It does take a bit of a walk these days whenever I want to get to Joo Chiat Road on the East-Coast Marine Parade side.
Because whilst it might be possible to take a straight walk down from Joo Chiat Complex all the way to the other end of the road on the East Coast Road side, for some reason, we find it faster to hop onto a 966, alight at Marine Parade Central, then cross into the air-conditioned Roxy Square, down a little part of East Coast Road, and a left after into Joo Chiat Road.
We did this road on this one afternoon, and to be honest, I didn't quite mind.
It has been such a long time since we last strolled on East Coast Road that I wanted to see if the colors were still there, if the shops were still there, and if anything else had changed.
Guess what, nothing has.
Or, at least to the best of my memory, nothing has.
This side of East Coast Road remains as charming as always, beginning with the overhead bridge from the second floor of Roxy Square to the opposite of the road close to popular ice cream boutique Birds of Paradise.
How many times it has been that I've walked across this overhead bridge, I no longer recall, but definitely there exists a charm, one reminiscent of the 70s that stays with the pedestrian as they open the glass doors of the air=conditioned Roxy Square and out into the bright, hot sun.
We walked on the shop house side of East Coast Road, passing by several cafes and restaurants, including bakery shop Sugar(ed), Indian restaurant The Mango Tree, and KBBQQ place Busan Pocha.
After that, a little walk further, heritage confectionary store Kim Choo Kueh Chang came up. I am familiar with the offerings of Kim Choo, having gone to their other kueh chang store near Joo Chiat Terrace before.
They're known for their varieties of bak chang- pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in pandan leaves holding different fillings of the sweet or savory type. So popular are these dumplings that customers make special trips down to their stores just to buy handfuls of them.
Besides the bak chang, they're also known for their astounding selections of colorful Nyonya kuehs. There're many varieties, all of different types, all of different colors, and so which is which, or what is what, I'm afraid I can't quite tell.
I just know that they're in all colors of the rainbow.
There're those that are blue (from the butterfly pea flower).
There're those that are red.
Then there're those which are pink and yellow and green.
The green ones are likely pandan.
The white ones are coconut.
And of course there're those that are brown- colored from the abundance of gula melaka- the brown palm sugar used generously in the making of these kuehs.
Coconut milk and gula melaka seem to play a major part, it seems, even though, I have to admit, for someone who only knows how to eat, I cannot say for sure.
If there be one difference between this branch here at East Coast Road and the one at Joo Chiat Terrace, it is that this one shares more stories of the Peranakans, told through their beadwork, their colorful beaded slippers, their kebayas, even the decor on the walls and the furniture.
It might be that I haven't had much of a chance to appreciate their exhibits and their stories, but perhaps one day, when time and brain permits, I'll surely do.
Beyond Kim Choo came Stirling Steaks after, and then right opposite across the road stood the restored structure of the former Joo Chiat Police Station.
Sometimes I wonder how the place would have been like had it been restored to its previous glory and turned into a museum.
But that might not have been practical, and so today it houses a very busy, very millennial Starbucks instead.
I'm not kidding when I say this side of East Coast Road is full of heritage.
One doesn't even need to look hard for it- it's just there, right in your face, as you stand at the junction of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road trying to cross from one side to another just so you can get to the bak kut teh shop.
Right there in the shophouses, right there in the walk-up apartments that in and of themselves already hold their own inexplicable charm.
Seeing the view now in 2025 makes you wonder just how this road used to be back in the 60s and 70s.
People often say that it was more kampong like, more relaxed, breezier, almost at the edge of the shore facing the wide open sea.
We've had part of the land blocked off now, yes, but one can still wonder, and imagine, just how life here was like back then- before the flats of Marine Parade came in, before the shopping centers of Marine Parade Central and strata malls came in.
Like these apartments- who lived in them?
What sort of a home did they have?
How was the place like?
Was it windier?
Was the air cleaner?
Did the sea breezes blow in?
And the roads... was there as much traffic as it is now, with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings and cars bumper to bumper?
What sort of a road did this use to be?
What sort of a road did Joo Chiat Road use to be?
It makes you curious.
It also makes you think.
Well, who knows, maybe one day there might come a chance when I'll be able to feel more about this area rather than just passing through it as a route from one place to another.
Hopefully by then I'll be able to sense more, and have more of an answer.