Telok Ayer Street

The Ying Fo Fui Kun (1822) at the junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cross Street. It is the earliest building by the Hakkas on the street. Telok Ayer Street was the main landing site for Chinese immigrants and was the original focal point of settlement in Chinatown. It used to face the waterfront. One of Singapore's oldest schools, the Gan Eng Seng School, started in 1885 at 106 Telok Ayer Street near the junction of Telok Ayer and Cecil Streets. The whole bay area in front of the Street is reclaimed land.   Pic (above) taken on 11 July 2015, while the three pictures below taken in March 2013.

Shophouses here are well conserved  and not given an "overly" hip look, if you know what I mean. I like that the Ban Choon Medical Store Pte Ltd is still boldly embossed onto the facade. When these houses were built, their width and height of each storey were restricted by the  length of timber beams available then, usually about 4.8 metres. This explained for why they have narrow frontages (but with deep interiors.)

Telok Ayer Street, a must walk. Nice mix of shophouses with interesting eateries, including The Muffinery shown in the picture (to the right, near the gable).

The Hokkien Huay Kuan at Telok Ayer Street. 

Thian Hock Keng, a popular tourist sigtht at Telok Ayer Street. Of course, it is not a shophouse, but I can't resist having a picture of the beautiful temple here. Built in the 1820s, the temple is devoted to Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, as it once faced the sea. She protected the sailors.