Malaysia, Day 1: Singapore, Little India

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I arrived in Singapore well and in good shape. Since it was already 6pm and I was tired, not much was left of the day. I checked in into the hotel, the Albert Court Hotel at the fringes of Singapore's Little India, and set out to find some food. Getting food wasn't difficult: right around the corner was a Food Center, much like an American food court. I had a simple Nasi Goreng for 2.5 S$ which is about 1.5 US$. It was quite bad, but at least it was authentically bad.

After dinner I walked around Little India, Singapore's "India Town". It is a bustling neighborhood occuppied (obviously) mostly by Indians. The smell is incredible. I soaked in wades of incense and other smells I couldn't identify. My early career as a professional nosepicker had largely ruined my sense of smell, but the Little India experience proved to be so strong even I couldn't oversmell it. And it was good! Lively, energetic, and interesting.

They say India is a big consumer of gold. I can confirm this. About every second shop in Little India, it seemed to me, was selling gold or gold jewellery. And these places were busy! Lots of people haggling over jewellery prices. Gee, what an occupation.

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