Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By: Eva
As someone who has visited Chinatown quite a lot of times and explored as
many corners of Chinatown as possible, here is my guide to the best things
to do in Chinatown.
During Chinese New Year, the streets are filled with vendors selling CNY
goodies, such as zodiac-themed plush toys, CNY snacks and sweets,
pomelos, and mandarin oranges.
Chinatown Complex Food Centre is so huge, I often get lost getting back to
my table after collecting my food. One trick that works for me is
remembering the unit number of the stall closest to my table.
Food worth trying in this hawker centre are: Liao Fan Hawker Chan (#02-
126), Lian He Ben Ji Claypot (#02-198/199), Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long
Bao (#02-135), Herbal Soup (#02-017), and Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck
(#02-156).
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Do allow at least 1 to 2 hours in this grand building of 4 storeys with roof and
a basement. I highly recommend that you dine at the Vegetarian Dining Hall
at basement. The food is really delicious and pretty affordable (about $5 per
meal).
The dress code requires you to wear appropriate clothing, eg: no shorts, no
mini skirts, no bare shoulder/back. There are sarongs you can borrow at the
entrance of the temple.
Built in 1827, Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.
It is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, known for her power to cure
illnesses and diseases. The temple was gazette as National Museum in
1973.
The dress code is: covered shoulders, covered knees trousers, and no
footwear. Temples do provide shawls, cover-ups and wraps, and there’s a
designated place to keep your footwear.
Non-Muslim visitors can only walk on tiled area and can’t enter the prayer
hall. Male visitors are not allowed to wear short and singlet, meanwhile,
female visitors are not allowed to revealing clothings (mini skirts, shorts, low
neckline, sleeveless tops). There is a cupboard with robes that you can
borrow before entering. Footwear isn’t allowed, so you need to leave your
footwear at designated location.
Masjid Jamae (Chulia)
Opening Hours: 2pm-6pm (Sat-Thu), 2.30pm-6pm (Fri)
Admission: Free
Address: 218 South Bridge Rd, Singapore 058767
Website: www.masjidjamaechulia.sg
NOTE: Masjid Jamae (Chulia) will be undergoing renovation from
end of 2022 until end of 2023.
Cantonese Opera Mural is a street art painted by Yip Yew Chong, a local
artists who have painted a lot of walls in Singapore.
Yip said that the mural was inspired by the abundant number of Cantonese
operas that he watched growing up in the 1970s and 1980s.
If you are not familiar with Chinese opera is a musical play with elaborate
costume and stage details. The actors perform singing and movement, that
is in sync with the orchestra sound, to convey a story.
Liao Fan Hawker Chan’s original stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre is
one of the first two hawker stalls awarded with One Michelin Star. Started by
Chan Hon Meng, the stall sells soya sauce chicken (highly recommended),
char siew, roasted pork and roasted rib.
Due to its popularity, the queue at the hawker stall is generally quite long. To
avoid spending time queueing, I recommend that you visit the standalone
shophouse (pictured above) at 78 Smith Street instead.
Liao Fan Hawker Chan
Opening Hours: 10.30am – 8pm daily
Location: 78 Smith Street, Singapore 058972
In the past, letter writer was an essential role who helped the illiterate
migrant forefathers write letters to their loved ones back in China. The letter
writers were also skilled in writing calligraphies for Chinese New Year
couplets and ancestral altars.
On the far right is his grandmother sewing a blanket. Next to it is the long
bed where his family and their co-tenants slept on. On the left is the kitchen
where his mother is frying sticky rice cake.
It is quite heartwarming to see how the old folks maintain relationship with
their peers and not heavily addicted to technology.
Sago Street
Opening Hours: 24/7 daily
Admission: Free
Location: Sago Street
Food worth trying include: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (#01-10/11),
Maxwell Fu Zhou Oyster Cake (#01-06), Jin Hua Fish Soup (#01-77), Rojak,
Popiah & Cockle (#01-56).
As someone who has lived in Singapore for over 10 years, I always love
visiting the Gallery and pointing to some of the miniature building and
exclaim, “I know this place!” Sometimes, the model also makes me realize
how little I know about this city, so it’s a motivation for me to go out and
explore more.
At first glance, Ann Siang Hill may looks like a sleepy road with very little
human traffic. But, if you venture deeper into Ann Siang Hill and walk
towards Club Street in the evening, you will be amazed by how buzzing the
area is.
Both Ann Siang Hill and Club Street are home to bars, cafes, restaurants,
hotels and high-end boutiques. Foodies and nightlife lovers love hanging out
here after a hectic day at work or after a busy day sightseeing at Chinatown.
Here, you will find a lot of Chinese mainland cuisines among local cuisine.
