Explore the Back Lane of Chinatown - Duxton Plain Park

We went exploring this part of the Duxton Plain Park because I learnt a keramat is located here. There are 2 parts of the park. This area is located between 2 rows of shop houses, further from the Pinnacle @ Duxton.

From the back view, this looked more residential than any thing else. Who would have guess this are shophouses if I don't say so

This set of houses looked almost the same as above. Wonder what is the use of  the "ladder- like" structure.

I particularly love this door for some reasons.

 As we were admiring the houses, we saw these...

CHICKENS!

This is the first time we saw a brood of family chicken, (The rooster is pretty "camera shy". I only managed to capture him in one shot.) We saw before roosters and hens in other areas of urban Singapore but it is the first time we saw chicks running around wild.

Probably, it is the hen who look after the chicks in this family.

Little One following the chickens around. She had been instructed not to chase them

As we walked further, we saw the keramat. It is said to be the keramat of Sharifah Rogayah (the grand-daughter of Habib Noh). The existence of her keramat was said to have been revealed to a young boy in his dream, where Habib Noh appeared and told him to look for his grand-daughter. The boy traced the dream to this location and has been looking after the shrine since then.

Love the winding stairs and the duo colours of the blocks

Backlane 

Lovely panels and a sculpture of a horse

A big piece of fungi too but I can't identify it.

The back of Kong Chow Association Singapore
I love the red windows against the white walls.

In the past, shophouses were built back to back, night soil buckets (there were no flush toilets then) had to be carried from the back of the house through the hall to the front of the shophouses. Imagine how unhygienic it was then, so under the back lane order, the back lanes were constructed so as to facilitate the collection of night soil as well as to create a more hygienic environment.

Now that we have flush toilets, it is even more hygienic. Although, we do not get to see the night soil man any more but walking in the backlane such as this has unexpected surprises as above. I wonder whether other back lanes are just as fun.

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