Surfing The Channel

Posts Tagged ‘Yong Gallery’

Singapore has many options for balmy night tours through the city.  One that is fun for the entire family is the Night Time Safari at the Singapore Zoo, which is a tour through the lives of the nocturnal animal’s world, and then followed up by some very fine cuisine.  Another option is the Clarke Quay night cruise which starts with a fine dining meal served by one of the finest of hotels in Singapore, The Raffles.  But one that grabbed my attention, and the one that we ended up taking was the nighttime tour of Chinatown, on a trishaw.

This was the perfect tour, as it was just the two us, and our guide pedalling along the streets of this ancient and beautiful neighborhood of Singapore.   We went through the Night Market of Chinatown, and had an incredibly delicious meal at one of the restaurants.  Soft shelled crabs, Kampong fried rice with prawns, a fish fillet with sweet and sour sauce, and mushroom soup…incredible.  Our driver even ate with us and told us stories of times past and the characters he has had in his trishaw before.

Then we headed to the docks of the Singapore river, where our tour continued down the river on a cargo boat, a very old cargo boat.  This was an amazing way to capture the spirit and the history of the city and of the people.  We experienced some of the master works of calligraphy at the Yong Gallery, and had our names scripted on red fans, that were given to us compliments of our hosts.  As we wandered through those narrow streets of Chinatown, we took in the vibe and nature of markets and the every night way of life for these talented Singaporean artists and artisans.  The hustle and bustle, the trishaw ride, our fabulous driver, and the colorful streets…this was our kind of tour, and one that we will never forget.