No visit to Singapore would be complete if you missed out
on Chinatown where old secrets and mysterious stories are waiting for you to
discover and which seems a place of tantalizing contrast.
Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple, a huge mosque and a
colorful Chinese temple — so close together that you can visit and walk
through them all only taking up a half hour of precious shopping time.
Cultural
treasures at the Chinese Heritage Center on Pagoda Street.
However you should not underestimate the tradition behind
it all. Step into the Chinese Heritage Center on Pagoda Street and discover
the secrets of the ‘old’ Chinatown. If those old rooms could speak, they
would tell stories of migrant workers who lived in overcrowded, cramped
quarters during the first settlement of Singapore. And do not just think
that you are crawling around dirty old buildings — old yes, but it is an
interactive time travel experience that leads you all the way through the
streets of time where, still today, traditional Chinese medicine is sold
next to modern textiles, handicrafts and valuable Asian antiques.
Singapore’s
oldest Hindu temple, a colorful Chinese temple and a huge mosque are
‘musts’ to visit.
It is fascinating to watch Chinese housewives at the
market bargain for dried foods and animals that you would not even dream
would still be on sale in the 21st century. Talking to one of the vendors, I
was told there is strong belief in these exotic fruits, herbs and animals
and using them as medicines for various diseases and it is a fact that 80
percent or more of the population of the globe still rely on traditional
rather than modern medicine. While I could seriously consider trying the
dried persimmons cooked in water against fever, my stomach rebels at dried
seahorses, frogs and even more unspeakable creatures waiting to be sold.
One
of the less exotic recipes was dried persimmon boiled with water against
fever.
Your senses will be continuously titillated as you wander
around these streets with the smell of Tiger Balm, jasmine, fish, fruits,
Chinese pastry and half dried paint from the many small art shops in narrow
streets.
There is no excuse for not visiting this unique city and making your own
passage through time, not only for the sake of ethnic art and other
shopping, but also to discover a melting pot of traditions that cannot be
seen in many other places in the world.
The
first migrant workers lived in overcrowded, cramped quarters like the three
story tailor’s shop house that was converted into the Chinese Heritage
Center.
Henna
painting, silk saris, a prayer session and the smell of spices and jasmine,
that will liven your senses in Singapore’s ‘Little India’.
