20 January 2018, Chinatown and Singapore Airport, Singapore

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Here we are inside the Buddha Tooth Temple.

Our plane was due to leave in the afternoon so we had some free time in the morning and decided to wander around Chinatown.    The Buddha Tooth Temple is very recent, dating only from 2007, although built in the style of the Tang Dynasty.  The name comes from a tooth of the Buddha supposedly discovered in 1980 in a collapsed stupa in Myanmar.  Rather reminiscent in this respect of mediæval Christianity.

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In a large hall, many people were chanting to musical accompaniment.  I don’t know whether this was a special event or happens regularly.

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A school group posing for a photo outside the temple.

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On the roof there was a garden…

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… along with a very large revolving prayer wheel.

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Three streets nearby are for pedestrians only.

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Singapore is perhaps the most tolerant multicultural community in the world.

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33% are Buddhist, 19% Christian, 19% Atheist, 14% Muslim, 10% Taoist and 5% Hindu.

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Everyone appears to be open and friendly and it’s definitely very safe.

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Mobile phones are not unknown.

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It’s around 30ºC.  Where we were going would be much colder.

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In the afternoon, we turned up at Singapore Airport and were surprised to find a butterfly room.

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The butterflies were impressive.

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Not so much the unmonitored three-year olds running around and catching butterflies by their wings.

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