📍  Hi, I'm Paula. 

And I'm Rachel 

together, we will be talking to Anya, our resident expert about living in Joo Chiat. If you haven't already listened to our previous episodes on suburbs of Singapore, go back and have a listen to episodes featuring Siglap, Orchard and River Valley. Throughout this episode, we'll delve into life in Joo Chiat, discovering hidden gems of Anya and Rachel's local neighbourhood, and discuss helpful information for those who are considering moving there.

Welcome, Anya. Thanks for coming today.

Thanks for inviting me. Um,

Um, tell us a little bit about your neighbourhood. What's, how long you've been there, what you love about it.

Um, we have been there living now for almost two years.

We actually used live in  the Orchard Dhoby Ghaut area,  um, but we're really happy that we moved to the East Coast. We really enjoy it. And, um, I don't know if your listeners are interested in that, but I can start with a little bit of history of the area that

I love history. Let's go. Let's delve deep into the history of Joo Chiat.

Because on the East Coast, actually, um, in the 1900s, there were only coconut plantations, and, uh, there weren't houses and condos like there are now.

And Joo Chiat was just a dirt road.

Oh.

So that would lead to the sea because East Coast Park is on the reclaimed land. So

I never knew

yes, how it is there as it is now. It, it wasn't there, uh, back then. a century ago. And up till the 1920s, uh, like I said, it was just, Joo Chiat was just a dirt road, uh, in between the coconut plantations that were there.

And Joo Chiat Road is named after, uh, Mr. I hope I pronounce it right.  Um, but, um, yeah, he was, uh, a businessman who came to, uh, the Singapore area and he was quite wealthy, but also a philanthropist. And what I, uh, came to know about is that apparently, he did a lot of good things for the area and he started to sell his, uh, land after a while and,  That's when in the 20s and 30s, people from the city center started to move to the east and a juicy at area because they wanted to, uh, sort of flee from the busyness.

And, um, yeah, the east became sort of a luxurious residential area, uh, on the seaside with a lot of bungalows, shop houses, and, um, Yeah, it stayed like that till the 50s. And then, um, yeah, the program started  get the reclaimed land and everything. And also Joo Chiat became, of course, a more prominent street and the infrastructure,  yeah, is more like how it is now. 

So that is a little bit about the history. And, uh, Joo Chiat is actually, Katong area as well. And, uh, one of the other main roads in the areas, then Tajong Katong road. And what I didn't know is that Tajong Katong actually means. turtle point in Malay.

Oh, okay. 

So,

uh, but, uh, apparently the turtle is now an, uh, extinct species,

Wow.

But, um, yeah, so that it's a little bit about, uh, the history. And, uh, yeah,  it, uh, it now is a very trendy and vibrant neighbourhood to live in. 

Rachel loves it, right?

Yeah. No, it is so cool. And it's totally laid back compared to, you know,  if you work in the city and then you come in the weekends, it's just so chilled.

Um, and it's, and everybody's so friendly there. I love it. Yeah. How do you,  um, how do you spend your weekends there? 

Um, we, well, we also try to relax. We'd like to F and B in the area.  We sometimes do a nice walks in the area as well. And, um, we also like to do a little bit of sport. My husband likes to, uh, bike ride, um, And, uh, yeah, I like mainly the walk.

Sometimes I have a dip in our pool if the weather is nice, but, uh, we also like to, uh, meet up with friends and have, uh, dinner somewhere. Most of our friends like to come to the East now

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

because we have a lot of nice places to go to. 

So, yeah. 

Yeah, they are really exciting.

So, what are your favourite dinner places? 

Um, well, we have a lot of, uh, uh, restaurants nowadays that you can find in other, uh, areas, but what we like, liked, we have only been there once because it's pretty new, is a new place called Salt and Palm and they do, uh, modern Asian cuisine.  And, uh, you can have the chef's menu and you can have a taste of, yeah, a little bit of everything. 

