PRE-CONCERT EATS: MALATANG BY RUYIFANG @ CITYLINK MALL

Mala restaurants have been opening in Singapore like mushrooms after a rain. There are at least three mala restaurants near Esplanade, and this is the closet one to it. Located in Raffles Link / Citylink Mall, Ru Yi Fang's Malatang outlet occupies the space that was once a New York-styled pizza joint.  

It's 6.45pm and there's hardly anyone here.

The all-important sauce / condiment station.

For some reason, it's always deserted, as if no one knew it existed. That makes the service very prompt. The formula is much the same: get a bowl, load it with the assorted goodies - noodles, vegetables, mushrooms, meat and seafood - and have it weighed for the price you pay. Its $2.98 for 100g, with a minimum of 300g for an order. So each bowl should minimally cost $9.94.

There are different soup options, but I opted for the boring stir-fried version with the lowest possible level of spice. Mala uses peppers which leave a chilly, numbing and tingling sensation on the lips, and some people love that. I'll try the soupy version the next time around.

RUIYIFANG MALATANG 

@ CITYLINK MALL

1 Raffles Link #B1-01 and 02

Citylink Mall

SINGAPORE'S BUONA VISTAS: SKYRESIDENCE @ DAWSON

SkyResidence @ Dawson and
Margaret Drive Marketplace.

Singapore is a terribly flat country, one where its buildings tower over its hills. There are at least 60 office buildings and apartment blocks taller than the 163 metres that is Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore highest natural point. Their views of our island city-state must be breathtaking. 

The 8th floor roof garden.

View of MRT between 
Queenstown and Commonwealth stations.

That's where we need to go up next.

We just found our way to a roof garden not too far from home, at SkyResidence @ Dawson, after having lunch at Margaret Drive Marketplace. There's one on the 8th floor of the car-park block, and there is even access to the 27th floor garden of the adjacent block which is free to enter. 

Queenstown sports and swimming complex.

The Stirling Road area, with
Stirling Residences soaring above.

View of the Mujahiddin Mosque,
Queenstown Polyclinic and Tanglin Halt beyond.

The views of surrounding Queenstown are simply stunning. Looking south, one can spot the Southern Ridges over the Alexandra district. Viewing north, there is the vast greenery of Botanic Gardens and Orchard Road beyond that. Once-humble, down and out Queenstown and Margaret Drive has been totally transformed over the years, and that is gentrification for you.

Queenstown, new and old.

Looking north to Ridout and
Swettenham Roads, Botanic Gardens beyond.

Here is another good vantage point.

This does begin to resemble Hong Kong.

As if one did not need further reminding, Margaret Drive was named after Princess Margaret (1930-2002), the Countess of Snowdon and younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Here she is in her former glory.

SINGAPORE'S HIPSTER PRECINCTS: MARGARET DRIVE MARKETPLACE

Wow, I never thought I'd see the day tired old Margaret Drive would someday become where hipsters hang out. One of Singapore's oldest public housing estates (or satellite towns, which we called them), Queenstown dates from the early 1960s, before the nation became independent. Margaret Drive was home to low-cost housing, cinemas centred around the once popular Tah Chung Emporium, hawker centres, a shopping complex with a bowling alley, several primary schools, the beloved Queenstown Library and even a prison (its most famous internee being Michael Fay).

Now that certainly looks like a Chinese coffin.

Over the decades, its early shine faded, with the population growing older and buildings losing their lustre. All of the HDB blocks were demolished including the iconic Margaret Drive Hawker's Centre. All that remains is Block 38, the very distinctive Commonwealth Avenue Wet Market, built by the SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust, HDB's forerunner), popularly known by the Chinese as the "Coffin Market".

Its design is unique in Singapore architecture from the 1950s. No other building like this exists in Singapore today, with its parabolic roof which allowed rain to trickle down its sides. After an extensive renovation, it's become a hipster eating place, like a mini-Covent Garden of Queenstown. All that is missing is an opera house. Completely air-conditioned, it houses cafes, restaurants and upmarket food stalls. There are health facilities and clinics on the second storey, a 24-hour gym and even a sit down mini-library.   

It's all very new and posh now, and the demographic is considerably younger. The older folks prefer to hang out at the Margaret Drive Hawker's Centre (Block 38A) next door, where prices are more affordable, but there is no air con. No worries, as neighbourhoods gentrify and "upgrade", so do the accompanying environs. That's what we call progress. 

Work out at the gym, and then read a book.
What could be cooler than that?

This Ya Kun Kaya Toast was far
busier than the Luckin Coffee downstairs.

MARGARET DRIVE MARKETPLACE

Block 38 Margaret Drive

Singapore 141038

Margaret Market – Welcome to Margaret Market

Named after Princess Margaret Windsor,
who was far hotter than the Queen
(that's until she got pissed).

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: MARGARET DRIVE MARKETPLACE

There are two major eating places in in the new and improved HDB neighbourhood of Margaret Drive. One is the Margaret Drive Hawker Centre (Block 38A), a typical HDB food centre, and the other is the more upmarket and gentrified Margaret Drive Marketplace (Block 38). On this occasion, we decided to eat in the air-conditioned comfort of the latter. 

Now you know why it was called "Coffin Market".

Previously known as Margaret Market, Block 38 was originally the Commonwealth Avenue Wet Market, built in 1956 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT). Sometimes nicknamed the "Coffin Market" because of its unusual shape with a high parabolic roof and ceiling, it is the only architectural remnant of this kind from Singapore's pre-independence history. 

Later, a refurbished version of this building house a number of popular eating places, including Sin Kee Chicken Rice, Chui Xiang Garden Restaurant, several food courts and even a Western restaurant. There was even a furniture shop on the second level. We had many enjoyable meals there about fifteen years ago before it underwent major renovation to become the spiffy new food centre it is today.

Prices have gone northwards, but if one looks hard enough, there are still places for good food. As we found out soon enough.

Hua Jie's dumplings and noodles
are far more delicious than they look.

MARGARET DRIVE MARKETPLACE

Block 38 Margaret Drive

Singapore 141038

Margaret Market – Welcome to Margaret Market

Margaret Drive was named after
Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II's
glamourous but scandalous younger sister.