Inspired by Nicole’s stylish friend to do a little window shopping on Ann Siang Hill, I set off to Chinatown armed with my camera and my girlfriends.
I had originally hoped to capture the trendiness of the Ann Siang boutique shops and cafés, but I was too busy looking for Theroux’s latest travel essays (thanks for the tip, Olga!) at Books Actually and sampling free patisserie goodies from K-ki sweets to get some quality shots.
Instead I’m giving you pictures from the street hawkers in Chinatown, which in my opinion are just as interesting and perhaps a little more timeless than trendy.
Left to right from the top: (1) Hanging lanterns in a store off Pagoda Street, (2) friends in the orchid garden, (3) rows and rows of lovely chopsticks for sale, (4) very, very dry persimmons, (5) the worlds largest spinning prayer wheel (supposedly), (6) nian gao factory cakes, or chinese new year cakes, (7) more photogenic lanterns, (8) roasting chesnuts, and (9) ripped statue guarding the Red Temple.
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 24, 2010 at 11:45 pm
dadeo
Your post interested and inspired me to look up Chia Ann Slang. I’ll bet the old houses and related architecture in qing shan ting are fun to look at too.
January 25, 2010 at 9:38 am
kierstens
You’re quite the slueth! Yes – it’s all very lovely!
January 25, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Books Actually « Whim & Wanderlust
[…] p/s To see more of our Saturday exploration, visit Kiersten! […]
January 26, 2010 at 11:21 am
sheralyn
So after research, the white stuff on those dried persimmons is naturally crystallized fruit sugar, and persimmons are supposed to bring wealth and happiness for the new year!
January 26, 2010 at 11:28 am
kierstens
Hmm, I don’t know about wealth and happiness, but it definitely brought a bad taste to my mouth…
January 29, 2010 at 2:38 am
Nic
Your pictures are fabulous! So colorful, and now I’m craving some of those New Years cakes.
I was looking at Books Actually’s website and kept thinking, “how cute, how quaint, etc.” Then I came upon a lovely little book called “The Boy with the Flower that Grew out of His Ass.”
Do I even want to know?
January 29, 2010 at 9:30 am
kierstens
It turns out you’re supposed to let those new year cakes sit out for anywhere from a month to a year, get moldy (like cheese), and then fry them. When the lady told us that, I lost my appetite.
I would like to meet the author of “The Boy with the Flower that Grew out of His Ass.”