When I first heard of Lorong 101–108 Changi, I thought the area would be in a super “ulu”, semi-industrial area. However, I was pleasantly surprised after visiting the neighbourhood as it is right next to Joo Chiat and, as such, there are many amenities and good food in the area! Added to the fact that the neighbourhood has maintained some “old Singapore” charm PLUS the fact that some houses here can be built up to 5 stories, I thought it was worth a feature!
The area we’re visiting today is between Joo Chiat Road, Changi Road, Langsat Road and Still Road.Besides the feature photo, there were also some construction projects that capitalised on the fact that one can build upwards here.Zooming out so you can see how the new project absolutely dwarfs the older houses around it.
The plot ratio here is zoned 1.4. This is also why we see a lot of boutique condos in the neighbourhood. If you can get enough of your neighbours together, technically you could en bloc to build a boutique condo too (in the absence of further restrictions.) Thus, there is a risk that your house could end up surrounded by condos in future, making the area a much higher-density area than it currently is. Personally, I find the current low-density characteristic is a big part of its charm!
Another house that has been built upwards.One of the boutique condos I mentioned earlier, on the left.Not all the houses are rebuilt though. There are still quite a few old-school and original-condition properties in the area, certainly more so than at the other landed estates that I’ve been to. Just look at the white house on the left of the photo.
For some reason, a lot of the older single-storey houses don’t have front porches to park their cars whilst newer houses in the same row do!
However, there is, as you can see, designated street parking. It’s 60 cents per half hour if you were wondering.
That brings me to another good thing about this neighbourhood: parking spaces have already been clearly designated (everywhere else is not meant for parking i.e. double yellow lines or single white lines in the middle of the road.) This made it much easier to drive through the estate and it was also surprisingly easy to get a lot here (earn the surrounding eateries weren’t open at least)! Also, there’s less potential for quarrels with neighbours.
However, as there are so many eateries and shops in this area, the roads can see a bit of traffic during peak hours.
See what I mean? The newer house on the left has a space for a car but the older one on the right does not. I wonder if it’s possible to create an entry point for the car if one redevelops the house on the right? I would have thought not as I was under the impression that the pavements are public property but now I wonder!
Still, I must say the many single-story houses do make the area feel very quaint, as does the wide alleys in between some rows of properties.
Another “pro” of this neighbourhood for those of us with smaller budgets is, as you may have observed, the plentiful terrace housing. (Terrace house = typically lower price point = entry point into landed living.) However, there are also a few bigger houses around.
I wonder how many cars you can park here! These houses remind me of Siglap!My Mom grew up in a house somewhat similar to this (on stilts.)See what I mentioned about nice clear (of parked cars and trash bins) roads?
Although, as mentioned, the area gets its fair share of traffic driving through (more for Langsat Road. The Lorongs were pretty quiet.) Overall, the area wasn’t noisy when I visited. (Well apart from the one house that kept birds that I could hear erm… singing from like 2 roads down!)
Some of the roads are also fairly narrow.
Many of the houses with alleys behind them have also built back doors to make full use of the extra space.
I REALLY liked these houses. The architecture is so interesting! They have a fairly industrial feel and make me feel like I’m back in South London again.If you don’t want to live in a cookie-cutter neighbourhood, this area does have many interesting houses. The all-around balcony makes this one feel more like an institute than a house! (The birds I mentioned were not these, by the way. These were nice and quiet!)And this one transports me to the Mediterranean or Middle East!
The area actually has commercial units all around, but the majority are along Changi Road. In fact, the stretch of properties where the Lorongs meet Changi Road is all commercial. Currently, they’re low to medium-rise but the Master Plan indicates that the plot ratio is 3.0 so we may see giants springing up one day. (Which may block the air and light for the residences behind.)
Standing where the Lorong meets Langsat Road and looking towards Changi Road. The tall condo across Changi Road is, I believe, the 99-year Parc Esta which TOP-ed not too long ago.We walk down Changi Road and there’s a Great Eastern building (One of the commercial units I mentioned earlier.) Not a very useful commercial building to have in your backyard unless you work there but luckily there are many more units.
Let’s take a look.
More commercial units. I wonder what they are? (The images on the pillar are a clue.)Before I forget, here’s what Changi Road looks like. It’s a pretty busy road. Nice and broad, which helps the area feel less claustrophobic.Here are the commercial units opposite Great Eastern. (The prints on the pillar were paw prints!)And next to Top Dogs is a temple – one of several in the area actually. And a mosque in the distance. Love how multicultural the area is.Continued walking along Changi Road and saw this. Fits the old-school feel of the area.A Thai restaurant next to it.Malay food. (The neighbourhood has many Indian and Malay eateries.)Turning back into Lorong 108 Changi. Right at the start of this road (and some of the other lorongs) is parking for motorcycles. Even though the road is not busy, when I turned in here earlier, it was a bit tight.Another food place – see what I mean about how you have no end of food options here.There’s a fair distance between the food places and the houses (in case you were worrying about pests. They can be an issue if you live near food stalls. I know someone who lived near Adam Road Food Centre who caught over 20 rats in his or her home! Of course, it could be his or her housekeeping and not the proximity to the food centre but I never forgot the story!)Most of the terrace houses only have space to park one car so your guests (who drive) will have to pay for street side parking when they visit you (if you have a car.) If they can’t find street parking, there are also a few basement car parks in the neighbourhood such as this one.Some have quite a long turn-in to their houses, so they can park 2 in a row, as shown above.
