Bus Ride Sights: Amber-Moonstone

You know, it is rather apt that this bus ride carry the title of Amber instead of Marine Parade Road because, really, it was from here- at the roundabout between Amber and Marine Parade Road- that Chonkycam came out and I managed to get this first picture.  

This building here at the junction once used to be the Amber Hotel.

Today it is still a hotel, except that it's not a typical hotel offering typical hospitality services anymore, but has transformed into a co-living space, which, in today's context of travel trends, is probably better. 

The building itself has become more contemporary, more colorful too. 

From this spot, the bus went straight ahead, passing by a future condo still under construction, and then left it went, turning onto Mountbatten Road. 

Here I managed to get a picture of the condo whose entrance is, I think, on Mountbatten Road itself. But after all this time, offhand, without checking Google Maps, I still do not remember its name.  

From here, the bus changes lanes to enter Tanjong Katong Road.

Sometimes I get a picture as the bus turns.

Sometimes I don't. 

Today the first picture I got of Tanjong Katong Road was of plant nursery Song Lang Garden bordering the junction between Tanjong Katong and Mountbatten Road. 

This plant nursery is quite a landmark, even though I don't know her story, and I don't know how long she has been there. 

Can't say I'm not fascinated by it though, especially since my only memory of it is at Lunar New Year 2026 when they had huge pots of furry pussy willow flowers and little pots of peonies, money plants, and ribbon-decorated bamboo. And there were all kinds of cheerful, vibrant blooms out in front near the fence lining the road. 

I haven't walked past there since.

I haven't walked much on Tanjong Katong Road either. 

But I certainly can recognize some of the shop houses. 

Near the junction there is the shop selling party favors (and the dental clinic next to it). Further down near the bus stop there is Meat Collective. I have a lot of pictures of this signboard this year. Further down still is the junction of Branksome Road. And then after that, grocery store Avighna with fresh, frozen and shelf produce dedicated for Indian curries and Indian cuisine. 

The bus went past Goodman Road and the distinctive red brick structure of Chelsea Lodge straight after that. 

I've always been fascinated by the trees by the side of the steps. 

Reason for it, I don't know, but seeing them like this, they give me a sense of an English countryside- even if I don't know what they actually are. 

From here on next came Boscombe Road where at the junction of this curved shop house stands what I think is a coffee shop. 

And further on after that, the row of shop houses that included a foot reflexology and massage spa. 

There were no more pictures of this road after this one with the lorry and the spa for this afternoon until the bus reached the junction of Dunman Road.

Here, the bus turned left heading towards the direction of Kallang Stadium and town.

You know, now that I think about it, this side of Dunman Road has become a little unique in recent months. 

It didn't occur to me before, but one gets a sampler view of homes and housing- basically, how Singaporeans live- just by traveling down this small stretch of road. 

Private housing, public housing, you see it all along this stretch. 

First up are the terrace houses whose gardens and main gate sit on Swanage Road. Following the quaint, neat houses, straightaway you'll see the tall structures of newly-built Grand Dunman condominium, and then, right after that, come the high rise maisonette public housing flats of Dakota estate that lie along the Western bank of the Geylang River. 

A few more blocks come after that, then a secondary school, and then, finally, the heritage low-rise blocks of the old Dakota Estate which the government took back enbloc, but did not demolish. 

By the way, this stretch of road doesn't stay as Dunman Road. After the Geylang River, it becomes Old Airport Road. 

Today the bus turned right onto Mountbatten Road.

What's lovely is that I managed to get a picture of Mountbatten Road looking towards the flats of Jalan Batu side. 

I also managed to get a picture of Stadium Boulevard leading towards Kallang Stadium, and this big field on Sims Way that looks towards the tennis courts behind. 

The view of Nicoll Highway came up after.

Then it was Geylang Road, with a hint of her new upcoming flats seen from the Sims Way side. 

