Posted by Arriving into Singapore early in the morning from Europe is always challenging so it was great to be able to put our head down with an early checkin at the hanging garden Hotel, Parkroyal collection Pickering. We then head out for the afternoon sightseeing and feasting after a good bit of sleep. We headed up to The Raffles Centre of town and explored the Chimes area and then underground to escape the heat into Raffles City shopping and enjoyed a nice Dumpling lunch. We then got a foot and leg massage each and walked back towards the Boat Quay via the St Andrews Cathedral, which was a nice cool reprieve before putting our heads down for a Jetlag rest back at the Hotel ,
BOAT QUAY
We were staying on the fringe of Chinatown and there were some fabulous examples of beautifully restored Traditional Colonial Shop/Houses in the area
The parkroyal is unlike any Hotel we have stayed in and is such an architectural masterpiece with its hanging hardens and unique curved organic concrete sculpture style inside and out..
We checked out all the food options locally around Boat Quay and settled on one that was not on the water as they were all very touristy and crowded and loud. It had great reviews and it did not dissapoint with fabulous decor and a great menu selection…spot on and fabulous meal and service. Callerd QUAY HOUSE it was very Vietnamese in style but did a fusion menu and the wallpaper was fabulous.
Boat Quay at night.
View and gardens from our room.
TIONG BAHRU DISTRICT
The Highly anticipated visit of our stopover was visiting the Tiong Bahru Market and residential district. This neighbourhood was established as the new model zone for modern Singaporean living as was mostly completed before WW2 wrecked everything. Construction commenced in 1930 and the design was unmistakenly Art Deco through and through. the buildings range from just 3 to 5 storeys with often shops or businesses located on the ground floors of some. balconies are common and open spaces abound. The later building from post WW2 are more standardised blocks of flats but still with liveability high on the agenda, but just not the same flair.
Straight out of a Hollywood movie with a real cinema style below
Curves abound as does exposed brickwork and many have closed in their balconies whereas others have created glass rooms and kept the balconies open.
The external staircases on the 50’s and 60’s blocks are a real feature.
Layers and parapet walls and eaves with corbelled edgeing really set things off with style.
The clear differences between the pre and post-war designs is very evident below where form and function win out over style and flair.
The garden space between blocks creates a great shady and green ebvironment
PAGODA STREET
We ended up in chinatown after our wanderings and headed to Pagoda street to get some lunch and to visit the Traditional Art Nouveau tile shop. Wow whayt a sight and even though you could be temptred to buy some very expensive original tile we came to our senses a just bought a bunch of replica’s in ceramic. the Shophouses here are stunning as was the Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple.
SRI MARIAMMAN TEMPLE
ATLAS BAR in PARKVIEW SQUARE
We finished off our day at the Art Deco inspired Atlas bar and were blown away. The lavish bar is mind boggingly crazy and very authentic from the 1930’s. Whoever built this went broke but its a good thing that it exists even just fopr the excess to lavish.
