Singapore Community Gardens

The Singapore National Parks Board has a wonderful gardening program described on their web site www.nparks.gov.sg . It provides support for 600 gardening clubs throughout the nation. I found one called Ayer Rajah Zone "1" RC Gardening Club on one of my excursions.

A neighborhood cat named Jake met me at the gate and showed me all around his big garden. He says it is his garden but he doesn't do any work. He says he has a staff of people that do all the hard labor.

The garden is huge and very well organized. It is fenced in and there are stepping stones laid out that separate the different fruits, vegetables and flowers being grown. Jake's staff does a wonderful job weeding and keeping the place well organized and clean.

An odd sight is the plastic bags tied loosely over some of the young fruit to keep bugs away.

 There is a potting shed to store equipment and to start off fragile young plantings. Jake likes to hang out there and sleep in the shade.

 I enjoyed my visit immensely but it was time to go. Before I left, Jake asked me which part of the

garden I like best. Since I am not a big fruit eater, I told him the flowers were my favorites.

Hindu Temple

I seem to be drawn to Little India for some reason. It is such an exotic area. On my third bus trip to this wonderful place I followed a lady in a beautiful Sari. The walk we took was long but it was well worth it.

    

We ended up at her temple called Sri Thendayuthapani. The temple is also known as Chettiar's  Hindu Temple as well as Tank Road Temple. It was absolutely beautiful and amazingly intricate in it's design.



As she entered, she removed her sandals. I, of course, did not have to remove anything because I was bare pawed. The pretty lady went to pray as I wandered around trying to remain undetected.

I was amazed that the inside of this place of worship was just as beautiful as the outside. There were 3 dimensional depictions of all sorts of heavenly figures throughout the building. Some of these gods looked like multi armed people and others appeared to be animals. Tourists are encouraged to enter to see the beauty but as non believers, they are discouraged from going beyond a certain point.

It was time to leave. As I headed back to my bus stop I meandered through the tiny Istana Park which is full of lovely flowers. It reminded me that humans can paint and sculpt beautiful things but nothing matches God's ability to create the beauty of flowers.

Little India II

A few adventures ago I had described my visit to Little India and mentioned I needed to return to see some more of this colorful area of Singapore. Well, I got my chance again and headed directly to the Tekka Center to see my fish monger friend.

 
 

 I was so pleased he remembered me. I was starving when I got there but the wonderful fish smell made me even hungrier. My buddy cut me a choice piece of fish and tossed it over. I love sushi! (I don't call it that though...I just call it raw fish.) I gobbled the meal down, purred at my friend in appreciation for his generosity, then bounded down the street to do some exploring.

It must have been shopping day because all the streets were packed with people. I had to be very careful to ensure I didn't get stepped on. I saw lots of henna shops and even thought of having a lovely design painted on my legs. I was upset when I realized the ink would not go on very well over my furry legs.


I noticed some of the shops had lovely little shrines dedicated to the shop keepers favorite god's. There were also lots of flower shops where the vendors were selling beautiful bouquets and weaved
flower strands.
.

Many of the buildings were painted bright colors and had ornate attachments. In front of one of the shops was a little fountain that some pigeons turned into a bird bath to cool off in.



Little India is also known for wonderful cuisine.  There are  lots of little restaurants but since I had just eaten I just stopped to breathe  in the great aromas.

 

It was time to get home so off I went on my bus ride. I made it home and took a long, well deserved nap.