architectural details

A gorgeous red door with a lion head knocker... Chinese style.

Archway with inscriptions... Islamic style.


Both details are taken off these two buildings side by side. In Singapore, not only does East meet West, East meets East too.

For more Scenic Sunday posts, go here.

shophouse windows

This series of shophouse windows are side by side each other along a street in Chinatown. They're full of old world charm. I wonder what the Chinese characters refer to...if someone else could enlighten me, I'll share with everyone out there.

Window Views

chinatown, Singapore

The colourful painted facade of traditional shophouses in Chinatown, Singapore. Shophouses, as the term suggests, were used traditionally as a shop on the ground floor and as residence on the upper storeys. There are different styles of shophouses, from the squat, two storey early style to the ornamental late style which may incorporate eclectic elements. Nowadays shophouses have been converted to eateries, spas, offices, but some old shophouses are still with their original owner and kept to its original purpose. However, increasingly these shophouses are being bought by new owners and converted to commercial use.

Singapore is a country of religious diversity. Above picture shows the Jamae mosque side by side with traditional shophouses. The mosque dates to the 1830s and it is a fusion of Chinese, Anglo-Indian and Malay architectural styles.

Here, you see the shophouses being dwarfed by towering skyscrapers.

For more That's my world pictures, go here

palm sunday

St Joseph's Church (founded by the Portuguese Mission in 1825)

It so happens I'm beginning this blog with Palm Sunday. For those who don't know what this is, it marks the beginning of Holy Week where the Catholic Church commemorates the last week of Jesus' life. The week for Jesus started with his entrance into Jerusalem where the people welcomed him by waving palms because the palm leaf is a symbol of triumph in Jewish tradition. The Jews were expecting a messiah, their king. Apparently, the sight of Jesus arriving on a donkey upset their expectations and started a chain of betrayals that led the Jerusalem mob to crucify Jesus on Good Friday. Catholics observe Good Friday with fasting and abstinence. St Joseph's Church in Victoria Street, the oldest Catholic Church in Singapore, will hold a procession on its grounds reenacting Jesus' crucifixation. Jesus' body lies in the tomb on Holy Saturday, the last day of Holy Week. Holy Saturday ends at dusk, after which Easter Vigil commences. On Easter Sunday, Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Easter is the first day of the new liturgical calendar.

Saint Joseph's Church has beautifully stained glass windows. Its architecture is structured in the form of a Latin cross and feature a central octagonal tower capped by a dome flanked by two smaller towers.