Old Airport or Kallang Airport Estate

This is Kallang Airport or Old Airport Estate. It used to be part of the airport premises and therefore the estate is named after the old airport. Kallang Airport had long been closed and shifted to Paya Lebar and now shifted to Changi Airport. You can read more about Kallang Airport in wikipedia.

The flats here are very old but are very well maintained. Most of the flats are probably over forty years old.

Many people walked along the corridors of the ground flat at the above flat to shelter from the hot sun. Most like me are heading for Dakota MRT Station.

Keat asked me a very good question about the meaning of Dakota. As Kallang Airport Estate used to be the old airport, so Dakota was named after those Dakota Planes that used to land in the airport.

The road in the above photo is Old Airport Road. It used to be the runway for the Kallang Airport.

Many estates across Singapore have a space like the above. It is a multi function space. Some used them as venue for arts competition, wedding, birthday, etc celebration. The one that many wont believe is that it is also used for funeral wakes.

The above apartment block is known as maisonettes. It is an apartment flat on two levels with internal stairs.

My World Tuesday - Circle Line - Dakota Station

After so many years of waiting, part of the circle line (almost a circle linking all the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines that go round Singapore) is finally ready. Those in dotted yellow lines will be open next year.

The circle line is not fully a circle yet but they are still discussing the best place to close the circle so that commuters dont have to change trains at the interchange. See report. http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Transport/Story/A1Story20100424-212250.html

Hubby and me decided to explore the areas around some of the circle line stations. We decided to go to Dakota Station (Above map - circled).

Dakota is a quiet neighbourhood and its hawker centre is very very well known. Before you come out of the station, be sure to check the map inside the station for the exact location of the hawker centre. We decided to exit at B and make a U-turn once we reach the top of the escalator. We found the hawker centre after only a five minute walk.

The food in this food centre is very local and very tasty and yummy. The price is very reasonable too. They are so much cheaper than eating at the air conditioned food court in shopping mall. But please be warned, the hawker centre is not air conditioned but there are huge fans inside it.

If you are driving, there's a car park at the food centre but space will be limited if it is during peak period i.e. lunch time and dinner time where there's a big crowd at this food centre. Parking fees in heartlands are so much cheaper than parking fees in the city.

If you are unsure what to eat or which is the best stall, just look for the queues.

Normally, if there's a queue means that stall is popular and their food must be very yummy. The queues are usually during lunch time and dinner time.

The food centre is so popular and with the convenience of the circle line, I spotted many office workers (in their company's tee shirt and uniforms) coming from as far as Marina and Paya Lebar Area.

Results: Hubby and me enjoyed the ride in the new circle line. Very clean and quiet train and fast.

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

Ang Mo Kio

Singapore has many estates all over the island that are self contained. Self contained meaning, they have all the facilities inside the estate. There are malls, library, clinics, shops, market, hawker centres, etc. Residents dont have to travel all the way to the city to get their shopping done. They can just do it right at their own estate.

This is part of Ang Mo Kio. Dont be fooled by my photos. The photo might make the town looked quiet and sleepy but if you would to go to the central of Ang Mo Kio, there's where the action is.

It is more crowded and noisy in the central where most shops and malls are located.

The word "Ang Mo Kio" has many meanings. It sounded like tomatoes in Hokkien but some thought that the estate was named after bridge (Kio) and Ang Mo (Red Hair). It could be a British Engineer (probably with red hair) was responsible to built a bridge in this estate and the locals named the area Ang Mo Kio. You could read the whole story in Infopedia.

The blue building in the above photo is the library in Ang Mo Kio. But nowadays, we have smaller libraries located in the malls in newer towns, so as to encourage more to read books.

I spotted a nursery beside the library.

Sorry no photos of Ang Mo Kio Central cause I did not venture into there and I dont stay in Ang Mo Kio.

Housing from the past, present and future

Continuing from yesterday's post. Today, I will talk about the future, present and past housing all in one district.

The background of the new flats in Tanjong Pagar are really very beautiful and expensive and they are government's flats (HDB) built by private developers. The bridge (circled) are heavier than an aeroplane and they are built as roof gardens. These HDB flats are even more expensive than some private condominiums.

And these flats are all taken up (if I am not mistaken), the flats should be ready by next year. I wondered if the roof garden are open to anyone besides residents there, then I can go up and take photo of the garden. It must be quite scary to be high up there.

The high rise flats are symbols of our future housing, builting upwards in land scared Singapore. The lower block of flats are present flats build at least 30 years ago.

Oh I like these old shophouses, they are restored and preserved. These old shophouses are at least more than 100 years old. They even survived the world war II. My late grandmother used to live in one of these shophouses and it was so old and infested with rats as huge as a cat. I remembered having to put my legs up the sofa cause the rats are running under the sofa...hahaha...very scary.

After all the restoring and preservation, these shophouses are now worth more than a million dollars.

You can read more about the history of these shophouses in wikipedia.

Although we are progressing very quickly, we dont forget our past and histories.

What type of housing do you like?

Skywatch Friday-Tanjong Pagar

Saw some cute sculptures in front of the building. Hope you can see the reflection of the sky on the glass panels.

