Desiree Koh:
Celebrating the full moon at Clarke Quay.
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This is a giant lantern. Really.
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A walking tour of Sin in the SIN City, where we learned more about Chinatown history through the stories of brothels new and old.
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Looking up a very large dragon's ass.
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Smith Street, otherwise known as Food Street.
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One of the most famous brothels in Chinatown is now a dim sum restaurant on the second floor and a hotel on the third. Within, there used to be lots of courtesans, opium-smoking, mahjong and general cruelty to those indentured by their flesh.
Desiree Koh:
Sago Street used to be known as the Street of the Dead, because there were dead houses (makeshift hospices where immigrants go to die, bluntly), funeral parlors and a cottage industry supplying the necessary details needed for wakes and final sendoffs.
Desiree Koh:
The two-year-old Buddha Tooth Relic Temple cost $63 million to construct (thanks, Kat!) and was lit up with lanterns because of Vesak Day celebrations. Happy birthday, Buddha!
Desiree Koh:
These larger-than-life lantern figures are more part of Chinese and Taoist folklore than Buddhism.
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Here's lookin' at you, kid.
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Happy kids and a full teapot (that's what the character says) -- very auspicious.
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A very happy place -- this is one of the most vaunted establishments in Chinatown, a bak kwa store from the days of yore where they still prepare the best jerky in the world the same way they did 70 years ago.
Desiree Koh:
Why do stars fall out from the sky?
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Every time you walk by? Just like me, they long to be, close to you.
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Smoked on old rattan trays -- could this same method be applied to produce top-flight bar-be-que?
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Then grilled over charcoal, not gas. Yes, I think you could produce some fine and dandy bar-be-que this way.
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Then we went to Archipelago in the old warehouse district.
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Everything on tap. Quality, not quantity.
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The Samui started out as a seasonal brew, but it was so good it became a regular. Cheers, and thanks for the nightcap, Kat and Greg!
Desiree Koh:
Boat Quay by the Singapore River at dusk.
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The gorgeous Roy Lichtenstein "Screw Up" sculpture in Millennia Walk - kinda like the Chicago Spire.
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Trishaw siesta on Seah Street.
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Yet Con, a Hainanese institution for chicken rice and other traditional dishes.
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Hainanese chicken.
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Roast Hainanese chicken, steamed Hainanese chicken, pork belly.
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Chin Chin, another Hainanese stalwart. Clothes pegs for orders.
Desiree Koh:
Pottering about Waterloo Street.
Desiree Koh:
Arab Street textile stores - my mom knows every single one of the proprietors on this stretch from her days as a bridal dress designer!
