I spent a day wandering around the city of Singapore and checking out some of the streets with old shophouses and colonial buildings side by side with modern high rises. Shophouses here are mostly constructed between the 1840s and the 1960s and are at most two to three storeys tall. The ground floor was used as a shopfront with the owners of the business living in the upstairs quarters. Once dilapidated, these shophouses are now restored and used as galleries, boutiques, cafes, and bars.
Tiong Bahru neighborhood.
Haji Lane hidden in the Muslim quarter in Singapore.
Trendy boutiques and cafes of Haji Lane.
Emerald Hill Road off Orchard Road.
Many of these old houses on Emerald Hill Road are converted into trendy bars and lounges.