So that is really nice. And it's actually also a wine bar. So they have a, 

quite a wide 

now you're talking wine 

Yes.  So, uh, if you like that with some good food with it, uh, we really like it. It's not a place, um, uh, uh, where you go for the view or something, but it has, in our opinion, a nice ambience and the food is something different.

It's like

Is

It is really pretty. It's pretty, it's really pretty inside.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like a fusion

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you have a favourite dish?

Um, I personally like the mushroom rendang,

Oh,

but

rendang. 

that

they had a 

Rendang is

things I had never tasted before, so. That's going to have

That's going to have to be on one of my. I've got this massive list of places, and it keeps expanding, and more and more are starting to go over to Joo Chiat.

So I'm thinking I'm going to have to go through all my list and that's going to have to be added onto 

Yeah, that's good for me. 

well there are a lot of nice boutiques, so it's nice to do a shopping afternoon and have some coffee in between, or some drinks to end the afternoon. There are a lot of places. places to go to. And, um, I personally like my coffee. And one of the nice places I like to go to is Kingsguard Coffee on Joo Chiat.

Okay, I have to write that

That's, yeah, it's not a chain. I think, I think they have the only a branch on Joo Chiat and they do really speciality coffees 

So 

So they are really treat. So it's really nice to go there or in the morning for brunch or breakfast, but also in the afternoon just to have.  Yeah, a special drink if you don't want to have a wine or something, but

Do they sell other stuff besides coffee?

Yes, they do. And they also have, um, yeah, they have a brunch and lunch menu. They sell really nice sweets. And I think in the evening it changes into an oyster bar, but I'm not into oysters, so I haven't tried that yet. I

love oysters, so you guys

you. I love

oysters. 

that's fine.

That sounds  Um, I haven't actually tried that cafe. Um, we're about to visit on 

Mm, I think it's about halfway.

Okay, alright. 

I'll have to have a look at it. And um, what other cafes can you  

well

you have the usual places like there's a little farms now, which has a nice cafe and an outside area and where we like to take guests and what we have experienced that they like is actually Picotin, which is, uh, A bar in the evening where you can have

a beer

variety.

Yeah, like a wide variety of food. And, um, they have a really big outside terrace and that's what our guests really like because it has some nice fairy lights and everything. So it gives you a really vacation feeling.  So, um, yeah, that is something, uh, that we like to go to as well.  And, um, for coffees, uh, we also like to go to Breton heart.

They have also good sandwiches 

Yeah, yeah. 

that we like for lunch. And, um, uh, one of the more hidden places is, uh,  I have to look it up. Sorry 

that I pronounce it right. It's called the, um, Embling Turtle,

Okay.

and I've been there a few times now. It's in The Flow, which is a small, um, yeah, small shopping mall, venue, and, um,  They do really nice coffees as well, and sweet treats, and it's a quiet coffee place.

They have an upstairs, also if you want to work or want to study. It's a really nice place to chill.  And I like that one. It's not one of the places that you easily walk by, so. So

So it's not, does it get very busy? It doesn't get that very busy because it's off the

no. There are usually other 

Yeah. 

when I've been there. I was never by myself, but, um, it's not very crowded.

And,

Because Little Farms is always busy. 

yes, especially on the weekends. Yeah. During the week days. It's not  

Because I think with little farms, there's only, is there only like two or three in Singapore or am I wrong?

I think now there are quite a

Is there a lot now?

think there are at least four.

four. Oh wow. 

Four or 

So for those who don't know what little farms is, can you explain it? 

Um, Little Farms is a grocery store, uh, that sells a lot of nice fresh produce, mostly imported from Australia.

premium, so you do pay. Yeah,

it's one of the most expensive supermarkets in the area,

Yeah.

so you don't have to go there, uh, for everything. But, uh, yeah, their meat, uh, section is quite nice. And, uh, there, yeah. So some of their fruits and veggies are really good quality.

So I 

yeah.  

Get some of the stuff

And they, they sell some like, vegan, vegetarian, and sort of, if you're looking for health food, they tend to have those sort of things. But again, it is at a premium. Yes, yes, yes.

yes. I only go there for special things. And uh, I like their coffee place, especially for the vegan banana bread.