There are also fruit stalls and a bak kwa stall. There are halal stalls but not
many. The hawker centre is extremely crowded during weekends evening.
It’s a hawker centre that I visit frequently. And my recommended stalls are:
Yong Xiang Xing Dou Fu (#01-1084), Wen Dao Ji (#01-1014), Hong Peng La
Mian Xiao Long Bao (#01-1064), Fatt Soon Kueh (#01-1012), Chuan Wei
Yuan (#01-1076), Ri Ri Hong Mala Xiang Guo (#01-152).
People’s Park Food Centre
Opening Hours: The food centre is accessible 24/7 daily, but the
stalls have their own opening hours
Admission: Free
Address: 32 New Market Rd, Singapore 050032
Next to this eccentric building is a carpark. The carpark isn’t exactly a tourist
attraction, but it has recently gained attention with the rise of Instagram.
Many young people flock to the rooftop of the carpark to take Instagram-
worthy photographs.
Pearl’s Hill City Park is a hidden oasis at Chinatown. The park is located on a
hill, to get there, you need to climb a lot of staircases. If you dare to climb,
you will be rewarded with a quiet park, a calm pond and a view of the
surrounding building.
Pearl’s Hill City Park is also home to Pearl’s Hill Service Reservoir, which
supplies clean drinking water to its surrounding. A note of caution though,
there’s very little few shelter at the park.
Hong Lim Market & Food Centre is a 2-storey hawker centre located near
Exit F of Chinatown MRT Station. It is quite confusing navigating to the
hawker centre from Exit F. Personally, I prefer to take Exit E to Chinatown
Point, then go to Level 2 and walk through the bridge that links Chinatown
Point with Hong Lim Market & Food Centre.
Hong Lim Market & Food Centre is home to several Michelin Bib Gourmand
stalls, such as Tai Wah Pork Noodles (#02-16), Outram Park Fried Kway
Teow Mee (#02-17), Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa (#02-66). There’s
also a Michelin Plate awardee which I really enjoy eating: Ah Heng Curry
Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (#02-58).
Hong Lim Market & Food Centre
Opening Hours: The food centre is accessible 24/7 daily, but the
stalls have their own opening hours.
Admission: Free
Address: 531A Upper Cross St, Singapore 051531
The Paper Mask & Puppet Seller mural depicts a man selling paper masks
and puppets on bicycle. The Mamak Store mural is inspired by the actual
Abdul Kadir’s store in Sago Lane.
Lion Dance Head Maker mural is based on the actual shop at No. 3 Ann
Siang Hill in the 1980s. And The Window tells the story of Abdul Kadir’s
family (the mamak store owner) and Lee’s family (the dragon dance head
maker) live together in the same shophouse.
The rooftop is a small open space where you can get a pretty nice view of
the busy junction at Upper Cross Street/Eu Tong Sen Street/New Bridge
Road. To get to the rooftop, you need to take lift to the uppermost level.
Rooftop of People’s Park Centre
Opening Hours: 11am-10pm
Admission: Free
Address: 101 Upper Cross St, Singapore 058357
Pinnacle @Duxton
Opening Hours: 9am-9pm daily, limited to 150 visitors a day
Admission: SGD6 per person
Address: 1 Cantonment Road, Singapore 080001
Website: www.pinnacleduxton.com.sg
Read my guide: Singapore’s Skyline View From The Pinnacle @
Duxton
Thian Hock Keng Temple is dedicated to Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea. In
the past, the early Chinese immigrants came here to pray for their safe
passage across the South China Sea.
The temple is about 10-min walk away from Pagoda Street (Chinatown MRT
Exit A). The nearest MRT to get to Thian Hock Keng Temple is Telok Ayer (3-
min walk, 250m distance).
Located next to Thian Hock Keng temple, Singapore Musical Box Museum
features over 40 antique musical boxes. The museum aims to share the
historical background from the rise to the fall of the musical boxes to how it
made its way to Singapore in the 19th century to the public.
The museum compound, Chong Wen Ge, together with Thian Hock Keng
temple was awarded UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage 2001 Awards for Culture
Heritage Conservation.
There is no walk-in entry to the museum, all visitors have to book a guided
tour (40-min long) in advance. There is a café at the museum which serves
Peranakan food and dessert.
Thian Hock Keng mural was painted by Yip Yew Chong along the back wall
of the Thian Hock Keng temple. This 40-metre-long mural tells about the
lives of our nation’s early Hokkien (a dialect group from south-eastern Fujian
in China) immigrants, whose sacrifices greatly shaped modern Singapore.
I accidentally stumbled upon this place back in 2017 when Yip was painting
the mural. Here’s a photo of the artist at work.
If you like my work, you can buy me a coffee! Your support will help me to
keep going!
Buy me a coffee
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