Chinatown prepares for the New Year of the Dog

Christmas has come and gone. The new year is only hours away. And now Chinatown is preparing for the Chinese New Year of the Dog, which falls on 29 January 2006. Many interestings props were already awaiting in various "hideouts" waiting to be put up. Now, they are in the process of putting up.

A few weeks before Chinese New Year is probably the only time of the year when the place will be crowded as people from all over Singapore will flock here to buy the traditional stuff to prepare for the Chinese New Year (CNY). Others will come to soak in the atmosphere. In the old days, the very young would venture into the crowd with their parents risking suffocation as it was really shoulder to shoulder. These days, the crowd is as thick. But then, in those days, it could be the only time for the family to buy new clothes and some tidbits for the CNY. Ah, Singapore has come a long way.

Soon, traditional yummy food - maybe only for the older people? - like Chinese sausages, waxed ducks and meat, Yunnan Ham (that one uses a normal saw to saw it), and Shitake mushrooms will be on full display.

Different Faces of Chinatown

Thanks to "Monkey" there is another website with a photo essay of Chinatown.

http://www.yawningbread.org/photo_essay/pew-01/pew-0100.htm

Sausages - An Austrian Challenge

Right in the heart of the Chinatown that most people know, is a small roadside stall, the new ones that were set up along Trengganu St (on the side of Sago St.) Apart from the traditional and not so traditional stalls selling all kinds of things, is a stall that stands out. Inside this stall is an ang-mo. A jovial and outgoing person, this ang-mo (Hokkien for red hair, meaning caucasians) greets anyone and everyone who passes by his stall.

Erich must be his name as his name card is written as "Erich's Wuerstel Stand" with the slogan "Quality Grilled Sausages - Austrian Style". And the address? Chinatown Night Market Singapore F&B 3 Trengganu Street.

On that evening when I was in Chinatown with my Aussie friends, we thought it was a good idea to have Austrian sausages right in the heard of Chinatown. What a Stammtisch too! We had Bockwuerst and Bratwuerst with sauce and mustard. Oh, sie waren gut geschmeckt! Ah, in Singlish? Shiok! Sedap!

And what could have been better when we were enjoying the sausages and chatting with Erich, when the Crazy Horse girls walked down the road with the saucy Chinese blouses and tight samfoo pants. We did not know where they came from until we heard from Erich. And yes, he knows what's going on in Chinatown!

Erich certainly adds life to Chinatown! Judging by the number of news-magazine articles pasted all over his stall, his must be the most popular one in town.

Want to get another kick out if this? His name card has this declaration, "The Last Sausage Kiosk Before the Equator". Can anyone dispute this? (^^)

Chinatown of Yesteryear

Chinatown today is very different from yesteryears. For those who lived in Chinatown in the 1950s to the 1970s, most, if not all of them are no longer living in Chinatown. At least not in the old pre-war houses.

Chinatown can roughly be considered to have three main parts, the Cantonese part, near to the People's Park Complex (between New Bridge Rd and South Bridge Rd, right to the former Upper Chin Chew St) , the Hokkien part (the area around Telok Ayer St and Amoy St stretching to Boat Quay, the Teochew part (Merchant Road and Clarke Quay).

Many looked back with nostalgia. Here is an interesting Blog that shares with us on this yesteryears in the Cantonese part of Chinatown.

My Memories of Chinatown



[Ack:Lam Chun See http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com]

Protection of the Land

As in many traditional Chinese shops around the world, in the Chinese shops in Chinatown, one could see the small altars at the back of the shop, in many cases, dedicated to Guan Gong, the red-faced General of the Three Kingdoms. And on the floor near to a wall, one could find a small altar dedicated to the Deities of the five directions and the local land. This is for the protection of the land and space where the shop is.

Some of these altars could be seen on the five-foot-way, as shown on the picture here. As in Taoist practice, the shopowners worship the Land Deities of the five directions for their help in protecting their shop, land, space and business. In offering, you could see give cups of tea, and sometimes, Chinese liquor and five joss-sticks are used. Fruits or offering of food are also put on the small altar.