I'm not really vegan, 

the banana bread is really good. 

oh

So,

good. Um, can you recommend a, like a local place to eat? What is the popular

is the

eat?

place  I think salt and palm is not really typical local, but that's already a bit of more an Asian feeling. And if you want to go really local, um, it's not fancy, but it's, yeah, typical dish from here is laksa. So Katong laksa is very famous.

Yes, it is. I've been there cause I did this, um, tour around, um, ages ago when I first moved here and it had an amazing, had an amazing laksa there.

Yeah. So that is, that

not fancy, no, but it's really good laksa. Yeah.

Yeah. It's not if you want to have a celebration dinner or something or fancy with friends, but it's, it's nice if you want to eat something local and what is also nice, but you can't sit there, but you can do takeaway is, uh, this bun place and they sell a really good house.

It's called the bun and the shop is behind. The bus stop on Joo Chiat

and they

do really nice buns and with Chinese New Year coming up, I also like their pineapple 

I love pineapple

Do they have the little piggy buns in the window?

Yes, that's the

one. 

Oh 

I keep walking past and going, oh my god, I would really like to try a little piggy, piggy bao bum. Yeah,

they're actually quite known in the area and that's a really good bun place.

We went to Dunham as well, the Dunham Food Centre.

Yes. And they have a really good Braised Duck. That was Knock your socks off 

good, Mm. 

and we like really enjoyed that and also  If you like Indian food the roti paratha place

Oh, that's where you took me. That was 

You have to be early there though, because otherwise they are sold out.

Wow Yeah, we were lucky then that day. Yeah, like during the week it was so good  We really didn't know what we were ordering and so we ordered everything.

Yeah. 

And um, they were so good and it was so, you could tell that it was fresh and it was made with love. And it was, yeah, yeah. I love to go back there. It's really good. I mean, it's good on any day, but if you've had a little few drinks the night before, it's great. Yeah.

Um, 

Um, and,  we

went to Five Star the other day for local food, which was really good.

Um,  it was just local Chinese food, and they did a great job. We had, black pepper fish. And,  a chicken dish, chicken and rice. And that was really, really lovely too, which is along the East coast road.  Yeah. Just past Mercy Marcel.

So that was good.

They've also got that really famous, um, ice cream shop, something birds. What is that called? 

of Paradise because I had basil ice cream or something. It

strawberry basil. Yeah,

that's it.

Yes. 

Because they line up, like when I was there, they had a really long line at the front. I don't know if the flavors are my thing, but I can understand why people go there because it's a little different.

I like it, and what I especially like is the smell when you pass. 

Because they bake their own  waffles and cones.

Ah, I had mine in a cup.  I always have mud in cups, so I'm going to have to go with the waffles next time. Maybe that will change the flavor.

great. 

 Anya is our star bread finder. She knows where all the good sourdough is.

Yes, yes. Well, of course we have on East Coast Road the famous  Red House Bakery. It's from Micro Bakery. But they have really nice bread. I love their chocolate croissants. The panno I think so far the best I've found in Singapore.

I really like that. It's good that they're closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was there yesterday

there yesterday with a friend and they actually do kanelbullar, which is a Swedish. Cinnamon bun and it's very similar to this.

It's not exactly but it's very similar to the way that they fold it and they put in the cinnamon and everything. So we had to try that out.  And that was quite delicious. And then I've also had um, this pastry with Mushrooms in it. It was like a mushroom danish and I just about fell off my seat. It was so good.

Oh my

Yeah, they have a lot of nice specialities. Yeah.

Yeah Where else have you been?

Um, I also like to go to East Manhattan for my plain sourdoughs.

They are, uh, located in the back of Katong V from East Coast roadside.  And, um, they do a plain sourdough, which I like, and also an olive bread that I like.  And, um, in the same building is bread and heart. And, uh, if East Manhattan is sold out, sometimes I go there just to get some plain sourdough 

Mm-Hmm,  

some, some nice bread,  uh, to make a sandwich.

