“I love it here, mamma. There are so many trees.” This, from Rowan, on our first glimpse of Singapore from the above ground subway. We were on our way to our hotel in Little India, and even after a day and a half of flights and a delayed, snowy layover in New York, the little man was happy and eager to see more of the city.
We spent the previous day at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where we had a blast finding the characters from the movie, Night at the Museum, and looking at artifacts on all four floors of this gigantic New York landmark.
Rowan was particularly impressed by the Asian and African Mammals, and the Easter Island statue – a character from the movie who always makes him giggle.
“I liked the tigers at the Natural History Museum because they had really beautiful orange colours. I also liked all of the little figures in the displays. I liked everything there!” – Rowan
But the museum and the cold, icy day in NYC faded away completely as soon as we stepped outside the subway doors in Singapore. It’s 40 degrees and super humid – perfect for orchids, a flower Singapore is known for, but pretty sticky for all of us.
Trying to win out over jet lag, we decided to go see the Buddha’s Tooth Relic Temple in Little China. It’s an amazing black and red, four story temple with hundreds of Buddha statues lining the walls on the main floor. Rowan loved walking around the enormous pots filled with burning incense sticks and breathing in the beautifully scented smoke.
A ceremony just started as we got there, and even though he was super tired, Rowan was patient and careful as we made our way around the outer edges of the main room, looking at different statues of the Buddha and the offerings of fruit and coins that people had left for them.
“I liked looking at the Buddhas because they were beautiful and colourful. I liked the Buddha’s golden dragon and the music that the monks were playing. It made me feel happy.” – Rowan
Before heading back to our hotel for a nap, we wandered around the markets of Little China and walked along streets strung with lanterns and decorations from the recent Chinese New Year festivals.
It was a great way to spend our first few hours in Singapore.