Day 8: Little India, Kate's House, Night Safari

The next fruit we tried was called Jack fruit - I thought it tasted ok, kind of weird, had like a juicy fruit taste.
Kacey on the other hand did not like it haha!

Well today was an exciting day in Little India!!! We took a cab ride over to the Little India MRT stop to meet a tour group today. Patrice had booked a walking tour to guide us around the Little India area and talk to us about different shops, food and the culture. We got there a little early, so we had a little fun on the nearby playground and exercise equipment that is randomly placed around the city. It's pretty hilarious, haha I still laugh at these pictures when I look at them!

Little India Map

Fun on the Snail!

"The Elliptical" - it does rival my elliptical at 24 hour fitness..

So focused!

Whoa there crazy one!!

Oh the Pain of the Exercise bike!!!!

Patrice is giving it a spin ;0)

Patrice liked this one because she said it felt like she was driving! She misses her car just a little bit. ;0)

And we did some rock wall climbing... it was super intense! LITTLE INDIA ROCK WALL CLIMBING!!!

And we had a close call! Ahhh!!!

Patrice said, "Look, no hands!"

More HDBs...

"Did you know that?? NOW YOU KNOW!!" - Bill Nye anyone???

And finally... the whole point of the post. :0) This is Geraldine, our sweet tour guide. She was very informative and friendly. She actually had all 14 of our group member's names memorized by the time we started. We told her she should be a teacher hehe, talk about having to learn millions of names quick...

Geraldine, who I liked to call "Jeri" today

Flower Shop in LIttle India

Part of the Wet Market

The Seafood Section

Spices stand - incredibly strong smells

And we have chicken!

We got to sample some different types of Indian fruit.

This one is called Lychee. You had to open the skin and peel off the outer layer. It looked similar to a big grape on the inside without it's peeling. It had a interestingly sweet taste. I liked it but it was kind of a lot of work to eat.

Clothes hanging to dry on bamboo sticks from the HDBs. So thankful for my washer and dryer!

Gold is very popular in India. Families buy gold jewelry for their daughters from the time they are born until they get married. This way they will have something to sell for money if they fall on hard times and can be self-sufficient.

One of the things we got to do on the tour was visit a clothing shop and learn how to wear a Saree, which is typical Indian clothing for women in the Northern areas of India. Kacey volunteered to be the model! It was really interesting to see how they wrap the long material around you and pleat it in the front before tucking it in to the girdle (a.k.a. Kacey's shorts hehe) to get it to stay put. We also learned about the markings that Indians make on their foreheads. There are many different colors and meanings, but we did learn that a red dot indicates a person who practices Hindu, and a black dot indicates a single women ready to date or open to being courted. Kacey got a little jewel one, I don't know that it had a specific meaning hehe.

Wedding Saree - there can costs hundreds to thousands of dollars

After the saree shop, we proceeded to a couple of shops that did Henna tattoos. I have always wanted to try one, so Kacey and I both got one on our hand. It has a neat cooling effect on your skin, which is one of the reasons people like them so much in India. It went on like thick smooth puffy paint, dried and hardened, and then peeled off leaving the design on your skin. The girl said it would stay on for about a week. 

Finished product!

We stopped by a little sweets shop and tasted typical Indian desserts.

And here is my street!!

The next stop in our tour was to a Hindu temple. This one was very similar to the one we saw in Chinatown, but for a different deity. This temple was dedicated to the goddess of courage.

This is the temple goddess and her priests. Only they are allowed to go and attend to her.

Story of the son whose head was accidentally cut off by his father and replaced by an elephant head.
Represents that you can overcome trials and make the best of bad things.

The tour ended after the temple, so we walked over to a recommended restaurant and had some lunch. It was authentic Indian food, which I really haven't had before so I didn't eat a whole lot on account I didn't want to be sick all afternoon! The dishes we ordered were very good though!

We had lunch here :0)

Butter Chicken and Naan were my favorites

After lunch, we walked over to Mustafa Center and did some browsing and a little shopping. This place was like a multi level Wal-Mart of sorts, that had everything from jewelry and electronics, to plates and kitchen stuff. It had all kind of stuff! We walked around for a bit and found some interesting things...

I just thought of something I needed to write down! Good thing this GIGANTIC pen was handy!!!

Well how could I not take a picture of this???

or these strange kitty things?

or this?? Indian Barney!!

I almost bought this for my parent's bedroom. I thought it would just look spectacular on the wall!

After Mustafa, we rode the MRT back over to the Woodlands (Patrice's neighborhood area) and picked up a few things for dinner to make chicken enchiladas. They were yummy! Patrice bought us some fruity slushy drinks at this place, they were tasty!

So one thing Singaporians really like over here is this stuff called "Essence of Chicken." Basically they cook the chicken in a certain way so all of the fat, juices etc. run down out of the chicken, and that's what they put in a bottle and sell. It is supposed to increase stamina and be good for your body. I always want to scrunch my face up and say "gross" when I see it or hear about it.

After the grocery store, we went by one of Patrice's friends' houses. Her name is Kate, and she is also an Exxon wife and they have three kids, one in college in Virginia and two in school at the Singapore American School where Elliott goes to school at. Her house was absolutely beautiful and decorated with furniture and items from local stores.

Burmese Bible framed

Kacey, meet Casey the beagle! Such a cute girl!

After we had dinner, Ernie, Patrice and Elliott dropped us off at the night zoo so that we could visit the Night Safari. Singapore is the only place in the world that has a Night Safari Zoo so it was definitely something that we wanted to experience while we were here. There was a Creatures of the Night show that was hilarious and very cool, the animals were so well trained! We also walked around the park area on trails and rode a tram around the non-walking areas of the park. There were animals out everywhere and there were so close to you. I have just love the open concept zoo they do here. We saw animals up close and just loved the experience. A lot of my pictures didn't turn out well because we couldn't use flash photography, but I posted a few that look decent.

At the Creatures of the Night Show

This otter was helping out with the recycling!

Leopard, this girl was preggers we think :0)

Forest Eagle Owl

We thought it was funny who adopted this owl :0)

Scary safari!

These next few pictures were taken on the tram safari ride. It was really cool to see so many of the animals up close at night. The tapir (black and white animal) was right off the rode from us!

Giraffes (they had a little baby)

Tapir

Elephants!

Scorpions that glow under the black light - pretty cool :0)

Hyena - one of the largest types of hyena (don't worry, there is a glass wall there!)

Well that is is for today! Thursday is our last day of adventures, we are planning to go into town and look at some of the older buildings and architecture and maybe a museum so we will see! Tomorrow night we will be going to the airport around midnight to catch our 2:30 a.m. flight back to Texas! Say a prayer for us!