Saturday, March 17, 2007

Old & New



It's been awhile since I had a chance to play at being a tourist at home and shoot away at new angles that my trusty Nikon may discover :) So when Tsunako visited back in January, I took her along my favourite tourist route and found many old/new vignettes in conservation-rich Singapore. Starting with Arab Street, here's "The Little Tailoring" shop with it's crumbling blue lattice windows, moss covered facade, and peeling coat of paint :D




Within the Telok Ayer conservation area, Thian Hock Keng Temple. Possibly the oldest Chinese temple here, this temple was built by southern Chinese coolies for the goddess Ma Tzu (for blessing them with a safe voyage across the South China Sea). I thought that the fence with it's green paint truly reflected Singapore's colonial past!




A classic example of old/new - the modern looking Hokkien Huay Kwan (association in the Hokkien dialect) looms across the Thian Hock Keng.




The Night Safari is a must-see on my tourist route :D It has evolved in the last 2 years to become more tourist friendly and unfortunately, more theme-park like if you ask me! All in the name of wildlife conservation I guess.




We had a quick bite at the newly opened "Ulu Ulu" restaurant ("ulu" means isolated in Malay) and I decided on the artery clogging but mouthwatering laksa ;D At $12 per bowl, this was 4 times the price at a local hawker centre but at least I could pronounce it as "deli-cious"!




Clarke Quay has also been given a much needed makeover and now it's filled with hipper than hip restaurants, bars and clubs e.g. Ministry of Sound, The Clinic (operating tables and wheelchairs as furniture!), etc. It's definitely a good place to chill out by the Singapore River and people watch as the bossa nova tunes float by... so, go out there and play tourist!

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stormiii at 11:14 pm

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