And I have to say it, it's quite good.

Yeah. 

I've been to Tiger Lily as well, along Joo Chiat. They do like a really small sourdough and it's very moist inside, but it's still quite lovely.

Um, that's a nice place to get a sourdough from. The Tiger Lily is the um, Is run by the ex sous chef of Les Amis, the Michelin restaurant. So she does some pretty amazing like pastries and things like that. Yeah. Where else? Do you have any other?  

well

there is this bakery, but I never came to it because I'm usually too late. Uh, there's Petit Pain and there's always a queue there on Joo Chiat and they do apparently great bread too.  But, um, yeah, you have to be early there because they bake just for the day.

And if it's sold out,

And it's sold out, yeah.

And, um, yeah, I think those are. 

Your 

places

I, I like the best. Yeah. What I sometimes do, you also have Baker's Well on East Coast Road. I like their bread as well, but you really have to eat it the same day. So I like their sourdoughs, but you can't really freeze them. At least I don't think they 

turn out

that great. Yeah, turn out that 

And also the next day you can't eat it. So you have to buy it and eat it the

the same day. yeah. And what about anything else that you have in terms of restaurants, uh, before?

Uh, what we also like when we make, uh, a walk or something on the weekend is go to, uh, the brewing ground, which is a really nice brunch and lunch place, which is a bit of Joo Chiat.

Joo Chiat  Mm hmm. and they have a really nice outside area and they are dog friendly, which is also, uh, for us, uh, nice because we have a dog and, um, in general, I have to say on the East, people are very dog friendly.

I do notice there's more dogs kind of around in rest, not restaurants, but like, you know, sitting out having coffee and stuff as opposed to here in Orchard.

You don't really see that around here, which is nice. Although I don't have a dog here, I have one at home and  Those little things matter when you're living somewhere.

Yes, yes. And you, you see that, uh, yeah, a lot of, uh, eateries allow you outside to bring your dog if you want to. And, uh, yeah. And it also is an easy way to get to know your neighborhood and your neighbors,

Yeah.

because there are a lot of people, uh, are walking their dog.

So, uh, so yeah, that, um, that's it. It's, uh, another place, and, um, well, we now also have, uh, since a while, a Mercy Marcelle, which is quite nice 

They're everywhere now, aren't they? They seem to be popping up absolutely

You don't have to miss anything in the East. Yeah. From the centre.

You've got everything.

No,

everything now.

So in terms of, then it leads me to the question of, uh, you say you like to walk, because I know you like to walk. Um, where would you normally go? Where would be a good hike for someone that lives out

Um, well, It's not really a hike because it's very flat in the east, but I have two, uh, stations where I would start.

There is no MRT in the east yet, but I would go by bus to Mountbatten, Dakota, or to the Green Line, the kembangan, uh, MRT station. And I will start from there and, um, you can walk really nice along the park connectors, uh, go to East coast park itself, walk along there. And there are also a lot of nice, uh, cafes nowadays.

Uh, our newest addition is a Jypsy and Parkland green. So that is also

is in  J Y P

Yeah, the 

I love that restaurant! Yeah.

Yes, and you're now, uh, yeah, can sit in parks and green and have a view over, uh, the ocean.

And they've got a doggy park there

Yeah, and there is a dog run. Ah,

okay. When you say dog park, can you, can they, can they go off the leash?

Uh, yeah, in the dog run they can.

Ah, okay. Yeah. 

Yes.

you have a few. We have one in Katong itself, and you have one, um, in, uh, Katong Park. And you have one,  uh, uh, near Parkland Green, which is in East Coast Park.  And there are probably a few more that I don't know of, but,  

Ah, so that's good to know.  And what other health kind of centres 

Well, luckily I didn't need it yet, but we have a hospital, Parkway East Hospital. So, uh, if you really need, uh, an emergency, 

Yep. 

uh, help, you can get it from there. Uh, but for, uh, general GP things, there is on Joo Chiat itself, a Raffles Medical.

