no longer struggle with this as much anymore. In fact when I caught a taxi home from driving school last week my cab driver admitted he didn’t know much English, yet for the entire trip home I was able to manage a long conversation with him with ease.

I now have friends from around the world:  This point is linked to how I have enjoyed challenging myself. Making friends was one of the biggest challenges for me and probably the most daunting. It has been a very, very long time that I had to move somewhere and not know anyone. Having good friends naturally makes everything easier. I found that by being confident and not shying away from the fear of meeting new people, I was able to make really amazing friends really quickly!! As I have made light upon in past posts; the people I have met living here have been the best people I have ever met. My experience would not nearly be as great without them and plus, I now have friends around the world!! Amazing.

By challenging myself in this way, as well as the ways I mentioned in the previous point, I have been able to become more open minded; fearing less.  For me becoming open minded has become one of the best things that has happened to me. I didn’t realise how inward looking I was in the past. I see things differently now, I value experiences and people way more than I ever have.

You learn to love yourself more: Through this experience; starting from a place where I knew no one, didn’t know the culture and didn’t know my way around, I have had to motivate myself and find my true passions. Through this, I have been able to recognise new characteristics of myself; witnessing myself evolve and become more mature in order to get the most out of this experience.  I have become so proud of myself due to what I have accomplished here as I was initially really worried this year would be horrible.  I have been able to see the positives of this experience override all of the negatives which has allowed me to love the person I have become. I am now so incredibly determined to live out many wilder adventures in my lifetime.

Steered away from a predictable lifestyle: I have done things that most people my age don’t have the chance of doing. What a great thing it is to be able say that I have lived overseas for part of my life.

I used to grow up watching Getaway and countless amounts of travel programs and I could only dream that I would be able to live somewhere overseas one day. Although, I did not expect that I would have to move overseas so soon, with so much I felt that I still had to accomplish education wise. I have now realised that just this; the fact that I had no control over moving was the greatest blessing of it all. It has caused me to see life differently, understanding what is actually most important.  

Not much good comes from sticking to the status quo. It is been incredibly refreshing for me to have the fact that I cannot control every aspect of my life reiterated in such a strong way.

I feared that I would be the one missing out when I moved away, but as you guys can see, I have gained so much from this experience, so much more than I ever expected!! Life has so much to offer, but I have learnt that the only way to get a glimpse of this is to challenge yourself and become friends with the best companion: adventure. Don't keep thinking the best is yet to come. The best of life can be right in front of you if you make it and choose to believe it. 

“Dont miss out on something that could be great just because it could also be difficult.”   - Unknown

Day of Exploring: Temples and Food

Last week my friend Helen took my mum and I out for an exciting day of eating and exploring some of the oldest temples in Singapore. Both of the temples we visited were UNESCO awarded, which made me extremely excited!

The weather that day was rather gloomy and rainy, although it did not extinguish my anticipation for the events ahead!

The first temple Helen brought us to was the Thian Hock Keng temple.  This is one of the oldest and most important Hokkien temples in Singapore and is surprisingly located in the centre of the city’s business hub.  This temple was built in the traditional southern Chinese architectural style. This element definitely shone through as I made my way around the temple.

This temple was particularly breathtaking due to amazing stone, wood and tile designs as well as the ornate sculptures and decorated columns. The sheer level of intricate, complex detail that has gone into the execution of the embellishments made this temple one of the most beautiful I have explored in Singapore. The colourful detail definitely contributed to increasing my level of amazement due to the fact that from every possible angle, there was something new and enchanting to look at.  Additionally, it was built without using any nails!

The second temple we visited was the Yueh Hai Ching temple. We were able to walk there from the first temple and it only took us about 15 minutes.  

The Yueh Hai Ching temple is the oldest Taoist temple in Singapore.  This temple was constructed between 1850 and 1855 and was restored in 2011 whereby $5 million was committed towards it.

It is still located in the business district, meaning it is uniquely shaded by skyscrapers. I was totally unaware that there were temples located in such areas, although its surroundings did not distort the character the temple radiated.

This temple is different to every other temple I have visited in that it consists of two separate shrines, each with its own entrance. One of the shrines houses the shrine of Tian Hou, typically worshipped by the sea faring southern Chinese communities. Whereas, the other block belongs to the shrine of Xuan Tian Shang Di, more commonly known as the Heavenly Emperor. 

 

The stunning features of this temple can be seen particularly in its richly carved roof where elaborate bird and animal decorations can be seen.  Detailed artwork extends throughout the entirety of the temple.

I find learning about the features of religious temples particularly interesting.  Before I moved to Singapore I did not have much of an understanding of the some of the practices of certain religions; for instance why people bow before entering or the lighting of incense. Some practices, which I learnt when I visited this temple, possess great historical importance making it an intangible foundation for the religion.  It was great having our friend Helen there to explain all of the features and practices to my mum and I. I enjoy having my mind opened like this as it allows me to have an understanding rather than taking nothing from an experience. We most likely would have been roaming aimlessly otherwise!!

After spending time at two temples, we were DEFINITLEY ready for some food! I was greatly looking forward to trying a new cuisine, as I have noticed that there is almost an unlimited supply here in Singapore!!

Helen took us to eat Nasi Padang at Rendezvous Restaurant in Clarke Quay.  My dining experience here was definitely one of; if not the best I have had in Singapore so far.

The best thing about eating Nasi Padang is that you are able to try a variety of dishes. I love this way of dining as you don’t have to be restricted to one particular meal, especially if your favourite is more than one dish.  We ordered squid, curried vegetables and chicken, prawns, soup and beef rending. The food was all so so good! I was initially worried that perhaps I would find it all too spicy, but I was not overwhelmed by any of the dishes! The flavors were all combined perfectly, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable and highly satisfying dining experience.

 I definitely recommend this place to anyone and everyone. It was so fun to expand my palette and try new cuisines that I had not heard of and couldn’t get living in Australia. I will definitely be coming back soon!

 After lunch we walked over to Liang Court Shopping Centre and had dessert at a small Japanese café there. We ordered chiffon cake, a chocolate eclair and even some Japanese jelly. It was lovely to relax with a cup of tea and sweet treats after an adventurous and memorable day of exploring.