East Coast Road

A haven for food lovers, but a nightmare for parking. This is what this area means to me -- usually. So the smart thing to do is to take a bus.  In my younger days, the Red House Bakery (now under restoration, to the left of the picture) was a really interesting place to me.  You could choose your bread or whatever morsel and then have them in peace somewhere in the bowels of this bakery which looked small on the outside but had courtyards once you entered. Established in 1925 it was closed in 2003, deemed unsafe.  A Jew started the bakery shop which was later taken over by a Hainanese seaman who apparently paid only $600 as "coffee money" to take over the bakery.  That was in the 1930s.  Information taken from Infopedia.

 

The "mirrors" of Syed Alwi Road

The row of shophouses at Syed Alwi Road towards Victoria Street (which runs more or less parallel to Jalan Besar). Syed Alwi Road is a rather long road.  The row at this stretch has decorative "mirror" motifs with windows as the reflective panel instead of mirrors. Similar designs (though not for windows) can be found in other shophouses in the area, like the one below along Jalan Besar. 

According to a write-up by the National Heritage Board, Syed Alwi Road was near a swampland (as late as 1924). Built in 1850s, it was originally named Jalan Bahru. Later, it was named after Justice of Peace Syed Alwi, son of Syed Ali who bought 70 acres of swampy land around the region, and noted for constructing wells at Selegie Road and even in Telok Ayer and Mohamed Ali Lane in Chinatown, to provide water for the public. Read about its history here: http://www.nhb.gov.sg/places/trails/jalan-besar/trail-sites/historic-sites/syed-alwi-road.

Mirror, mirror on the wall... Decorative motifs on a row of shophouses at corner of Kitchener Road where it meets Jalan Besar.

The "ship bows" of Lorong Telok

A row of shophouses with the "ship bow" shape at Lorong Telok. Pictures taken 15 Aug 2015.

I haven't managed to find information on why this lane is called Lorong Telok. "Telok" in Malay means "bay" so perhaps it was so named because of its proximity to the historic Boat Quay along Singapore River.  According to PictureSG, the lane was once referred to by the Chinese as "bih lang koi" or bamboo rattan street because of the many basket making shops there. Today I couldn't find any traces of such shops, except for the signboard (above) of an association for rope hardware and paint merchants. But I guess this doesn't count :) The lane may be rather short, but it is packed with pubs and eateries that are featured in a few food blogs -- which makes the place a little too touristy for my liking.  What's interesting (to me) is that Lor Telok has two "ship bows" (top picture and below).

The "ship bow" at the junction of Lor Telok and Circular Road.

Low rise two-storey shophouses interspersed with taller ones at Lor Telok. 

A closed and shuttered unit awaiting a tenant or renovation along Lor Telok. It has old fashioned folding doors that would make those familiar "crack-crack-crack" sounds in the morning when shops open for business -- as quite a few of us can remember.  

'Sky River' clan association at Ann Siang Road

Nice red letter box belonging to the Thin Ho Association occupying one of the shophouses at Ann Siang Road. Members probably received mail from back home (maybe a place called "sky river" which is what "thin hor" means in Cantonese). These days, members probably read their mails on the phone. And oh yes, maybe read the newspaper too (as the letter box has provision for a rolled up newspaper to be slotted in). But I would imagine that in the old days, the radio or Rediffusion would be switched on, so that everyone could be regaled by the grand master of storytelling, Li Dai Soh. Or some Cantonese operas perhaps by Hung Sin Nui?  Or someone playing the er-hu?

Two more letter boxes (for different floors), and more nice tiles.

Amoy Street

A row of shophouses at junction of Amoy Street and McCallum Street. Gable ends (the little "knob" or mound you see on the apex of the gable) always hold some interest for me. This blog, Anecdotes of old Chinese architecture in Nanayang, https://nanyangtemple.wordpress.com/category/2-visiting-guide/ gives a very good introduction to the different gable ends. Based on this guide, the one you see on the apex of the gable in this picture, would be symbolical of the wood element in Chnese fengshui, believed to provide some form of stability to the building and its occupants.

Once known for its opium dens, Amoy Street also had one of Singapore's earliest free schools. The Chui Eng School was founded by a Straits Chinese, Tan Kim Seng in 1854. It closed in 1954 but was conserved. Today, it is occupied by the Ju Chun Yuan Restaurant. Founded in 1865, this is the restaurant which created the famous Chinese dish, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in 1876.

Geylang Road

Saturday late afternoon. The jam is building up at Geylang Road. The five-foot ways of shophouses are packed with people hurrying to goodness knows where. Maybe to choose the best durians. The stallholders there are doing a roaring business, mao shan or no mao shan. The crowds are in such a hurry, you can't even pause to take pictures. And the most peaceful spot to take pictures would be up on an overhead bridge. Not many people use the bridge. They prefer to dash across the road, from what I observed. Pics: 18 July.

Some old shophouses (which must have been rather low lying as you can see the mark left behind at the gable on the left) were torn down. New buildings coming up. 

Geylang Lor 15. No quaint charm. Only clutter. 

