Thursday, 18 January 2007 @ 7:43pm.

Here are photographs from my recent trip to Singapore. I was only there for one day (Tuesday) on a visa run, but managed to see some of the sights Singapore has to offer:

First stop, the famous Merlion, the symbol of Singapore:
Merlion

Nearby across the water one can see the Durian-shaped building:
Durian-shaped Building

Here is a photograph taken in Chinatown of various stalls:
Chinatown Stalls

This is Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest temple in Singapore (built in 1827). Dedicated to the Mother Goddess, Sri Mariamman, it often provided shelter to Indian immigrants:
Sri Mariamman Temple

Here is a picture of ornate gold jewelry for sale in Little India:
Jewelry in Little India

The day before I arrived, there was the Pongal (South India) Festival in Little India. Though I missed it, the organizers still left the special cows around so families could visit them. I got to pet these baby cows. :)
Baby Cows

This is a Chinese memorial I came across near Little India:
Chinese Memorial in Little India

Since I hadn’t been out of Indonesia for almost a year, I did experience a bit of culture shock in Singapore: Everyone spoke English. Public transportation was a dream! I got to walk around everywhere. The streets and sidewalks were clean. I saw people from many different Asian cultures. Many signs were in multiple languages. People walked at crosswalks. Cars stopped for pedestrians! :) Singapore also felt less crowded. It was an interesting experience overall.