West Coast Plaza
Ginza Plaza my kampung shopping mall is gone. Once famous for its many massage parlours and hair saloons, the new mall had been renovated and reopened recently….
Feng shui must have played a part as there is a lot of water scape and curvilinear line at the front entrance. Renamed West Coast Plaza, residents at the sleepy West Coast finally have a place to hang out.
Staples F&B outlets like NewYork2, Starbuck, Sushi Tei, Sakae Sushi now filled the new mall. The uncle must had felt disoriented with these new changes. Well, call this development…
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The shops spread over 3 storey with a central atrium and may be it is a sign of time, not all lots were taken and there was no crowd during the soft opening.
As with all urban mall, family with kids in tow from the neighbourhood was a common sight…
At lots that were not taken, the landlord put up giant posters of famous places to cover up the vacancy. Not a bad idea since a lot of shoppers stopped to take photograph in front of these giant posters.
With catchment from the nearby newly built condo, the taste of West Coasters (hahah…) had upgraded. No wonder upmarket “Cold Storage” took over from old ”Shop & Save”.
The neighbourhood aunty and uncle reccing the new environment. But alas, the take up rate of shop lots had been slow as can be seen from the green and red hoarding at the background.
Forgot to mention, there were a lot of spectacle shops in the old mall. Only a handfull is left with some moved over to the HDB shop lots at West Coast market.
This is a new and very welcome addition in West Coast Plaza – money changer!! These guys give good rate and they even deal in Durham. Anyone working in the Emirates can come here to do your money changing.
Development has finally come to the sleepy West Coast. I miss the old shops of the old especially one massage parlour (Xiao Xie) who had relocated to Beauty World but this is life is Singapore. You can expect at least one major changes in your environment every five years.
Momentum in 2009
2009 is already in its second months but but life is like still lagging behind in 2008. A lot of things started in 2008 that suppose to gain momentum in 2009…. but somehow fizzle out. Maybe it is the proximity of the festive seasons (Xmas & CNY) and from having too much fun in between, that the old engine is having problem restarting now.
I will try harder and let me start with updating my blog. Here is the first post for 2009. It was an event that i witnessed at a neighbourhood mall near my home. The feats that these acrobats performed were so out of this world, i held my breath every times a dangerous stunt was performed. I didnt have my camera that day but luckily the show was on multiple days.
i went back the next day with my camera to record it…
cant seem to upload the photos but if you visit my flickr account you can see it there. really awesome.
Year End Marathon
Didnt get myself killed running the annual Singapore marathon. Tried that stunt in 1987, and i couldn’t walk for 3 months. Ok… i exaggerated, couldn’ really walk for 3 days. What i did this time round is to organise a photo shooting marathon that started at 730 with breakfast and ended at midnight. Never bluff, got photographs to show…
morning session: Botanical Garden
Afternoon: Chinatown
Evening: Sunset at Labrador Park
Night: Orchard Road – Shaw Centre
Entrance to Orchard Road
Takashimaya Shopping Centre
The crazy bunch who joined me for the marathon. Group photo taken in front of the Chinatown Relic Tooth Buddhist Temple.
Wish everyone a happy 2009!! … and hope you will end your year end with a bang too like pipit!!!
Vivo City
It has been raining since morning and i am feeling pretty gloomy and bleak the whole day through…
What a day to send off a visiting fren from KL. Bye Ah Tak! Hope to see you again soon!
Ah Tak, these two shots are from my fisheye since….
YOU ASKED FOR IT!!
iPhone the camera
Arrgh!
Tailgating
Corridor
What i do with my iphone when i am not making call….
TGIF!
Void Deck
The empty space below lil dot public housing is called void deck. If you die, you can hold your wake there, if you are getting married, you can hold your kenduri (wedding dinner) there, if you want to get rid of your old fridge, you can dump it there too, not too openly cos it is illegal….
Don’t know why it is called “void deck”? There is always something happening in the void deck. It is never void nor empty. Don’t believe me, lets take a look….
Can you see me?
Study – a good place for some peace and quiet
Passageway – short cut for the neighbouring auntie
Runaway – planning a quick getaway
Marina Barrage
The Pentaxians shooting target for November…. Marina Barrage. Suppose to meet at 4 pm last weekend but was late and so manage to capture a few dusky shots hehehe….
After new water, sea water and now lil dot is converting the Marina Bay into a fresh water reservoir. The Marina Barrage is the gateway that control the water level flowing in/out of the bay. Instead of just a grey static structure, the government is sprucing up the structure with a gallery and some artistic sculptures. Obviously, all these efforts are in anticipation of the influx of the tourist dollars. Come 2010 with the opening of the Garden by the Bay, this concrete structure and the whole Marina South will come to live. This will be my first trip but i will be back. There is just too much to see and shoot here.
#01 Sunset
#02 Pondering the Future
Child Play
We used to run around in “lombong” (disused mining pond) when we were young and occasionally get wet sneaking a swim. The ending to this type of indiscretion was always a whacking from my father as lombong in those days was a dangerous place for kids. The seemingly serene water had claimed many victims but the allure of forbidden fruit was always irresistable, especially to kids with afternoons to kill. Nowadays, kids can get “wet” in the comfort of air-con mall and in the safety of a “dry” fountain under the watchful eyes of their dotting parents.
“Will you play with me?”
Taken at Bugis Junction with a Pentax K20D/10-17 fisheye
Chimney
I stayed at Tiong Bahru for a while when i came to lil dot long time ago. But i never noticed the lil chimney at the roof top of the 3-storey conservation shop houses. I happened to go for lunch at Tiong Bahru a few days ago and see the chimney for the first time. Took a shot with my dependable Canon A80 and here it is!
Have a nice weekend!!
Tough Time
October 24, 2008 at 11:15 p10 (News & Comments) (Teh tarik)
hard time is coming…
did you upgrade your life and lifestyle during the last 12 months? change your dependable toyota to a bmw? if you havent and have been living the same modest life for the last ten years, guess the coming storm will just blow past you. a friend who lost his investment analyst job yesterday is not too concerned with the lost of rice bowl. in fact he is taking it within his stride and looking forward to a break after twenty years of working…
he will make it through this storm. a working wife and value-driven life somehow will cushion, i am sure, the temporary loss of income. who would imagine the big, strong and friendly banks of big america will go kaput? who would imagine your neighbourhood relationship manager doesnt have your interest at heart? my heart goes out to those aunties and uncles who lost their life long saving to ill-advised investment.
back to my friend. we were supposed to go out for a drink to cheer him up tonite. but he took a rain check as his schedule is full this week with dinner with relatives and family matter. although his bank account will miss a few zeroes from his usual year-end bonus but quality family time will more than make up for it.
if teh tarik is not your cup of tea, it is time to wean off the $20-a-pop long island tea and have a change of taste. the coming crisis is no storm in a tea cup, pardon the pun. this crisis is a perfect storm and will leave more than a few broken firms in the financial world. its effect will permeate the business world and frankly i have never fear so much for my rich bowl.
teh tarik, anyone?
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