The Cozy Corner spiral

If you are at this backpacker place, don't forget to take in the view from the spiral staircase at the back.. 

How the front of the building looks, from North Bridge Road. The windows with green panes are also very retro. Just a bit of trivial about North Bridge Road -- it is one of the earliest, and longest roads in Singapore. It was constructed by G D Coleman between 1833 and 1835, and built by convict labour (like Bras Basah Road). Just for info, today, ofice rental at a shophouse along this road can cost anything from $4,200 to $10,000 a month, depending on the sq area. Room rental, around $1,500.  The Mun Dispensary may ring a bell to old timers. See: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/pictures/Details/8f25df82-bc1b-4dc7-bc45-ec47b3903d59

A nice gable at Middle Road

Twin gables at side lane sandwiched between Middle Road and Purvis Street. View from Middle Road. Pics: 26 March 2016.

JUST when I thought I have run out of nice old quaint gables in Singapore, here's one, or rather two. You can see them peeping out between modern buildings if you walk along Middle Road after the junction at Beach Road, towards North Bridge Road. What's more there also my favourite spiral staircase next to them... howbeit a modern one... not those you see at the back of old shophouses.

The knob on top of its gable seems to suggest the wood element, judging from its rounded edge. Take a look at this guide: https://nanyangtemple.wordpress.com/category/2-visiting-guide/ to see what I mean. However, the smaller gable seems to have an mound that's not so pronounced, which would make it symbolical of the metal element.

View from backlane off Purvis Street.

A little Bird Street in old Singapore

Rochor Road now.

View of Rochor Road and surroundings from Rochor Centre (inset, below), which will soon be gone to make way for new developments. Pics taken 24 Feb 2016.

THANKS to blogger friend, Streetsing, I can now sleep knowing that a "bird street" in Singapore did exist. He checked with his elder brother and sis in law and they confirmed that it was near Sungei Road (which I initially thought was the bird street) -- but not Sungei Road. 

It was Rochor Road, where the old 7th Storey Hotel was, at the junction of Rochor Road and North Bridge Road. There was a stretch of old shophouses at the junction. Apparently, these shops (where some also sold Chinese tidbits like preserved prunes etc) later closed to become shops selling coffins. 

I don't remember the coffin shops though. Maybe I didn't go there very often as a kid -- only with my dad to look at the birds when I was really small.

Later on, I do remember passing by Rochor Canal (near Jalan Bersar side) in the bus when going to town, that the Canal was always filled with oranges around the 15th day of Chinese New Year (Chap Goh Meh). It was believed that unmarried maidens will meet with happiness if they float oranges down the river on this day. Now, did anyone remember this? 

And oh, one of my primary five teacher's favourite jokes was: "Throw you into the Rochor Canal then you know!" whenever we teased him about his girlfriend, who was teaching in the same school.