Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Whenever I go oversea, I prefer to eat at the local food streets, trying out the local food rather than dine at posh restaurant. Of all the famous food streets, some that come to mind are the food streets of Taiwan, Penang and Bangkok. 

Singapore used to have its own food streets like the Ellenborough Market, Bugis Street and even the Orchard Road car park. But now all these are gone or sanitized into tourist traps like Newton or the Chinatown Food Street.

While in KL recently, we went to one of the more famous food street there the Jalan Alor Food Street. At least famous according to our guide. 

But disappointingly, instead of individual stalls like Penang's Gurney Drive, there were a whole stretch of restaurants. Each one of them is a self contained restaurant serving all the local food from bak kut teh to char kway teow to satay to seafood. Of course, with such a combination, the variety was there but the food wasn't so great.

Nevertheless, since we were already there,we went ahead and ordered a whole lot of food

KL Bak Kut Teh

Local version of Escargots

Special vegetables mix

Egg Oyster or is it Oyster egg?

Char Kway Teow

Price was rather reasonable but food merely so so. But if one was in a rush and just want to savour a bit of everything Malaysian, I suppose this will be the place to go.

Market Street Carpark Building

This used to be a familiar sight along Cecil Street. There are only 2 buildings of this nature in town where the dominant usage is car parking and not retail. The other building is the Golden Shoe Carpark building which ironically is on Market Street itself. 

The Market Street Carpark building was build in 1964 which made it the oldest carpark building in Singapore. This is a picture of it taken just after it was built.

Picture from the National Archive

Teo Heng Teochew Porridge

My absolute favourite Teochew Porridge. But unfortunately, one that I can only get to eat once in a while because like all typical Teochew porridge, it's is quite pricey. There are 2 stalls, one at Hong Lim Complex and another at Amoy Street.

Amoy Street

Hong Lim. Signboard changed after the upgrading of the hawker centre

Pork Jelly and Shark Meat

There are not many place left in Singapore selling traditional food. This stall here on the 2nd floor of Hong Lim Complex in Chinatown is one of 3 left in Singapore still selling pork trotter jelly and cold shark meat. The other 2 stalls are in Smith Street Chinatown and Jalan Berseh Cooked Food Centres.

The pork knuckle jelly and the shark meat

The pork knuckle jelly

The Shark Meat

I like the chilli dip and the peanut mix that comes with the 2 items. Put them together with the yam rice and wow! An absolutely satisfying lunch!

In addition to selling the pork jelly and shark meat, the stall also sell braised pork and,kway chap and  Kiamchye duck. The kiamchye duck is one of the best I ever tried and it sells out pretty fast.

Not so Old to New

Everybody knows that most of the old pre-war houses in Chinatown have been torn down and in its place have risen nameless concrete high rise building that bears no semblance to the past and is a clone of buildings all over the world.

But in the name of development, a fair number of post war high rise buildings have also been torn down and in its place have risen newer and higher buildings.

This was the old Robina House. I remembered MacDonald had its first CBD outlet here in eighties.

In its place now is a gold color shiny One Shenton.

Chinatown - Preserving the Old

The gahmen has been trying to preserve the old pre-war shophouses in Chinatown. However, somehow even after restoration, although the buildings now look nice and clean, somehow they have lost its charm.

This is the Nagore Durgha Shrine. It used to be so run down it was in danger of collapsing but after a few years of renovation, it is now opened as an Indian Muslim Heritage Centre. What is said is that it is now so commercialised and there is a cafe right in the middle of the hall! 

Some of the shophouses have been restored by the private sector. This one is fairly well done although it is a pity the coffeeshop on the ground floor spoiled the ambience.

This one at the corner of McCallum Street and Amoy Street is so colorful it looks so weird and out of place! And the picture of the Chinese Junk!

Chinatown - Not just Chinese Temples

When talking of Chinatown, the first impressions is that it is a place founded by the Chinese and the facilities there caters only for the Chinese.  Hence, there should be plenty of Chinese temples which is correct.

One of the biggest temple in the area is the 天福宫 Thian Hock Keng temple in Telok Ayer Street. This temple was built in 1839 and completed in 1842 by the Hokkien and is dedicated to Ma Zhu the Goddness of the Sea.

 
One of the unique feature of temples in the early days was that no nails were used in the constructions and the whole place were adorned with carvings, sculptures and intricate columns. 

Nearby is the  仙祖宫 Siang Cho Keong Temple. Built in 1869 by the Hokkiens, it is dedicated to the Tua Pek Gong. Nowadays, the temple is more famous for its lucky 4-D numbers. On the first and fifteen of every month, devotees gathered to witness the drawing of a new set of 4-D number which is pasted prominently on the main urn.  

There are other Chinese temples nearby but within the confines of Amoy Street, Telok Street and Cecil Street, these are the only 2.

Amoy Street - The Old and the New

Everyone knows where Chinatown is. When people talk about Chinatown, they think of the part where the Chinatown Food Centre is located; where the yearly Chinese New Year Street festival is held, and where the food street is located. But Chinatown is more than that. Just across the road between South Bridge Road and  Cecil Street, there is a sizable piece of less visited Chinatown.

This will be the 3rd of a series of post on this part of Chinatown. Chinatown is changing changing and along with the old comes many new new buildings. The contrast is startling in some places, subtle in some but soon most of the old will be gone.

Amoy Street

Telok Ayer Street

Lau Pa Sat

I don't have any memories of the original Lau Pa Sat or Telok Ayer Market as it was known back in the sixties.

This was a picture I dug out from the National Archive.

According to the National Archive, this picture was taken in 1967.

Subsequently, due to major development work in the area, the market was temporary abandoned  in 1984 and most of the stall holders moved over to what was popularly known as the Transit Market. The most famous stall was Ya Kun Coffee but in those days I didn't know about the stall. My only memories of the Lau Pa Sat was the eating fried noodles with my then girlfriend after our weekly badminton game at the YMCA at Palmer Road.  (too bad can't find any picture of the transit market - anybody out there got any pictures to share?)

The stalls moved back to the original location after restoration work and it was renamed the Festival Market. However, initially, it was not popular with the office workers around there as it was literally a furnace in there during the day. After some change of ownership, the place finally took off but somehow it has lost its character. It is now a food court with its most famous component being the Satay Street which only opens at night. And Ya Kun is no longer there.

Compare the below pictures with the picture above. The restoration seems to have done its work and it looks almost the same as the original market.

Hanging Garden of Cecil Street

This looks like a fairly ordinary building in the heart of the city. 

But goes behind the facade and onto the walkway, look up and this is what one will see.

A vertical garden just above the walkway.