enlightened owrange: [SG Day 2] Local Finds

Jun 7, 2016

[SG Day 2] Local Finds

05/31/2016
[SG Day 1] Itinerary: Live Like a Local

So much about trying to be "local," we went to Chinatown. I was hoping to find some yarns and 2nd-hand books for the kids. A friend pointed me to check Chinatown.

But i guess we just want to tour-ist, sightsee, and people-watch -- FINDING LOCAL.

But first things first, FOOD. We went to Chinatown Hawker, which is like in every list of top 101 hawkers of SG, which happens to be read by 101 tourists. It was not really that crowded when we're there, but the few popular stalls had long queues. Plus there were a lot of tourists like us who were like walking around clueless trying to make sense of what to eat. So it kinda felt awkward.

Being not a local, I honestly cannot tell which nasi lemak or laksa or chicken rice is better or not so I'd just pick any stall that looks convenient to me. So thing is I might just go to a NOT popular hawker center, where I can leisurely be clueless.

Anyhow, the laksa I got was good!

We then went inside People's Park Mall. It was quite a maze inside. You can find so many things that it makes harder to find what you're looking for.

Chinatown can be touristy on the outside, but once I get into the insides of it, somehow, I need a bit of local knowledge. There are teas, massage parlors, eatery, and all kind of butingtings. It's like going downtown Cebu; the few popular are Sto Nino Church, Fort San Pedro but if you want to get something from Manalili or Carbon, it's a bit tricky.

Anyhow, after going around, I found the yarns at Golden Dragon Store. They're so yummy that it makes me #craycray.

I did not find 2nd hand books but Mark scored a cheap suitcase luggage.

We proceeded to Bras Basah Complex, it's popular for 2nd hand books, from textbooks to fiction, accordig to Google.

Bras Basah Complex is a quaint place. It houses a lot of 2nd-hand bookshops, a few art supplies stores, novelty shops, etc.

Thankfully, I was able to get out of the place empty-handed!

I find the 2nd-hand books were too pricey for a 2nd-hand book for kids. The price usually starts at SGD10. It's almost a brand new book in my opinion. I'm used to the P50 at Book Sale though not really the popular titles.