I’m not too sure.

Probably, ending part of the fire-walking ceremony at Sri Mariammam Temple? 

Picture of the Sri Mariammam Temple.

Anyone knows?

A common question among Tourists and Singaporeans who were unfamiliar with the buildings in Chinatown – Where is People’s Park Complex?

It’s the one in biggest red circle.

Map from SLA.

Despite its loud contrasting colours and red words, nobody seems to know for sure which building along Eu Tong Sen Street is People’s Park Complex. The red words when translated to English – literally means Pearl’s Centre / Square. However, Pearl’s Centre is another building along the same street. Confusing isn’t it?

Do you know the red words on the building was added later?

On 5 Jan 2005 – no red Chinese words yet.

Remembered how a group of Singapore skyscrapercity forumers went up this building to hear the loud crackling sound of firecrackers on that day. haha… we were on the wrong building to see firecrackers in action.

See the crowd!

Lighted up!

Aftermath… Smoky!

Contrasting view of tall skyscrapers and short shophouses.

hmm… come to think of it, Chinese New Year’s coming in less than 4 months’ time and very soon it’ll be over.

Don’t let time pass just like that.

Plan, Divide and Conquer! :p

This shop not only sells shark’s fins, birdnests and abalone, it’s also a restaurant along Smith St in Chinatown.

Chinese Tea – S$1 each

Tissue pack is FOC.

This is returned. I supposed it’ll add another S$1 – 2 to the bill?

We ordered 2 S$28++ lunch sets.

Claypot shark’s fin. Don’t expect one big piece for that kind of price. Add black vinegar and pepper.

Oyster sauce over boiled vegetables

BBQ Meat Combo – Like it. Not oily.

Not sure what’s this call.

It has potato, meat, prawn and abalone in it.

Belyl can’t eat prawns.

Birdnest Egg Tart – Taste a bit funny. Has chilli and garlic taste. Wonder if that’s intentional. We packed this and the herbal black jelly. Too full to finish it.

Herbal Black Jelly – really bouncy and slightly bitter.

Total damage.

The verdict is we’ll come back again for lunch. But, will gather more people to try its dishes.

Tam Kah Shark’s Fin
27 Smith St
Tel: 6220 1259

16/18 Upper Cross Street
Tel: 6220 1259

Had at least 3 bad experiences dining at Swensens – be it food, hygiene (found a small cockroach underneath the salad bowl) and service.

But, I had lunch with Ladyla at its Chinatown point branch today. It’s about a month since we last had lunch together and it’s one of the few halal restaurants in the vicinity.

They have revamped the menu and is offering a 1-for-1 promotion in the month of October.

Ladyla ordered a new menu item – Pesto Salmon set (Soup + Main + 1 Scoop of Ice-cream + Tea) at S$14.90++ while I had 49ers Beef Burger at S$10.90++ and Banana Split at S$7.90++.

S$10 promotion for students. We don’t qualify…

Quoted Ladyla on her soup – “mashed potatoes (soup) was smooth n creamy…“

Quoted Ladyla on her Pesto Salmon – “the panfried salon had a thin crips layer, but the meat was still moist… the pesto sauce was so so – not a big deal… 2.8 / 5“

Topview

49ers Beef Burgers – My first instinct is to check for any cockroach underneath the salad bowl before I eat. No cockroach. Phew! I was offered another set lunch the last time. But, who cares having another set lunch. It spoilt my appetite then.

Generally, the burgers are good and not dry today.

1 scoop of chocolate ice-cream for Ladyla.

I had banana split – Hazelnut, Macademia Nut and Blueberry and whipped cream put aside.

Here’s the complimentary main course voucher that Ladyla has received for the main course ordered.

Overall, I’ll say Swensens has improved slightly since my last visit (last year).

It’s still a place to go for budget-conscious to treat their colleagues, friends or family members on their birthdays – having economical set lunches and ice-creams together

Interested to eat Magma’s 1-m sausage grilled fish on a skewer?

Found this place when I was taking photos in Bukit Pasoh, Chinatown.

Why nobody is eating at this place during lunch-hour? Cos it’s simply too HOT to dine alfresco. Magma’s customers were sitting inside enjoying their food in an air-con shophouse. Air-con is one of the greatest inventions ever!

What’s on the notice board?

Closer. Set Lunch and Dinner – Mmmm… looks good.

Economical lunch offer at just S$10++. Maybe, I’ll try one of these days. Was there in mid September. Thus, this menu is outdated.

But, I’ll give pork knuckles a miss regardless how good it would be.

Magma German Wine Bistro
2-4 Bukit Pasoh Rd MRT Station
Outram Park Exit H
Tel: 6221-0634
reservations@magmatic.com.sg

http://www.magmatc.com

Looks like a good deal for backpackers. S$22 per bed in an air-con room and there’s free internet usage.  Also, get to experience how it’s like staying in a shophouse where coolies onced lived. However, how did cows come into the picture?

