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WHAT'S THE WORD ON YOUR STREET?
Whether they’re a newcomer or an “old hand”, we’d love our readers
to get to know your neighbourhood. Help us by sending an email
to
contribute@expatliving.sg with “Street Talk” in the subject line.
Include your name and the name of your street, andwe’ll be in touch.
THE SUPERLATIVES
Your favourite neighbourhood
joints are:
Elyon Cakes
on Bukit Merah Lane, a
friendly family business making divine
cupcakes and cakes. Their red velvet
cupcakes and their whipped cream
sponge cake with fresh longans are to
die for, and their coffee is delicious. The
staff know all the Interlace residents, and
if a newbie comes in, they will arrange for
a “blind date” with another resident. More
than one friendship in our condo has been
struck up because of the ladies at Elyon.
Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC)
at
Labrador Park MRT, for outlet shoe
stores. I’ve often found great children’s
shoes and trainers for under $30.
Anchorpoint Shopping Centre
, for
Charles & Keith, Typo, Cotton On and
Giordano outlet stores. Plus
Sakura Fish
Market
, not only for the type of Japanese
ice cream I loved while living in Kyoto in
1997, but for fresh slabs of fish which
the chefs slice and seal at no extra cost.
The Chinese manager overheard me
speaking Dutch to my children and spoke
Dutch back to me; turns out he worked at
a teppanyaki restaurant in the Dutch town
of Hoofddorp for years, and picked up
some of the language. I felt so at home!
Alexandra Fire Station
opens to the
public every Saturday from 9am to 11am.
Our kids love sitting in the emergency
vehicles, holding the water hose and
watching firemen slide down the pole
using different techniques.
Spuds & Aprons
at Mount Faber. We
have annual passes for the cable car
and often go to Sentosa on a Saturday
morning, have a coffee there and return
for ice cream at Spuds & Aprons. As a
bonus, the kids can buy a bag of fish
food from the souvenir shop and feed
the huge koi.
FatBoy’s The Burger Bar
on Pasir
Panjang, where my husband often has
lunch and I sometimes meet him for a
delish burger.
The Green Corridor
runs right behind
our condo, perfect for cycling, walking
or running – one direction takes you to
Holland Village, the other to Tanjong
Pagar.
The Chop House
in VivoCity, for its
amazing sharing platter of reasonably
priced spare ribs.
You won’t find better local
food than at:
Alexandra Food Court on Bukit Merah
Lane. Our favourites among the three
rows of amazing food are the pork
ribs, chicken skewers, chicken rice and
dumpling stalls in the middle row.
The strangest thing you’ve ever
seen on your street is:
During my first month in Singapore,
a giant African snail that I mistook for
something else. One night, I was doing
some laps on the Interlace walking trail
when I nearly stepped in what I thought
was a dog’s dropping. Cursing under my
breath, I avoided it, but after my fourth
lap I thought I was going crazy. Wait, was
that turd moving? I have since found out
that the snails here are quite large.
We love a good bargain. The best
deals in your neighbourhood are:
Shoes in the outlet centres around us.
New Balance, Reebok and Bata in ARC
andCharles &Keith inAnchorpoint. Also,
the TYPO outlet store at Anchorpoint,
where I can buy $1 cards, as I love to
send cards to my friends all over the
world.
One thing you’d never change is:
The view from our back garden, which
overlooks our condo’s “Spa Valley”,
with lush green trees set against the
backdrop of the stunning architecture
of The Interlace. After rain, you can
practically see the trees growing taller
before your eyes.
But one thing you wouldn’t mind
seeing go is:
The building site next door. It used to
be a lovely, empty plot of land, but they
started construction on it in December.
While our unit is not directly next to the
site, the layout of the condo means the
noise echoes far and loud.
The city gives you $5 million to
soup up your street. You use it to:
Build a tunnel to block out the noise from
the section of the busy AYE in front of the
condo. I would cover the tunnel roof with
a park and shaded playgrounds. If there
was any money remaining (ha!) I would
do up the pretty but derelict white house
on Alexandra Road and turn it into a
community centre with tea garden, yoga
studio and neighbourhood museum.
May15