shophouses...

...take your breath away.
Well they do mine!
Aren't they just gorgeous?

These are in Keong Saik Road in Chinatown and wonderful examples of the traditional 'shophouse' so called because the shop was on the ground floor and the residence above .
Traditional shophouses have facade ornamentations that draw from Malay Chinese and European traditions and on our walk we came across them all! (extras)

Shophouses have a narrow frontage for pedestrians called a 'five foot way'(extra) initially designed to protect pedestrians and the shop front from weather.
Five Foot WayTraders  were craftsmen who often set up their businesses along these shophouse walkways from which they could conduct their business and then pack up at the end of the day.
There were tin smiths and knife sharpeners, fortune tellers, parrot astrologers, garland makers and letter writers.
Now crafts of the past there are still pockets where parrot astrologers and garland makers still exist.