You know, this space here used to be an amusement park. The Gay World Amusement Park. Who would have imagined that one day the space- left alone for so long- would become a pocket residential estate with apartment flats going twenty floors high? 

The bus now made a right onto Lorong 1 Geylang, then a left onto Upper Boon Keng Road, going over the Kallang River. 

There's something very unique about this area. 

I've never been able to comprehend it.

I've also never been able to properly describe it. 

A part of me thinks of this like a sort of door separating the East side of Singapore to the Central side of Singapore. Where, on one side, you have the Kallang MRT looking out towards the waters and Mountbatten Road and East Coast Road, and on the other, you have Upper Boon Keng looking towards Kallang Bahru, Bendeemer and the upper reaches of Kallang River towards Balestier and Bishan. 

The feeling hits a bit different once you begin to leave the spaces of Kallang Bahru and go up towards Bendeemer. 

Suddenly the space becomes tighter, squeezier, more utilized. 

You start to see more flats, more amenities, more living spaces, more horticultural, carefully planted trees. 

From the bus window here this afternoon, I could look out across all the blocks towards the 12th storey building of Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. 

Going down Boon Keng Road, the bus now went past Bendeemer Road, making a right onto Serangoon Road, where, at the junction between Serangoon Road and Towner Road, went past the Central Sikh Gurdwana. 

From here, the bus went on, first passing by a block of flats notable for its bakery at the corner, then, further on, a short stretch over the Whampoa River where on one side of the banks, a condominium stood. Somehow I have never gotten its name. 

Further on came a motorcycle workshop, recognizable for its showroom vibes, and then finally, the stretch where Serangoon Broadway is, right close to Moonstone Lane. 

I don't know why it looked more purplish today. 

Thai Food @ Bras Basah

So, I can't remember whether I've mentioned it before, but one of my new favorite Thai food places in recent times has to be this one here at Bras Basah. 

We found this stall quite by accident, actually. 

It was one of those evenings when we were in the area, we were searching around for a dinner place, and the corner food court of Bras Basah Complex popped up right into view. 

To be frank, this food court has been there a long time. 

Just that we didn't pay much attention to it. 

But my friend was in a sort of 'take a look around' mood this evening, and so we found ourselves seated at a table here, trying to decide what we could have, what we could eat. 

There were a good many choices here at the food court, but eventually it boiled down to two.

Either we would have a Salmon Chirashi bowl, or Thai food. 

I felt like Thai food this evening, so we ordered. 

The menu here is basic, but it's not simple. 

Run by a Thai lady- you know she is Thai by the way she spins the plastic bag when you tapao the rice- the menu offers a variety of familiar and well-loved street foods those of which you would find in Thailand. 

Green curry seems to be one of their most popular dishes but the other one I also find interesting is what I often call the coconut cream chicken soup.

Light in texture, milky in color, it is one of my favorite soups of Thai cuisine. I like mine spicy- it gives the meat and soup a bit of kick without overwhelming any of the tastes. 

This evening, however, we went for the Pad Thai and the egg omelet. 

Pad Thai is one of my favorites when it comes to Thai street food. 

No, it's not because of the hype, but because I am, to begin with, a kuay teow girl, and I like the balance of flavors between the salty, sour and faintly sweet. I like how the noodles are fried in a way that is not too dry nor too wet, and that they've got crushed peanut for a wee little bit of crunchy texture. 

You're supposed to mix the crushed peanuts together with the noodles, but I don't usually do that. I don't mix the chili either. What I usually do, however, is to take a spoonful of noodles, then add a few bits of peanut, a little bit of chili and then eat it altogether. 

In the same way too, I don't actually squeeze the lime all over the plate. 

I do it bit by bit. 

One spoonful by one spoonful. 

My friend was very excited about the egg omelet. 

It was one of the fluffiest and tastiest ones he had ever had, he said. It wasn't clean-tasting, he said, but neither was it greasy or oily. It had just the right amount of oil which, according to him, actually made the white jasmine rice smoother, tastier. 

