Sunday, October 29, 2006
26th October Singapore Little India & Kampong Glam
Bussorah St Kampong Glam looking at the Golden Mosque
Little India Market trader
26 October Picture is Sleepy Sam's:
26 October
Started the day with a walk to Canning Fort. This is a small hill that originally looked down on Harbour Quay and the original Parliament buildings. It was considered a good lookout point and was the site of the colony’s Signals site. Flags were used to communicate to and from the fleet sitting out in the bay of the Singapore River. It is also the site of Raffles’ house again were he was able to look down on the harbour and the growing colony. Around the hill a little is Canning Fort which was the barracks of the British army whilst they were the protection of the colony. It is now a restaurant, headquarters of a dance studio and the huge rooms can be hired for banquets and balls.
The very top of the hill is a reservoir and a military installation. Probably a communications centre as it is one of the highest points within the city area of Singapore. My feet are tired again but need to keep going as I have only today to really do full exploring. Also I’m running out of water again so need to find a shop. (It’s only 11.00am)
Walked on towards Little India and Kampong Glam. Little India is what it says and Kampong Glam is the Malaysian area. Took the MRT to Little India and bumped into the 2 ladies I shared the airport shuttle service with to our respective hotels on arrival in Singapore. That’s a pretty impressive statistic considering there is something like 4 million plus people milling about on this island. Little India: what can I say, the spicy smells, the crush of the milling throng, noisy street vendors selling everything from suits, “make it for you today, sir, you collect tomorrow”, to every food and spice you can think of to Christmas decorations! Not to mention the Goldsmiths shops, loads of them all selling 22ct gold in just about every style and design you could imagine, except Christian crosses, and I looked in 5 or 6 shops, funny that. Loads of food halls containing small counters selling just about all types of asian food you could imagine. These are a necessity to the weary traveller as they are air-conditioned and a welcome respite from the relentless heat and humidity of a normal Singapore day. Plenty of water and cool drinks available and tea or coffee. Wandered up and down some back streets like Campbell Lane, Clive Street, Madras Street and names evocative of India and it’s Colonial past. Some of my photos were taken around these lanes and show the style of houses built back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. As it is Deepavali (New year) there has been a lot of celebrating and the street decorations are up and very colourful. Street food traders in the old Hawker style have been outlawed by the Singaporean Govt. and have been replaced by large food malls which don’t quite have the same ambiance. It’s all air conditioned and formica quick clean tops and microwaves, but still a lot of traditional style cooking and food but …..it should all be outside!……..
Moved across the streets a bit and came across a set of large warehouses which were signed as Victoria St Wholesale Market. Bit cash and carry. But with a definite smell of hmmmmmm rotting food? Spices? Fish? Make your own mind up. Suspect that early morning would be best bet to visit and watch it in full flow as it was a bit sleepy when I was there round midday. Check my photos of deep salted shrimps, prawns, what could be similar to whitebait and other unknown fish and their removed bits and pieces sitting outside unprotected and uncovered, yum! “give you Delhi Belly long time mister …. You like?”
Carried on into Kampong Glam after that and came to a halt at the Sultan Mosque. Huge building with a massive golden dome which sort of dominates all the smaller 19 and 20 century buildings around. Leading to the door of the mosque was a lovely little pedestrianised street (Horrible 20th Century word to describe a beautiful oasis of peace and calm in a non-stop city). Again photos show it but do not do it justice. My feet were again begging for mercy so decided to stop for an iced tea. Noticed this almost invisible café as 2 westerners (Americans as it turned out) were outside reading well thumbed Lonely Planet books. Sleepy Sam’s is great. Very dark inside and cool, with a book case filled with well worn books, paperbacks and travel guides and local newspapers. Very bohemian style and calming and relaxing. Honestly didn’t want to go back out into the heat. Or the rain as we had another thunderstorm. The assistant, Grace was really helpful and offered me a choice of homemade brownies and small selection of sweets and cakes. Brownie was delicious. If you ever visit Singapore find Sleepy Sam’s and go chill. It is also a very reasonably priced bed and breakfast. The rest of Kampong Glam is quite small but, strangely has a very large number of fishing and angling shops?!
Went back to hotel to rest my weary legs for a while before returning to Little India with the intention of trying some food mall delicacies. However, whilst cogitating the mysteries of the Blog thought I might venture into Raffles and see what the dining would be like. No doubt everything gets booked up weeks, nay probably even months in advance.
So anyway there I was staring at the Long Bar Steak Room menu at my table next to the window by the veranda on my right and only 15 feet from the chefs in the open kitchen on my left. How did that happen? Probably what Natwest Visa might say too when they see the bill!
I had walked in to Raffles main entrance to enquire about dining and unfortunately they had a table free in the Long Bar Steak Room. However, it was still early evening, 7.30pm, and dining seems to be a later evening event here. I was graciously shown to my table close to the open kitchen and by a window looking out over the balcony at the rear of the hotel and down towards the road. I chose grilled/clay oven cooked prawns for starters and fillet steak, medium rare, on a bed of sweet potatoes crisply chipped and local vegetables. These vegetables were accompanied by 3 mounds of mashed potato, each a different type. Sweet, Yam and ordinary. I ordered a glass of House Red (merlot) to accompany. The prawns were cooked to perfection as was the steak but I felt a dessert would be too much and spoil the meal overall. I managed to take a few photos but they did not turn out too well unfortunately. Must practice my indoor, food and low lighting photo skills! From the restaurant I went into the famous Raffles Long Bar. What a shock.
It is nothing like I had imagined after reading quite a lot about it over the years. I had imagined a dark, woodened floor, strewn with discarded monkey nut shells, a wood bar, dark mahogany wood and plastered upper walls with photos of long dead but famous writers and illustrious visitors to the hallowed room. Old but comfy rattan chairs and sofas encircling mahogany drinks tables hidden by tall palm plants in beautiful Chinese pots each worth a Kings ransom. Victorian style wall lights emitting a dim glow and Punkah wallahs would be positioned around the room pulling strings that wafted the fans to cool the thick, smoky humid air and offer a short but welcome break from the relentless heat of a Singapore night. Drinks boys and girls dressed in the old Dhoby’s of an almost forgotten time, hovering unseen awaiting to silently replenish your almost empty gin sling without you realising you needed a refill The reality was quite different. To begin with the original Long Bar was on the ground floor at the rear of the hotel and was exactly what it said it was; a long bar stretching for most of the length of the hotel. This new, reinvented bar is neither on the ground floor nor long. It is a stubby ‘ L ‘ shape with tiled floors, plastered walls with an atmosphere of tourists seeking the memory of a not so long forgotten era. The monkey nut shells were still on the floor though. The fans were in a long line across the ceiling and connected by wire to a little eccentric motor that moved them back and forth creating a small but barely perceptible breeze. Such is progress?
# posted by desmond22 @ 7:02 am 
