Climbing the Hill of Emerald

Ta-dah!!

This sort of allows me to vaguely tick off one item on my things to blog about. Haha.

'Sort of', because I can't really say Emerald Hill is a favourite place of mine, and also because it's a non-exhaustive item.

Anyway, I do like having a quick poke around Emerald Hill, though, and the other night, I had some time to kill, so clomped my way down Orchard Road in the direction of that little pocket of old-world charm.



Aaaand, we're back! There's been a more than a month-long gap between what you've read before this line, and, well, what's beyond this line. ^^; The pictures were all inserted back then as well, though I was too lazy to continue.

Finally getting down to posting this, but am going to do it in a rather slip-shod manner.





These beauties are termed 'shophouses' as that's what they were - shops on the ground floor and lodging above.

They used to be rows and rows of them during the colonial era, but sadly most have been bulldozed for towering monuments to modernity.

In my extreme laziness, I point you to wikipedia for more elucidation on this architectural form. Note the section on the 'five-foot ways'.



Well, lovely Singapore's love of knocking down old things did spare some of these shophouses, mostly in strategic tourist spots like Chinatown and Boat Quay (nnngh, not a fan), sprucing them up in the name of conservation while blasting huge holes in the frontage for glass shop fronts. *rolls eyes*

The little pocket in Emerald Hill is mostly residential, though. It seems like they were originally wholly residential as well, which makes me wonder if I can stuff them under the classification of shophouses. But well, enough of my ignoramus ponderings, and on to the pictures!

I photographed a series of front doors. Some traditional, some tropical, some modern, some sweet, all beautiful.








To be honest, Emerald Hill is not my absolute favourite spot for shophouse gazing. I don't go there much, probably because there's not much to do but oogle the dwellings of others with gazes just ever so slightly tinged with envy. Haha.







The neon brightness of the stretch of Orchard Road where Emerald Hill is.


What would I give to live in one of these!!