Clarke Quay

I’m winding down with my last post of Singapore (yeeaah – you’re probably thinking enough already with the amount of Singapore posts!) and will discuss Clarke Quay.  Clarke Quay is right next to and just a short walk from Boat Quay.  Clarke Quay was named after Sir Andrew Clarke, Singapore's second Governor and Governor of the Straits Settlements from 1873 to 1875, who played a key role in positioning Singapore as the main port for the Malay states of Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong.  The Clarke Quay area is vastly different than even from the 1990s by turning it into an entertainment and commercial center.

Presently, five blocks of restored warehouses house various restaurants and nightclubs.  River cruises and river taxis on the Singapore River can be accessed from Clarke Quay.  A new shopping center called The Central, above the Clarke Quay subway station, was completed in 2007.  I spent most of my nights here.  There were lots of bars, restaurants, and a brewery.

The next pic is walking to Clarke Quay.

 

The next pic shows the beginning of Clarke Quay.

 

If you look at the pic below, you’ll see an orange wall to the right side of the dock.  That’s a seating area for Hooters of Singapore.  I had a beer there one early evening and was talking to the waitress mentioning that I have been to – and lived near – the original Hooters in Clearwater.  She either was not interested in what I was saying, didn’t understand or was not interested in this foreigner.  Oh well.  But I was shocked to see a Hooters across the world.  There are restaurants all along that area.

 

The next pic is of the Hippo river taxi.

 

The next few pics were taken of a little area near a water fountain that had a lot of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.  Some of the pics look deserted as I took them around 4pm whereas most places didn’t open until at least 5pm.  But this place becomes hopping at night.

The next pic is looking back towards Boat Quay – you would have turn right around the bend to see it.

In the next pic below, you’ll see a large beige warehouse.  Underneath it are a few restaurants including a brewery that I went to a couple nights.  One night I saw another teacher in my program there and talked with him for a couple hours while watching a replay of the Niners-Giants playoff game.  The second pic shows the other side of the river while sitting at an outdoor restaurant table; it was actually during this time when I wrote your postcards while having a beer.

 

Getting off topic, the final few pics were taken at a hawker center near my hostel.  A hawker center or cooked food center is the name given to open-air complexes in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Riau Islands housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food.  They are typically found near public housing estates or transport hubs.  Hawker centers are the cheapest and most popular places to eat in Singapore, essentially former pushcart vendors directed into giant complexes by government fiat.  Prices are low, hygiene standards are high (every stall is required to prominently display a health certificate grading it from A to D), and the food can be excellent.  Ambience tends to be a little lacking though and there is no air-conditioning either, but a visit to a hawker center is a must when in Singapore.  This hawker center was open late and I sometimes would get a snack before going to bed.  I went to this vegetarian place only once and I remember being a little buzzed when I took these pics – it had to be around midnight.  I ordered sweet & sour veg chicken and it was yummy!  And if you notice, a lot of places in S.E. Asia like to give you ice in a cup for your beer.  But as you can see, my Chang beer was already cold.

 

And that was my time in Singapore.  Very nice, very clean, and very expensive!

Taiwan posts are next…