Spent a very nice Sunday afternoon with the family at Chinatown and we explored the lesser known places in that area.
We started off with a late lunch at a place located in a coffee shop that we always wanted to try but is usually packed in the evening. For the reasonable price we paid, we had an overload of seafood that had fantastic wok hei. Almost wanted to recommend the top dishes to a lone tourist there when I see him ordering fried rice and beer… http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/kok_sen_restaurant/
Next stop was the Chinatown Heritage Centre. I had brought my parents there after breakfast a few years ago and they loved it. Since my family had not visited it before, I thought that it would be good to experience a bit of nostalgia on a lazy Sunday afternoon. For just $15 per person, you get aircon comfort and a guided tour using a multimedia device that lasted about 1+ hour. They showed snippets of the tough lives that families went through in the early 1900s till the 1960s. My wife happened to have experienced childhood living in a shop house so this tour was quite meaningful to her. It seems not long ago that people were still living like that less than 50 years ago in the 1960s. It amazes me that we have gone so far as a country within one generation. Our forefathers then had to make do with what little they had to make a living to survive. Happiness for them was a full stomach and a healthy family.
We see signs of rejuvenation within Chinatown as the younger generation tries to upgrade the area to make it hip again. One initiative was the opening of a bistro on top of the abandoned rooftop area of an old shopping complex. Appropriately called “LePark” (Malay word Lepak for chilling), it was not easy to locate within the very old building. We had to use the cargo lifts and walk another floor up to finally locate it. It was worth it as we eventually stumbled into a very chill place to grab an ice-cold beer in a cool place to avoid the hot afternoon sun. http://lepark.co/
All in all, a well spent Sunday afternoon with the family to discover our roots and have quality bonding time. Do try it if you have not done so.
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