The evening of my second day in S'pore, was spent wandering around Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown. I quite liked this area in this city, it reminded me of the Soho area in London. Only, in my opinion, not as happening as Soho -- specially on a Saturday night.
I was wondering what and where to eat for dinner. Though I had a few places on my list, I wanted to try something typically Singaporean. That's when I found a Hawker Centre near me - Maxwell Food Centre.
More than the food, I found the pun signage in this hawker centre a lot more interesting. For example...
Why not buy some bread at Bread Pitt or some soy drink at Mr. Bean? They really love their puns... expect more in future posts.
Apart from the puns... I found this menu quite interesting...
Frog Congee anyone, for S$8? Maybe if I was with someone, I would have been inclined to try it. But because I was alone, and had never tried Frogs Legs Soup ever... I decided to skip this one... for now. The other stalls didn't offer much, which I hadn't already tried -- typically Asian food. Had I come here straight from Europe deprived of the stuff... it would have been a different story. However, I did find something that tickled my taste buds...
Pandan Coconut Balls. I bought two pieces (self-control put to a test here!), and enjoyed every bit of it! Unfortunately, that was all the food experience I did in that place, that night.
I walked up the streets of Chinatown with my map and uncomfortable shoes. Trying to get my bearings and trying to find the places I wanted to check out in this area. I went a whole round trying to find the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, only to find out that if I walked straight out of my hotel for a few minutes, I would have seen it instantly.
It's an extraordinary sight/site, and I am glad I got to see it at night all lit up. If I may digress, I also liked the fact it was along Sago St. (Tapioca Pearls in Tagalog, and used in a lot of local drinks) tee-hee. This temple is a Buddhist temple in the middle of Chinatown, designed in the traditional Tang Dynasty. I didn't manage to go inside this temple (or any other temples in my trip as a matter of fact), however, the main attraction of this temple is a tooth relic of Buddha. It is placed in a two meter high stupa made of pure gold. In China, The Tang Dynasty is seen as the 'golden ages' of Buddhist art. Why is it called "Buddha Tooth Relic Temple though? Well, I read somewhere that Buddhist texts reveal that Buddha left behind four wisdom tooths and 40 tooth relics for the succeeding generations. Due to the religious significance of temples with relics they played an important role in spreading Buddhist beliefs.
A few meters away is yet another temple. The Sri Mariamman Temple -- it's the oldest (dating back to 1843) and first Hindu temple in Singapore, surprisingly enough, located in Chinatown. A sight to see both day AND night. The craftsmanship and maintenance of this building is remarkable. The temple is built in Dravidian style of architecture. Meaning, typically a pyramid shaped structure, which has intricately carved stones of deities, warriors and kings. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, known for curing illnesses and diseases.
After feeding my sense of sight... it was now time to feed my sense of taste, for I was starving. Still not knowing what I really wanted... I wandered into back streets hoping to find something that would appeal to me. But then I got side track with two cool shops on Ann Siang Road. One of them I knew I wanted to check out, it was called Style Nordic. Everything Scandinavian (except the people working in it). The second shop was (surprise, surprise) -- a bookshop.
My hunger had to wait, I had to check out this independent-retro, soho-like bookshop. I absolutely love that fact that they didn't even have a sign for the shop. Just a scribble on the glass door with some black marker. The place was extremely cozy, surrounding me with books -- better yet... my sort of books! I find books in Singapore quite expensive. So I had to sigh, and leave and then realize I was still starving.
I ended up walking to Club Street. I could hear a bar with what I think were drunken tourists, singing shouting to Mr. Brightside of The Killers on karaoke... "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea...swimming through sick lullabies...choking on your aaaaaalibis..." and I though -- eerrr, no. So I found myself a quite place to dine (a little tooo quite)... I was the only one in the restaurant and this was a Saturday night!
At Eden Cafe, ironically enough their slogan is "where it all begins", sadly enough for me is where it ended, having Saffron Salmon with Mushroom. The place, which again was recommended by the Singaporean blogger, which again, I must have ordered the wrong thing. Or was everything just tasting bitter because I was having to dine alone?
My feet were killing me and I decided that I wasn't going to walk up and down this hilly area back to my hotel. I hailed a cab, and asked how much it was back to the hotel. Thinking it would be S$2.30 max, as it was very near (by taxi, not by painful shoes). But the driver replied S$8, and I said no thank you, and got out the taxi. It was S$8 from Orchard Road to my hotel. So I walked it. Slowly, but painfully.
Admittedly, this was a low end (only time in this trip) to the evening (not even going to disclose how pathetic the rest of the evening went).
However, the next day... it gets better.
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