In the background you can see few blocks of HDB Flats (government flats) still under construction. They are HDB Flats build by private developers. They are the most expensive HDB Flats so far. Gone are the days where HDB flats are considered alternative cheap housing. Nowadays HDB Flats can cost more expensive than private condominiums. As land is scare in tiny Singapore, properties over here are so expensive. You can no longer find any flats that are in the five figure sum, they are all over six figure sum for a decent flat. If you are interested to see how an HDB Flat look like, you can view the virtual showroom in here.

Noticed the bridge linking each block, they are supposed to be roof gardens. These bridge are so heavy and each weighed heavier than an aeroplane.

These flats are known as The Pinnacle @ Duxton, Singapore. I will tell you more in later post about these flats.

For other sky watchers, please hop over to Skywatch blog.

National Day - Singapore 44th Birthday

August 9th is Singapore National Day, which means Singapore is 44 years old. Geez, I am five years older than Singapore...hehehe

Seen across the island are flags hang out by homeowners to celebrate the occasion.

Decorations for national day can be seen across the island.

I spotted these cardboard cut out of the cows. Wondered why they only painted one side of the cardboard.



This year something big is happening. At 8.22 pm on 9th August 2009, Singaporeans at home and abroad are urged to recite the pledge together at the same time.

Siblings and I thought it is a good idea. After all, siblings and I have seen Singapore struggled from a poor country to be a branded country. During our childhood, most Singaporean are poor or very poor but today the poor still have a roof over their head and they own their own home and only a handful dont own their home.

The words of the National Pledge are:

We, the citizens of Singapore pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE

Fond Memories (Part 2) - Jalan Bahagia

Continuing from my walk around the place where I used to stay during my childhood, these old flats (Block 21) still exists, they are at least my age...lol
But these flats are upgraded and maintained and looked so new. In Singapore, HDB flats need to be re-painted every five years.

Those staying on the ground floor has the advantage of sunning their mattress or laundries in the open area.

The above row of houses looked like private houses but they are actually HDB houses. They have a leasehold of 99 years but these houses are about my age (49 years) so they have about another 50 years life and they dont cheap anymore. They used to be rented houses but HDB has already sold them to the tenants long ago.

They are so beautifully decorated just like those private houses.

You might like to view this Blog (I happen to stumble onto this blog) which showcase the interior of these houses.

Fond Memories Part 1 - St. Michael's Estate

This is a very old photo of my childhood home. I stay there since I was born but shifted out when I got married (1983). The flat was one of the first few homes built in Singapore during the late 50s to early 60s by Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT).

The Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was a government organisation set up in 1927 by the British colonial government in Singapore in response to the housing needs of the population of Singapore. To read more about SIT, you can read from wikipedia. Now the Housing and Development Board take over the SIT.

So I was lucky to be able to live in a flat since the day I was born so I have flushing toilet system and I dont have to use the bucket type of toilet...lol. Most flats during the early days are rented but nowadays more than 90% of homeowners in Singapore own their own flats/houses. (I dont have the latest figure of homeownership...so the figure was based on what I read in the papers.)

The flat and the surrounding flats were all demolished and now new flats built by the HDB take over the place. There are only 3 or 4 new blocks replacing about 20 blocks of the old flats, most are vacant land, I guess there are more plans to built more new flats when there is a demand for it. I just couldn't recognize the place when I went back there last month to have a look at the estate.

The newer flats are much more expensive and higher. Each flat in this area can cost about S$300,000 or more depending how big the flat is.

This empty lot used to be a very big wet market selling poultry, fishes, vegetables, pork, etc and some stalls outside the wet market sell cooked food. I missed the market because it brought back fond memories of my childhood.

Please visit "That's my World" for other parts of the world.

Whampoa Estate Part 5-Wet Market and Hawker Centre

My contribution for pink saturday are some interesting scenes in the market.

This is a hawker centre where they sold mostly local food and the prices are quite reasonable . This estate is so old and most of the hawkers are long timers and the food they sold are so good.

Just walked across the hawker centre is the wet and dry market. The wet part sold fishes, chicken, vegetables, etc , while the dry sold dry groceries , clothes, cloth, household items, etc. Did you spot the "P" in Whampoa as a contribution to Pink Saturday?

Did you spot any pink dress in the above photo?

Stalls selling dry groceries like curry powder, spices, pepper, mushroom, nuts, etc

Inside the market will be the wet part, where they sold poultry, fishes, etc

As it is near noon, the market is close for the day, so the stall holders has to wash and keep their stalls clean.

I hope you enjoy the introduction of the market and hawker centre. :)

For more pinky participants, please visit Beverly of How Sweet The Sound.

Whampoa Part 2-HDB Shophouses

Continuing from my post about Whampoa Estate, here are shophouses that been here for a long time, at least more than 20 years.

These shophouses are known as HDB Shophouses located in the heartland of Singapore where majority of Singaporeans lived. Most of the times you can bargain for your products for about 10 to 20% discount unless they are fixed price. Sometimes, you can find things you cannot find in big shopping malls. You have to return to visit my post on the market place in next few posts.

Most of the shopowners lived above their shops and these shophouses are not cheap, some are sold for about a million dollars and the owner would then rent out or use for their own. My sister had one shophouse just like the one on the right. She stay above her shop.

Please return for more interesting post on whampoa estate.