Best of all, he said, the portion was big and the price lovely. 

The omelet- with chicken inside- was so good he could eat it by itself. 

Which, this evening, he did, slowly, cutting it off piece by piece. When he finished everything, the rice he went back to the stall and tapaoed it home. 

Hedgehog's Birthday

It has been close to four months since we celebrated Hedgehog's birthday in July.  Honestly I can't believe that it has been that long; that four months have already passed in this manner, and that time is just carrying on in a somewhat day on day pattern which can feel like a tremendous blur. 

But I have finally managed to consolidate all of his birthday (food) pictures.

You know, it is with a heart of thankfulness that I look at these now. Life is such that you may not always enjoy celebrating a person's birthday- even though you are obligated to.

But Hedgehog and I have been friends for 28 years. 

And for the last 20 years there has never been a birthday which I don't enjoy celebrating with him. 

The celebration this year included a hotpot, a Mookata, a burger, a Tom Yum Fried Rice, a Butterfly Pea Rice and a Roasted Meat rice. 

We began this year's celebration with a hotpot at Paradise Hotpot. Gentleman wanted meat, and because he knew I had a love for hotpot with vegetables and noodles and all the other foods- cooked, included- it made for a good choice. I can't remember whether he brought his own concoction of yogurt dip this time, but I think he did. 

Greek style yogurt.

Of course I took a picture of my own bowl, noodles, meat, vegetables all. 

Plus the cooked food, which at Paradise Hotpot is a must. 

The next buffet we took was a Mookata at a coffee shop in Bedok North. 

I don't quite remember the address but it was a reputed mookata franchise and he had been wanting to try it out for quite a while. 

We got a fair bit of beef slices here, as well as a good portion of pork belly. The meat here was relatively good. Chilled, nicely cut, fresh, and with plenty of variety, all their meats made excellent ingredients to the mookata grill. 

Same too were the rest of their ingredients for the moat at the bottom of the domed mookata grill. Here I helped myself to a fair bit of vegetables, including Chinese cabbage. I also added a packet of sweet potato noodles, a couple of quail eggs, and cheese tofu pieces, which have, in recent times, become a favorite hotpot ingredient of mine whenever I see it in the trays. 

I liked seeing the purple of the sweet potato noodles in the moat. 

Thought it looked pretty. 

His birthday itself we headed out to Bras Basah Complex for a burger meal at this cafe which I had seen on the site sometime earlier. Original plan had been to go for the waffles, or some other item on the menu which I'd thought he might like. But he chose a burger. A pork katsu burger with Mentaiko sauce. It was pretty good, especially the brioche bun, pleasantly toasted, and soft. 

Dinner on the same day we went to Orchard Towers for Thai food. 

Walked all the way there from Bras Basah with a few air-conditioning stops in the shopping malls along the route. 

We ordered an egg omelet and a plate of Tom Yum Fried Rice, both of which were prepared to the same style as we'd eaten in Thailand at some of the downtown cafes.

Flavors that we liked and remembered. 

Even the atmosphere of this place here in Orchard Towers was reminiscent of the basement diner in Ploenchit where I'd had a Pad See Ew for lunch once, and which warm lights and rectangular tables I still can remember.

The celebration did not end here. 

Next day we decided to have roast chicken rice and roast pork rice from one of his favorite stalls along Tanjong Katong Road. 

Hot weekend afternoon, but we walked there, had our meal, and left. 

This place holds a bit of special memory for Hedgehog, and in a tiny way, for me too- although, if you ask me, I can't quite place it for certain when. Might have been a few years ago, might have been more than a few years ago. 

Our last celebration meal for his birthday this year turned out to be back at Bedok, but on the Kaki Bukit side this time. Peranakan food, we had, for the beef rendang and the butterfly pea rice. 

And the cafe, a very homely cafe at the void deck of a public housing HDB block, gave him two slices of kueh lapis to celebrate his birthday.