TriXie's Travels: Singapore, Day One

The opening ceremonies don't start until Thursday, but VideoMonkey, Hooperkid, and I went over to Suntec Singapore Hall 602 to see how construction was coming along. Kinda wacky that the Asian Championship features a European castle, but it looks cool.

Here I am practicing my surreptitious butt-grabbing maneuver for when Master Chief makes an appearance here at the games on Sunday. I may risk a caning, but it'll be worth it.

Then it was off to explore Little India, where we found religion, commerce, and delicious spicy odors. This is the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, devoted to the worship of Vishnu. It was built in 1855.

Hooperkid and I checked out the various brightly-painted shrines inside the temple. This is my version of the boon-bestowing, fear-dispelling pose.

It is very muggy here, and between houses of worship we stopped at a 7-11, where I was relieved and thrilled to discover that they have Slurpees in Singapore. This was the "summer colada" flavor. It cost $1.40 Singapore dollars, and tasted like heaven.

Little India was awesome. Hooperkid managed to keep his bearings and we didn't get lost among the winding roads, narrow alleys and banyan trees. Trash receptacles every 10 feet or so make it easy to not litter—which is a serious offense in Singapore and carries a hefty fine!

This is the Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya, built in 1927 by a Thai monk. It's a temple that features a 50-foot, 300-ton seated Buddha. They also have a piece of bark here from the bodhi tree under which Siddhartha Gautama sat while becoming the Buddha.

They've got good deals here. There were several stores that claim to be the cheapest in Singapore. What's nice is that the salespeople are not aggressively in your face. I haven't bought anything yet though. I'm saving my cash for Orchard Street.

This is another Buddhist temple. This one is the Leong San See temple. It was built in 1917. The name means "Dragon Mountain." Both Taoists and Buddhists worship here. The incense smells wonderful!

This plant is like a cross between a tree and a cactus. It looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book and it was super sharp! After we'd exhausted ourselves we headed back to our hotel to take a quick nap before dinner. Tomorrow's the opening ceremony and the Samsung Guitar Hero II™ challenge!

TriX out.

Day 2