VISIT to Esplanade, Theaters on the Bay!

Next was the one and only Esplanade, Theatres on the bay. We paid this national performing arts centre of Singapore or locally known as the Durian a visit. Due to its twin domes which are clad in glass and metallic sunshades, Singapore's most unique structure which sits on 6 hectares of main waterfront land by Marina Bay is a famous attraction among tourists. Singapore's civic district making up of many wonderful heritage, arts and entertainment facilities, could be found there.

An interesting thing about the Durian is that it not only have a concert hall, theater, a library and a mall in that structure, it has an outdoor theater that constantly hold events such as performances by bands and gigs.

Performances available all year round at the esplanade include classical music, international dance and theater productions, jazz and blues music, Klais pipe organ performances, monthly free concerts, morning concerts, new music and contemporary dance and free outdoor performances along the spectacular waterfront.
Esplanade also happens to be one of the venues that holds the annual Singapore Arts Festival, usually held in the month of June. One of Asia’s largest cultural events featuring performing arts from all over the world!

This place of interest in Singapore has now become a famous landmark due to its unique durian design and is Singapore's cultural center, hosting arts and musical performances all year round.

VISIT to Singapore Arts Museum!

One of the few museums we visited was the Singapore Arts Museum. Not only is it home to modern and contemporary art from Singapore and Southeast Asia, the Singapore Art Museum is housed in the former St Joseph's Institution which is Singapore's first Catholic all-boys school.

The SAM also presents exhibitions on contemporary art and design, new media and photography, featuring works by artists from Australia, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and United States. We started of by touring galleries after galleries. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a bore after all. The museum displayed fantastic artwork that was painted to perfection. One of the famous attractions found there was the collection of contemporary Southeast Asian art that displayed paintings, monuments and artifacts from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia. This gallery in particular had different perspectives of understanding, engaging with national and cultural identities and social histories. The other gallery that amazed us was the Gallery that was filled with Mexican artwork. It was fabulous!

This beautiful 19th century building is marked as a heritage site as well as a famous tourist attraction.

FOOD at Little India!

After walking for quite abit, we decided to set foot at one of the most popular restaurants in Little India that sold mainly North Indian food, Komala Villas. We girls ordered the Bathura which was a really bloated piece of flour that was to be eaten with cheena masala. Gen and I thoroughly enjoyed our meal as we ate our food the traditional way, using our hands whereas the guys thought the thosai they ordered was average. As for Jairus who has never tasted north Indian food before, he thought that the food tasted sort off weird, but we could tell he enjoyed it. -.- haha

Gen went on ordering dessert and indians being very well known for super extermely sweet treats, Komala Villas has quite a variety to choose from. Gen choose an orange cracker that wasnt too sweet and we shared it all together. We’ve realised how much we've learned from our mini trip round the cultural places of Singapore. It was a fun experience for me, the food the environment and the knowledge made me realise what a cultural city Singapore has turned out to be :)

ATTRACTIONS at Little India!

The third destination of the day was Little India, the colourful streets of Serangoon Road. We made a quick round in tekka mall where textile and Indian clothing could be found.

Not wasting time, we walked straight heading to Little India arcade, a very lively street for a Tuesday afternoon. The bollywood music from shops could be adding a rhythmic pleasure walking along the crowded shop houses of Little India, the fragrance of the jasmine and flowers garlands being sold everywhere as well as the constant smell of spices. It made it hard for us to decide which smell was more prominent. Traditional clothes, jewellery such as colourful bangles could be seen everywhere! Not forgetting the few ladies whom we saw were getting their henna done.

Besides the attractive shop houses, we stopped by to take a look at the most popular Hindu temple in Little India, the Sri Veeramakaliamman temple. It was packed and so we could only observe it from outside. The temple was decorated beautifully with colourful statues all around.

The last destination we visited was Mustafa Centre which was down serangoon road. Mustafa is the shopping paradise that not only opens 24hours but has almost every single thing u can ever need to find. The 4 storey high shopping centre was flooded with people as usual, when we got there.

ATTRACTIONS at Chinatown!

One of the few colorful temples we walked into was the Buddha tooth relic temple and Museum. It was extremely huge almost 4 stories high, no wonder it’s the biggest temple in Chinatown! The smell of joystick was strong even from outside the temple; we walked in to view some artifacts on display and even got a chance to witness a chanting session in the temple.

As we took a stroll along Pagoda Street in Chinatown, we saw more pushcarts and flea markets selling clothes, jewellery, artifacts, toys, bags and all sort of souvenirs until we came across Chinatown Heritage Centre. A few workers came up to us and took the time to explain a little history behind Chinatown. The centre had imaginative displays and art galleries where we will be taken back to the times of coolies, samsui women and rickshaw pullers. Chinese opera could also be found.

Next we headed towards the Sri Mariamman temple, the oldest hindu temple in Singapore but unfortunately the temple was under renovations. And lastly we couldn’t afford to miss the oldest and most important Hokkien temple, Thian Hock Keng Temple. Eventhough it’s said to be the oldest, the architecture looked solid. Our group was really glad that these national monuments are open for tourists so as they are able to understand the culture of the people in Singapore.

FOOD at Chinatown!

Second destination of the day was Chinatown, area where the Chinese immigrants settled down in the early years.

Chinatown was really lively when we arrived, most of the shops and shop houses we saw sold Chinese herbal tea, Chinese herbs and medication, Ginseng as well as many Chinese tarts and kueh sold. As we moved deeper into the streets we saw decorations all over, lanterns and banners symbolising the chinese culture could be seen from the start till the end of the streets. It made Chinatown look all red. I recalled seeing many traditionally Chinese clothing sold, particularly cheongsams of all sort of colour and designs.

After settling down at Chinatown food centre for a drink, we walked down towards Chinatown's famous food street which was a foodie heaven. The pushcarts along the streets sold all sorts of sweet treats, food, snacks and drinks. We bought some homemade tats and the famous dim sum along the way as we walked towards Pagoda Street.

ATTRACTIONS at Kampong Glam

After the meal, we headed to Sultan mosque known to be the biggest and most prominent mosque in Singapore. Built in 1928, the mosque is one of the best examples of Muslim architecture on the island. We went in to take a look, took some pictures while I explained some Muslim rituals before prayer to the other 3 non-muslims. We also managed to hear the "azan" which signals pray time for the Muslims. Heading downwards towards Bussorah Street, we went through the shop houses to witness the atmosphere in Kampong Glam.

Besides the strong fragrance of essential oils and perfume known as "atar", the streets were filled with shops selling textile, embroidered materials, semi-precious stones, accessories for a pilgrimage, carpets and many souvenirs that are uniquely crafted. Arriving at the Malay Heritage Centre, we toured round the lovely garden and discovered quite abit about that place. It had artifacts from the past, models of the Malay settlement in Singapore during 1819 and etc

We learned that the Malay Heritage Centre offer visitors an insight into the Singapore Malays', culture, roots, lifestyle and traditional arts. It's location itself is at the heart of historic Kampong Glam which is a conservation district that gives visitors a total and unique experience of being in a Malay world.