Singapore Travel Guide

Geylang

Singapore's neighbourhood of Geylang is strange, in that although it looks and feels a typically 'Asian' neighbourhood, it is actually quite different from the rest of Singapore, which has seen great gentrification and modernisation over the last 40 years or so. The rows of shop-houses, bedecked in neon lights, the bustling streets, the curbside food stalls and masses of karaoke bars present visitors with an urban environment quite distinct from the sleek lines of the concrete-and-glass inner city buildings, while the Geylang Serai market is a prototypical Asian 'wet market', featuring hanging meat and buckets of flapping fish. This grit (and slight seediness) is even more obvious at night, when Geylang's other distinguishing feature becomes most apparent: that it is home to Singapore's only established red-light district. Despite this seamy side, Geylang is a very popular neighbourhood for backpackers (accommodation is much cheaper in Geylang than in other areas) and for traveller