Day #144 - We're Swimming in the Rain

For our second full day in Singapore, we headed a little deeper into the city - in particular we headed towards the city's Chinatown. 

The story of Singapore's Chinatown dates back to the early 19th century, when Chinese immigrants arrived seeking work and opportunity. They settled in the area around Telok Ayer Street, which was then a bustling port district. Over time, the community thrived, establishing temples, clan associations, and businesses that catered to their needs. Today, like many Chinatowns, its a blend of old and new; tourists and locals. There was a huge number of souvenir shops but nestled within them, if you looked carefully were some interesting food outlets, tailors and more traditional Chinese fare. 

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (above) houses a tooth relic believed to be from the left canine of the historical Buddha which was recovered from his funeral pyre and brought to Singapore. 

Today was a public holiday to mark the Lunar New Year, so it was rather busy but it was also fun to see the colourful decorations ushering in the Year of the Dragon. 

The area also houses a Hindu temple - one of the most colourful we've seen. 

The day was rather humid since there had been frequent downpours and so we headed back to the hotel to cool down in the pool. 

The water was cool and refreshing and it became more so when the heavens opened once again and unleashed an intense delugue. At least we had the pool to ourselves and James made it to the glass-bottomed end!

After a light lunch poolside and a mini-siesta, we headed back out to explore the other side of the bay from yesterday. We took a different route to yesterday which led us through a modern shopping district before we came to the river. There was a lovely sculpture that I found interesting:

On our way back, we stopped off at the food hall next to our hotel for a spot of dinner. We ordered a chicken based tray of yumminess and although it was served in a prison tray, it was very tasty.

You can probably guess what the evening contained - more of our True Blood marathon!