At 7:30 am the quiet of the morning is broken by the tolling of the bell and the nearby Hindu Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Serangoon in the heart of Little India in Singapore. While Singapore is known for its modern architecture, fabulous gardens and attractions, we both enjoy the more historic areas such as Little India. The buildings here seldom exceed a couple of stories and it can feel as if the surrounding skyscrapers are crowding in on this small quaint area.

An early morning stroll takes us past the temple with rows of shoes carefully placed outside the entrances attest to those who have answered the bells’ call. Shops close by are festooned with garlands of flowers and limes, to be purchased by those attending the temple. The smell of spices waft from the now open restaurants as we walk past, tempting but we have already eaten so not this time. Many types of regional Indian cuisine seem to be represented.

While the Serangoon Road seems to be the home of gold and jewellery stores selling everything up to 23.999 carrot bars, each side street seems to have groupings of business, export to India, clothing, pc repair, even dentists are all neatly grouped together. I guess it makes it easier to compare, no driving from store to store. Anyway a picture tells a thousand words so enjoy as we did.

We are here in Singapore after a few whirlwind days in Brisbane after our return from Cairns, unpacking and repacking, catching up with friends and even buying a new iPhone for me to replace my SE series 2 which was on its last legs. A 6am departure and we are off.

– Anthony