The Arab Quarter and National Museum

Today I took a walk through the neighborhood known as the Arab Quarter. Here in Singapore, this is the place to go if you are looking for textiles or rattan articles... from baskets to furniture. Walking down the streets here can be kind of a chore, the walks in front of the stores are only 5 feet wide (as they are in most of the older parts of Singapore) and all the shopkeepers are out in the fronts of the stores trying to convince you to come inside. Not to mention the contents of most of the stores are spilled out onto the walk. The photo below was taken in a relatively clear spot.



The central landmark in the Arab Quarter is the Sultan Mosque, the largest mosque in Singapore. This mosque can accommodate 5000 worshipers at one time.



This view is from the back of the mosque, I couldn't get a shot from the front, as the street was too narrow.

After a quick lunch of spicy beef and rice, I walked over to the National Museum of Singapore. The museum is a self guided tour, with the assistance of a multimedia device. This was really a really great way to see the museum, you just entered the number of the display you were at, and there would be audio explaining the exhibit. There is also a number next to each item in the museum, if you enter that number into the device, it would bring up the information about that particular piece on the screen in a text display. The Museum covers the history of Singapore from the 14th century, all the way to modern day. I find it fascinating that the development of Singapore as a first-world, modern city has only really been since World War II.

Tonight, Kate and I are going to see the Night Safari. Hopefully, I will have some good pictures to post later tonight.