Hello and here’s to February! Here’s also to more updates and catching up with all the adventures I have yet to share! The absence from my blog really annoys me and it’s been due to circumstance and not out of choice.

So, as I move on to better things in regular life, I’m going to pick up blogging again! If you’re reading this, thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy the city explorations here. :)

In this post, I’m sharing some snapshots I took of a particular architectural building type called the shophouse! Commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia, I’m quite fascinated by these colourful heritage buildings! I understand there is plenty of history and changes in the shophouse, and one of these days when I find the time, I would love to read more about them. :)

Read more info about Singapore’s shophouses here and here! I’ve also added a list of Singapore shophouse related books at the end of this post.

I found out about this stretch of shophouses located on Emerald Hill Road, in the Orchard area of Singapore, and when I moved back last year, decided to wander down the street when I was in the area. Just to add, I am aware that there are many neighbourhoods/areas in Singapore to spot shophouses, but since I mainly only visited this stretch, I don’t have pictures from other neighbourhoods. (See end of post for links to more information about shophouses and where to spot them in Singapore.)

For a very brief idea of what a shophouse is like, it is a very narrow low rise building when you view it from the front, but has a very long interior space and usually are two to three floors high. Originally, they were used with a dual function: as a shop downstairs and a residential space upstairs, explaining the name!

Today in Singapore, they serve both commercial and residential purposes, housing offices, homes, restaurants, bookstores, cafes etc. As I walked further into Emerald Hill Road, I believe most of the shophouses I saw were residential homes and it was an interesting feeling walking around what felt like a small neighbourhood when just beyond this small section, are sprawling shopping malls and crowds of shoppers and tourists!

To end, I’d just like to say that if I lived in a shophouse, I’d like to imagine that mine would probably be a pink or yellow one! How fun would it be, to come home to something so bright everyday? :)

Books related to Singapore shophouses

– Singapore Shophouse Walks series by Tatyana Kildisheva (photography books)
1. Singapore Shophouse Walks: Joo Chiat, Katong and Geylang
2. Singapore Shophouse Walks: Chinatown, Blair Plain, Duxton Hill, Tanjong Pagar
IG: @singaporeshophousewalks

– Singapore Shophouses by Julian Davison