Little India & Kampong Glam, Singapore - December 2017

This must be Little India.

This post goes all the way back to our super relaxed visit to Singapore late last year, our days over there were spent walking around the different neighbourhoods, taking in the sights and smells. Little India and it’s nearby Arab precinct, Kampong Glam certainly fulfilled the sights and smells part of the equation too. As was our custom on this trip after breakfast at Marina Bay we jumped in a taxi and headed off the days exploring, getting dropped off this morning on Serangoon Road in Little India.

Even in Little India things were pretty calm, pretty much like everywhere in Singapore.

As a rough guide for this stroll we were using the little Lonely Planet Pocket Singapore guide so after jumping out of the cab we wandered along Buffalo Road for a few minutes. Buffalo Road features a lot of colourful houses and shops complete with side walks over flowing with produce and plenty to stimulate your sense of smell as well. We were fairly early in the day on this visit but Buffalo Road was still a hive of activity even at this early hour.

Buffalo Road

Retracing our route a little we made a short side trip to check out the very colourful Tan House, you need sun glasses to check this place out it’s that colourful, understatement isn’t a feature that the citizens of Little India seem to appreciate! The Tan House’s full name is the Tan Teng Niah and it was built in the early 1900’s by Mr Tan Teng Niah for his beloved. The Tan House is now one of the last surviving Chinese villas in Little India.

The Tan House

Continuing on Sam and I headed through the Tekka Centre Wet Market, this place is an assault on your senses, particularly your sense of smell. We were there a little late for most of the action in the wet market but there was still a bit happening in the late morning, early mornings would be the go if you want to get the most of the market though. The Tekka Markets were actually established way back in 1915 nearby. The current Tekka Centre Wet Market was built here in 1982 and after a bit of a reno in 2008 lives on in it’s current location.

Tekka Centre Wet Market

Tekka Centre

Leaving the Tekka Centre Wet Market we emerged onto Serangoon Road for a short stretch before turning down Campbell Lane to go and check out the new Indian Heritage Centre. The Indian Heritage Centre was only opened in 2015 and the $12 million building houses a museum that celebrates the Indian heritage and history in Singapore. Leaving the heritage centre we made a short side trip north west along Dunlop Street to check out Thandapani Co, unfortunately the trader wasn’t open today so no photos there.

Campbell Lane

The very modern Indian Heritage Centre.

Turning around, we meandered our way back down Dunlop Street to the Abdul Gafoor Mosque. This world heritage site dates back to 1907, but was spruced up a bit in 2003. From what I can see the mosque was open to the public but I’m never overly comfortable wondering into these places of worship while people are praying and going about their rituals, so today we were content to stay outside and take in the Indo-Saracenic Style of architecture (this post would be pretty anorexic without Wikipedia;).

Dunlop Street

Abdul Gafoor Mosque

Now I should be waxing lyrical about the Sungai Road Thieves Market about now but when Sam and I headed over to check it out we found that it had been bulldozed, maybe there were too many thieves… although that may be another Feral Fact? Not to be perturbed we headed over to the exotically titled Kampong Glam as we started meandering our way back to the CBD and onto Marina Bay Sands. As I mentioned earlier Kampong Glam is an Arab precinct of Singapore. After checking out the substantial Sultan Mosque we wandered down Bussorah Mall past it’s palm trees and colourful old building to Beach Road, our route back into the CBD.

Meandering our way down to Kampong Glam.

Sultan Mosque

So much to explore, so little time:)

Maybe we should try this colour scheme for Melbourne's public housing?

The Dirt.
The described walk is probably less than two kilometres and definitely falls into the easy category, although if like us you are walking back to your accommodation it’ll add a few kilometres, in our case it was around another three kilometres. Now these distances are pretty small but don’t forget that Singapore is pretty close to the equator so if you find humidity a bit taxing then factor that in. As I mentioned early this walk is roughly the city stroll written up in Lonely Planet’s Pocket Singapore Guide, the little guide and map gives some basic information and enough directions to get you around without getting lost, however if you want anymore than basic information then you’ll have to do a bit of research online. As you would expect there are plenty of spots to eat and drink on this stroll, the hawkers at the Tekka Centre are the Feral pick I suppose.

Relevant Posts.
Singapore, 2017.

Maybe Mr Faruk has spent some time in Australia?

Time to head back to the hotel.