Walk along Balestier Road - Goh Chor Tua Pek Kong Temple, 249 Balestier Road

Continued with my walk along Balestier Road I come across this small temple. It is a single storey building. Did not have a good photo of the temple because of the tent.

The temple was established in 1847 by Chinese Hokkien labourers working on Joseph Balestier’s sugar plantation.

The workers set up the temple to protect them cause during the early days, the plantation was infested with tigers and malarial mosquitoes. So they pray for safety and protection.

Walk along Balestier Road - Traditional Shops that still surviving

As I continued my walk along Balestier Road, at the junction of Balestier Road and Whampoa is this very old traditional bakery shop. I used to stay near Whampoa during my childhood so I can relate to this old bakery shop. Mom used to buy freshly baked bread from this bakery.

They are still around and still using the traditional oven to bake these bread. When I was there around 1 pm, there were people queueing to buy the bread that just come out of the oven. Of course I bought some too. :)

Sing Hon Loong Bakery (4 Whampoa Drive)

I asked permission from the owner to take photos of the freshly baked bread.

Bread cutting machine

Lam Yeo Coffee Powder, 328 Balestier Road

Another old shop still around is the shop selling coffee powder along Balestier Road. As it was a Sunday, it was closed. I only could take photo of the coffee powder from a small gap from the main gate, lucky they did not pull the shutters down lol. I can still remember the smell from the coffee powder that mom used to come and buy from this shop.

The above two shops has a history of more than 50 years as old as me hahaha.

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Walk along Balestier Road - Street Scenes

Sometimes it is interesting just to snap any photos while you were walking along the road. I saw this very old hotel along Balestier Road. But on reaching home and loading to my computer, did I realise that they actually hang the Singapore Flag the wrong way hahaha. It was hung the reversed way.

There are many budget hotels along Balestier Road.

Also saw many tall and new condominiums coming up. Good that while new buildings are popping up, the old buildings are preserved and restored.

This is another building that was upgraded. It now sported a very modern look.

Walk along Balestier Road - Another row of Sim Kwong Ho Shophouse

As I continued my walk along Balestier Road, I saw that there's another row of shophouses belonging to Sim Kwong Ho. It is located at the junction of Kim Keat Road and Balestier Road.

It was designed by the architect firm of Westerhout and Oman. It is often referred to as the “Sim Kwong Ho” building as the name(in mandarin) is inscribed on the front of the building. According to residents in the area, there is a dog centrepiece feature that had gone missing, but they have no idea when it disappeared



The row of shophouses are very pretty and comes in so many colours. I love the purple look of the shophouses.
You can read more about the history of the shophouses from heritage trails

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A walk along Balestier Road - Sim Kwong Ho Shophouse

Madam Sim Cheng Neo a female developer owned many properties in Balestier Area. One of these is the shophouse called Sim Kwong Ho Shophouse at 418 Balestier Road just at the junction of Balestier Road and Jalan Kemaman.

The shophouse has been restored, modernized and converted into a budget hotel.



It is interesting to observe the designs on the shophouses. There were animals, birds, dragons, etc. There's some that come in the design of a dragon with bat's wings.



Instead of the usual Chinese warriors that are depicted on doors of Chinese homes as symbolic guardians, the shophouse has Sikhs as its door guards as they were often employed as policemen in the colonial past.

You can read more about the shophouse from heritage trails website.

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