During Monsoon usually starts on early November till late February, you may find a lot of rain in Singapore. Perhaps little bit wet if you do walking tours of Chinatown in Singapore that time. However you can bring umbrella or raincoat along with your backpack and a map of Singapore city.
You can start tour from the Raffles place MRT station in CBD. From the station, wander west along Chulia St and south down Philip St to the Wak Hai Cheng Bio Temple. This teochew Taoist temple has some interesting scenes depicted under, and on top of, the roof of main temple.
Continue down Philip St and over church St to Telok Ayer St. Until relatively recently this area was a clamoring district of traditional business, but the blocks around Pekin and Cross St have been redeveloped and restored, and now house restaurants and shops.
At the junction with Boon Tat St, you will find the Nagore Durgha Shrine, an old mosque built by muslim from south India during 1829 and 1830. Just a little south-west down the street is the Chinese Thian Hock Keng Temple, or Temple of Heavenly Happiness, on of the most interesting temples in Singapore.
Continue walking along Telok Ayer St and you will soon come to the Al-Abrar Mosque, which was originally built in 1827 and rebuilt in its present form 1850 to 1855, a right turn and then another right turn will bring you into Amoy St, a Hokkien area that once catered to sailor and sea trade.
Continue north-east up Amoy St and turn left up Cross St to Club St. The quiet area around Club St, Ann Siang Rd and Ann Siang Hill was a clove and nutmeg plantation until it became a prime residential area for Hokkien merchants. This area was noted for its highly decorated terrace, a number of which housed the old Chinese guilds, though only few remain now. Ann Siang Hill in particular has som fine terrace house, both restored and untouched.
Farther south, South Bridge Rd becomes Neil Rd. The region between Neil and Tanjong Pagar Rd is the Tanjong Pagar conservation area, the first major restoration project in Chinatown. In this area, beautifully restored terraces accommodate a variety of restaurants and bars. The old Jinrikisha station right on the corner of Neil and Tanjong Pagar Rd, now a restaurant, is an interesting triangular building that was once a depot for hand-pulled rickshaws.
South-west of Tanjong Pagar, the Bukit Pasoh area is a traditional part of Chinatown. Bukit Pasoh Rd is known as the street of the clans because of the many clan association houses here. Keong Saik Rd is a curving street of old terraces with coffee shops, clan houses and clubs.
Heading back to the centre of Chinatown, north-east up to South Bridge Rd, you enter the Kreta Ayer district, the real heart of the area. The street hawkers and many of the traditional businesses have gone, but some of the old atmosphere of Chinatown remains. The Chinatown Complex, on the corner of Trengganu and Smith St, is lively local shopping centre and a popular meeting place outside in the cool of the evening. Along with Smith St, Temple, Pagoda and Mosque St are traditionally the heart of old Chinatown, but new developments have destroyed a lot of atmosphere and most of Pagoda St has been renovated. Smith St has gold, jade, souvenir and traditional medicine shops. The whole area has plenty of old and new souvenir and trinket shops selling masks, reproduction bronzes, bamboo ware, carvings and silk garments, bargain hard.
Also in this area is the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple. The Jamae Mosque on South Bridge Rd is only a short distance from Sri Mariamman Temple. It was built bi Indian Muslims from the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu between 1830 and 1855.
Across New Bridge Rd from Pagoda St is the huge People’s Park Complex, a modern shopping centre with much more local appeal than Orchard Rd centers. Farther north-east along Eu Tong Sen St is the former Tong Chai Medical Institute. The magnificent building, a national monument, now houses a nightclub. To finish off the walk, and perhaps quench your thirst with a beer, head east along North Canal Rd until you hit Boat Quay’s bars and restaurants, it is a ten minutes walk.
