Lau Pa Sat 4.88

Lau Pa Sat, also known as Telok Ayer Market, is a historic building located within the Downtown Core in the Central Area of Singapore. It is currently a food centre. There are several shops inside the market such as a 24 hours Cheers Store, a shoe repair shop, a tailor and a laundry store. In the evenings on the weekend a live band plays at the stage in the middle of the market.EtymologyIn the early nineteenth century, Telok Ayer Market was a simple wooden building, located on piles just over the waters of Telok Ayer Bay from which the market derived its name. The Malay name Telok Ayer means "water bay", and the then coastal road Telok Ayer Street was located alongside the bay before land reclamation work started in 1879.Lau Pa Sat means "old market" in the vernacular Chinese of Singapore. Lau (老) means old; pa sat is the Hokkien pronunciation of the Persian loanword bazaar (market) which is pasar in Malay. The original Telok Ayer market was one of the oldest markets in Singapore; a new market was later built along Ellenborough Road, and that market became known by the locals as the "new market" (Pasar Baru or Sin Pa Sat), while the Telok Ayer Market in turn became known colloquially as the "old market" or Lau Pa Sat. Because of its Victorian iron structure, the market is also referred to in Malay as pasar besi (market of iron).