Okay. Okay. So

can go there. And, uh, I actually, uh, go, uh, now to Katong family clinic, which I really like. Uh, it's run by a couple and my GP is a lady,  uh, a British lady, but she is, yeah, I really like her.

Mm-Hmm.

And, uh, she is,  uh, her clinic is on, uh, or their clinic is on Tanjong Katong road.  So that is also, yeah, near. 

And there are, uh, in the Marine Parade area, a few other,  medical  So,

yeah, it also depends a little bit on your preference, I  But I wanted,  a  

Yeah. 

that's, uh, how I found, uh, Katong Family Clinic. 

What about fitness, fitness centers?  

Well, you have any time fitness. There is a 24 hour fitness across the street  next to the Roxy Square.  Um, there are several yoga studios. You can do Muay Thai boxing. There is Popsicle gym on Joo Chiat.

I think they do all kinds of lessons. And, um, yeah, of course, the people in the bigger condos usually have their own gym. Yeah.  So there are a lot of options. 

Yeah.

And don't you do, uh, active

g, or? 

Yes. I, uh, also use, uh, active SG app and I go to, uh, the Katong Swimming Complex. They have a gym as well, and

What is 

ActiveSG app? 

It's a local app, and they provide all kinds of sport facilities. You can also, uh, book the Tennis Courts. 

Oh, 

Kallang. 

Is it a fee? Like is it like is do you pay for the app

No, you don't pay for the app. You pay for the

fees of it.

and the bookings that you make.

Yes. So you can buy gym passes. You can buy swimming passes to go to the pool there. Uh, you can, uh, yeah, you can rent, uh, or hire a tennis court.

That was my next question because I find obviously my husband plays tennis and we find it very hard to find a tennis  So they have

they have, but it's also very difficult to book one.

Yeah. It's. Well, if you want to play tennis between, uh, 11 a. m. and 3 p. m., yeah, then usually you'll have a

court.

but if you want to 

The hottest time of the day.

yeah,  but if you want to play, uh, 9 a. m. or, uh, 5 p. m., then it's more difficult.

difficult. That's too funny. Yeah, he plays like at 7 a. m. for that reason.  Before work.

Yeah. 

Okay. That's good. I actually didn't know about that app, so I might have to check that out . So there, what else is there in the area?

Are there any schools in the area or is there anything that, you know,

There are, uh, several schools, but I don't have any experience 

with it Yeah. Yeah. 

But  yeah, there are primary schools, secondary schools in the area,

Yeah. Okay.

there are a lot of families live there.

It's very family friendly on the east.

Yeah. I do see a lot of families out there when I, when I go. 

 

It's really I mean it is quite friendly because I mean you can just I mean sorry family friendly Because you can just  Get on the East Coast Parkway and a lot of it is covered by trees. You can rent the  barbecue pits and they have shelter as well.

So, um, taking the kids out there with their bikes and and letting them run around is super safe and they can have a little dip in the,  in the sea and on the beach and everything. So it's really lovely. It's a lovely atmosphere on a Saturday or Sunday.

In the park itself, I am, I know. I've been standup paddling there. 

Um, is there any other activities in the park you can do?

And there are a lot of places where you can rent a bike.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, you have those family bikes. I've never tried them. Ah, yeah.

They've got like a coverage on them. They're, they're,  they're a good fun. Yeah. 



Well, it's actually nice

to walk from the east to Bedok Reservoir. Okay. If you start at Kambagang Station, you can walk all the way along the park connector, Bedok Town Park, to Bedok Reservoir, which is actually a really nice walk to do as 

do 

Depends a bit on your pace, but I think at least one and a half hours.  



That's nice. That's a nice thing to do.

I have to say  that one place an Italian told me to get the best pizza in Singapore is a place called Cugini. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks 

pretty good.

I walked past it yesterday. It's on Timberling Road and it sort of runs parallel to Joo Chiat. Yeah. Um, have you tried that one?

