The last time I did a Bus Ride Series of this very same bus route on Paya Lebar Road was in the December of 2017. That was three years ago. And even though I've gone up and down this particular road on this very same bus route many times in the last three years, somehow I've never done a second series.
The idea of it just never occured to me.
Until now.
Until today.
Where the skise were blue, my mind was clear, and I had the camera.
A good thing it was, then, I suppose, that on this particular day I had chosen a seat on the right side of the bus instead of on the left like I had done the previous time.
My route began from the bus stop somewhere close to NEX, where the bus then took a left and passed under the flyover that stands on Upper Serangoon Road near the Boundary Road junction. From there the bus makes a right into the entrance of Paya Lebar Road, passing by a Singtel building on the left and condominium under construction on the right.
From there the bus takes what is technically a straight road, going past little houses on the left and right, a couple of church buildings, then past Bartley Road East which then leads to the section that I call the shophouse zone of Paya Lebar Road.
Along the entire route there are only so few areas that still have shophouses. This is one of them. Two rows of shophouses that might have been from the 70s and one row from earlier days before. Who the tenants are, I don't exactly recall- I haven't actually got down the bus to take a look- but there's a provision shop somewhere (near the bus stop), there's a famous roast duck place, there's a place offering bak kut teh and youtiao, a pet store (I think) and a couple more coffee shops here and there.
Right after this zone comes the proper industrial zone. Polar opposites they seem to be in terms of architecture and design, but pretty charming at the same time. On the left you have the (newer) industrial buildings holding the companies of Charles & Keith, Breadtalk, LuxAsia and Tata, on the right you have companies large and small tucked into units of industrial buildings that are reminiscent of the late 70s and 80s: more concrete, more painted walls, less glass.
A little further ahead past A-Z Building and MacPherson Road and you come to the housing blocks that mark the estate bordering Mattar Road and Circuit Road behind. The estate of MacPherson is not very visible on this route- they're somewhere in the distance- and because the bus doesn't go there, all you catch is a glimpse.
Still that's good enough, because those housing blocks are an indicator of where you are, and you know that right after them is the PIE that slices right across and above your route, which, after crossing the exits, leads you straight into the second industrial zone of Paya Lebar Road.
This is the zone where there are light industries on the left and JTC storied factories on the right. This is the zone where a long coffee shop same as the likes you see in Changi Village marks the border to the estate of Geylang East, and where opposite sit the newly opened malls of Paya Lebar Quarter and Paya Lebar Square.