TriXie's Travels: Singapore, Day Three

It was the last day of the WCG Singapore Final, and things went smoothly until I was accosted and terrified by two Final Fantasy dudes. Check out the size of that sword!

Red Bull was not only giving away free samples (with pamphlets on the benefits of taurine), but they also brought in a graffiti artist to create some pretty cool murals.

We ducked out of the convention hall to do some sightseeing in Chinatown. This is Thian Hock Keng Temple, the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore. It was built in 1839 on the site of a former joss house and is the home of Ma Zhu Po, goddess of the sea.

Thian Hock Keng features many shrines, a pagoda, ancestor tablets, a furnace for burning paper offerings, and we think this might be the god of Gene Simmons.

This is Sri Mariamman Temple, dedicated to a goddess known for her powers of curing epidemic diseases. The tower depicts 72 Hindu deities and the boundary wall features sacred cows.

One must remove one's shoes before entering the temple. Lindsey and I braved the blazing hot pavement to take a look in this shrine. He kinda looks like Vlad the Impaler, doesn't he?

After the Hindu temple we wandered around Chinatown and ended up in a busy market filled with equal parts cool stuff and junky souvenirs. We found a pretty funny t-shirt showing all the things you can't do in Singapore.

I've never seen such animated mannequins anywhere!

We stayed in the hot, humid market for over an hour. And no, I never stop clutching that Singapore guide book. It's our bible here. We can't function without it.

We cut through a mall just to enjoy the air conditioning and spied quite a few massage joints staffed by ladies in questionable outfits. We got out of there and started looking for lunch. The fruit looked great …

… the meat products, not so much. I don't know if these are ducks or geese, but whatever they are they ain't happy. We took a break from exotic food and went to Outback Steakhouse. Tomorrow the Asian Championship begins!

TriX out.