I was kind of looking forward to this but at the same time, I wasn’t. To be honest, I have not really traveled much to the other side of Singapore considering how I live on the west side. The only time I started to venture out further than I needed to was when I went to poly. After entering NYP, I had to travel all the way up to Yio Chu Kang every time. That was when I learnt about the central part of Singapore. At first I was like save me—– It was not the travelling time that was tiring but more of the somewhat “cultural” difference. People from the different part of Singapore somehow seem to have different ethnics and style which was something I had to learn to adapt to.

Well anyways, for the zine I was hoping that I could just get any of the places along the green line and hooray?? I got Paya Lebar—- I wasn’t sure how to feel about it to be honest. I have only been to there like thrice? Plus I would only go to the same place when I was there. At first when I saw the map provided, I thought that there was really nothing there except for the airbase. Me being me just really isn’t into planes and all. Also since I really like food so I thought why not eat all I can while I work on this project.

Then I was stuck again. I wasn’t really sure about what I want to do again… Should I go on a hunt for the cafe there or something special that only Paya Lebar has. So then I started to ask around but since there was only like 2-3 people whom I can ask about, I thought that maybe I should just wander around the place myself. The places that my friends shared are somewhat just stores found in malls. I thought that mall food would not really be interesting since most of the stores there can generally be found in other malls too.

I went to google. Google is a everyone’s best friend. There is supposedly a few places that is interesting in that area. So I thought why not just start from there and see what other places I could find. Then I decided to start from this place called the Geylang Serai Market. I was really surprised by how big the place is. I thought about the last time I actually came to a wet market which was about 15 years ago. Oh my…

I went to visit the site last Wednesday during the lunch period and when the sun is way up in the sky… Why did I try to kill myself… The whole journey takes about 5-8mins from the mrt to the market. Currently the whole area seemed to be filled with constructions, so a lot of roads have been block off. Hence making the journey further than it is supposed to be. The first thing that I saw when I reached the place is the eatery located at the side of first floor.

I did not really want to jump right into trying all the food first so I decided to check out the rest of the place. Further ahead from the hawker is the wet market.

I was walking around the place when I came across this fruit stall with huge banana. They were the size of my arm?! I just thought it was pretty cool so I took a photo of them. Afterwards I proceeded to the second level which is mainly split into two parts. On the left hand side was a whole stretch of hawker stores and the right hand side is all the clothes store.

After awhile of looking around the place, i thought that maybe it was time for a change of scenery. There on the second floor was a overhead bridge that connects the market to the the Joo Chiat complex across the street. As I walked in the direction of the station, i also passed by this other market called Haig Road market. Somehow the shops here are generally opened 24/7 which is nice if one were hungry to get something for supper. The shops are my area are just generally closed at 10+, so so sad.

The shops generally are selling things at a pretty cheap price as compared to what you would find at some other places. Then I stumbled upon miniso which literally made me go “what?”. I was like super confused by why there is miniso among this convenience stores. I guess they fit into the category since their prices are among the cheaper range but it is just amusing to see one that isn’t at a mall.

Just a shop down, there was this shop that allows one to actually trade fruits which I thought was pretty cool. Next to them was this huge bakery which also sells old snacks. I was like bouncing a little from the excitement because I hardly see them around anymore. The people just look at me like I was crazy as I try to take picture of them. Whyyyyyyy

There was also a hawker center there that is also filled with lots of food. The food there seemed pretty normal to me until I came across this store that strangely has a lot of people queuing for it. The other store pretty much had no queue at all but yet this vege store just have the longest queue. I might try the food at this store the next time I am back to see what this is all about. Hmmm…

At this point in time I was kind of perspiring in the afternoon sun so I thought hey why not just visit One km to see if there is anything special. Andddd—– Nope Everything is just pretty much normal like other mall? Though there was this Malaysia chicken rice shop that looked pretty interesting to me. But I didn’t try it. I mean why should I have chicken rice at a mall when I could maybe eat a better one along the hawker center that I have all passed.

There across One km was the Tanjong Katong complex which is kind of like a mini Chinatown where they sell things furniture to cloth and textiles which I guess is not something that I would actually try introduce on? So i kind of just looked around the whole place without much depth to it.

It was than i went back to the station officially when I came across the 89.7 supper club which I stumbled upon when searching up for Paya Lebar food. This hawker was directly beside the station which can be reached through the MRT underpass from one side to the other. As the name suggested I was half guessing that most of the shop there would not really be opened? Considering how it is a supper club, most of the shop would probably be open at night. The menu shown there was really appetizing and all. But I as I guessed most of the shop just isn’t opened. I am just sad…

After actually touring around for the first time at Paya Lebar, I really feel like there is a lot of delicious food that I can introduce to people for zine. Though I have not really think about the exact area of food that I can expand on. I thought that maybe during the recess week I can visit there again for a few days to dig deeper into the whole area, like perhaps the cafe areas which I have yet to explore.