Adjusting to the modern times, where there is more consciousness on cleanliness, small burning bins for joss papers are used. Here is a picture of a small red burning bin.

Internet Access in Chinatown

For some reasons, internet access shops or cyber cafe seem to be hard to find in Chinatown. A couple of times, I was embarassed to say I did not know of any when approached by tourists seeking internet cafes in Chinatown.

Was I glad when I saw this flyer in my mailbox. I have not verified the place and will recce soon. But in case you are looking for one, here is the address:

YOMA Internet Corner and Mynmar Arts
1 Park Rd #02-110B
People's Park Complex
Singapore 059108

Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10.30pm

Tel: 65366577
Email: yomanpl@singnet.com.sg

[Disclaimer: No commercial interest in this shop]

Multicolored Condoms

In all shades, shapes and sizes, the Condom shop in Chinatown sure has quite a selection. When I first took notice of the shop, it was during the Mid-Autumn festival show where the VIP stand was just in front of the shop. I wanted to take a picture of the display but with two policewomen standing next to the shop, it might give a wrong impression. (^^) No, the policewomen were there for crowd control.

And so, on this bright weekday morning, while passing the shop again, I decided to take a picture or two to share with you. For emergency, collections or even Christmas gift, there's quite a range to choose from. When I took a peek inside, a couple was deeply in discussions on the various types of the tubes. (^^)

The boxers that came with special compartments to stock the supplies seem to be great gifts. (^^)

Spotted Wood Owl In Chinatown?

In the heart of the oldest part of Chinatown, at the corner of Amoy St and Boon Tat St, where there is a small green (with a few trees) next to Tian Hock Keng, one of the oldest Chinese temples in Singapore, I spotted an owl flying into the tree. I thought it was a bat, but it stopped for me to identify that it was an owl!

With friends, we have just had a wonderful porridge at the New Taiwan Restaurant, and were talking to our cars. Thanks to Tim who had a digital camera with him, even though conditions were bad, it was good enough for him to identify the owl as a Spotted Wood Owl. This was later verified by Subaraj, Singapore's first registered Nature Guide (serin@swiftech.com.sg), thanks to Prof. Wee YC ( http://www.besgroup.blogspot.com/)

In the part of the city where there's less greens than others, it is indeed surprising to see an owl there, and for me, it is a lifer. Thanks to Prof. Wee, I am using his picture of the Spotted Wood Owl to show a clearer view of this beautiful bird.

Acknowledgements: Prof.WeeYC, Subaraj, Tim

People's Park Complex

Probably the first shopping complex that houses many different shop units, the People's Park Complex was like a pheonix arising from the ashes, for before that was an old people's park of wet market, sundry and cloth stalls, open air restaurants, all thrown into one, that was partially destroyed by fire.

I had the good fortune of testing out the escalator and checking out the shop units as the complex opened to the public, with only a few shops opening. It was novelty for the Singaporeans, especially the residents of Chinatown. The Chinese emporium was the anchor tenant that attracts the crowd with its cheap products.

Today, People's Park Complex has evolved many times, upgrading to hold on to the crowd that has since been distracted by many other shopping centres. To Chinatown, this is an icon of modernisation. It will continue to evolve to make itself attractive and meaningful to the shoppers and residents of Chinatown.

Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoes

Cobblers have been a regular sight in Chinatown, ever since when I could walk to the old open-air People's Park that was market by day and bazaar and restaurants by night. With changing time, and new buildings, they adjusted into new niches. No challenge to anyone, other than the newcomer Mr. Minit, these traditional cobblers sat in a group, chat and work. Customers were offer tiny stools to sit on while waiting for them to mend the shoe.

They are like the smaller microcosm of the total ecosystem of the marketplace. Someone might want to mend a shoe or two, although these days, tendencies of throwing them away are higher. While these cobblers are not going to be rich, they manage to survive.

If you were to imagine a screen behind these cobblers showing the old days of the stinky canal next to People's Park to the present day, many things changed but not the cobbler. Maybe, some white hair, some replacement of cobblers .. but this trade could well be a vanishing one. Would Ronald be the last to bid them goodbye?