The Edge of Bukit Merah

We used to go ABC Market and Food Center a lot. 

We also used to go to IKEA and Anchorpoint lot. 

What's funny, however, is that even though we could walk all the way this side of Jalan Bukit Merah from ABC Market to IKEA, we never crossed the road to the Alexandra Village Food Center on the other side.

It's very peculiar.

But that's  what happened. 

Only in recent years have I discovered hte popularity of Alexandra Village Food Center, and only in recent days have I had the opportunity to visit the area there. 

The bus dropped me off near the junction of Alexandra Road and Commonwealth Avenue West, sp I got a lovely view of the (old) biscuit factory, the present day steel works company, the car showrooms and the new housing blocks rising high above the (very old) Forfar block and estate. 

Here I took pictures of the buildings.... and the drain. 

I wandered inside the Alexandra-Bukit Merah estate a little bit. 

Even though I'd dropped in not too long before and back then I'd seen a little of what I wanted to see. 

But new eyes and open minds always bring new sights and I got a new appreciation of the place 

Like how these horticulture plants look so beautiful when lit in the glow of the setting sun. 

And like how even a simple car park has its own leafy charm. 

I didn't dwell long here. 

I went ahead. 

Somewhere near the vehicle entrance of the AIA Building, I found a little path that led below the highway to the Green Corridor. 

To be honest I never knew it ran alongside this building here. 

Neither did I know it ran along this side of the highway.

The Green Corridor was quietly beautiful. 

Maybe because the foliage reminded me of times past. 

Or maybe it led me to think that- at one point in time- this would have brought me far away to lands beyond this little dot of mine.

There's still a quiet charm to this place. 

And- despite the railways being replaced by a sort of asphalt running road- the space remains. 

I'm not sure whether it is felt only here or if it is felt elsewhere. 

I suppose it is a concerted effort on many fronts to keep as much of the former presence as much as possible. 

Because even an entrance into Interlace has foliage that appears to have been untouched, built around it instead.

My feet took me into Depot Road. 

The original intention was to go all the way to the other end of Depot Road (because by now I was just wandering here and there with zero plans where I wanted to go) but fortunately- I didnt.

Halfway along this tree-lined road, whilst admiring a golden retriever on his early evening walk, I noticed an entrance into (somewhere) and realized it was Gillman. 

So I turned. 

The Gillman Barracks area is a place that I've heard a lot about- but which I've never- not once- ever been. 

It's so new to me that I've no idea what sort of buildings there are, how many buildings there are, and just how large the place is.  

It's interesting what your senses tell you once you shut your eyes and open them again. 

It wasn't the history that I had walked in here to see.

Neither was it the restaurants or the art galleries. 

But- somehow- in the dusky twilight of a very hot day- I saw both- the heritage of the buildings, the galleries of the present- and now I'm curious to know what, and why...