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Post by questa on Jan 30, 2014 0:29:23 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 30, 2014 3:59:30 GMT
How wonderful & how appropriate. Happy new year to you, too. Just looked it up -- year of the horse. People born in a horse year always make me think of this song youtubesongReally a pretty place & very cheerful looking. Love the neon flowers over the street. More? |
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Post by bjd on Jan 30, 2014 7:43:20 GMT
Thanks for these, Questa. It's always nice to see places I have no mental picture of.
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Post by questa on Jan 30, 2014 9:38:28 GMT
Bixa...I am a 'horse' in Chinese astrology...look what it says about me right at the start...
" the Horse needs plenty of room to roam! Energetic, good with money and very fond of travel, Horses are the nomads of the Chinese Zodiac, roaming from one place or project to the next."
The rest of it is pretty accurate as well.
When you say "more?" do you mean more of Kuching? It is a lovely place, made better by the fact that Malaysian Air gave me a free return side trip there from Kuala Lumpur because one of their flights ran late for me! I just added 5 more days to my
holiday.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2014 12:04:02 GMT
They look just like the Chinese shop houses in Singapore... or any of the other Asian Chinatowns, for that matter. I have always loved them, especially when they are kept in good condition like in your photos.
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Post by questa on Jan 30, 2014 12:20:03 GMT
Singapore did a mighty fine job of demolishing most of its shop-houses to build ghastly concrete blocks. It was only when the tourists screamed stop that the powers-that-be tizzied up a few down at Clark Quay and turned them into boutiques and coffee shops. They look very pretty in their designer colours and are possibly the most photographed site in Singapore. There are still a few in Chinatown that escaped the wrecking ball and still have their souls, but the street after street, colour after colour impact has gone.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 30, 2014 12:39:23 GMT
And a Kung Hei Fat Choy to you too Questa!
I have only seen the shop houses in Singapore and the most notably are Peranakan Place.
This building on the corner of Orchard and Emerald Hill roads is a diluted attempt to celebrate Peranankan culture. More interesting is the whole of Emerald Hill Road a conserved masterpiece of heritage architecture in the Peranakan (also called Straits-born Chinese, Baba, or Nonya) cultural style, an innovative blending of Chinese and Malay cultures that emerged in the 19thC as Chinese born in the then Straits Settlements - including Singapore - adopted and often adapted Malay fashions, cuisine, and architecture.
The area is now a mix of upmarket residences with adaptively renovated shop houses doubling as bars and restaurants.
Strolling down this arcade street you will find fretted woodwork, pastel wash, ornate wall tiles, and other typical Peranakan touches such as the unusual carved swing 'fence' doors (pintu pagar), sometimes with gold-leaf treatments.
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Post by mossie on Jan 30, 2014 14:30:11 GMT
Very colourful. I like the dragon place 3 from last of your photos, but a "Monastery Association"?? what is that.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 30, 2014 15:45:47 GMT
Questa, since you're a Horse, this is a big year for you astrologically speaking, right? It's one of your 12-year cycle years. I don't get another one of those until 2020. My dad was a Horse (b. 1918). Unfortunately for both of you, I'm one of the signs you're supposed to avoid.  How wonderful to get that free flight to a place you like so much. When I asked "more?" I meant more shop houses from other places. However, your responses since then are amply covering the subject. You wrote: Through the traditional arch to the rest of the city. The arch is a lovely way to transition from one style to another. Is it old, or a clever addition to modern Kuching? |
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Post by tetsyd on Jan 30, 2014 16:13:53 GMT
On my numerous journeys between Australia and Europe I frequently stopped over in Singapore or KL. I have visited Kuching only once (I paid as usual) and look forward to an opportunity to return. Your pix are very good and very indicative of the life there. Try to visit the longhouses next time for a unique experience.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2014 18:49:19 GMT
Singapore did a mighty fine job of demolishing most of its shop-houses to build ghastly concrete blocks. Actually, even though it is a shame what happened, I don't hold this against Singapore, because it was the first Southeast Asian city to have the ability to develop into a modern place, and many Western countries had also just demolished a lot of their heritage to build ghastly concrete blocks. When decent and salubrious housing is needed for hundreds of thousands of people as quickly as possible, governmental authorities do not have much choice. And although I love the old shop-houses around Arab Street or Haji Lane, I have always been rather pleased by the architectural harmony of the blocks of flats when riding in from Changi -- all the same size and shape and height. It tends to make me think that it is a much more egalitarian society than many others. (Yes, I know that it has plenty of flashy stuff for the ultra rich downtown.) |
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Post by questa on Jan 30, 2014 22:46:00 GMT
Mossie...it is a monastery and like many mosques and monasteries everywhere has a registered association which actually runs the establishment, leaving the monks etc. to do their spiritual thing. The pic only shows part of the name of the group.
