You know, one thing I have come to understand about life is that whilst you think you might know a place, sometimes- as you dive deep- you find yourself not quite knowing as much as you thought you did, at all.
That's how it was for me with this side of East Coast Road.
I had thought I knew this place.
East Coast Road is, after all, not alien nor new to me, and I had come by here many times before.
I cannot remember just how many times I cycled along Ceylon Road to this stretch, nor how many times I walked along the pedestrian pathway from Dunman Road to the back of Katong Shopping Center close to Haig Road.
Yet, today, a slower, more scenic walk peeled back everything I thought I knew, and now I found myself seeing things in a light which I had previously not seen before.
Could it be that I was coming from this side of the road?
That, instead of the east-bound side where all the shop houses are, I was on the opposite side where Roxy Square is, where The Flow is, where the taller buildings stand.
I wasn't sure.
How is it that everything looks the same, yet looks so different?
How is it that you can be standing at a spot that you used to walk past, and yet, feel something completely different from what you used to feel before?
I thought I would feel a bit of nostalgia.
Surprisingly, I didn't.
I didn't know what I was looking at.
I also didn't know what I was looking for.
But all things have to start somewhere, don't they, and so here I was, right at the junction of Brooke Road and East Coast Road, looking across to the row of shop houses across the traffic barrier of green.
What's funny is that I had no plan, and no idea where I wanted to go.
I didn't even know from where I was supposed to begin.
See, East Coast Road is a long road.
It is also an old road, beginning from the junction where Amber Road and Haig Road meet, all the way, until you get to Siglap Road- after which it becomes Upper East Coast Road.
How the whole road used to be- last time- I don't know- but it begins from where Katong Shopping Center is today.
I didn't take a picture of Katong Shopping Center this afternoon.
What I did take, however, is of the building right beside it.
Not the newest building on the block, she's commonly referred to as Katong Odeon. I don't think you'll see the name of Odeon when you walk past there today. Instead you'll catch sight of a TCM clinic, and the sign of the Cornerstone Community Church on the exterior up on the third floor.
By the way, I wasn't standing near the Odeon Building when I took the picture.
On the contrary, I was opposite the road, on the other side, standing outside the building called Katong V, with a hotel on the upper floors, eateries on the second floor, and a supermarket on the first floor.
I have no idea what this Katong V building used to be.
But pretty sure she has a heritage story of her own.
East Coast Road gets progressively more vintage as one heads eastward.
At least, until you hit the enclave of Joo Chiat and Joo Chiat Road, which is where this row of shophouses leads straight to.
The pictures of these shop houses are not very close, nor very clear, that being due to the fact that I was, after all, more interested in the overhead bridge spanning across the road rather than the shop houses themselves.
That doesn't mean I'm not interested.
It just means that one day I shall do a closer walk-through of this entire stretch hosting a variety of eateries that fit nearly every appetite and every palate, so much so that it doesn't matter if you're into a bowl of Katong Laksa rich with coconut milk, a plate of pasta, a piece of tenderloin steak, a bowl of butter chicken, a bowl of palak paneer, a good, butter-rich strawberry muffin, or a slice of banana pie.
There're plenty of snacks to be sold from these shop houses here.
Not only is there a bakery that offers pastries, muffins and pies, there's Kim Choo with their Nyonya kuehs, Dona Manis with their banana pies and chocolate pies, and an ice cream parlor so known for their buttery waffle cones that there're long queues whenever I walk past there anytime.
What makes this section a cool place is that as much as there is to see on the east-bound side, the west-bound side doesn't lose out too.
No doubt there isn't much of a shop house here- the properties have moved in, even revamped- but there is heritage in the form of the Joo Chiat Police Station where Starbucks has now conquered and taken over.
It is a little difficult to see just how the interior of the police station once used to be- we can only use our imagination- but with the Hotel Indigo and the Holiday Inn Express located just behind, one can say, I guess, that this structure will not be going away anytime anywhere.
Same too, I should say, for the rest of the buildings this side of the road.
It don't matter whether the building has been recently revamped aka i12 Katong, or if the building hosts a group of tuition centers and enrichment centers.
It also don't matter if the building has been there since the 90s and serves the community clientele with their plethora of nail salons, hairdressing salons, TCM clinics, health foods, and specialized services.
All these ain't going anywhere.
You know, it was no coincidence that I happened to be at the walkway bordering between Roxy Square, and the Starbucks of Old Joo Chiat Police Station.
It was also no coincidence, I too say, that the light from the setting sun hit the staircase just at the right time, illuminating the tiles that, on close discovery, shone with holographic, iridescent colors giving off glamorous, glossy, funky unicorn vibes.
