#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Singapore Forum >  >  Singapore - Little India

## slimboyfat

On Friday the government announced that they were soon going to be giving Little India a facelift, which usually means a turn for the more boring.

Channelnewsasia.com

So that, and the fact that I was on my way to Sim Lim Square to buy a power supply for my PC led me to take a walk around Little India. 

Unfortunately my camera battery ran out during the walk so most of the pics were taken with my mobile phone camera.


Little India is quite a busy place on a Sunday as most of the imported Indian construction workers etc have their day off. However it didnt seem to be quite so busy yesterday - i think they were probably chasing all the off-duty Filipino maids at Lucky Plaza.

If you happen to be in Singapore for a few days it might be worth coming to have something to eat and take a look at Little India before the inevitable changes.

Little India is also home to the oldest and most downmarket red light district in Singapore, and I expect this to be the first place to be 'redeveloped'

So I took the bus from my place for a 15 minute bus ride and alighted at Little India MRT station. This is a station on the relatively new North East Line.



Walk 100m or so down the road and turn left into Serangoon Road, the main artery of Little India.





Here there are shops selling everything that the hip Indian on the street needs. 

From Bollywood movies and music



Stuff to make dresses out of



and tailoring for the kind of guy and gal who enjoy dancing around the coconut trees together.

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## Bobcock

My favourite Indian Restaurant in the region is on Serangoon Road, does the best Paneer Tikka I have tasted anywhere.

I wandered in into the red light district here during Diwali this year, quite the ugliest woen I have ever seen in my life for sale. As for the couple of Thai katoeys walking around, words cannot express how repulsive these creatures were....Full blown and counting the days would be my guess.

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## slimboyfat

Markets are dotted about the whole of Little India, mostly selling fruit and veg that Indians go for.



There are absolutely tons of restaurants around this area, obviously mostly selling Indian food, and ranging from low to upper middle class establishments. The standard and variety of food I find is pretty good and much cheaper than anything in the more touristy areas like Orchard Road.

For those inclined, there are some vegetarian restaurants like this one.



and some places catering more for the tourists and backpackers who make it into this part of town.
 

and more basic places to grab a beer or a coffee.



Personally I chose the below joint in Desker Road for a few reasons.

1) They are selling North Indian/Pakistani food which is not so common in Singapore as most of the Indian population are from south India.
2) There were no white people there.
3) It is just at the entrance to Desker Road red light area.



And my lunch consisted of Dhal, Mutton curry, Naan bread and rice. Very nice it was too and set me back S$5 (thats about 120 baht)



I actually started eating the naan bread before I remembered that I was supposed to be taking a piccie.

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## slimboyfat

So after having got my energy back after that meal, it was time to take a look at the horrible red light area that Bobcock so accurately described. This is not something that makes it onto the tourist brochures and is actually quite difficult to find.



From Serangoon road, turn right into Desker Road. Then turn right again into the alley where that restaurant is what i was eating at just now.
Then you continue through the alley past a few more beer and eating places, and suddenly the alley becomes a place where guys seem to be strolling along and taking an interest in the doorways along the alley.

 

The smell is not pleasant (something like an Issan food stall - but this really is the drains) and makeshift stalls are set up selling porn DVDs, Spanish fly, dildo's and Viagra (which I assume is fake)



Because of all the illegal activity (the brothels are actually registerd and legal though) I didnt actually take any pictures too close to the action for fear of someone destroying my camera. So you will have to go and see for yourself the revolting women and transexuals that some people will pay money to have sex with.

More info here
Singapore’s Oldest of the Oldest

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## Bobcock

dahl....dahl....DAHL!!!!!

After leaving India in 1989, I promised I'd never eat another plate / bowl / dish of dahl in my lfe.

Even looking at a picture of the devils vomit makes me angry.

(Tomato Ketchup is the devils sperm!!)

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## slimboyfat

> dahl....dahl....DAHL!!!!!
> 
> After leaving India in 1989, I promised I'd never eat another plate / bowl / dish of dahl in my lfe.
> 
> Even looking at a picture of the devils vomit makes me angry.
> 
> (Tomato Ketchup is the devils sperm!!)


relax man. its only a dish and it was rather nice together with my naan bread

and why bring tomato ketchup into this?

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## Bobcock

Cos I hate it as much as dahl !!!

I'm calm again now though............

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## slimboyfat

i do hope this doesnt become a tomato ketchup discussion.

anyway, moving swiftly on.

Carrying on further up Serangoon Road until reaching Serangoon Plaza, then turned left past Mustafa Centre.

Indian temple.



Looks like a mosque or something. Too hot by this stage to bother investigating.



Serangoon Plaza. For shopping and massage.



Mustafa Centre. Big 24 hour shopping complex selling almost everything at reasonable prices. All fixed price (no bargaining) and well worth a look if you don't mind crowds. They also have a hotel there now too.
Mustafa Homepage

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## slimboyfat

OK i will continue this tonight or tomorrow as I seem to be missing some pictures and they are at home (productive day at work today!)

Just leave you with this sign that i saw at a Nasi Lemak stall.



Thats a big boast. I didnt try their food though so can't comment on the non-lousiness of their fish

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## kingwilly

personally i prefer homemade tomoto sauce.....

