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I took a tour of Chinatown right before Chinese New Year. It wasn't the tour I expected. We didn't visit the big Buddhist temple or even walk down Pagoda street. Instead the guide took us down these obscure streets and we poked our heads into tiny shops where she knew everyone's names and entire life history.
She told us all these little tidbits like you have to be married to buy a HDB flat. Unless you are over 35 and can join with someone else (like a sister). And how they save heritage trees. And all the gossip about the Tiger Balm Family. And about the Chinese Clans of the 1920s and 30s and what the Chinatown market used to be like.
We ducked into a small Chinese paper shop. Gorgeous stuff. Mostly for burning to their ancestors or to the gods - paper money, or anything else they'll need in the afterlife (clothes, shoes, phones, passport to help you get through hell faster).
A family owned bakery. We watched them make pineapple tarts and kuey for Chinese New Year. So yummy!
Fortune sticks at the Kuan Yin Temple. A temple for a female goddess. It has turned into a sort of refuge for women and the doorstep is a safe place to leave unwanted baby girls.
Gong Moon Kee medicinal shop with their bottled citronella and eucalyptus oils.
Gorgeous buildings.
Famous duck and rice shop.
3 comments:
Is Chinatown always crowded? The buildings are GORGEOUS!
gorgeous photos jessie and i love how you describe everything. can i just copy and paste over to my blog? j/k.
I love the bright colors in all these photos. So much color. It's hard to imagine it being so warm there while it is so cold and dark here! Fun to see!
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