Little India

Little India

We had a cultural adventure this morning. We went to Serangoon Street, known as Little India. Everywhere we had been so far was very westernized, here we felt like we were in another country. The sounds and smells were all very different. There was “Bollywood “style music blasting on every corner and all the stall holders had incense burning. The colour was amazing, everything was so vivid. Georgia was a bit overwhelmed by the assaults on all her senses.
One of the first things we did was get a henna tattoo on our hands. Even Ben got one, once the gloop dried, we have the brown pattern which should last 7-10 days.
We then found a shoe stall that sold little girls glamour shoes, I couldn’t resist; the girls are in raptures with their first glittery heels. The heels are clear Perspex and filled, Georgia’s with a red flower and Chelsea’s with coloured balls. They worked out at about $10 a pair. I know that they are only little girls, but sometimes you have to let a girl have flashy shoes…..
We went to the fresh food market next. Upstairs was the clothes section; filled to the brim with the most magnificent, vibrant saris. They were covered in sequins and jewels and in every colour imaginable. I got 3 long sleeve caftan style tops for Jakarta for about $8 each. Jakarta is a predominantly Muslim city, where it is considered correct to keep shoulders and armpits covered and hems low. While I don’t wear short length things, just about all my summer tops are sleeveless.
The girls found many bejeweled formal saris, but I felt it would be a waste as we rarely go to formal places.
In order to get to the taxi rank we had to walk through the fresh food market. WOW, fish and chicken were being butchered right in front of us. The sight and sounds were amazing. Next to this section were the fruit and vegetables stalls. It was a very busy and crowed place.
We went to the Temple of the 1000 lights in Race course road. There is a festival on at the moment (we think it is Indian New Year). The temple was packed with people, all offering tributes to the most beautiful statues. A procession of worshippers soon left with musical accompaniment and people holding platters of flowers and fruit. We all had to take our shoes off to enter, any I wasn’t sure if I could take photos so I didn’t.
By lunch time it has started to pour with rain so we decided to save China town for another day.
I am going to put all the little darlings to bed for an afternoon nap and head down to the food market for dinner supplies.