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## slimboyfat

Some budget hotels in the area - can't recommend them though as don't know too much about them....

Grandmax Hotel on Desker Road

Grandmax Hotel in Singapore - Check out our Rates



Royal India Hotel (opposite Mustafa Centre)



Royal India Hotel


Tai Seng Hotel (this is more of a short time hotel but i guess the nightly rate would be around S$50) Tel (65) 63920100 Email : francis_tjl@yahoo.com



Another budget/short time hotel in the Desker Road area - Asia Star Hotel - S$15 for an hour, S$50/60 per night. You'd be better off at a Hotel 81 in Geylang or Joo Chiat though

 

some more budget hotels in the area are listed here:

Singapore Hotels in Little India [Information & Reservations/Bookings]

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## slimboyfat

So then it was time to head back towards Sim Lim Square via Jalan Besar.





Flea market at Jalan Besar/ Pitt Stree. Amongst all the crappy McDonalds kiddie meal toys etc there are some other interesting bits and bobs that people are selling.
Note the Golden Landmark Hotel and Parkview Square in the background (see Bugis thread). Not great distances involved around here!



And finally Sim Lim Square. What Orchard Towers is to prostitutes in Singapore, Sim Lim Square is to electronics and computer spare parts. Except Sim Lim Square has 6 floors. A word of warning though - do your homework before you come to buy anything as the shopkeepers will try to rip you off if they think you don't know the real price of an item - you have to bargain in most of the shops. But if you know what you want and how much you want to pay for it then this is the place to go. As a general rule of thumb the shops on the highest floors tend to be a bit cheaper as their rental is lower so I have been told. Check the price of the same item in a few shops to make sure you get the best price. And don't forget to haggle and walk away like you are not interested! Anyway I am sure you are all used to this having been in SE Asia for a while.


And finally, here's the route I took in pink on the map. Not sure why I chose pink. Something in my subconscious possibly.

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## Propagator

Good Thread Slimboyfat.

Much to my shame I spent 3 months stationed in Singapore during the early 60s at Changi.    I dont remember ever visiting the city itself.  Furthest I got was the bars in the immediate area of the camp and trips across the causeway to Jahore Bahru (sp) where one of the BGs lived.   Great memories   :Very Happy:

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## Propagator

Not trying to hijack your post SBF but here are couple of photos taken near Nee Soon Garrison 1962.   Pictures in B & W and have tried to enhance them a bit as they have faded.   Probably the area is not there any more - I believe  the bar was 'the London Bar'











^ She was fun    !!!!   :Wink:

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## slimboyfat

nice pics propagator and thanks for sharing, i always enjoy seeing the old pics of singapore.

Nee Soon is now called Yishun (the Mandarin version of the guys name). I believe the army base is still called Nee Soon camp though.

Wonder what those girls are doing now? If they have been really unfortunate they may be giving toothless blow jobs at Desker Road.

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## pasko

Great one slimboyfat!!!

A real insite to the area.

Thanks for making the effort.

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## Anonymous Coward

Thanks for another fine photo thread.

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## klongmaster

after the chaotic traffic in Bangkok, your fine piccies look like a ghost town SBF...is the traffic in Singas always that sparse?..

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## slimboyfat

> after the chaotic traffic in Bangkok, your fine piccies look like a ghost town SBF...is the traffic in Singas always that sparse?..


well i usually take my pics on the weekend when the traffic is much less. And wait for gaps in the traffic when taking pics.

But generally the traffic here can't really be compared to Bangkok - apart from at 0730-0930 and 1700-2000 on weekdays.

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## ILoveDogs

Little India is great for food, and some shopping.  I stayed in Chinatown at a relatively well-known hotel for the price of the cheapest hotel mentioned here.  I booked on the internet and did a lot of research before.  The metro/subway, whatever you like to call it, ride is very short from Chinatown to Little India.

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## keda

Nice pictorial but I don't know what he has against ketchup, it's what made Heinz great and anyway the one that got on the wrong side of him could've been a local brand.

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## ILoveDogs

And Little India does have a great selection of food.  I am not from a country that has a lot of Indian food, and Thailand has some, but not a lot.  You can really pick from hundreds of places in Singapore, and many of them seem like the real thing, eating with hands, banana leaves, the whole deal.  Some places don't even have menus in English, which limited my choices.  Some places I just guessed or asked the waiter to help me.  They are very nice to deal with in Singapore also, everyone pretty much.

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## ILoveDogs

I made a mistake about the price of my room.  When I looked again at the post, I see it is Singapore dollars being talked about.  I paid about $55 USD per night, and that was supposed to be very discounted, and I did a lot of research to find the place.  The room was also so small you could hardly turn around in it.  But it had all the needed things, and was in a great location.

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## grefattys

> dahl....dahl....DAHL!!!!!
> 
> After leaving India in 1989, I promised I'd never eat another plate / bowl / dish of dahl in my lfe.
> 
> Even looking at a picture of the devils vomit makes me angry.
> 
> (Tomato Ketchup is the devils sperm!!)


LOL you really had bad memory on india food.

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## Bobcock

Nope, I have a bad memory of dahl, won't ever eat it.

I love Indian food.

Oh and mayonnaise is the Devil's sperm, tomato ketchup is the Devil's blood.

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