It doesn't matter whether Alexandra Hospital has moved to Jurong East and become the Ng Teng Fong Hospital, or how long it has been since they moved there.
Whenever there's a mention of Alexandra Hospital, there's no other site but this one at Alexandra Road bordering Queensway, IKEA and Bukit Merah that I immediately think of.
This is not a property familiar to me.
All I know of it is that it used to be a military hospital- the only hospital that had a helicopter landing- and that there were rumors of tunnels running beneath the hospital grounds all the way towards Labrador and across the sea to Sentosa.
Which is why when I finally found myself in the area with time to spare, I took me and my feet around the grounds of the old Alexandra Hospital- to see it now, and to see how it used to be.
There was no specific route; I just followed the long winding road from the gates into the main grounds, crossed the huge car park, then took a further left I thought would lead me to the back of the hospital.
Midway however, I decided to descend a flight of stairs and found myself walking along an elevated walkway that had natural foilage (birds' nest ferns!) on one side and air con compressors on the other. That walkway led me to a much older walkway- the kind that builders used to construct as a link between two separate blocks. Following it, the route led me to climb up another flight of stairs on the other side.
From there I wandered back to my starting point- taking a picture of a narrow drain along the way- and continued on towards the back. Along the way there were singular two-storeyed buildings- each with their own little steps, big tree, little garden, and patio. They looked empty.
But I didn't venture in- I didn't want to be asked questions.
I continued on the road. This was a long one, and it led me past a modern 70s type of building that I think housed research facilities on the second floor, and then suddenly I found myself at the rear of the hospital grounds.
When I say the rear part of the hospital grounds, I really mean the rear. Here there was the fences bordering a large field, plenty of trees, and the mortuary.
Also here was the sunset, the magical, magical sunset which I totally hadn't anticipated, and which I wouldn't even have seen, had it not been for an abrupt, spur-of-the-moment decision to stop, and turn around.
It was beautiful, so beautiful, and I suppose I must have lingered at this spot longer than expected, because it was dusk when I finally circled my way back to the main building.
The hospital today is quiet; way quieter than the hullabaloo of other fully functioning hospitals, but the old AH isn't completely deserted There are still medical staff going around, there is a Day Surgery (I think) and there are rooms currently occupied by Day Clinics in the main building itself.
I didn't hang around long in the interiors, but because I still had some time and I didn't want to leave the property just as yet, I wandered around the gardens a bit, taking a casual peek at the pond with its classical-looking fountain, the birds of paradise flowers beautifully landscaped along a path, and admiring the natural greenery within a space that seemed locked away in her own perspective of time, far, far away from the bustling traffic outside and the Queensway Shopping Center next door.
Whenever there's a mention of Alexandra Hospital, there's no other site but this one at Alexandra Road bordering Queensway, IKEA and Bukit Merah that I immediately think of.
This is not a property familiar to me.
All I know of it is that it used to be a military hospital- the only hospital that had a helicopter landing- and that there were rumors of tunnels running beneath the hospital grounds all the way towards Labrador and across the sea to Sentosa.
Which is why when I finally found myself in the area with time to spare, I took me and my feet around the grounds of the old Alexandra Hospital- to see it now, and to see how it used to be.
Midway however, I decided to descend a flight of stairs and found myself walking along an elevated walkway that had natural foilage (birds' nest ferns!) on one side and air con compressors on the other. That walkway led me to a much older walkway- the kind that builders used to construct as a link between two separate blocks. Following it, the route led me to climb up another flight of stairs on the other side.
From there I wandered back to my starting point- taking a picture of a narrow drain along the way- and continued on towards the back. Along the way there were singular two-storeyed buildings- each with their own little steps, big tree, little garden, and patio. They looked empty.
But I didn't venture in- I didn't want to be asked questions.
I continued on the road. This was a long one, and it led me past a modern 70s type of building that I think housed research facilities on the second floor, and then suddenly I found myself at the rear of the hospital grounds.
When I say the rear part of the hospital grounds, I really mean the rear. Here there was the fences bordering a large field, plenty of trees, and the mortuary.
Also here was the sunset, the magical, magical sunset which I totally hadn't anticipated, and which I wouldn't even have seen, had it not been for an abrupt, spur-of-the-moment decision to stop, and turn around.
It was beautiful, so beautiful, and I suppose I must have lingered at this spot longer than expected, because it was dusk when I finally circled my way back to the main building.
The hospital today is quiet; way quieter than the hullabaloo of other fully functioning hospitals, but the old AH isn't completely deserted There are still medical staff going around, there is a Day Surgery (I think) and there are rooms currently occupied by Day Clinics in the main building itself.
I didn't hang around long in the interiors, but because I still had some time and I didn't want to leave the property just as yet, I wandered around the gardens a bit, taking a casual peek at the pond with its classical-looking fountain, the birds of paradise flowers beautifully landscaped along a path, and admiring the natural greenery within a space that seemed locked away in her own perspective of time, far, far away from the bustling traffic outside and the Queensway Shopping Center next door.
