Big Cocks & Giant Fishes in Tiong Bahru

(Daddy searches)

It is official. The biggest cocks can be found at Tiong Bahru.

As part of Tiong Bahru Heritage Fiesta 2014 - which is in its second year - photographer and visual artist Ernest Goh has plastered five animal murals on various walls around the estate.

We did not actually set out to locate the 5 wall murals initially. I had signed the entire family up for the guided Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail - spanning 2.5km and 10 stops - when we stumbled upon the first cock wall mural.

On a side note, the Heritage Trail was awesome and filled with interesting bits of history that not only captivated me and the wifey, but also the boys. But more on that in a subsequent post, as the big cocks take centrestage for now.

Yes, the monkies (actually, it was me as well) were obsessed in hunting down all of the 5 wall murals around Tiong Bahru and so that was what we did after the trail.

Beside cocks, fishes in the form of guppies and goldfish were part of the gang of five. The animals selected for the 5 murals were some of the local pets that were common in Tiong Bahru in the old days.

This pair of guppies were tucked away in an alley between two blocks, making them a tad difficult to locate. But that is part of fun in trying to suss them out, no?

Oh, if you intend to head down to see the murals but do not want to play hide-and-seek, I have included the locations of the 5 wall murals towards the end of this post.

Our fourth find was yet another cock, only this time it was strutting its stuff and all ready to pick a fight.

Which the monkies duly obliged.

The chickens depicted in these wall murals are actually not the usual chickens that end up on our dinner table. They are Ayam Serama chickens, a type of ornamental chicken and are bred not for consumption, but purely for ornamental and competitive reasons. These chickens are prized for their built, size, behaviour and showmanship and compete in ‘beauty pageants’ held in villages throughout Malaysia.

And in terms of showmanship, I think Ayd might just trump an Ayam Serama if you ask me.

Ale too, possibly.

The fun thing about wall murals is that everyone can probably concoct their own interpretation, and come up with numerous silly poses and moves in front of the camera.

 Positioned just behind a cock's butt? No problem.

But try as we might, we just could not locate the fifth and final mural. Thanks to a tip-off from Gingerbreadmum though, the elusive goldfish was found!

I think this was my fave of the lot. It was so realistically painted!

As our hunt came to an end, everyone was undeniably utterly exhausted... and thirsty. But for sure, we had loads of fun during the Heritage Trail and the bonus of coming face to face with larger than life animal wall murals!

As promised, here are the locations of the murals:

Cock #1
Block 77, Seng Poh Road
Beside the entrance of Tiong Bahru Community Centre

Cock #2

Block 72, Seng Poh Road

On the side facing Eng Watt Street

Cock #3

Block 81 Tiong Poh Road

Guppies
Alley between Block 66 and 65, Eng Watt Street

Goldfish

Block 28, Tiong Bahru Road

Here is a map, where I had marked out the 5 locations of the animal wall murals. Yes, you are welcome. :)

Click on the map to enlarge

Have fun locating them!

Note: I do not know how long the murals will stay up, so better hurry!!!