Friday...the streets of Singapore

An early start today so we could try and avoid the heat of the day got us up at 7am, and after breakfast we caught the MRT to Chinatown for a detailed walking tour around the sights.  As you can imagine there were several stunning temples to see, but after our 2 and a half months in Asia we felt we had had our far share of temples so we just took in the highlights!  The Thien Hock Keng Temple was the oldest in Chinatown, and also the most resplendant; with intricately decorated buildings and doors, inside and out we explored this Hokkien clan place of worhsip before moving on.

The walk took us through the back streets that made up the interestingly historic Chinese district, where boards told the stories of the people that first frequented these streets.  To find out how these people lived during the first years of Singapore was quite shocking. 

The building that used to house the Jinriksha station (left) was quite interesting and conjured up a mental image where once the streets were filled with these small hand pulled vehicles rather than the cars that now zoomed about.

Onwards though, as there was a lot of ground to cover today; we walked through the central business district to the Colonial area alongside the Singapore river.  As we looked across to Raffles landing site, the old buildings of constructed by the former British empire looked back.  We walked along Boat quay (pictured) where the old small Chinese merchant houses (which were now posh restaurants and bars) were now dwarfed by the huge skyscrapers of the business district.

As we crossed the river and wandered past the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the old Parliament building and St Andrew's Cathedral (the oldest cathdral in Singapore) we stumbled upon the cricket club and city hall which surrounded the Padang (pictured right). 

Next, was in contrast to the graceful and old...the modern and in a way slightly strange!  The Merlion and esplanade were small in contrast to the sci fi-esque Theatres on the bay, which looked very similar to two fly eyes (honestly...google it and you will see what we mean!).  The Merlion fountain was also quite an interesting structure, but a famous figure in Singaporean history!

Our walk then took us away from the business district, and further into the Colonial district...to Raffles hotel, a stop that Nicola was very much looking forward to!  As the heavens opened we spent a couple of hours exploring the plush hotel and arcades (window shopping of course).  The opulence was evident and seeped from every pore of the building, as we explored the museum with donations all from people that had visited in the early days it was fascinating!

Once the rain had eased we made our way back to the hostel via Fort Canning park, the original site of the first fort in Singapore, but now all that remains is part of the old Christian cemetary.

Tonight's plans involve Chinatown by night!