Singapore Part II - Singapore Odyssey

Hello Everyone!

Today (1 Mar 2026) marked our second of three days in Singapore. I did a bit more looking around the city, primarily as part of today's shore excursion named the Singapore Odyssey.

Singapore Odyssey Shore Excursion

We departed mid-morning on a six-hour tour through various parts of the city, each representing one of the many cultures that coexist here. 

Raffles Hotel

We began at the Raffles hotel, a luxury, all-suite hotel dating back to 1887. It's a grand, white, colonial-style hotel known for its verandas, tropical courtyards, and old-world elegance. It has long been associated with high society, writers, and royalty, and is widely regarded as a symbol of Singapore’s colonial past and luxury hospitality. I did a quick search for room and found the least expensive one to be going for about $1,100 a night.

Raffles Hotel

I'm told that the stay usually includes limo service to/from the airport in the hotel's shuttle. This is their shuttle...

Mercedes S450L - The Hotel Shuttle

Currently, depending on options, and including Singapore's requirement for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to own a car, this ride would set you back somewhere between $400,000 and $560,000. That's US dollars, not Singapore dollars!

The hotel is located just outside the downtown area. From the courtyard of the hotel you can see part of the Singapore skyline. The needle-like building on the left side of the photo below is a WWII war memorial commemorating those lost during the Japanese occupation.

Skyline View from Front of Raffles Hotel

Little India

Next, we moved on to Little India, one of Singapore’s most vibrant historic districts, known for its strong South Asian heritage, colorful streets, temples, markets, and food scene. Located just northeast of the Civic District along Serangoon Road, it’s both a cultural enclave and a popular visitor area. Mom & Pop restaurants are next door to hip eateries, and myriad shops line the streets. Many operate 24/7.

Shops on Serangoon Rd

I saw these peacock feathers for sale. I thought they were for ornamentation, but our guide told us they're used as feather dusters by local housekeepers.

Peacock Feathers

There were all manner of Hindu religious articles for sale. I saw this Buddha statue for sale. It looked out of place to me next to all the Hindu figures for sale, so I asked the guide about it. He said that in Singapore (and much of Southeast Asia), it’s not unusual to see a Buddha statue in a Hindu household. Usually this is not a contradiction but reflects the region’s long history of religious blending and pragmatic spirituality. Pragmatic in that "blessings from any source can only be a good thing". And, within parts of Hindu tradition itself, the Buddha is not always seen as “outside” Hinduism. Some Hindus regard the Buddha as an enlightened sage, a great moral teacher, and in some traditions, an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. Because of this, venerating the Buddha does not necessarily feel religiously inconsistent to them.

Buddha for Sale in a Hindu Market

There were food vendors galore, with everything imaginable. This shop had a wide variety of bananas for sale, as well as other fresh fruits.

30,000 Pounds of Bananas

Gold shops were plentiful as well. Here's one that offered a nice selection of bracelets and rings.

Gold Shop

According to our guide, 80% of Singaporean citizens live in government housing. It's not free - you buy your apartment, condominium style. But the building is erected and maintained by the government. The buildings vary in age, but are all very well-maintained and nice looking. 

Government Housing in Singapore

Drying Laundry in Government Housing

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

We made a brief stop at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Despite its traditional Tang Dynasty appearance, it is a modern structure (completed in 2007) built to house and venerate what devotees believe is a sacred tooth relic of the historical Buddha. It serves as both an active monastery and a public museum.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Interior

Incense Offerings at Temple Entrance

Chinatown and Chinatown Heritage Center

Next, we walked through Chinatown on our way to the Chinatown Heritage Center. Despite Singapore's push for urban development and frequent use of eminent domain to obtain land, many older buildings in Chinatown have been preserved. There are busy markets and street vendors throughout.

Singapore's Chinatown

There were several vendors hawking durians. You could smell them before you saw them!

Durians for Sale in Chinatown

The Chinatown Heritage Centre is Singapore’s primary museum of early Chinese immigrant life, using immersive shophouse reconstructions to show how crowded, difficult, and industrious early Chinatown really was. 

Chinatown Heritage Centre

It's in an old building that was once a shophouse, so the interior is very authentic. Here we see one of the front rooms, used as a tailor shop.

Tailor Shop in Heritage Center

The back of the house and the two floors above had a sewing area for the seamstresses, kitchens, bathrooms, and sleeping quarters. Some of the rooms, although tiny, housed as many as ten family members in each. Several families shared a single building.

Kitchen Facilities

Many residents made their living as "hawkers", selling food and merchandise on the streets. In the pictures below, you can see the trays of food the hawkers carried, using a bamboo pole over their shoulders to hold up the balanced load.

Bamboo Shoulder Poles

Typical Hawker Fare

After spending about an hour looking through the many exhibits at the heritage center we boarded our bus to go to a very nice Chinese seafood restaurant for lunch. The place was modern and clean, and the food was excellent.

Arab Quarter

After lunch we headed for the historic Arab Quarter of Singapore, known today as Kampong Glam. It was one of the main ethnic districts created during the early British colonial period when Sir Stamford Raffles established trading settlements in Singapore in 1819.

Main Thoroughfare in the Arab Quarter

The Sultan Mosque anchors the Arab Quarter. Named for Sultan Hussein Shah, the first Sultan of Singapore under British rule, it was built in 1824 and renovated in 1828. It is the center of Islamic life in Singapore and remains the most important mosque in the country.

Sultan Mosque

The dark band around the base of the dome in the picture below is decorated with glass bottle ends, historically donated by poorer Muslims so everyone could have the opportunity to contribute to the mosque’s construction.

Dome Base Decorated with Glass Bottle Ends

We visited during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when faithful Muslims fast between sunup and sundown. Food vendors were already set up by mid-afternoon so they would be ready to sell to hungry patrons as soon as they exited the mosque at sundown.

Ramadan Food Vendors Outside Mosque

Interesting Signs

I noticed some unusual signs while walking through the various neighborhoods. In keeping with Singapore's tight government controls and lack of tolerance for corruption, they appear to be cracking down on abuse of tourists too. 

Beware of Restaurant Scams

No High-Pressure Sales!

Here's a clever advert for a "probiotic beer". OMG! First I've heard of that concept!

OMG Beer

This was in Chinatown. Sometimes the translations to English can't help but bring a smile.

Tea that Makes You Belly Happy

Back to the Ship

After a long, hot day absorbing the many cultures in Singapore, it was time to return to the ship for a shower, a change of clothes, and dinner. After dinner, we were entertained by a local dance troupe who performed dances representing each of the ethnicities in Singapore. 

So, another great day aboard the Viking Sky, with plenty more to come.

Stay tuned!

Jim