Before there was grand plans for the Jurong Lake District, there were plans for Punggol 21 – Singapore’s Venice of the Northeast. Punggol 21 was announced in 1996 when the Punggol region was just about to be developed. The MP put in charge (I reckon) of overseeing the new town was Teo Chee Hean the…
Category: Northeast Singapore
Makan Place – Uncle Leong’s Signature Seafood
Uncle Leong seafood first started in a neighbourhood coffeeshop and today has three outlets in Toa Payoh (Central Singapore), Jurong East (West Singapore) and Punggol (Northeast Singapore). It’s famous for its crab dishes at relatively fair prices (by Singapore standarads anyway). Their popular dished include Crab Bee Hoon Soup, Shimmering Sand Delight and Guinness Pork…
Makan Place – Hai Wai Yuen Sambal BBQ Stingray
Sambal Stingray (Ikan Bakar in Malay) is a dish that has been significantly localised. It was created by Eurasians who were descendants of Portugese traders and local women who created a fusion dish between the two cultures. Stingrays were not a popular fish to use in the past, the meat just wasn’t tasty enough. It…
Jardins Serangoon, the Little France in Serangoon Gardens
The French have been in Singapore since the establishment of island as a British trading post. While their numbers have never been large, they have had an important social function in Singapore. While some were traders, a not in significant number arrived as religious leaders. Particularly Catholic priests. French priests and bishops were the main…
Looking for Ang Sar Lee at Serangoon Gardens
“This is such a different Singapore, reminds me of home!” She remarked enthusiastically as we walked into Serangoon Gardens to have dinner at Chomp Chomp. Like Thomson Road and Braddell Heights, Serangoon is one of the few estates in Singapore without high rise housing. Once nicknamed Ang Sar Lee for the red zinc roofs that…
Makan Place – Ayam Penyet President
Do you know what defines Indonesian cuisine? Despite making a few trips to Indonesia (Jakarta and Bintan)*, I still don’t know how to understand it. And why should it be easy to discern? Indonesia is a vast archipelago with 6000 populated islands and 300 ethnic groups, one regions cuisines is probably vastly different from another….
Pratas at Jalan Kayu
The shophouses along Jalan Kayu Road (in Yio Chu Kang) are a must go for Roti Prata hunters. Think physical link between the northeastern district of Sengkang and the northern district of Sembawang. Translated literally as “Wooden Road”, Jalan Kayu was first built in 1928 and served as a road linking the first ever British…
Finding the cow on Coney Island
It was meant to be the Singapore version of Long Island’s Coney Island. Known originally as Pulau Serangoon, the Aw brothers of Tiger Balm and Haw Par Villa fame first bought the island in 1936 and sold it to Ghulam Mahmood who christened the island Coney Island. Those plans were never realised and in 1972,…
The Jetty Park, Settlement and the North Eastern Riverine Loop in Punggol
Apart from the horse ranch, the edge of Punggol is also home to the Punggol Jetty Park and the Punggol Settlement. The Jetty Park, used to be home to a jetty (no surprises there). It has undergone significant upgrading and is now a beautifully modern park. It is almost as popular as East Coast Park…
Punggol Ranch and Horses!
What can you do in Punggol? That was the first thing that came to our minds when… well nothing (it does have a nice waterway park, but that’s all I know about it) Punggol is the northeastern most part of Singapore and was originally farming land (pig farms and vegetable fams). The land was taken…
Makan Place – Yakiyaki-Bo
Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese of cuisine where food is cooked on a griddle. Specially, it refers to food cooked on the griddle. There are two styles of teppanyaki the ‘Western’ and the Japanese style. According to Wikipedia, “Western-style teppanyaki are beef, shrimp, scallops, lobster, chicken, and assorted vegetables. Soybean oil is typically used…
Chomp Chomp, the Food Centre that Teens love
If I told you about a smokey food centre, without air-conditioning but with great food, you’d probably assume that the patrons are older people. You’d be wrong. They’re young. This is Chomp Chomp in Serangoon Gardens, one of the most famous dining spots among young locals. Nestled within the middle class Serangoon Gardens estate, Chomp…
Prawning at East Coast
Prawning is a pasttime with a growing following in Singapore not just for the fun of it, but also as a bonding activity for the whole family (fishing is harder to do in Singapore, technically more challenging and financially a more prohibitive). [youtub=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sDadflvpIo] Prawning places have spawned at a number of locations throughout the island….
Makan Place – Eighteen Chefs Bugis
“I’ve been in and out of prison and rehabilitation centres so many times that I cannot keep count!” exclaimed Chef Bennny to the famous blogger Daniel. Benny Se Teo is a former convict turned chef and mentor. He turned to cooking after deciding that he was sick of going in andout of prison. Eighteen Chefs…
Running a Mall, 6 Lessons from Nex
When Nex opened, it was slated as the biggest megamall in the north east district of Singapore. Singapore is a mall happy city and has (what some might consider) too many malls. And while some malls do not seem particularly successful in luring the crowd (mainly the small, rather run down malls dotted around the…
The Heartlander Tourist 