Chin Swee Road

I'm going to be honest here- it's been a long time habit of mine to describe this particular estate as 'where the Sheng Siong is behind the OG there'.

Not the most flattering of descriptions, I know, but, I'm Singaporean, and Singaporeans tend to remember locations based on the landmarks that they remember well. 

To understand this heartland discussion, one must understand the landmarks that make up this part of Chinatown. 

Behind Yue Department Store (The Great Southern Hotel) and The Majestic Theater on Eu Tong Sen Road is the department store OG. Behind OG is a hawker center which I think is called People's Park Food Centre but is commonly referred to as "Swansons there". 

Behind this food center is a block of flats with heartland shops and two very popular coffee shops where in the evenings groups of uncles gather for bottles of beer. 

Chin Swee Estate lies beyond this block, in between which is a small little road that leads you from Upper Cross Street to Pearl's Hill behind. 

It's easy to think of this block of flats as being part of Chin Swee Estate. 

But it's not. 

The block actually lies along Upper Cross Street directly opposite the State Court, and, coming from this side, where you think is the front of Chin Swee Estate coming from this side is actually the back.

You won't realize it if you're coming from Chinatown but you certainly will know if you're coming from Clemenceau Avenue, Havelock Road or Chin Swee Road. 

I was coming from Clemenceau Avenue this particular afternoon. 

The idea was to cut through the blocks to Sheng Siong supermarket, take a look around, then go home. 

On a whim however, I went up to the lift landing of one of the blocks. 

May I say that it was unexpectedly dim and cool, very unlike the lift landings of other similar blocks that I'd previously seen? 

The views from the corridor of the other block in front was better.

The corridors themselves- in the late afternoon sun- seemed brighter too.

There're four areas at this block all of which grant you different views. 

One area looks out closer to Havelock Road and Kim Seng Road (where Great World City is).

I took this from one of the staircase landings next to one of the lifts. 

You can see clearly the buildings of Grand Copthorne Hotel behind the white blocks in the center. 

The other picture- on the same side of the block- looks out to Manhattan House, Seacare Hotel, parts of York Hill, and the blocks of Jalan Kukoh.

On the opposite side of the block in the same section, you have the view of the (old) State Court, the new State Court Building, and, in the distance, unblocked by anything, the Marina Bay area, the skyscrapers of Raffles Place, and the Singapore Flyer. 

The new State Court building rather overwhelms the view from some units on the lower floors, I have to say. 

If there was a time where they could look out their windows to the office buildings of Upper Cross Street and Telok Ayer and maybe even the sea, now all they've got are the windows of the State Court building right opposite. 

The higher floors likely have it better. 

Yes, there's the view of the State Court, but there's also the view of the market downstairs, the adjoining car park (it looks like a horseshoe from here), the iconic People's Park Center, and, in the distance, the office buildings of Tanjong Pagar.

The best view from this block, however, is not seen from any window of any unit on any floor, but from one end of the block's corridor. 

The corridor of the block might look like this.

But beyond the metal railing, over the space and airy atmosphere of a typical high rise, is this.

It is not a view that from the dim, cool concrete of the void deck, or the Sheng Siong supermarket that you can easily imagine. 

But here it is- right in front of you- in full glory- Pearl's Hill and Pearl's Hill Reservoir, complete with her rich, luscious foliage, basking under the beautiful, golden light of a late afternoon sun.