An evening in ChinaTown

Every country has a small little Chinatown. Singapore's Chinatown is uniquely original. An evening exploring every nook and corner of Chinatown was quite a revelation. Its not just the shopping , food and the people , the whole atmosphere has a certain charm which excites you the moment you enter Chinatown from the train station. The small shops and buildings coloured yellow, green and red are a treat to the eyes compared to the sky towering magnificent buildings in the Central Business district (CBD) area.There's a lot of history behind Chinatown which is very interesting and quite shocking which I shall solely write about someday after I recieve first hand information from a local source.

Chinatown shopping spree
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

The residents here are mostly the Chinese, although you will see visitors or traveller's from various parts of the globe trying to sink in the astonishing culture and heritage of the Chinese. There is so much to see and absorb here. this place is a paradise for souvenir shoppers for the tourists.


Grace(Kyunhae) accompanied me to Chinatown for an evening to splurge and pamper ourselves. The last time I was in Chinatown was during the Chinese new year where I saw Chinatown in all its glory and granduer.This time around Grace's and my agenda was to shop till we drop. The clusters of shops selling clothes , trinkets, feng shui stuff, chinese medicines, and not to mention the FOOD were beckoning us! All those clothes were crying out to me to buy them! How could we resist? Grace went bonkers over the accessories and clothes.

Grace and the accessories
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

The first thing in my "to do" list (after  shopping of ocurse) was to visit the Mariamma temple at the Pagoda street which is also the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. Cant stop mentioning the irony - a Hindu temple in Chinatown! Now that is why I repeat the word everytime - multcultural! My Korean friend/colleague hadn't visited a Hindu temple before so it felt good to be the host for a change :) showing her around and explaining the mythology(the little that I know ).A lot of foreigners were in the temple compared to the resident Hindu's. The photographers went on a clicking frenzy ! The paintings on the roof, the statues and idols of the Gods are captivating. 

Mariyamma temple
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

intricate details at the rooftop
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

Been living here for quite sometime now I felt ignorant and foolish when I learnt that Singapore boasts to have the oldest Buddist temple which houses the TOOTH of the divine Buddha himself! But alas! We couldn't visit the temple as it is open only at fixed timings. If you need to visit the temple , kindly check for the timings especially the timings when the tooth is on display for the public!

Buddhist Tooth relic temple
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

If you are looking for antiques, chinese lanterns, dragin masks,souvenirs, a good buy at the great bargaining price you must visit the following streets:
Sago street
Pagoda street
Smith street
Trennganu street
These streets are parallel to each other, theres no way one can miss it.

Grace flipping over all the accessories!
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

The wet markets here as heard from a local, is another place which will keep you open- mouthed. Along with durians and regular vegetables they sell pigs feet, chickens feet which are supposedly the delicacies! The Chinese medicine halls are quite common along the stretch of the road where you will find various dried 'herbs' which according to my experience is not just mouth opener but also eye opener (you can imagine my expressions now - )

Another unique experience was  the Tintin shop! A shop dedicated to Tintin ! Mugs, accessories etc with tintins pictures on them which would be a delight for a collector.

The Tintin Shop
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

And so we ventured further to make our tummies happy looking for food. And trust me its no task here. Singapore is a food paradise. We chose an authentic Chinese restaurant for no particular reason. Grace and I sought help from the Chinese waitress what to order and how to eat as it was a new experience for the both of us. We finally ordered some dishes out of which I mention my veggies dishes here. What words cannot explain I hope my pictures shall..

name forgotten will upload soon..

beancurd claypot with Congee
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

P.S : Also to mention Korea doesnot have abundance of coconut hence Graces love for coconut is immense. She went bananas over coconut water! 

originally uploaded by the fallen angel

You go gal!
originally uploaded by the fallen angel

Here's bidding farewell to Grace who's been a good friend and a colleague. It was nice having you with us and  hope to see you in Singapore more often!