I've been there once and I really enjoyed it and I like also their outside area. So it's also a bit different. Like a vacation feeling. If you are looking for Spanish feel, Mediterranean feel, it's actually quite nice restaurant.

Oh yeah.

And actually in the same area, you have another place it's called Azador  and that has a Spanish based kitchen.  Um, it's a bit high end, but what I especially like about this place, because I didn't know it is really a hidden gem. Yeah, for me, it was a hidden gem. They have a hidden bar.

Ah, okay, now I'm listening. Yeah,

and that was, uh, um, yeah, really great experiences behind a mirror door and inside it's  Yeah, a really nice bar with murals and they make beautiful cocktails.

So if you want to go to a special place with guests or with friends, this is, I think, a really nice.

was the name of it?

It's, uh, it's a hidden bar in, uh, the restaurant called Asador.

Okay.  

No, that sounds good. And there's a couple of places on Joo Chiat Road that I really love frequenting.  So like, for a really quick lunch, there's Choice Pizza, which they do the big American style, New York style pizza, and it is a New York sort of bar. You can actually see and just have a slice, and have like a beer or something like that, and then they play like Beastie Boys, and it's really got this New York vibe, I really love that one.

And then if you want natural wine, there is Wine Mouth. And the guys in there are so friendly that you could sit there all day and just have a chat with them. They probably are quite busy, but  They've always they've always been really warm and welcoming and on friday nights they have Um wine tasting where you taste three wines and it costs you fifteen dollars And then if you like one you can stay and drink a bottle of wine  with them and just take your friends And yeah, it's all natural wine.

So that's always good. 

When you say natural you're saying organic 

Naturally made, so naturally fermented, they don't go through all of the steel tank process, more like they just allow it to ferment in the bottle.  Well that's what I think it is, so  I don't want to, yeah, sound like I know what I'm talking about and it's just like,  actually I switched off after the second sip, so. 

But, um, yeah, I think that's it. Yeah, so Wine Mouth is a good place to go and choice pizza. 

Actually, on the same stretch there, um, that has nothing to do with wine, but there is also this place called Cat Socrates, and it's a really nice boutique if you're looking for a gift. And what makes the place special is that they have 

Ah. 

And sometimes the cat is sleeping in its basket.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I don't pronounce it

Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to correct you. But

that's the place. Yes. Yes. And it's a really nice place if you want a nice, uh, special gift,

It is really cute. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

I do like the fact that they've got a lot of boutique y places.

Places there, you know and also a real peranakan feel because you got peranakan Restaurants there too, right?

Yes,

definitely you have Peranakan restaurants and what is also great to go to with visitors and it's very popular for, uh, Instagram are the colorful houses on Keong Sang Road.  And, um, yeah, those are the typical shop houses, very colorful, quite well maintained. So they, Yeah, if you make pictures there, it's  really special, pretty.

And, um, actually since  2011.  I think that's the right year. Uh, the whole area, uh, was, uh, recognized as an heritage area. Yeah. So, uh, you can see that also by some signs on the street names and also some tiles on the floor. The whole area around Joo Chiat, they want to conserve it.  Singapore 

little bit of history.

Yeah, that's nice. 

So, are there any great Peranakan restaurants that you know

of? Yes, I actually, uh, uh, know three of them. Um, I think the most authentic maybe is the Peranakan Inn and Lounge, and they do, uh, Peranakan food, and they do it really well.

I think they also have a branch in Thiong Bahru, but this on East Coast Road is their main branch.  And then you have on itself, you have the old Bebek's Peranakan, uh, kitchen.

Yep. I've been there. That's the, yeah, I've been there.

and that is, uh, yeah, that's also,  Quite a authentic. It's a different setting, but it's also really nice to go to. And, uh, more modern is actually Baba Chews, which is in the old police station.

Yeah, that's very cool.

It is now part of, um, the, uh, Holiday Inn, uh, Indigo Hotel in Katong.  And, uh, it's actually in an old building and they do more a modern style Peranakan cuisine.

