This is the most fascinating city with incredible architecture. Howard is loving it! However, today was all about Chinatown and enjoying the decor for the Lunar New Year.

As it is Lunar New Year, there are lots of little “markets” happening. So we especially wanted to visit Chinatown today. Our first stop was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. (no, we never saw the tooth!) It is very elaborate, with at least 1,000 Buddhas as wall décor all over, and very busy.  The main stupa (center shrine) incorporates 320 kg of gold (705 pounds!!) 

After the temple, we walked through a street market of vendors selling everything! Next we went to the Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple. Off with our shoes and inside to see the wonderful artistry of the ceiling paintings. It turned out we were just in time for the Friday morning special ceremony of washing the Buddha. (the washing symbolizes cleansing of the body, speech & mind to let innate enlightenment shine through.)  It lasted for at least 20 minutes and featured 2 musicians with flute/pipe and a special drum. They continued the beat throughout the ceremony as a monk in the front (and 2 more just inside) poured containers of water over each Buddha statue. The locals were gathered around to pray while this was happening.

After finding a Chinese restaurant for lunch (not our all-time favorite Chinese dishes), we walked some more along the shopping streets to take in the sights. Truly, it was so hot and sticky in the afternoon that it was difficult to keep going. We gave up after a while and headed back to the hotel for a cold drink and a nap!

Our evening was dinner at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, at Lavo restaurant  located on the top-floor observation deck. The views of the bay are wonderful. During dinner there was a light show below in the bay, as well as fireworks (which ran again at 9:30 p.m., and we saw from our hotel room.)