Chinatown

It's only a short walk from the central city where all the hotels are, over the river and down into Chinatown. The first thing that you notice is how narrow the streets are compared with the inner CBD. These streets remain as they were when immigrants first settled there and you find yourself weaving between store goods and parked motorcycles to stay on the footpath or the edge of the road. There's a Chinatown Heritage Centre on Pagoda Street which is supposed to be really good but I got there too late in the day to visit. I'll go on my way back to NZ though if I have the time. Singapore's the kind of place you could easily spend a week and trying to see it in a two days while jetlagged does not do it justice.

Ideally you want to try and get to Chinatown around mid-afternoon. You want time to see the stores and temples before the markets start. You really want to be in Chinatown from 5pm onwards. That's when the main stores start to shut and a central section of the streets get closed to cars. That's when the street markets start. There are tables and place to eat everywhere. Grab a chilled Thai coconut to drink - not only does it taste fantastic but it looks cool too. There's all kinds of things for sale at the markets. Jewellery, DVDs (very cheap if you don't mind them not being in English), Silks, Plants, knick-knacks. Unfortunately, the markets are like the rest of Singapore - they run on cash. Most places in Singapore don't accept credit cards or local bank cards apart from the larger stores in the malls whose products are simply to expensive to expect a cash payment. This did serve to protect my bank account but I definitely hope to stop in onm y way back and do some more shopping as I had to pass up the most beautiful silks, hand painted wall hangings etc... I did however pick up the most beautiful Jade turtle necklace; Gan the good rises again! (which really only makes sense if you've read all of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, sorry).