Walking to i12

Once in a while I like to take pictures of my day to day. 

It makes me slow down, it makes me observe my surroundings more, and it gives me a different perspective of my every day. 

I've walked this route before. 

No, I've walked this route countless times.

It is the route I take when I want to go to Parkway Parade. 

It is also the route I take when I want to go have dinner at East Coast Road or to the bus stop or to i12 or to anywhere along the road. 

I normally tend to go as fast as I can. 

But today I decided (there being time) I'd slow down, look about me and take a couple of pictures as I went along my way. 

It's surprising what comes upon you when you get to slow down and look about you. 

I don't think I've ever seen (this side of) Joo Chiat in such a way before. 

The route this afternoon began from the Carpmael- Onan Road area where charming little terrace houses line the road on either side. Somewhere along the area is a sort of landscaped walkway with lovely, trimmed plants and a quaint-looking street light. 

Out onto Dunman Road I came, with a recently-refurbished co-working space on my left and the Dunman Food Center across the road. 

Dunman Food Center might not be as popular as the Old Airport Road Hawker Center down the road, but it's got a stall selling very good Teochew kueh in the mornings, a stall selling great-tasting braised duck rice in the afternoon, and a very well known prawn mee stall that's open from afternoon to evening. 

I've had their braised duck rice and the prawn mee soup a couple of times but these days I tend to go for the fried carrot cake and char kuay teow a bit more. It's good, and the stall's open for both lunch and dinner as well. 

Next to Dunman Food Center is Tin Yeang- these days popularly known as the place to go when you want freshly made, crispy roti prata from the Mr and Mrs Mohgan prata stall.  

From Tin Yeang I made my way down, passing by the Vietsea Restaurant, an interior design firm, the Giant supermarket on the other side of Joo Chiat Road, and the bicycle shop a few doors down. 

In between was Venue Hotel, then a place that once used to be a nightclub but has since made way for kaya toasts and coffee. Along this stretch too is a place that sells amazing croissants and pastries (Petit Pain, I think), then a steak place owned by a French-Brazilian chef. 

The same steak place has another outlet in another shop house on the opposite side of the road where I was presently walking on. 

To get to this outlet however, one must first pass by a (new) nasi lemak shop, a Thunder Tea Rice place, a coffee (factory) place and a Peranakan food place. There used to be a cheesecake place here but they've since moved further up the road. 

Somewhere after that area was a stretch of shop houses that included a zichar place, a shop selling good pau, and a well known patisserie. I've never had coffee and cake from the patisserie but I think I've bought a pau or two. 

Joo Chiat Road, however, is not just a place for F&B. 

There're a whole lot of other services here too. 

On the other side, next to the car park, right near to Astons, is Scanteak. On the same side is a shop selling all kinds of rattan furniture. 

I don't know for how long this shop has been there but every time I walk past there they've got their chairs, stools, seats and other paraphernalia all arranged out.  Their furniture reminds me of what some of us might place next to our potted ferns on our balconies.

They're not the only shop of non-F&B heritage along Joo Chiat Road. 

Around the same area is this shop. 

This is a rare picture. 

Because this is one of the rare days where the shop is closed. 

Most of the time it is open, and this guy- I don't know if he's the owner or the employee- is standing shirtless on the five-foot walkway working chunks of metal on some machinery. 

I sometimes want to stop and ask what he's doing, but he always looks busy, and I figure out his explanation would probably confuse me anyway, so I move on. 

Beyond this I become a bit unfamiliar. 

In that sense I mean I don't know what comes after what and I don't know what comes before what. 

I tend to think of this area as the Picotin side. 

Because even though there's a Indian-Muslim coffee shop opposite on the Duku Road side, and there's a building which would get overlooked but for the event space often host to with Malay weddings, I always think of this space as the Picotin side. 

Maybe because of the structure that the restaurant is sitting in. 

It's quite a heritage one, to be honest, what with neat looking shutters that one time would open onto Joo Chiat Road, and two staircases running on the main building exterior outside.

It might have been a family home at one point in time.  

Today, however, it's become a place where fairy lights adorn the front yard, where huge barrels stand to the side, and where you can come for a drink, a main, pastas, pizzas, desserts and truffle mayo fries. 

We came here for brunch once. 

I think it was Chinese New Year. 

Further on from here is the Joo Chiat Community Club, opposite which on the side I was walking on, is this charming butcher place with an indie vibe. 

There aren't any pictures. 

There were too many people, so I decided to forgo. 

I took a picture of the opposite side though. 

Nearby here is a bak kut teh place, another popular brunch place, a supermarket in Katong Point, and a group of cafes that have somehow enhanced the millennial vibe. 

I also didn't get a picture of these places. 

But there's a bistro, there's a cafe selling rich ondeh ondeh cake, there's another cafe that I think is good for brunch and waffles and coffee, and I think there's a shop selling local-style souvenirs which (at one point) was most famous for its cat. 

One gets near to the end of Joo Chiat Road by this point. 

But you can't end the walk without taking note of the two cafes that sit right opposite each other at the junction of this road with East Coast Road. 

They're a popular place on weekday evenings. 

They're even busier on weekends. 

On one side you get a good choice of alcoholic drinks and a variety of eats, including Middle-Eastern, Thai, and even local. 

On the other side, however, even though I think they do have some mains, much of what you'll want to order there are the chocolatey cakes, chocolatey iced drinks and very chocolatey ice cream.