Furthermore, there’s lots of food in this area – Chinese, Indian and Malay food. Even at 3am, you can get food in the 24-hour coffeeshops nearby. 

Chinatown station is about 5-min walk and you can start touring once you step out of this backpackers’ inn.

Haven’t seen the interior though. It doesn’t have a website like the Inncrowd Backpackers Hostel in Little India or Fernloft in Chinatown / East Coast so that we can have a glimpse of how the rooms/beds are like.

It was the shophouse where Yeo GM Trading was occupying that attracted my attention.

The words were still clearly seen on the shophouse at South Bridge Road though it was painted over - Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited – South Branch.

Closer. Is this the original logo that derived the new modern version  of OCBC Bank – one of Singapore’s local banks?

Yeo GM sells many party-related stuff on ground level of this shophouse.

Wrapping paper at S$0.20 is cheap (cheapest I saw was S$0.10 at a bazaar).

Would anyone be so sentimental and keep those wrapping papers or be so environmental-friendly and try reusing them?

We saw U channel’s Anna appearing on a newspaper cutting at the entrance of the shop. So, we had our lunch there.

The shopfront 

Decorative MeNu

Thick wooden chopsticks – I like

Interior

Noodle with Minced Pork (Sichuan style) Soup – taste like instant noodles with stir-fried minced pork – S$5 + 10%

Their steamed dumpling does not have much juice in it and has more chives than meat. Skin is also thicker. Probably, sichuan styled – it’s served with chilli. S$6.50 + 10%

We asked if they have steamed dumpling (shui2 jiao3).

The waitress replied “Yes, we have shui4 jiao4″ – we looked at each other and giggled. Maybe, that’s how it’s pronounced in Sichuan? So cute :) 

We asked for vinegar with ginger – thinking it would come shredded.

Looks like soy sauce with minced garlic, isn’t it? In fact, it’s vinegar with minced ginger. Taste is the same as usual.

We didn’t finish the noodles – not that it tastes horrible. It was too much for lunch.

Probably, they are better at serving Sichuan steamboat

Chuan Jiang Hao Zi Steamboat Restaurant
12 Smith Street
Tel: 6225-1518

When we were in primary school, Grandma used to bring us to Thian Hock Keng Temple, the oldest and most important Hokkien temple in Singapore, to pray to the Confucius before start of each school year so that we will do well in our studies. We were not the only ones. Beginning of each year, the temple would always be crowded with parents and their school-going children wanting to do well in the new year.

I wonder if this is still practised now?

A new sculpture was being installed on side of the New Majestic Hotel (made up of refurbished shophouses) last Wednesday. 

Straits Times Life did a feature of the Majestic Bar’s new art installations.

Edit on 30 Sept 2007 – ST did a review on the Majestic Bar – 3.5 / 5 stars for food

Next to Majestic Hotel is this Ee Hoe Hean Club restored and reconstructed  in 2007 at No. 43 Bukit Pasoh Road. It was first built in 1927 and demolished in 2006 due to building safety reasons.  

Quoted from Wikipedia - “Founded in 1895, the Ee Hoe Hean Club (Simplified Chinese: 怡和轩俱乐部; pinyin: Yíhéxuān jùlèbù) at Bukit Pasoh Road in Chinatown was one of the oldest millionaires‘ clubs in Singapore. The club was the headquarters of the anti-Japanese Chinese Salvation Movement in Southeast Asia from 1937-1942. On 18 October 1995, the club was gazetted as a Heritage Site by the National Heritage Board of Singapore.”

Have you seen these buildings in Chinatown before?

Reference: The Sunday Times L28 on 30 Sep 2007

Anyone knows the history of this underpass? It’s connecting the elongated Duxton Plains Park (which is divided by Neil Road) and near The Pinnacle@Duxton – 50-storey HDB flats at Cantonment Road, currently under construction.

Closer. The Chinese words in red on the other side says “精武体育会操场“. The road above is Neil Road.

Hmmm… Would you want to set a meeting place in here?

You’ll be surprised to see a “Meeting Point” signage in this underpass.

Now, I wonder why is this signage installed here?

It’s so apt. Traditional tiffin tin painted on a post box seen in Chinatown. 

If not for this car, I would have taken a nice frontal shot of it.

*ahem* Parking on double yellow lines.

I like the idea of painting boring post boxes with different designs. Seen something similar in Korea too. They also paint boring boxes with flowers or motifs reflecting the character of the vicinity.

Hope they would do that on every single boring box in Singapore!

What’s there to shoot and post if I eat first?

I had $2 chicken rice in Chinatown along Smith St for lunch today. Chicken is tender and moist. They only have “white” chicken meaning steamed or boiled.

Chilli Sauce and Mentos Sweet. This is the only chicken rice shop that gives you Mentos sweets. No prize for guessing why. Garlic is used to cook chicken rice.

Hah! See RC’s plate of chicken rice. So much dark soy sauce!

This is their so call Speciality Toufu with Thai Chilli Sauce at S$3 – I don’t recommend you to try this especially if you dislike those traditional fried onions.

