SINGAPORE: Little India

For most of my visit in Singapore I've been staying in Little India, and I have been thoroughly enjoying the neighborhood. Little India breaks the Singaporean mold. While the rest of the city comes across as planned, button-down, and corporate, Little India is anything but. Rather than the smell of cleaning agents and perfume that dominate the rest of Singapore, Little India smells of spice and incense. The exotic odors hit you as soon as you take the escalator up the surface from the subway. Other parts of Singapore are filled with carefully planned and designed retail outlets. Little India, on the other hand, is a hodge-podge of grocery stores, hawker stalls, Indian music shops and a host of other independent businesses. In the rest of Singapore the sidewalks are clear and limited to pedestrian traffic. In Little India the shops spill out onto the sidewalk. Much like in Vietnam, the sidewalks are for commerce, not walking, and pedestrians share the streets with cars. Little India possesses a liveliness not found in other parts of Singapore, and it's made for an interesting home base.