Day Out with the Folks | Mount Sophia and Mackenzie Road

Since 7 Apr 2020 what we called the start of the Circuit Breaker in Singapore, we are asked to stay at home, work from home, home-based learning and go out only for food takeaways or groceries. Retails are closed since and the entire Singapore suddenly turn into a quiet town with not much vehicles on the road and human flow. Looks like a standstill with the brutal virus, Covid-19 (formerly known as Wuhan Virus). And since then, have not visited our families. For our good and for everyone too.

Singapore is now at Phase 2 of the Post Circuit Breaker. Finally visited our families after 2 months. And finally out and about with the folks for a walkabout under a sunny day. My dad suggested going for a walk to Mount Sophia. So we started our walk from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station in the late morning on a Sunday.


Walked from behind of Plaza Singapura. Spotted this building, Temasek Shophouse. Very nice colonial style with that spiral staircase. It houses Temasek Trust, Temasek Foundation and Stewardship Asia Centre (link here). This area has so many condominiums. Quite upscale ya.


Say hi to this roadside fungus. That is a big one. I think is poisonous. Or it is poisonous.


Soon we were at Selegie. That was kind of fast when I have 2 old folks with me, wearing mask and a sunny weather.


Never know this Sophia Flats exist (link here). That goes to show I have to go out more with my folks because especially my dad knows a lot of such places to see old shophouses, buildings and so on.


Here we are at the old address of Nan Hua Girls' High School, now known as Sophia Hills (link here). Condominiums again. 


Black and white buildings like this, I will associate it with colonial style buildings. Just one look and you get the feeling. 


Heard that conserved buildings cannot be tear down but restore or modify to integrate with the residential developments. I guess this is one of them (link here).


So we walked a big round out to Sophia Flats again. This time my dad suggested walking the back alley. Good choice. Spotted a Sikh Temple. I think an event was going on and got food some more. My dad kaypoh went in to wash his hands. And the person-in-charge asked my mum if we want to come in for food. Wow... humanity restored. There is good people around and just that we don't know them. God bless these people.

We didn't went in though and continue our walk. So this road is Niven Road. Never heard of and I think there is a lot of road names that I don't know for sure. I think not just me but many too.

Walking along the shophouses was the coolest thing ever. You get to see old school style door grilles, wooden doors of each unit. Nice. 


This type of grilles I will still see it at my uncle's place. Never change like since forever, which is good because the younger generations will not get to see it. But I know my uncle will not change. I mean for what, right? Still working well and never give problem. Nice.


And we reached Mount Emily. Nice or not this building, standing at the junction of Niven Road and Mount Emily Road? I think is nice. Never mind what you think.


Guess what? We walked till Mackenzie Road. *give a round of applause* And that is Rex Cinema, right opposite of Old Chang Kee Coffee House at Mackenzie. So we stopped for an early lunch. We actually finished our walk in an hour. Seriously. Is it we never cover or miss out some places?


Probably they should improve on the laksa gravy. Spicy but the flavour is not there. Mum had mee rebus because she said long time never have that. And dad had nasi lemak, which at first he found it too expensive but I told him to go ahead, have whatever they like because not like every time we will splurge on such mediocre yet expensive food right? Sometimes, don't be too hard on yourself.


After our lunch, we walked towards Tekka. Spotted these flats. One look like very uniform right? Very neat in my opinion. 


To be honest, I never been inside Tekka Centre. The most is just pass-by. Some day, I will.

So the weather got darker and started pouring. We took a bus to City Hall MRT station. Wrapping up the outing with a short visit to The Capitol where you can see how bad businesses are. Not many people as usual. I worry for their survival. *shake heads*

That's all and looking forward to the next outing. Ciao.