Some renovation going on here. Also Lorong 15,

Spruced up, these tiles will be quaint and charming. 

Telok Ayer Street

The Ying Fo Fui Kun (1822) at the junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cross Street. It is the earliest building by the Hakkas on the street. Telok Ayer Street was the main landing site for Chinese immigrants and was the original focal point of settlement in Chinatown. It used to face the waterfront. One of Singapore's oldest schools, the Gan Eng Seng School, started in 1885 at 106 Telok Ayer Street near the junction of Telok Ayer and Cecil Streets. The whole bay area in front of the Street is reclaimed land.   Pic (above) taken on 11 July 2015, while the three pictures below taken in March 2013.

Shophouses here are well conserved  and not given an "overly" hip look, if you know what I mean. I like that the Ban Choon Medical Store Pte Ltd is still boldly embossed onto the facade. When these houses were built, their width and height of each storey were restricted by the  length of timber beams available then, usually about 4.8 metres. This explained for why they have narrow frontages (but with deep interiors.)

Telok Ayer Street, a must walk. Nice mix of shophouses with interesting eateries, including The Muffinery shown in the picture (to the right, near the gable).

The Hokkien Huay Kuan at Telok Ayer Street. 

Thian Hock Keng, a popular tourist sigtht at Telok Ayer Street. Of course, it is not a shophouse, but I can't resist having a picture of the beautiful temple here. Built in the 1820s, the temple is devoted to Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, as it once faced the sea. She protected the sailors.

Upper Cross Street

Upper Cross Street, near the junction at South Bridge Road. Pics taken on a very hot Sunday, 28 June, 2015.

The road has a mix of budget hotels, coffee shops and restauants, including my favouite chicken noodle and dumplings. There are two of these shops called Chew Kee serving the chicken noodles -- one of them claims to be the original (but I am not sure which one). There is a dessert shop a few units away -- from bird nest soup to steamed milk pudding. Recently closed, my favourite shop for browsing -- it had tai chi swords, spears, shoes, etc and some pieces of antiques too. Spring  Court (spring rolls aka poh piah, Peking duck, etc) is also here. The restaurant which has a rich history, used to be at Great World Amusement Park at Kim Seng Road. The pigeon flying in the foreground is accidental, but adds to the charm :)

Selegie Road

Selegie Road named after a Malay word for a wooden spear hardened and sharpened by fire. The Sri Vijaya Vegetarian (left) is supposed to be rather famous though I have not tried the food there. Shall do so one fine day. Pic taken in 2013.

I guess I can't pass this off as a shophouse. This building, 100 Selegie Road, is now used by the International Institute of Tea Culture. It was once a upon a time, a landmark in this area, being the Tiger Balm Building. You can see a picture of how it looked like in its days of glory at  http://kaufmann-mercantile.com/tiger-balm/.  A 4th floor has been added to the building, and the tiger that was so majestic gracing its facade is gone.  The building now looks like a block of chocolate, but I guess, it's the colour of tea. Pic taken in Jan, 2015.

Happy Short Street

Five-foot ways of shophouses are among the most interesting places in Singapore -- for me. This one leads to Rochor Original Beancurd You Tiao at Short Street. However, I only tried the beancurd once. It was okay:)

And, it's a bonus if the old tiles of the five-foot way are original which I think these are. These belong to the five-foot way leading up to the Rochor Beancurd. Five-foot ways in Singapore, according to Wikipedia, date back to Sir Stamford Raffles who included this in his Town Plan of 1822. In 1880s, the government attempted to clear the walkways of hawkers which led to much unhappiness.  

Prinsep Street

Prinsep Street was originally Flint Street (named after Captain William Flint, brother in law of Sir Stamford Raffles. However, in 1858, the Municipal Council decided to rename it Prinsep Street after a nutmeg plantation owner, Charles H Prinsep. The current Flint Street near Battery Road was named in 1862. Prinsep Street once housed the Salmon Maternity Home. A Google search still yields a Salmon Clinic, at the same address -- 110, Prinsep Street. 

Wonder why the Lor Payah signboard (and the Stop sign) are stuck in the middle of this construction site at Prinsep Street :) There is a Lorong Payah nearby, but it already has its own sighboard. 

Keong Saik Road

Picture taken at the junction of Keong Saik Road and Kreta Ayer Road. The row of shophouses (with the spiral staircases at the back), was built in 1929 -- Hotel 1929 opened there in 2003. The Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple (fore, right) was built in 1925. It has a rich history. The idol of Lord Vinayagar was brought to Singapore by a soldier from India who left the idol behind for the community to build a temple. As the temple was near the General Hospital, its worshippers were mainly hospital and prison staff. (There was a prison at Outram Road -- the first one, for civil offences was built in 1847, with another for criminals added in 1882. The prisons were demolished in 1970 and in their place, a public housing estate called the Outram Park Complex which was also demolished in the early 2000s.) I don't remember the prisons at all... do you? I do remember Outram Park Complex -- there was the famous char kway teow... also one Chinese physician who operated a clinic there. He was rather well known.