Let Me Feel You, Carry Me Closer
Jun. 25th, 2009 02:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripe2.30am local time, Thursday. The jet lag is starting to take effect. I slept for a couple of hours earlier in the world's noisiest bunk bed. I am sharing with some random with a laptop - haven't met him. The hostel is nice enough and the staff are friendly. The money is made out of plastic here.
I didn't sleep on the flight but I must admit that it was the best long haul I have ever done. Congrats Singapore Airways - I watched many comedy shows I hadn't seen and really got into the IT Crowd. Even Gavin and Stacey I found engaging. Also heard a few albums I had always wanted to hear too but never had the chance to get round to. The food was excellent (aside from the runny omlette) but I failed to sleep, hence my currently erratic sleep patterns.
I managed to meet up with Ben and Nads, my two friends out here and we did a tour of Little India and the Arabic Quarter. The mosque in the AQ is one of the most stunning buildings I have ever seen, it's big gold dome casting an enormous shadow across the vicinity. The sandstone and carvings were pristine and ornate too - it was the first traditional mosque I have ever seen and it was beautiful. Before this, we had sampled Arabian style food in a local restaurant - Falafel, Hummus, Swakarva (I think), Kebabs and various other delicacies were all on the menu. It was most excellent.
As soon as I arrived, I headed to Little India and this was an eye-opening experience. The shops and bezaars are very much like the style you see in India - with shop fronts pouring out into the street. The mechanics yards lived next door to the traditional dress shops and punctuating the area were many Hindu temples - all beautifully ornate and coloured with striking images. The architecture was also beautiful - particularly on the biggest temple I saw - the one dedicated to Kali the god of destruction. There is another temple with swasstikas in the window, the symbol actually being a Hindu sign for peace, I believe.
Whilst walking through Little India, I also managed to try Thai Coconut, which is hacked open with a machete and then given to you with a straw and spoon. The former is to suck the sweet milk out, the latter is to dig out the flesh. In all honesty, it was tasty but very much like the gastronomic equivalent of semen. After this, we went to the Amber Restaurant to try authentic Indian cuisine. A lot of it is stuff you can't get in the UK so it was great to try it.
The beer here is largely imported - meaning Carlsburg and Heineken is the order of the day. Indeed I am yet to try a Singaporean beer. Nads and I sat and discussed cultural differences well into the evening, before tiredness set on and we went our separate ways.
Tomorrow promises to be exciting and I also found out that there are Singapore furs so a meeting could perhaps be on the cards :D
I didn't sleep on the flight but I must admit that it was the best long haul I have ever done. Congrats Singapore Airways - I watched many comedy shows I hadn't seen and really got into the IT Crowd. Even Gavin and Stacey I found engaging. Also heard a few albums I had always wanted to hear too but never had the chance to get round to. The food was excellent (aside from the runny omlette) but I failed to sleep, hence my currently erratic sleep patterns.
I managed to meet up with Ben and Nads, my two friends out here and we did a tour of Little India and the Arabic Quarter. The mosque in the AQ is one of the most stunning buildings I have ever seen, it's big gold dome casting an enormous shadow across the vicinity. The sandstone and carvings were pristine and ornate too - it was the first traditional mosque I have ever seen and it was beautiful. Before this, we had sampled Arabian style food in a local restaurant - Falafel, Hummus, Swakarva (I think), Kebabs and various other delicacies were all on the menu. It was most excellent.
As soon as I arrived, I headed to Little India and this was an eye-opening experience. The shops and bezaars are very much like the style you see in India - with shop fronts pouring out into the street. The mechanics yards lived next door to the traditional dress shops and punctuating the area were many Hindu temples - all beautifully ornate and coloured with striking images. The architecture was also beautiful - particularly on the biggest temple I saw - the one dedicated to Kali the god of destruction. There is another temple with swasstikas in the window, the symbol actually being a Hindu sign for peace, I believe.
Whilst walking through Little India, I also managed to try Thai Coconut, which is hacked open with a machete and then given to you with a straw and spoon. The former is to suck the sweet milk out, the latter is to dig out the flesh. In all honesty, it was tasty but very much like the gastronomic equivalent of semen. After this, we went to the Amber Restaurant to try authentic Indian cuisine. A lot of it is stuff you can't get in the UK so it was great to try it.
The beer here is largely imported - meaning Carlsburg and Heineken is the order of the day. Indeed I am yet to try a Singaporean beer. Nads and I sat and discussed cultural differences well into the evening, before tiredness set on and we went our separate ways.
Tomorrow promises to be exciting and I also found out that there are Singapore furs so a meeting could perhaps be on the cards :D
