Monday, July 15, 2013

Chinatown

Yesterday we had a bit of time to explore some parts of the city. We decided to join the group going to Chinatown.


The name Chinatown was used by the British while the locals went by these names. In Chinese it was known as niu chi shui literally bull-cart water as result of the fact that because of its location, chinatown's water supply was principally transported by animal-driven carts in the 19th century. (Wikipedia)

We wondered around amid the shops. Some shops sold traditional Chinese food and medicine and there were quite a number of souvenirs. We just bought a few post cards.

The traditional buildings tend to be three stories and have a shop on the ground floor and then two floors for living.


On Sundays this is a busy place.


We went to one of the local food hawker centre for dinner. There are over 100 hawker stands where are just small shops that make and sell food there. Since it was Sunday not all of them were open but we did find enough for dinner. The kids enjoyed noodles. I bought some carrot cake which is nothing like carrot cake that you would think of from a bakery it is actually make from radishes but not the kind you put in a salad.  I tried something new sweet potato dumplings. They had the consistency of glutinous rice. They were fried in oil so maybe not the most healthy but they did taste good.


Hawker centres are a name given to open-air complexes in Asia housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food.


J found a man along the way and had a staring contest. He lost.

It was a fun outing and we enjoyed seeing that part of the city.


Beth
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