A glimpse of Chinatown in Singapore

Any country you visit, I am sure there is a Chinatown. Some might even have more than one, which by the way, I do not understand why. I have even never been to the only Chinatown in India yet, even though it is in my home state. But, when I travelled to Singapore, I somehow could not resist not visiting. 

Singapore was my first international travel country. So much excitement. It was a planned trip by TravelTriangle with just one free day for us to enjoy however we wanted. Our stay (The Noble Hotel) was in a location which was just a 10 min of a drive from the Chinatown. So, we decided to go via cab and return on foot as we could explore on the way back.

Let’s Go

After having a hearty breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel, we headed out. We simply took a cab and reached our destination. CHINATOWN!!! 

It was really easy to tell that it was Chinatown because of the obvious decoration on the street. Rows and rows of Chinese lanterns hung across the streets. I am not sure if it was decorated due to some festival or if it is always decorated this way for tourists to spot from a distance. But whatever the reason, it felt really pretty. 

Now as we all know, Chinatown in any country, is famous for 2 things. Street food and shopping. Stalls on both sides of the road. And people swarming this place. It definitely was a place frequented by both tourists and locals.

A very interesting thing we noticed was that the metro station was right in the middle of the town. Anyone staying at a farther place can simply hop on the metro and pop right in. No extra walking.

I actually did all my souvenir shopping from here. Everything was so cheap. From buying chocolates for friends, a pure silk scarf for my mom (which I doubt was pure), a dress for my sister to endlessly searching for something for my dad. Definitely, bought some goodies for myself too. 

Now, Chinatown is one of the 3 ethnic influenced neighbourhoods in Singapore. The other two are Kampong Glam- The Malaysian Muslim district and Little India. We already explored Little India the day before during my so-called “Merlion day”, so the only famous “neighbourhood” left for us was Kampong Glam. 

To be honest, I really didn’t know what it was called before I started writing for this post. Anyways, we decided to walk with google navigation our only help. We wanted to explore nearby local areas and walking is the best way to do that. When you are commuting on a public vehicle, you can’t just stop wherever you want. Right?

Reaching Kampong Glam

This area has the main 2 streets that are the most touristy. The Haji Lane and The Arab street. Now, Haji Lane is more of a hip culture street. The major appeal of this lane is the walls. Such vibrant colours and beautiful art. It actually felt a bit out of place. I am not saying that rest of Singapore has boring walls but MAN that just felt different. 

It is lined with cafes and bars with some having really weird names or just something unique. For example, one had a cool theme of having coffee with your selfie on top of the cream. And on top of that, the selfies are clicked right there in the café. Another example is the one below. This club had some really descriptive rules for everyone.

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It was very mesmerizing to walkthrough here. I literally could not stop clicking pictures. After stopping for a cup of coffee, we went on toward the Arab street. Now, these two have quite a different feel. Like, Haji Lane was all hip and colourful and pop but Arab street had more of a cool and calm vibe if you know what I mean. 

The structures in here are a total contrast to that of the usual buildings in Singapore. They are more intricate and give an Arabic feel. 

We decided to have our meal of the day here. Of course, we walking for such a long time. I was famished. We roamed around for a while trying to select a place to eat and finally ended up in a Thai restaurant. Now, I have never had Thai food. Just heard and saw a hell lot on YouTube. So, I was pretty excited.

I ordered Pad Thai for me. I clearly remember that the restaurant menu was very descriptive with their recipes. Along with each dish they had mentioned a brief about the dish. And I really really don’t know how I missed on the fact that Pad Thai had peanuts.

I hate peanuts. No, not only peanuts, any kind of nut in my savoury food. In sweets I love, but not in savoury. NOT AT ALL. And the worst part, I could not just switch my meal with any of my friends. Since I was the only non-vegetarian person, no one could even taste my food. And I definitely do not like wasting. So somehow, I had to finish it all by myself. Oh, it was a task for me.

After having the not so wonderful meal for me, we explored the area a bit more. If you are in a Muslim locality, there is definitely a Mosque. And so was here. The famous Sultan Mosque. Another touristy destination in Singapore. Also, the national mosque of Singapore.

Before entering, everyone needs to remove their shoes and abide by the dress code. There are robes available outside too. Photography is allowed inside. But no flash. It merely took us 20 minutes to see the mosque. 

I would suggest you take a day to explore each neighbourhood. I still feel that I might have missed so much but can’t be sure. So, definitely will be coming back here.

See ya!