You know how sometimes in life you think you know a place well enough but then once you start going in deep, you realize you don't really know the place that well at all?
I thought I knew Tanjong Katong Road.
Rather, I thought I knew enough of Tanjong Katong Road.
But then one afternoon I took a walk along one half of the road, and realized- quite to my surprise- just how little I knew.
It isn't the landmarks, or the road that I know not of.
It is the atmosphere, and the little ins and outs of the road that I, to date, had not gotten to see.
Maybe that is why people say one has to go in person to a place in order to genuinely appreciate it.
My route this afternoon did not begin from convention.
At other times, were I with other people, I might have entered the road through the junction from the East Coast Road side. Today, however, I decided to approach from the side.
So, instead of walking along East Coast Road past Haig Road to the junction, I cut to the middle of Haig Road from the Katong Shopping Center side.
It wasn't that hard to find.
All I needed to do was to walk in via Ean Kiam Place, make a left through the roadway of the former Odeon, and onto Mugliston Road before going all the way past beautiful terraced houses towards Haig Road.
At first glance, this side of Haig Road might not seem very significant.
it is just a road with a lot of traffic going to and fro, but then I walked into the residential estate now known as Haig Road Colonial Houses- and stopped.
The back of this school's grounds were right in front of me.
It was a surprise.
Up till now I had not known that the back of the former Tanjong Katong Secondary School bordered on Jalan Tembusu. I had not known just how large, and spacious, the compound of this school had been, not to mention how well maintained their buildings presently still were.
None of the buildings looked like they hadn't been used for years.
On the other hand they looked like they were waiting for new persons to come.
A bit of a pity that I wasn't able to explore the school grounds. It would have made a lovely part of the Tanjong Katong district tour, very much like the Haig Road Colonial Houses I had seen earlier.
There aren't that many of these neat-looking houses left on the island now, much less on this side of the country.
It is the neatness of architecture that I think speaks to those of us who appreciate it. There is a bit of a disciplined, minimalist vibe in the structure of these homes, especially in the placement of the doors and windows. Yet it is a white canvas and it is up to you how you want to make of it.
From here I headed down Jalan Tembusu before coming out onto the main road directly opposite the residential place called Chelsea Lodge.
Here I made a right, heading down the pedestrian path towards a row of shop houses that included a spa, a butcher shop, a yoga studio, and an Italian restaurant.
Again, the architecture of these shop houses intrigued me.
So they weren't the heritage (decorative) sort of structures that you saw along East Coast Road, Chinatown, Little India or Syed Alwi Road, but on their own, they carried their distinctive flavor of charm.
From a distance, say, across the road, or on a passing bus, you didn't feel it so much.
Up close, however, their quiet charm revealed.
At first I didn't know what to make of it- I couldn't identify what exactly it was- but slowly, I considered this road's heritage and history with her surroundings, and gradually I began to realize.
To some people these units might make them think of UK's council flats.
I, however, thought of their seaside towns, the ones with the ports, you know, something like Liverpool or Portsmouth.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I'm right.
It doesn't matter.
Especially since the vibe wasn't very obvious except when you stood right below and looked up.
If this side of the road interested me, the opposite side of Tanjong Katong Road next to Chelsea Lodge and Boscombe Road was just as intriguing.
From where I stood, I found myself thinking of the Ellison Building- that one with the dome- at the junction of Selegie Road, Rochor Canal Road, Serangoon Road, and Bukit Timah Road.
This one here at Boscome Road did not have a dome, but it did have a diner. Further on, along the road, there was an ice cream store, a kuay teow noodle shop, an Indian grocery store, and a diner offering Filipino cuisine.
I didn't actually take this picture for the building itself.
I took it for the tall coconut palm behind it.
Seen together, it was a reminder how rustic this stretch once might have been.
After the first row of shop houses this side of the road, onwards to the next row of shop houses I went.
But before that, there was this singular flight of stairs, and this singular doorway.
To someone familiar with the place, you won't think of this doorway as much. Heck, most of us would simply have walked past it to our destination without giving it a second glance, or even a second thought.
But this afternoon I noticed the steel wire netting.
It was the kind of aesthetic that I had not seen around this place for a very long time.
The last place where I saw units and apartments with steel netting like this above the doorway was probably in Tiong Bahru.
Those units were early post-war.
It made me wonder how long these shop houses, and the units above them, had been here, such that the front entrance and staircase looked untouched the same way they would have been since the day they were new.
I don't mean that the cement of the staircase is blackened and old.
I mean that I haven't seen such an aesthetic for a very long while.
Would I say that it is nostalgic?
Not quite.
But it adds a small bit of heritage, time, and story, to a space that you don't normally connect with other parts of the country.
From here I went on.
Now, I don't really know how to describe this one particular row.
It doesn't have decor the same way their neighbor has, and offhand I can't remember of any major landmark, but right at the end, there is a coffee shop at the corner- and that coffee shop is famous for its roast duck and roast meat rice.
After this row of shop houses I walked past the petrol station, then after that, another stretch of mixed-development property with shops on the ground floor, and residential condo units above.
What shops there are in this property, I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention, but from the looks of it, there is a Pizza Hut takeaway, there is a diner offering Indian cuisine, and perhaps an enrichment center there.
What makes this particular row stand out is the presence of the bus stop in front, and the residential units above.
These units have such large balconies, and most of them have blinds, or tatami mats cascading down from the ceiling.
It was around this area where I decided to cross the road to the other side.
It wasn't because there wasn't anything else to see up ahead, but it was nearing late evening and there were still buildings on the opposite side that I waned to see and take pictures of.
So I waited for the light to turn green.
But I'll write about the other side of Tanjong Katong Road another time.