Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Welcome to the Island of Misfit Toys - Chinatown, Singapore
Remember "The Island of Misfit Toys" from the legendary holiday TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"? It's where imperfect and rejected toys came to life. Well, I have found this real-life island. It's Singapore -- Chinatown, to be exact.
Some find it strange that Singapore has a Chinatown, since so much of the culture is influenced by the Chinese anyway. It turns out that the Singapore government is very supportive of its unique ethnic areas; including Chinatown, Little India, and Holland Village (where there is a windmill and no Dutch people). Chinatown is to the Chinese influence in Singapore what Euro-Disney is to American influences in Europe. It's wacky and kitschy and ultimately a lot of fun -- but not really based in reality.
Chinatowns across the world always seem to have an variety of crazy, kind of scary toys, and Singapore's was no exception. In fact, I found such an assortment that I had no choice but to photograph and videotape them. In case you've been hurting for nightmares, check out the video above and the gallery below for your fix of Misfit Toys.
Gallery: Chinatown, Singapore - The Island of Misfit Toys
This trip was paid for by the Singapore Board of Tourism, but the views expressed within the post are 100% my own.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
daniel Oct 9th 2009 10:21AM
These are not toys. They are lanterns made of plastic with resemblence to popular cartoon characters. They are usually sold during mid-autumn festival, which happen to be last Saturday. Traditional lanterns are made of paper. Modern lanterns are made of plastics and lightup with bulb and batteries.
Mid-autumn festival is a Chinese festival where mooncakes and lanterns were sold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival