A True Taste of Culture

Sorry again about the delay in letting you all know how things are going on my trip, but I guess that tells you how busy I am staying and how much fun I am having.  I have entitled this next entrée A True Taste of Culture, because that is what I have been doing for the last few days.  

On Tuesday, July 24 (gosh I realize that's almost a week ago already) I felt like I went back in time to when I was in Egypt about a year and half ago.  I visited Kampong Glam or better known as Arab Quarter.  To be perfectly honest, this was one of the best days I have had in Singapore and believe it or it  I explored Arab Quarter all by myself thanks to my trusty guide book.  I started my adventure off by once again visiting a few shops that sold trinkets and different souvenirs, but it wasn't until I traveled deeper into Arab street that I saw a few stores with different traditional clothing from the Middle East and a store the sold handmade baskets called Rishi Handcrafts'.  As I continued to walk down the street, I caught glimpse of a large, golden dome that just seemed to glow in the sun.  Instantly I knew this was the one thing I was the most excited to see on this excursion.  It was Sultan Mosque.  This mosque is the most important mosque in Singapore.  It can house 5,000 people in the prayer hall at one time.  Standing in front of the mosque gave me an amazing feeling, not because of its beauty or it's massive size but because it had such a welcoming feeling.  Many obvious tourist were coming and going as they pleased.  As I walked into the mosque, there were two men making sure that people were appropriately dressed and that they signed the guest book.  For those of you who don't know much about the Muslim religion, I will try to explain it to the best of my ability as I describe my experience in the mosque.  Both sexes, especially women, are required to have their body's covered as not to be a distraction to those praying around you and to also show respect to the body you were given.  So in my case I threw on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved jacket.  Also for women it is not required, but appreciated if you cover your hair with a head scarf.  After doing all of this it is ok for tourist to enter the mosque.  Muslim worshippers must prepare themselves before entering the mosque, such as washing their hands and arms, feet and legs, hair, and brushing your teeth to name a few.  Men and women do this in separate areas.  After doing this they may enter into the mosque.  Again just like men and women have different areas of preparation, men and women have different areas in which they pray.  The men's area is open to the public to view, but not to enter into the area in which they pray.  As I was admiring the prayers, a older man, probably in his later 50s, came up to me and welcomed me to Sultan Mosque.  Who knew an hour later I would still be talking to him about the Muslim religion.  Saleem was so helpful and pointed out many of the interesting aspects of the mosque.  He also informed me about the Islamic religion and made many comparisons to Christianity.  As you can probably tell, since I talked with him for over an hour, that I am very interested in different religions and cultures.  As we were talking, the woman representative came over to us and asked me a few things after offering to show me the women's section of the mosque.  If course I jumped on this offer as quickly as she asked.  While I was in Egypt we were never given this option because all of our guides were men and we were a mixed group.  Although there was nothing super special about this section of the mosque, it was a side I had never witnessed before.  It was something new.  After taking a few minutes to watch a couple of the women pray, we headed back downstairs to the main level.   By the time I had left the mosque, I had probably spend close to two hours there.  I thanked both representatives for taking time to talk with me and show me around the mosque.  What a wonderful day in Kampong Glam.   

On Wednesday, I tried another culture, but this one in Chinatown.  While I Chinatown, I did some more shopping for little souvenir things.  I enjoyed walking down the street and seeing all the red paper lanterns hanging from building to building.  I can only imagine what the streets look like at night when they are all illuminated.  I continued to walk through many open shops until I arrived at Sir Mariamman Temple.  The Hindu temple was elaborately decorated with many vibrant paintings and artwork.  The temple is dedicated to the goddess who cures serious illnesses.  You will have to check the blog in a little over a week for pictures because I don't believe my explanation of the temple does it justice.  What amazed me most about the temple was the tower at the entrance.  The gopuram or tower is covered with hundreds of figurines of Hindu deities.  It was beautiful.  After spending some time here, I walked through Chinatown until I made it to one of the most important sights there, which is Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  Supposedly the temple houses one of Buddha's sacred teeth.  Even though there is great controversy over this, it draws many people to this temple.  After spending so much time wondering around the temple, I needed to hurry to the Singapore City Gallery before it closed.  The gallery shows the growth of Singapore the buildings they have built.  It was a beautiful gallery that housed many large models of different buildings and even a couple models of the whole city.  It was a great ending destination and a great place to cool off from the long walk outside.  When Urs and Rachel arrived home that night, they took me to the Swiss Club.  I was able to see where many of the Swiss families who live in Singapore send their children to school and I was able to indulge in some Swiss cuisine.  It was truly a day of culture!  

On my last day in Singapore for the week, I went to Little India.  One thing that changed about today was that I was not traveling alone, I was traveling with the helper that works for Urs and Rachel.  Jean and I visited many different temples and few mosques.  I enjoyed having her with me because it gave me someone to talk to.  One of the neatest places we visited today was a temple with a Buddha that was 50 ft tall (15 meters).  It was amazing and the amount of detail put into it.  What a wonderful sight to see.  I enjoyed the liveliness of Little India.  You could feel the people's excitement for life and one of the places I think I felt this the most was at Mustafa Center.  It was one of the most unique stores I have ever been inside, yet one of the most disorganized according to American stores.  You would be walking through aisle of food and all of a sudden you would be looking at children's clothes.  On the next level, you would be walking through adult clothing and then you would be in housewares.  It was just interesting and it kept you on your toes.  After seeing all of Little India, Jean and I headed back home.  I needed to start packing because Friday we left for Phuket, Thailand.