Bixa...I'm a water horse...hard to tame! Lotsa pics of shop-houses, but on prints. I will have to schedule a day for scanning soon. Kuching got pretty well flattened during WW2 when it was taken by the Japanese. The arch looks new-ish to me.
Tetsyd...pictures of longhouse, jungle with orang-utans and river coming up!
Kerouac...I also like those apartment towers coming in from Changi...lots of lawn and gardens, well maintained and nice designs. I sat beside a doctor in the shuttle bus who lived in one. He explained that the people have a tradition of living in village communities, so it is easy for them to adapt to "Vertical villages". Each tower has its own shops, doctors, kindergartens, hairdressers etc. and the residents only need leave for school and work or socialising.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2014 7:45:08 GMT
One thing that I thought was a very good money saving idea (except perhaps for the infirm) was that nearly all of those buildings have the lifts on intermediate landings between the floors, so that all of the original 12 storey buildings and then the later 25 storey versions only have half as many lift stops as floors. When you return from shopping or whatever, you take the lift to the half-floor above yours and when you leave your flat, you go down half a floor to take the lift. I used to have quite a few friends in Singapore, and since 85% of the population lives in these housing estates, I had the opportunity to visit quite a few flats in those buildings. I can therefore confirm that most people really do put their refrigerator in the living room and that the favourite colour of this appliance is red.
I also stayed once in an actual single family dwelling, which seemed to me to be the height of luxury if only because it had its own lush little garden. I just looked up the street again on Google Street View to make sure that the neighbourhood has not been demolished, and it looks as lovely as ever: Jalan Pari Dedap (they told me that the English translation would be "Sting Ray Drive"). I recall that my friend's father was an executive for Michelin Singapore, so his revenue was higher than most.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 31, 2014 11:58:17 GMT
I also like those apartment towers coming in from Changi...lots of lawn and gardens, well maintained and nice designs. I sat beside a doctor in the shuttle bus who lived in one. He explained that the people have a tradition of living in village communities, so it is easy for them to adapt to "Vertical villages". Each tower has its own shops, doctors, kindergartens, hairdressers etc. and the residents only need leave for school and work or socialising. My most favourite thing to do on my first days in Singapore is to hop on the MRT from Orchard road ( or anywhere nearest to your hotel or lodgings) and stay on it for 2-3hrs as it circumnavigates the island. This way you get to go through many of the tall housing estates and have the opportunity to hop off and have a bite to eat at the little restaurants/eating shops that are quite evident from the train. |
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Post by questa on Jan 31, 2014 12:34:11 GMT
Oh...Wow, I didn't know about the lifts covering 2 floors...how ingenious. That way you get to meet people from 3 floors altogether and a bit of exercise as well.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 31, 2014 12:43:31 GMT
Not only that Questa - Our friends in Singapore told us that the government deliberately house families of different cultures together. So you may find a Malaysian family on one side of a Indian or Chinese on the other. They say it creates cultural harmony among the citizens of Singapore and there seems to me little or no conflict with neighbors. A real case of 'Live and let Live'.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 31, 2014 17:31:59 GMT
Thanks for all the great answers, Questa.
And how interesting to hear some of the inside story of the high-rise apartments from Kerouac and Tod, along with Questa's insight about vertical villages.
What a clever way to address cultural mixing, especially since the goal of harmony apparently works. Re: the infirm & elevators between floors -- If the government has a say in which families are housed where, perhaps the bottom floors are reserved for people with limited mobility.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2014 17:40:33 GMT
The bottom floor is the "void" floor -- an empty area where people keep bicycles and stuff. There is an extremely thorough Wiki about public housing in Singapore that explains just about everything. I don't think it addresses the subject of the handicapped, but I'm sure that the Singapore housing board has taken care of any problems. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2014 17:55:08 GMT
It's always interesting seeing other parts of the world. I'm quite surprised really, in that it doesn't look all that 'Asian', if you get what I mean. At least not the everyday buildings anyway.
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