What’s new, Singapore

I was back in Singapore in early May for another work trip, this time to moderate a few panels for an industry conference. I’ve been enough times now to have seen or done most of the touristy things, so I try to go out and see whatever other little interesting corners of the city I can find in my spare time.

One late afternoon after the last meeting of the day got rescheduled to later in the week, I headed over to Bukit Timah Railway Station, a now-defunct node in the old rail line that connected Singapore with Malaysia. The area around the station is part of the Rail Corridor, a 24 km-long stretch of trails and paths cutting through lush jungle landscapes the likes of which I didn’t really expect to see in such a heavily urbanised geography.

After taking a peek around the station, I walked south along the corridor until I reached the Bukit Timah Diversion Canal. Much like my walk around Mount Faber during my last trip to Singapore in March, there was something quite pleasant about being able to experience a quieter, greener part of this buzzing, tropical metropolis.

I ended this short excursion with an iced coffee at 1932 Story, a cafe housed in the former staff quarters for railway employees, before joining some friends nearby for a much-needed home-cooked meal.

West Coast Sunset

On my last night in town, I headed over to the far western reaches of the island to the Raffles Marina Lighthouse to catch the sunset. The lighthouse is part of the privately-owned Raffles Marina, but the public are allowed to walk onto the pier and almost right up to the actual lighthouse structure.

That evening the weather was just about perfect, and when I arrived there was already a small crowd settling in to enjoy the view – amateur photographers with their tripods and DSLRs, groups of friends lounging and chatting away, couples leaning into each other as the sun approached the horizon. Across the Johor Strait the silhouette of Forest City, a ghost town development that collapsed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s crackdown on outbound wealth, stood out against the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows of the sunset.

I stayed for a short while until the sun had fully sunk beneath the horizon, before finding my way back to the clubhouse. There was a brief thought about getting a Grab back into town, but I had some time that evening that I was in no hurry to pass through. The Tuas Link MRT Station towers above one corner of the road outside the marina, marking the western terminus of Singapore’s East West Line. The journey back to the city centre along that line took nearly 1.5 hours. Dinner was in Jalan Besar at Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice – decent, but I still dream of the meal I had at Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice (open only during breakfast and lunch, unfortunately) last year.

After a few more meetings the next morning, a quick chicken rice lunch with a couple of other friends in town, and an uneventful flight back to Hong Kong, I was back in the family apartment on the island – and packing hurriedly for our next trip with the kids.