204. WALK THE TALK - KATONG

Took a walkabout in an old familiar neighbourhood which has undergone tremendous changes but thankfully some old landmarks are still around, just that they have undergone a colourful makeover. Sadly though, the mom & pop stores are gone, old laundry shop (dhoby is what they were called before), a gent's tailor - all have been replaced by hip, funky, artisanal joints - its what they are now known as...

The names of the eateries are quite original - here's several that caught my eye...

King Crab!

Katong has been for a long time a Peranakan and Eurasian enclave - the Tourism body has revived and revitalised this neighbourhood  - the colours reflect the love for bright, showy, statement pieces - be it their architecture, jewellery, national dress...

The Eurasian Association has their Community House located in this neighbourhood...

Blast from the past - in one of the lanes I came across this -  a beauty salon reminscent of something from the 60's maybe...or earlier, the 50's - Heaven forbid!

Along the same lane, this Community Club is still standing - that's its original facade. The space might be too tight for a larger building, whatever plans they may have for this, I'm quite sure they will retain that facade...

Thank goodness SG has retained quite a number of art deco buildings - many are conservation heritage buildings

This one is awaiting a facelift - it's vacated

The row of shophouses made way for this boutique hotel - this was the street with lots of food stalls operated by families, lots more were in traditional trades - most would have cashed out and retired when big businesses came knocking...

The original church was nicer in that it was homey and intimate - now it's cold and impersonal like all large buildings...

The Gujaratis are a small minority Indian group - I came across this school in one of the lanes I ventured into...

This park connector to Haig Road cuts through this housing estate comprising terrace homes on both sides. The residents have turned the ample space outside their homes into veggie and fruit plots...

This would be a family-run business...

A new building has sprung up on the main road, replacing a nondescript concrete block - just as well, as some of these buildings have seen better days, most shops degenerated into KTV bars and other seedy nightspots with nefarious activities behind the dark tinted glass doors...

I post Chinese temples that display the spiritual symbol of the Swastika (Svastika in Sanskrit) - a symbol that's been demonised and manipulated by Western religious bodies to turn those in the East away from their own traditional teachings in order to embrace their versions - it's all part of their tactics of conversions and proselytisation. In posts 100 and 129 I wrote at length about the Swastika.

I grew up in Malaysia where large numbers, if not all the Chinese communities were chiefly Buddhists, Taoists or into ancestral worship, or they observed all 3. I noticed the Swastika symbol than and associated that with the adults' beliefs, even if I didn't understand any of it than...

I've always liked this building, a previous residence of a business family...

This humble one awaits the day when they too can have a large, shining new and garish building...garish in Katong and surrounds is the way to go and my pictures will show it's quite beautiful...

These iron grills plus mosiac tiles make this house really really old as it's reminiscent of homes from the 60s and 50's - what caught my eye was the gate...

Crouching tigers they are not...!

The traditional cakes are as colourful as their national dress and crockery

artisanal chocolate shop in an old setting - an old shophouse with mosaic tiles...

Traditional trade - wrapping glutinous rice dumplings with lotus leaves into these triangular pyramids

This family business is best known for their hand done paper-thin wheat flour wrappers,  or 'skin' used in wrapping the goodies found in spring rolls, cooked quickly on those pans. It's early in the day and they were preparing the dough...

This mural shows how it's done...

Not so traditional...

A china shop carrying tableware, porcelain items, Chinese reproduction furniture - its showroom done up like a Wedgewood

Everybody knows this as The Red House!

I've had many teas with old style traditional Swiss rolls and tea cakes here. The place was run by 2 elderly gents who might be related but I never got to find out as they never ever smile nor speak. Without writing the orders down they remember the orders so their memories and hearing was all good. They would shuffle behind to prepare the drinks, dressed most days in sleeveless white singlets and striped blue pyjama pants, shuffle about in those slippers that one would usually use at home...they fitted right in in that environment with old dark wood furniture, glass and wood display cases and dim florescent tube lighting. 

They reminded me so very much of the Adams Family, with their white wispy hair and pasty faces, grim, serious but so passionate about their work...Every Easter season, their hot cross buns were super...

The place is now an artisanal bakery with posh sounding tea names and menus and packed to the gills...folks are likely attracted to the old-world charm of the building and its tiled floor, its overall atmosphere - just as I was before this big shift

This Traditional Chinese Medicine hall might have something helpful if the covid vaccine fails...

And if all else fails, we may turn to the spiritual realm - who do we call? Ghostbusters! Their arsenal of curses might tame the virus 

Some murals of note in the lanes...

Spiral staircases make me go soft in the knees - apart from the aesthetics, there's form and function. These few blocks are awaiting a makeover...

This street must be the most photographed in Singapore as the showcase of Peranakan homes. There are many similar neighbourhoods elsewhere but this is Katong/Joo Chiat after all...

The colours and fine detailed work are very much like their national dress and crockery

Across the road, the homes are in a more muted shade

In this narrow lane, these few units used to be dull and grey but look at them now, another often photographed lane of residential homes...

This temple too was dull and grey before with less figurines. I came across it in perhaps 1998 when I dropped in to participate in what I thought was a meditation session. I saw a portrait of a Master for the first time but didn't know him. That same week, someone placed a book into my hands - looking back at me from the cover was the exact same face I saw in that temple room just a few days before. That book, Master's autobiography, told me what I needed to know about him and his teachings, since than my life has been an earnest search for knowledge about Life, Creation, Truth, with a lot of travelling that has helped me connect many dots...