Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
7
It's the star t of the Thaipusam festival,
an annual H indu r eligious occasion to
express gratitude to Lor d S ubramaniam
for granting their wishes in the pr evious
year. To do this, they will carr y
kevadis,
steel racks hung with fr uits and flo wers,
held onto their bodies with ske wers that
dig into their flesh. O thers will have rows
of hooks pier cing the thick skin on their
backs—the hooks attached to long leather
straps that ar e pulled har d. S till others
drive ske wers thr ough both cheeks and
pierce their tongues.
Once ready, they will parade en masse,
in full tor ture regalia, through the str eets
of Little I ndia and S ingapore's downtown
to the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple.
Singapore's H indus celebrate Thai-
pusam ev ery J anuary into F ebruary, and
like many other cultural and r eligious cel-
ebrations, foreign visitors ar e welcome to
come and (r espectfully) obser ve. If you're
not in to wn for this unusual festiv al, you
can catch ceremonial gore at annual events
like Thimithi, the Birthday of the Monkey
God, and the Festival of the Nine Emperor
God later in the y ear. S ee chapter 3 for
details.
• Checking O ut the O rchard R oad
Scene:
You can 't find better people-
watching than on O rchard Road every
Saturday afternoon, when it seems like
every S ingaporean crawls out of the
woodwork to join the parade of
shoppers, strollers, hipsters, posers, lov-
ers, geeks, and gabbers. E verybody is
here, milling ar ound ev ery mall, clus-
tered ar ound ev ery side walk bench,
checking ev erybody else out. A t the
corner of Scotts Road and Orchard, just
below the M arriott, ther e's an alfr esco
cafe wher e y ou'll find local celebrities
hanging out to see and be seen. Interna-
tional celebrities and models hav e been
spotted her e on occasion, too . I n the
mix, y ou're bound to see most ev ery
tourist on the island, coming around to
see what all the excitement is about.
The malls ar e filled with mobs of
groovy teenagers kicking around, trying to
look cool, and watching the music videos
in the fr ont windo w of the HMV music
store in the H eeren. Moms and dads also
have half-days at the office, so the strip
takes on the feel of an obstacle course as all
the parents race around wielding strollers,
trying to r un errands while they hav e the
chance. Meanwhile, outside in the shady
areas, y ou can see cr owds of domestic
maids and wor kers r elaxing and catching
up on the latest ne ws on their fr ee after-
noon.
For some, the scene is a madhouse to be
avoided; for others, it 's a chance to watch
life on a typical S aturday afternoon in
downtown Singapore.
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FROMMER'S FAVORITE MALAYSIA
EXPERIENCES
• Letting the S ea Wash Away All Your
Stress:
This is paradise. Lying flat, arms
outstretched acr oss the sur face of the
water, I felt the rays of the sun warming
my back and the cool ripples of salty sea
beneath me. Through the clear water I
could see the seabed at the bottom of
the bay and all assor tment of cr eatures
swimming in and out of corals. M y
snorkel guide pointed in the shadows to
the silhouette of a meter-long shark, too
shy to approach.
Back near the beach, I stood in the shal-
lows feeding br ead cr umbs to the smaller
fish. Within minutes I was surrounded by a
swarm of brilliant colors—vivid D ay-Glo
flashes of saltwater fish, thousands of them,
dozens of species, swirling ar ound me and
plucking bread from my fingertips.