Close-up to give you a better view. It’ll mean you need to coordinate a bit – for example, if the driver of the blue car needs to leave, the driver of the white car will need to make way for him or her. You might think this is a small thing but, hey, when you live together, small things can turn into big things. I know of one lady who passively aggressively blocked her sister-in-law’s car to make her late for work!
Other units don’t have such a long turn-in, so they need to park their car parallel to their house instead (not all houses have enough space for this though.)View of the various creative parking solutions.I particularly like this one! There was actually another house with a similar space in front (but unoccupied) and, when I saw it, I thought it was perfect for parking an extra car. Guess the owner of this car agrees with me!Love the old-fashioned breeze blocks and window shutters.Walking back to Changi Road again. Most of the street lots (I would say 90%) were empty when I visited early on the weekend. As it was so early, I’m assuming most residents were still asleep at home which means that most of them should have enough space to park their cars in their own properties. Nonetheless, I think festive seasons will be interesting when there are lots of visitors descending on the area…Luckily there is another basement car park for your guests.One of the other commercial units along Changi Road is MDIS.Which is where you’ll find the bus stop. (There’s also a “parking lot” for bicycles behind the bus stop, but you may not be able to see it in this photo because of the shadows.)MANY buses serve this route! In addition, you’re only about 8 minute’s walk from Eunos MRT, which is across Changi Road.From the bus stop, there’s this lovely shaded walk.
The walkway doesn’t really take you anywhere though. I was expecting it to bring me to Geylang Serai Malay Market and Food Centre, which is along Changi Road (about 8 minutes walk from Langsat Walk, although it felt more like 28 in the heat), but it didn’t. Oh well, something is better than nothing!
This is the commercial unit where the walkway ends.It’s Hexacube, which has an Italian eatery, a British place and a spa.Continuing down in the direction of Joo Chiat Complex and Geylang Serai Market.Alas Jay walking can be an issue here (see the right.)Opposite is an HDB estate with a few shops such as a Mount Pleasant clinic (temporarily closed, apparently.)We’re next to some eateries and getting pretty close to Joo Chiat so the parking lots here will come in handy.Bike shop.The row of shops is quite old so I wasn’t expecting the fancy lights. They remind me of the posher bits of Katong.Has a 4.2 rating on Google. 1966 makes it ancient for a Singaporean eatery!I was starting to wonder about the lack of “practical” conveniences (dentists, doctors, tuition centres etc) when we came across this dental surgery (next to the eateries.)A massage never goes amiss.Vegetarian Chinese Food. I wonder if it’s Buddhist vegetarian (i.e. no alliums) given the 2 temples nearby. (Google reviews didn’t say, although I confess I only read like 10 and not all. If you were wondering, it’s a mixed bag of reviews. Generally, most people say the food is good but some were unhappy about things like upselling and the price.)We’ve now reached Everett Road North where you can find a bakery etc.Across the road is the Community Centre. (It looks like a school with a basketball court next to it, doesn’t it? The closest school should be Haigs Girls School, near Joo Chiat Lane. It’s within 1 km of some of the houses in the area but not all.)At the furthest end of Everett Rd North (from Changi Road) is a playground, Joo Chiat Terrace Park. This is the only/closest playground in the area. (Not very crowded/noisy when I visited.) I love this area, with its independent shops and quirky character – can you spot the mural in the background?
Anyway back to Changi Road!
As mentioned, that’s Geylang Serai Food Centre. There are both shops and hawker stalls there. More food choices on this side of the road too.You can also find some rarer Malay dishes here!Decided to grab breakfast at Warung Selera Masakan Kampung to make full use of my petrol money. (Petrol is SO expensive!) The Mee Siam was good! As a foodie, I love the idea of living in this neighbourhood.
Note: besides Warung Selera Masakan Kampung is a Caltex station for those who need to grab snacks or fill their tank. Alternatively, there’s a Fair Price at Joo Chiat Complex just a stone’s throw away.
Joo Chiat Complex.
Across from Joo Chiat Complex is Joo Chiat Road which is PACKED in the afternoons, and on weekends. However, I really like the kampung feel of the area. Despite the congestion, people still give way to each other on the road and thank each other. It feels like I’ve gone 20 years back in time to the Singapore of my childhood.
Note: for avid bakers, there’s a Bake with Yen on Joo Chiat Road but I find their items are not as fresh as Phoon Huat. (Some things are cheaper though.)
This brings us to the end of today’s tour!
How did you find the area? You’ve probably figured out that I really like this neighbourhood. However, it’s not for everyone. When I mentioned it to a friend, she said she would never move here because the East of Singapore is way too crowded. And it’s true that D15 is the 2nd most populous landed enclave in Singapore (it has the most number of landed homes after D19.)
What do you think? Is this a great place to live or do you too find it too congested? Let me know in the comments!
TJ’s interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one’s square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
TJ
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