Sing-China

To continue with the recent Singapore trip with daughter.. but first let me refresh you with our last stop => here. So from Little India, we went straight to China Town. Not via that tour bus photoed above.. ours was a DIY city tour cos I've been to Sg for a number of times so more than less_ I played as a co-tour guide to my first timer daughter, after my bff who's residing at Sg as an expat for decades now. Anyway, this was some part that expat bff wasn't around and I had to commute alone with daughter. No fear thu', knowing how safe to go around this secured city.

We took a train from Little India and alighted at Chinatown station which was so near from each other. There my daughter trying to camouflage, lol .

The following photos are stolen from my daughter's camera. Must say the way she saw the place and the images she took say a lot about herself too.
Teen daughter's perspective of Sg Chinatown :

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daughter enjoys "tiangge"



she loves cheap hauls

always girly cutee

 manic about camera, but actually wants her next to be a Canon, she now has a Nikon.

loves owls and have lots of prints of them on shirts, bags and on her other stuffs. i won't be surprise if one day she would  take home a real one and have it as her first pet. she never had any. the other younger daughter is the animal lover.



I nudged her to see this museum which says a lot about the heritage of the old Singapore, she said no. I was able to see it on 2009. See here.



But when we walked by the Tintin Shop, she had to nudge me to make a full stop. .







Ask me not about the "aghast look", haha. Ask her, lol. Ofcourse, she bought nothing from the store. She thought the prices were very "un-chinatown", whatevah! haha.

This Chinatown walk didn't stop here. You can see some more here and here. Maybe later, I'll post more. A little food trip here.

World Largest Coin

Yap stone Money was used at the Pacific Islands of Yap until World War 11, with the largest as much as 12 feet (4m) in diameter! The largest stones were used as symbol of wealth to be displayed outside houses. The hole in the centre was for a pole so that two people could carry it!

Imagine that !. . using it today! haha. 

Found it at Singapore Coins and Notes Museum, Pagoda St., Singapore.

Calligraphic Experience

I brought daughter to the Chinatown of Sg, so she would see its other facet, other than Singapore being very  cosmopolitan. Right away she noticed that it was a lot cleaner and more organize than the Chinatown in our country. I totally agreed with her when she said that there are more goods to buy thu' in our own Chinatown.




Lots of touristy souvenirs are being sold. One of them is this "Chinese calligraphy" which took daughter's fancy. She had thought of buying one for her sister left at home.




So it was Sg$10 for a calligraphic engraved stone necklace.




It's about P360 in our local currency.




The vendor asked us to choose the stone. There were lots, so I asked him back if everything was priced for $10. He replied yes. We chose the black rectangle one (previous photo above).




He instructed us to write in a paper the name to be written. Then the vendor did the engraving. .




We were surprise when he handed to us the engraved stone. .with English alphabet name. We thought he's selling Chinese calligraphy? And told him so. He said it was okey he would do the calligraphy at the back. No additional charge.




He then handed to us a dictionary so we could look for my daughter's name in Chinese.

The search was easy. We decided to not include her second name anymore.

Pay time. I was giving him $10 bucks and he said no. It's $20. Huh??? How come? He pointed me to the box of stone where I got our purchase. Already there was a price tag of $20. Whathefff?? I swore it wasn't there when we were picking few minutes ago. He insisted that it's $20 cos it's a big stone. Hadn't I asked beforehand if everything was at $10?? He clearly said yes. Otherwise, we would have chosen stone at $10 cos it wouldn't make any difference to us anyway. I had no time for more confrontation so in the end I paid $20. Not worth it but I just charged it to experience.




So this cost me like P720. Nevermind. The best thing is the receiver (my youngest girl) was quite happy with the necklace. Aside from the ipod & sling bag which completed her "pasalubong' bag.

Li Bien Ornament

I joined a flock of people watching this woman painting

in a very unique discipline. . in a very unique canvass. .


She's painting a glass ball ornament.. . she was painting in reverse, the inside of the ball. .how cleverly artistic is that!

 

The "Li Bien" Ornament

In Chinese, the phrase "Li Bien" means "inside." The Li Bien Ornament showcases the age-old skill of inside painting. Through a small opening in the ornament, the artist repeatedly inserts a miniature brush to paint the artwork. The process is painstaking and time consuming requiring two days to paint each ornament. The resulting ornament is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind keepsake you'll treasure for years to come.

Found her at a shop in Chinatown, Singapore. Somewhere at Smith Street, if I could remember it right. Much that I admired the works, I didn't buy a piece which looking through these photos I suddenly felt a pinch of regret. When I get back, I really have to get one for myself.

SG : Sri Mariamman Temple

Funny that I was looking for this temple at Little India and was totally surprised when I found it at the end of  downtown Chinatown district in Singapore. Needless to say, this is one of the missed attractions on my prev SG trip which was on my list this time around.

The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple. so imagine my surprise when I had a glimpse of it at the end of Pagoda St. in Chinatown. The last thing I expected to see in a Chinese district was a Hindu temple. But well, Singapore is a multi-racial city where everything comes in a mixed surprise.

We didn't have enough time to get inside.

But even just a small peek from the entrance door at this side had already left me an impression how beautiful it is.

Chinatown Heritage Centre

After a neoteric flight on board the Singapore Flyer, we turned a backtract to the China Town Heritage Centre along Pagoda Street.








Comprising of three beautifully restored shophouses, the museum houses a memories and untold stories from the past.





Mahjong wall? I don't know just look like it to me. hahaha.









The gallery has a dark settings which speak of how tough times were for the early settlers of Singapore.

Some presentations of early migrants of the city.



We walked through cramped living quarters of the early immigrants, which were personally quite overwhelming for me and this made me not take photos of them.





On the other side, it also showcases a colourful life in the early 50's.

"Every face has a story to tell and every story seeks to be heard.."