But that's also quite if you. bit of a twist.

So, would you take, if you had visitors,  where else would you take them around there?

Around, uh, Joo Chiat?

It depends a little bit on the visitors, but what we like to do is in general, take a walk along Joo Chiat, Koon Seng Road, definitely show them the beautiful shop houses.

Um, if you take a walk, you also, uh, come to Everett Road where you have Lotus, which is also very, you know, well maintained, a very nice building complex.  Um, and then, yeah, depending on the guests, we try the buns that I talked before about, we have a coffee along the way. Um, And in the evening, uh, the last time we had, uh, guests over, we went with them to Salt and Palm.

Okay. They really enjoyed that, uh, as a relaxing spot, but guests also like just being outside in the heat because my guests usually come from Europe and they usually come when the weather there is not that great. So they just like to be on an outside terrace and a lot of the local people Places are not always, uh, having an outside terrace, but we also try to take them to a hawker and show them the traditional way and traditional dishes, but it's usually just a quick visit and then we go somewhere else

I found this really cool, um, Kintsugi studio and you can go, I don't know if you know what Kintsugi is, but it's a Japanese style, um, way of, so if you broke a plate that was very important to you, maybe it was your grandmother's plate, they put it together again and they put it with like a gold, um, type of melted metal and then they stick it together.

So

then the plate is now, you can see all the cracks in it. And, um,  Uh, but it looks beautiful now because they put it together with gold and, it's like an art and it's really lovely and they have a  Kintsugi studio where they teach you how to put together your broken pieces.

Pieces and I went there the other day and my cup I dropped my favorite cup um, and she fixed it and then I realized that they had these, um,  They had these workshops that you could go there with some friends, you could just go and and you know, um, fix your broken things together and I thought it was just a beautiful art like instead of in this sort of culture where we like throw away sort of, um, You know, just throw away everything and just buy everything new, where you can just like, stick it back together and it, and it really means something, it looks beautiful afterwards.

So, yeah, so that was something I found the other day. 

Yeah.

We've got lots of hidden gems in Joo Chiat.

Oh my goodness, we could be here all day

to be honest. It's just so much. Yeah,

even talk about all the nice boutiques where you

because there's

Right? Yeah. Latienda is one of my favorites. But yeah, yeah. And then there are there's hundreds of others. Yeah.

yes, I like the AC as well also because they do a little bit of furniture as well,  and I like Tiger Acadia

Oh, yeah, that is really cool. 

also have special

I got some cute mice from there.

yeah, 

that's right, I think it was with you. I really like Singapore Trading 

Yeah, 

Post I love that, because it's that

old,

you know, British colonial feel

Yeah, yeah, no, that is

eyeing that ice B bucket.

Yeah. That I really want that champagne ice

bucket, 

we've had our eyes on it for a little while too. I'll

I'll get it one day.

one Gonna throw out more things.  Yeah.

Uh, do you have anything else that you'd like to add?

Um, well, if you are considering to visit or to live on the east, I think it's a really friendly neighborhood. It's a lot of, uh, uh, low buildings, a lot of residential, uh, houses. And you have also condos, but in the, especially around the Joo Chiat area, it's all low rise. It's a bit of a village in the 

Yeah. Yeah. 

I really liked that feel.

And especially for your daily things, there is. So much choice. I think I have even more choice for groceries, bakeries than I had,  

Over in, um,

in the area where I lived before in the city center. Yeah. 

Yeah, me too. I find it like, it's a lot more smaller than smaller businesses and they really take care about what they produce because it's so important, you know, if you're a small business, whereas when you live in, in the more city, it, that you still have the small businesses, but they don't produce sort of that home, home cooked feeling and the, yeah, so it's really, it's quite different.

Nice.  Well, thank you, Anya, for coming on today. It's been a pleasure learning a little bit more about Joo Chiat and it's been a pleasure having you on.

Well thank you for having me.

Good

You're  📍 more than welcome to come and visit us in the East.

I will. I'll take you up on that offer.

that one. Thanks Anya.



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