Makan Place – Sixth Avenue Byriani

Located in the heart of Sixth Avenue, an upper class estate, is a collection of eateries selling all sorts of food. From wine shops to Brazilian Churrasco, it seems like a quiet outpost for expensive dining. But the foodies do not go there for the expensive drinks and food. They go to the small coffee…

The Grandstand, from Turf Club to Shopping Mall

Racing used to be a big thing with locals. There was the Thomson Road Grand Prix along Upper Thomson Road  held there from 1966 to 1073. Then there was horse racing. Thoroughbred horse racing in Singapore began in 1933 and was originally held at Bukit Timah Race Course. This race course saw its last race…

Football in The Cage

Take an old warehouse put nets around it, light it up and place goalposts at each end. That is indoor football. Not everyone can sustain a full football match in a regulation-sized field, most need a much smaller space. In fact at youth development levels, the state of the art argues that small pitches and…

Makan Place – Al Azhar

Al-Azhar is the quintessential Singapore style eating house. An Indian Muslim establishment, selling everything from pratas, naans and mutarbaks to nasi goreng, kuay teow goreng and ayam goreng. But that’s not all, this place deals sometimes in the Singaporean conception of “Western food” and Thai-Chinese food too. And, its open 24/7. This, sir, is Singapore…

Beauty World Food Centre, the Future of Singapore Food

Sure, Singapore’s a small country, but without the ease that transport brings, there really is very little incentive to get to some out of the way places. Beauty World in Bukit Timah used to count as one of those far-out places. Then the Downtown Line opened, and what was once an hour long journey shortened…

Makan Place – Top Seafood at Sixth Avenue

“Sixth avenue got tze char meh?” That was the doubting response we gave when our colleague recommended a tse char restaurant deep in the heart of the sixth avenue district of Singapore. Running right through the exclusive Bukit Timah district, the first words that come to mind when Sixth Avenue is mentioned include expensive, exclusive,…

The Quarry at Hindhede Nature Park

Granite is one of the strongest stones on earth and its useful for many things. Singapore used to have many Granite Quarries particularly around the Bukit Timah area such as the Hindhede Quarry, Diary Farm Quarry and the Singapore Quarry. There are even more quarries in Pualau Ubin. All of these quarries have been abandoned…

Bukit Timah Shopping Centre Part 1, Tuition and God in a growing Koreatown

We came here because a colleague told us about the growing Koreatown in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre. Long story short, it wasn’t really Koreatown, but more like Tuitiontown with a bit of Korea thrown in. Many Korean expatriates have dwellings along the north of Singapore, hence the growing Koreatown theme in the shopping mall. If…

Beauty World, still shopping in the 80s

It started during the Japanese Occupation, as the Da Dong Ya, or the Greater East Asia Amusement Park.  The site chosen was between Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Jurong Kechil. The site was originally a rural farm but was badly destroyed by bombs during the Battle of Singapore. According to infopedia, In the early…

The Battle of Singapore, Day 4: The Battle for Bukit Timah

With the unexpected collapse of the Jurong-Kranji Line, and a lack of defensive retaliation up north, the full Japanese Army had laced on Singapore by 10th February. Lt Gen Tomoyuki Yamashita was running low on supplies and ammunition, he had to end the war fast. The next target was the supplies depot at Bukit Timah….

St Joseph’s Church, Bukit Timah – The Second Galapagos

Jean Beurel sat in his office, head leaning on his palm. He knitted his eyebrows and sat, deep in thought. Beads of sweat streamed down his face, the warm tropical weather, especially wretched in the afternoons made his skin sticky and grimy. He was always especially irascible at midday. His heavyset physique was not accustomed…