Soup is FOC

A customer ordered fried bean sprouts and raw fish. He wanted the bean sprouts to be cooked longer.

The cook didn’t hear the order clearly and ask “Cook which one longer?“

Two of its service staff shouted back in unison “Tao Ge lah!” and laughed.

Did you get it?

Raw fish is meant to be raw.

It must be too hot today.

The chicken rice portion at S$2 is enough for small eaters like me only

RC wanted to have lunch with me on Wednesday.

Weather was good.

But, we had some misunderstanding over something just before lunch.

I was angry with him for assuming that I had my handphone with me and changed the meeting place via sms without my prior agreement. Was waiting for him at the original meeting place for 15min.

15 min may seem little.

15 out of 60 min lunch is a quarter gone already!

So, I simply walked away in a huff.

Coincidentally, he was waiting somewhere along the path to Chinatown and saw me.

“Hey hyacinthus!”

Yes… he calls me hyacinthus or hya all the time.

“Why are you waiting here?!” I stared angrily at him

“I don’t feel comfortable standing there”

“Then, you should have told me earlier!”

“I sms-ed you!”

That’s the point. sms-ed me does not mean I HAVE read it. He should have known since I didn’t reply at all to that sms – that simply says ura.

Sensing that I was very angry with him, he tried to change topic.

“So, where are we going for lunch?”

I ignored him and walked away to where I feel like walking to.

RC is a patient guy. So, he quietly followed as I sprinted.

I may get angry and ignore someone – but, usually I’ll get over it after a while (especially when I get distracted by interesting photography subjects)

So, our Lunch was Thai food from a shophouse coffeshop – Saswadee Thai Food, along Trengganu Street in Chinatown. 

RC had Tom Yum Seafood Noodles at S$5.

I had Fried Seafood Vermicelle for S$4

I’ve tried both and prefer Tom Yum Seafood Noodles better.

Now, sms is only 1-way.

Never assume the receiving end has read or acknowledged it. Get it? 

Have you ever seen him in Chinatown?

His name is Erich.

Besides his Würstelstand (literally means Sausage Stand) stall along Trengganu Street (in the Evenings), he has also operated a stall (during the day when it’s hot) in a corner shophouse at the junction of Trengganu Street and Sago Street selling Austrian bread and muffins. Interestingly, it’s located in a Thai-operated Sawasdee coffeeshop.

Germany and Austria are 2 different countries, aren’t they?

Austrian Bread Stall was translated into German Bread Stall as seen in these red Chinese characters on the walls?

Regardless, the bread taste good.

Hmmm… food for thought.

Look at the lanterns adorning his stall

Too shy to eat at his stall, so I ordered takeaway.

I’ve only tried the mini sausage with sweet bread. Yummy!

And… he has his own blog btw

Singapore’s efficient.

Last day of the Seventh Month was Monday.

Today’s only Wednesday.

Yet, we see many Mid-autumn related stuff like mooncakes, lanterns and pomeloes on sale already. Chinatown was fully adorned with lanterns and festive decorations!

Uncle also cannot resist. Using his handphone to photograph the pretty ladies in the Pavilion.

Bevy of beauties calling out to the drivers – “Don’t be shy! Stop and watch us dance!”

A huge lantern made up of lanterns themselves. The banner says 1 city three festivals – Mid-Autumn, Hari Raya and Deepavali. Baked piglet pastry and pomeloes.

Traditional Handmade Animal Lanterns

Traditional Mooncakes shrinkwrapped in modern packaging

Pomeloes

Shops selling lanterns.

Many lanterns are seen hanging outside Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

In the past, I used to buy boxes of Teochew flaky skin yam/pumpkin mooncakes from Crown Prince Longjiang restaurant. This year, I’m hooked on snowskin durian from Marriott.

How many of us here still love mooncakes and carry lanterns?

There is a popular shop in Chinatown that sells traditional desserts. The shopname is “味香园甜品” or look for “Traditional Desserts”. The shop is located at the start of Temple Street facing Lucky Chinatown and they also sell Farmer brand’s Groundnuts too.

Their business is good and have expanded to the shop next door.

Herbal Jelly S$2.00

HK Mango Dessert with Pomelo S$3.50

They have other stuff like almond paste, walnut paste, black sesame paste, peanut paste and dumpling etc.

A must try!

4.2 / 5

Business Hours
Sun – Fri 10.30am – 8pm
Sat 10am – 10pm

Open on Public Holidays

This is the newest addition to Singapore’s list of temples – Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. I’m still getting used to it being located on that site as it blocks the row of shophouses beside it and the Chinatown Complex behind.

Photographed this on my way to work.

Photographed this on my way home in a taxi.

Which do you prefer? Day or Night view?

Edit on 19 Sep 2007: Didn’t check my camera settings and had this overexposed picture.

Yeah. Feeling hot and sleepy.

A cosy corner for a hot afternoon.

Too tired to write more…

Here’s the place

Cafe’s website at http://www.globalsounds.com.sg