Disappearing Trades—A Walking Tour of Singapore's Last Craftsmen
Description
Some trades don't retire quietly — they disappear. Behind Chinatown's photo-ready shophouses, a handful of craftsmen still work the old way — not for show, not for tourists, but because it's the only way they know. On this 3-hour walk, step past the souvenir stalls into Kreta Ayer's working streets. Inside Chinatown Complex, meet one of Singapore's last hand-press cuttlefish stalls, grilled over charcoal, and taste fresh sachima, a fried-dough pastry bound in malt syrup — then sock-brewed Nanyang kopi at a coffee stall. Visit a joss shop serving the neighbourhood's temples for generations, and an apothecary hand-blending medicated oils since the early 1900s, trusted by Chinatown families for generations. A chartered bus takes you to Tai Seng, where a bakery still shapes and bakes bread by hand — no conveyor belts, no mixers, just flour, water, and decades of practice. Taste, touch, and hear the stories of the people keeping these trades alive. Come before they're gone.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Visit 2 traditional and disappearing trades of Sachima (granola-bar type of hand made asian snack) and cuttlefish hawker
Step inside a generations-old joss and prayer goods shop on Banda Street, and a Chinese medicine shophouse since the early 1900s, famed for its house-blended medicated oils
Learn how bread was made the old fashion way.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(128)
The first major disappointment of our trip. This tour wound up being quite lacking in content, especially considering its elevated price tag. Of the five destinations in the revised itinerary we were given, two were hawker stands with a bit of local history attached, one was a fairly standard small bakery, one was inactive when we visited, and the fifth was skipped outright. The meeting point was easily accessible right outside the Chinatown MRT station. Our tour guide, John, was good and did his best to fill in the time with other nearby destinations and attractions. The tour requires a minimum of four participants to start.
Tour cancelled without notice, do not use this platform I travelled across Singapore to the meeting point and no one showed up!
Hello Ruth, it is unfortunate that there was a gap in communication. We have received your booking on the 26th of May, and we have messaged you on the same day that we cannot proceed as the minimum number of pax was not met. We sent the message through the Viator platform where you made the booking. Refund was processed on the 29th of May. Apologies for the inconvenience.
We loved this tour!! Stefan was incredibly knowledgeable and could answer any question thrown at him. The transportation was a small air conditioned bus which was very comfortable. Every location was so interesting especially the paper houses and the bakery. Stefan even took the time to show us where to experience a tea ceremony after the tour which was also fantastic. Highly recommend this tour to anyone.
This was a really great tour to see various parts of the area. The paper house experience was the best. We also went through Chinatown so that helped us navigate later! Highly recommend for something different. It was a combo of walking and a ride in a van.
Iris was a fantastic tour guide! She had such a good understanding of the history and took us to a ton of really fun places. We learned a lot and got to try out a lot of yummy dishes and drinks!
Thank you for such a thoughtful, heartfelt and thorough review of our Disappearing Trades tour! We are very appreciative that you are able to take away such deep learnings and fun with us.. and this made our behind the scenes creation all the more worthwhile as the lesser known stories of our hardworking natives are being told and appreciated by more people!
We had Iris as our tour guide. Very informative and patient with us. Great job great tour. Being a Singaporean never knew some of these disappearing trades. Really learn a lot more during this tour.
thank you for such a thoughtful review. Indeed, these are business and trades that we hoped more people will be aware of before it is faded into history. do share this tour with your friends and encourage them to join us!
Well organised, informative and interesting tour. Knowledgeable guide with tidbits of facts shared during the travelling between the places.
Thank you for spending a morning with us exploring the lesser know side of singapore!
Insightful trip learning about coffee roasting, bread making and paper craft. Sad that these trades may not be around in 10 years or so, but glad that I got to find out more about them before they are gone.
A short yet rich experience for half a day. Boon is knowledgeable and clearly personally proud of sharing these lost trades in Singapore. A rare visit behind the scene Transport in a comfortable air con bus is well appreciated
The hosts were very passionate and love their trade. The tour guide is also very knowledgeable. It is recommended to join and learn about these trades.
thank you for such a thoughtful review. Indeed, these are business and trades that we hoped more people will be aware of before it is faded into history. do share this tour with your friends and encourage them to join us!
