We met this morning at Farrer Park train station for our Little India sketch crawl. This is my 1st sketchcrawl with the Singapore gang. While sitting at the coffee shop waiting, I saw how the early morning sun was falling on the buildings surrounding the substation. It was simply magical.
We chanced upon this long back alley because of the pigeons. Lots and lots of pigeons every where. The back doors are often used by the shops and restaurants for the delivery of goods and garbage disposal. Still a pretty lane to look at.
This is another 5-foot-way sketch I did. Many colourful floor tiles with intricate designs adorn this long corridor. The weather was also getting intense so the shade from this corridor was a much needed respite.
I like the orange dome that was sticking out from among the shop houses. Not sure what the orange building is. Maybe a temple. I also realised I drew the bicycle a little too big.
This flea market was our last stop for our sketch crawl. I was very tired so my lines was all over the place. The stalls were being set-up as I was drawing. You will be surprised by the amount of junks on sale. Yes junks are like gold here at this flea market.
This tiny lane, hidden away in the heart of the Muslim quarter, is a fashionista's paradise. The collection of narrow shop-houses have been transformed into an aggressively hip retail stretch. The 4 large chinese characters read 'Big Year Pawn Shop'. Very old style signage.
Many tourists and locals like to take pictures from this very spot with the new ION shopping mall as backdrop. You cannot miss this very odd and strange piece of architecture along orchard road. The capsule infront of the mall is entrance and exit into the subway station below.
This little collection of shop-houses are adjacent to the Chinatown. Even though the shop-house facade may look narrow and small, each unit can stretch a long way back creating long narrow spaces.
Opium and gambling dens, as well as cheap brothels, used to flourish on Duxton Road, and one writer describes it as a slum area and a notoriously vice-ridden environment. These places were patronised by the rickshaw coolies who lived in Duxton Road and Duxton Hill. Despite the notoriety of the street, many wealthy Straits Chinese families built and occupied lofty and exquisitely designed residences and shophouses on Duxton Hill.
The Scarlet Hotel is a boutique hotel in Erskine Road, Chinatown, Singapore. This used to be an Art Deco building built in 1924. The exterior was restored to its original state while the interior was complete restructured.
The early Chinese immigrants visited Ann Siang Hill when they wanted to send money home to their families in China as it was the traditional site of remittance houses. Letter writers and calligraphers also had their businesses at the five-foot way of the shop-houses to help the illiterate immigrants write letters home. Most of the houses here were built between 1903 and 1941. Ann Siang Road, which has elegantly restored shophouses today, was once the traditional home of clan associations and exclusive social clubs.
6 more days to the 1st day of the lunar new year. It is also the 1st day of Spring and also the year of the Tiger. Our Chinatown has been transformed into a very big colourful and festive market. You will find many new year goodies, assorted flowers, decorations and many more. I sat down near a group of stalls selling pomelos and started drawing the old man and his stall full of ripe pomelo fruits.
I went to another corner of Chinatown and found a stall selling fake plastic flowers. The myriads of colours really zest up the celebration. Happy Lunar New year to all my Asian friends!!
This particular unit belongs to a medium who runs a home based temple. The banner suggests that he represents the monkey god spirit through whom people come to him for advice. They often hang colourful flags and banners to announce their presence.
Most of us in Singapore live in flats and often look like pigeon holes because of the uniformity. On the outside all units look the same. You can tell that this is an Indian family just by looking at the religious ornaments above their doors and windows. They live opposite to my unit. The sun is out so they brought out their laundries too.
