Dear SG,
There isn't a Chinatown in Auckland! Not an official one that is. I saw the news yesterday where the interviewer was asking a person on the street, "Do you know where Chinatown is?" The person looked confused; she said she has no idea.
It seems that this was an old issue in Auckland. The government wanted to set up a place and called it Chinatown but a lot of people were against it. Surprisingly, many of those that are against the ideas are Chinese. I guess the association of Chinatown with crimes and gangsters are too strong. Everyone would prefer the current state where Chinese grocery shops and restaurants are available everywhere throughout Auckland instead of being concentrated in a street within the city.
The news reported that 1 out of 5 Aucklander are from Asia. Amazing eh? I didn't know about that.
With love from NZ,
J
Spot the difference:
Singapore's Chinatown has an official place on the map and even a MRT station named after it. Really makes it easy to find the place eh?
Auckland's Chinatown, no such place but Chinese restaurants and grocery shop are available in many parts of the town and suburbs. No worries! But some stuff are pretty expensive.
Andrew just bought a cream for mosquito bites (Mopiko) from a Chinese grocery store. It cost over $7 bucks!!!
The same cream in SG cost around 2 dollars. Gasp!
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3 comments:
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Are there any Chinese eateries and supermarkets close to Westin Auckland? Will be going there in Dec 2010.
Thanks,
SG resident
hi ya, there's a little cafe inside Metro Building, queen street that offers malaysian/singapore local dish. I can't remember the name. food's not too bad, very close to the taste we are used to.
lots of chinese restaurants around.
Try http://yellow.co.nz/index.jsp to find and
wises.co.nz for maps.
try searching the supermarkets here "Countdown", "Foodtown", or "Tai Ping" use location as "Auckland CBD". should get u some pretty close choices. hope it helps. :)
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