Hey! Where have all the time gone? The Lunar New Year is fast approaching. We are left with  about a few days to go. I Hope you have already prepared well for the up-coming Lunar New Year Holiday, finished your spring cleaning and bought new clothes for the new year.

If you are done, and wondering what to do and where to go until the Lunar New Year, read on for my recommendations. You might have already seen some of these sharing via my Instagram account http://www.instagram.com/pearlywerkz .

For now, let us take a quick look at some of the places which we have visited during the short Chinatown heritage tour with the special guest of the day, Sora Ma.
(1) Chinatown Heritage Centre at 48 Pagoda Street





Learn about the significance of the Rooster and how it became one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs. The rooster played a significant role, by giving morning call to the farmers, (those days when alarm was not invented yet). There were also merchandises made from their feather like the famous household item, the feather duster.



Learn how to play the chaptek  (which are made with the rooster’s feathers) from the Samsui woman. If you are able to continuously kick the chaptek for 8 times, or you happen to be born in the year of the Rooster, you will gain yourself a free entry to the Heritage Center just by having your photos taken. Enquire at the Heritage Centre’s counter.

Do also find out why do people eat from the “Gong Ji Wan”, rooster bowl and be surprised with your new found knowledge of the meaning of the items that are marked on the bowl.
More details about the tour and ticket prices, can be found on https://chinatownheritagecentre.com.sg/.

(2) Hit the famous festive street bazaar where everything and anything Lunar New Year related is being sold.





We visited one of the wax meat store along the street bazaar to check out some yummy waxed food. The uncle shared with us that he only sells these less fatty types of waxed meat in the Singapore street bazaar during the Lunar New Year period. Before that, he would only produce a small amount of these in his factory. The waxed duck cost about $7 – $8 for one, this is my favourite as I grew up eating waxed meat during the Lunar New Year, that this had became a tradition for us.

We learn that during the winter seasons in the early years, it was difficult to keep fresh produce, so people would preserve these meat so that they can be kept for a longer time.
To cook them, you can just steam it over your rice or incorporate them into your clay pot dishes. Hmm, speaking of it makes me drool already.


Take the chance to soak up the atmosphere along Temple street.

(3) Visit YouthEats @ Temple street where you will find both the traditional Lunar New Year tidbits, and in addition, some trendy food selections.







Stop by and try the Shabu Burger from Whats That Food. It tasted quite delicious and flavourful, but please be prepared to drown yourself in water afterwards.





I love these Yuzu ice packs which were specially made only during the Lunar New Year season. It offered us some heat relief.



If you haven’t got a chance to try this current trending Dragon’s Breath or “Smoke Out”, there is a store here which you can go to somewhere beside WTF’s store.

You may have seen a video of myself and Sora puffing these out. It is quite fun and is a unique experience. These are flavoured meringues infused with nitrogen gas to give you the “smoking effect”.



Popular Mochi Pudding store which has a variety of flavours. We liked the peach and sour plum ones. There are other flavours and the vendor will let you try them.



Grab some nuts and tidbits for your guest. This store offers one of the best deals, they save on packaging and give the cost-savings to consumers. The store owner recommends going for the traditional types of Melon Seeds especially the red ones which allows one to bring the luck home.

(4) Find the best spots for the light-ups which is on the Garden Bridge that connects Chinatown to People’s Park Complex.



This bridge not only provides visitors with a place nice view for photo-taking, you can chill and relax on the chairs around if you are tired from walking and pushing in the crowd.

Here’s a group photo with the Heritage Trail friends I’ve made that day.

(5) Last but not least, Visit the YHFlea at Lepark, located on top of People’s Park Complex , level 6. This is where all the hipsters sell their pre-love and where you can shop and take beautiful photos with amazing views.



This view somehow looked like the houses in Hong Kong. I love how the photograph turned out to be.



As this is the last stop of the day, I took the opportunity to have my photograph taken here with the gorgeous and witty Sora Ma who was our guide and host for the whole tour. She was very friendly and chatted with us throughout the tour.

Walking around, i feel that it is so creative that people can even set up a “booth” at the car boot. So ingenious!

We had a very fun filled day with the PR and host for the trail. Thanks for having all of us and letting us have the opportunity to learn more about the significance of the Rooster.
Thanks for helping us uncover the hidden gems located in Chinatown as well as allowing us to try those food which we had not tried before.

Disclaimer: I was invited to the Heritage Tour by Ninemer PR, however all views expressed are my own. All photographs on this site belongs to the property of Pearlywerkz unless otherwise stated. Please do not take them as your own. Do ask for permission if you wish to utilize them.

This article was first published on pearlywerkz.wordpress.com by the same author.