Exploring Chinatown Chinese New Year 2017

We took the boys out to Chinatown on a whim over the weekend. We hardly come to Chinatown at all. It's not a place that they are interested in. Sadly, my city kids would prefer going to air-conditioned shopping centres any day or simply staying home with their gadgets or books. (sigh...)

But I am glad we went! It turned out to be more interesting than we all anticipated. We happened to go last Saturday, which was the official street light up and opening ceremony. The roads were closed to cars. There were live performances, cultural songs and dance. It was massively crowded and we didn't stop to see the performances.

But we walked. We started at the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street and Upper Cross Street, which is where the centrepiece - the massive Rooster was situated.

There were lanterns shaped like roosters, hens, chicks, golden eggs and peach blossoms behind the rooster all along the road. 

Then we headed to the annual Festive Street Bazaar along the side roads, starting from Pagoda Street. There was a huge number of stalls selling Chinese New Year delicacies, traditional snacks, decorative items, clothes, toys, souvenirs, plants and flowers.

We were intrigued by this stall selling all sorts of Chinese sausages, cured meats, dried fish, pork legs and what looked like whole ducks.

But nope... we didn't buy anything from there. The boys refused to let me cook anything with them as the smell is something to be acquired 😉

We walked all around, following the human traffic. Soaking in the whole atmosphere. We stopped at the many brightly lit shops to see their decorative CNY items. They were nice to see but felt like such tourist traps with rip off prices. I think I saw similar ones in Giant or NTUC at cheaper prices! My little one really liked the colourful windmill and I promised to make him one when I have the chance.

It was loud and noisy, with sellers shouting to get your attention, and crowds pushing through. We had to jostle our way through the throngs of people, but it was generally all in good spirit and just added to the whole Chinatown vibe. 

Some stall owners were aggressive and generous with their free samples. The boys had a ball sampling all sorts of seaweed, peanuts, seeds, bak kwa, mochi and their favourite ice cold jellies!

Bought some home too.

I really like these Black King peanuts. So addictive!

We saw shops selling paper money and paper models that are burnt as offerings to their deceased ancestors as a way to honour them.

We saw Traditional Chinese Medicine halls selling herbs and ingredients like cordyceps, scallops, Lingzhi and even dried octopus. Frankly I really do not know what some of them are.


We were lucky enough to see the fireworks that night too! We were walking along the markets when we heard the loud bangs, we looked up and saw fireworks. Our view was slightly obstructed but it was still quite magical.

We ended up at the Chinatown Food Street on Smith Street, but unfortunately was too crowded so we didn't stop. We were too full to eat anyway after sampling so much goodies. We noticed a lot of interesting eateries along the way and decided to come back the next day for lunch.

We settled on Yummy Viet for lunch the next day. The food was forgettable and nothing to rave about. And I didn't bother taking any pictures.

But we stumbled upon The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which is a grand looking building and fully decorated with a gazillion red lanterns for CNY. The boys claimed they had been to a temple with their kindy a long time ago but had no recollection of it. So we decided to go in and explore.

The CNY offering at the front entrance with the rooster theme.

There was an impressive array of beautiful golden artefacts and Buddhist relics at every corner.

My second boy was very interested in this statue of the Buddha with the Thousand Arms, who is the guardian of those born in his year of the rat, who is said to be able to grant wishes.

The temple was fascinating and very informative. We could hear some chanting, from the upper floors but we didn't go up. It felt very serene and all my 3 boys were unusually quiet and in awe the whole time there. My little 3 year old insisted on holding my hand and was walking very calmly beside me. This does not happen often enough! 😜

All in all, our Chinatown trip was very fruitful. And wow... I can't believe we went to Chinatown twice in as many days!