This weekend we decided to take a walking tour of Singapore's CHINATOWN and one of it's popular areas CLUB STREET. After doing some business and the Bank and the Post Office (I can't remember the last time I stepped foot in an actual post office...), we grabbed some lunch at one of our favorite spots KPO Cafe Bar and enjoyed a delicious burger, we then took the MRT (yes Gamble, I took the train) to Chinatown.
Chinatown is cool, much like the San Fran or Vancouver Chinatowns, it's filled with different little shops selling trinkets, weird roots and every manner of salted/cured fish you could imagine. There are also some big ass malls (it wouldn't be Singapore without some big ass malls), restaurants, spas and a few cool temples and mosques. We toured around for a few hours and then headed to the kitschy shophouse-filled Club Street. Now at night, this place is hopping as it is lined with tons of restaurants and bars but during the day it's much quieter with only a few eclectic shops and bookstores open to the public. Michelle found some great perfumes while I ofcourse was enamored with all the toys.
We then walked through this cool little park at the end of Club Street called ANN SIANG HILL that took us back to another part of Chinatown where we found an awesome temple quietly celebrating the FESTIVAL OF THE HUNGRY GHOST. What the hell is the Festival of the Hungry Ghost? Well here's a quick explanation: The seventh month of the lunar year is devoted to the Festival of the Hungry Ghost, during which the gates of hell are thrown open and the spirits of the dead are released on 'parole' to roam the earth. Food, prayers, incense and 'hell money' are offered to appease the spirits. Celebratory dinners are held as well as performances of Chinese street operas or wayang. No marriages or dangerous journeys, such as sea voyages, embarked on.
Pretty cool eh? Anyway, Singapore is littered with burning barrels, incense and prayer tables for the ghosts so it's a pretty interesting time to be here. Anyways, we enjoyed our day tour through Chinatown and will be sure to return to Club Street one night when it's alive and kicking. For now though, you can see the pics from our day right HERE!!!
1 comment:
Good boy! See, transit is your friend.
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