This week, we’re doing a tour of Paya Lebar Crescent and its nearby streets. I’d actually been to the area a few years ago, when taking my Mom on a jaunt down memory lane (she lived nearby when she was young) and, to be honest, wasn’t super impressed when I first visited. The area felt quite industrial (as I drove there via Bartley Road East which is a Business District) and “ulu” as there didn’t seem to be much around.
I travelled through the dark purple areas on the bottom right of the map, when I first visited, and was driving through what felt to be endless factories and commercial buildings.
However, this time back, I was pleasantly surprised and found the area quite charming! For this jaunt, I went by the PIE, followed by Upper Paya Lebar road, and my impression of the area was totally different! Also, given that the estate is in between 2 MRT stations (approximately 15 minutes to Bartley MRT or 20 minutes to Serangoon MRT (and NEX mall!!), it’s not as “ulu” as you might think. It’s actually not far away from Braddell Heights estate, which we visited a few weeks back.
Before we start on our walkthrough, let’s define the area we’re looking a today. It basically looks like a > on the map with 2 cul-de-sacs running through the mouth of the “>” shape. It consists of only a few roads: Paya Lebar Crescent (the main artery of the estate) which runs into a small lane (Paya Lebar Place) and the 2 cul-de-sacs, Paya Lebar Walk (smaller section) and Jalan Kelichap (larger.)
Walking over from Paya Lebar Crescent (behind me) this is what I see: Jalan Lokam and Kensington Square, a mixed residential and commercial development. It has everything from a Turtle Soup Restaurant (Tai Seng) to a Bike centre, Education Centre, BBQ and Spa, so it provides a lot of convenient amenities for residents!
Paya Lebar Crescent also leads onto Jalan Lokam and Tai Keng estate, which we won’t be covering today as it spans too large of an area to do it justice here. On the other end of Paya Lebar Crescent estate (so towards the North) is Lorong Ah Soo with its HDB apartments and Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Primary.)
Note: on the subject of schools, there is also Maris Stella High School (Primary) near by. Whether or not it falls within the coveted 1 km mark, will depend on the number of the house!
There is also a fairly-sized Childcare Centre (Our Children’s House International Childcare Centre) at Paya Lebar Crescent (the bit that adjoins Jalan Lokam.)Whilst you can’t drive directly into Paya Lebar Crescent from Lorong Ah Soo, there is pedestrian access. (The landed houses are behind me.)This is what you see to the right. Slightly further down (a minutes walk or so), there’s a bus stop with Buses 45, 45A, 53, 53M, 62, 62A, 113 and 113A.
Around Lorong Ah Soo there are several HDB estates, which obviously mean lots of amenities, such as hawker stalls and even a dialysis centre!
But anyway, let’s start our tour of the area by looking at the 2 cul-de-sacs since it’s easier to cover them more comprehensively! The first cul-de-sac we’re looking at is Jalan Kelichap, also the larger of the 2.
Note: I’m trying to avoid the word “dead end” so as not to offend people but there aren’t many other synonyms for cul-de-sac!
The entrance to Jalan Kelichap is between Paya Lebar Walk and Jalan Lokam and it is one of the most crowded estates that I have ever been to. I couldn’t find a single space to park, despite it being a weekday, during office hours when I visited. I wonder how much worse things get once everyone has driven back from the office.
This is the entrance off Upper Paya Lebar Road into Jalan Kelichap.See what I mean about the parked cars? As you can see, it’s mostly terrace houses around here.
Interestingly, some are 99-year leasehold whilst others are freehold, according to PropertyGuru. As such, prices ranged between $2.6 million to over $7 million at the time of writing. Here’s a video of a 99-year corner terrace there. One thing to highlight is the split living and dining room. Whilst that’s not uncommon in older houses, the split here is quite a bit higher than normal!
FYI: The 73 99-year leasehold houses at Tai Keng Villas were built by Far East Organization in Dec 1999 with leases dating back to 1996.
There are also 1 or 2 detached houses in the area.Some with uncommonly long driveways, no worries about finding parking for this house owner!Unfortunately, it’s terraces for the rest! Most are 2-stories high but a few have had their plot ratios maximised (see the house we glimpse behind the tree.)There’s also side access to the main road and a bus stop (Buses 22, 24, 43, 58, 62, 62A, 70, 70A, 70M, 76, 80 and 80A. You have to climb steps to get up to the main road, so it’s not wheelchair friendly.Jalan Kelichap has a playground, which was under construction when I visited. Only the outdoor gym equipment could still be used. (I couldn’t hear the sound of the construction though, strangely enough.)Near the playground is a path that appears to lead nowhere (I followed it to the end and it was blocked by a gate. Beyond the gate were more Jalan Kelichap houses but no access to the main road as far as I could tell.) Also note how jagged the area is: the houses on the left lie quite a bit lower than the playground. I then left Jalan Kelichap and walked over to Paya Lebar Walk. In between the 2 is Da Jin Factory Building (behind the red and white wall on my right.) The factory is on land that is zoned residential.The Masterplan didn’t indicate the plot ratio but the current building is quite a bit higher than the surrounding landed houses already.This is what you see across Upper Paya Lebar Road (appears to be commercial units like design shops and wedding shops.)Right by the entrance into Paya Lebar Walk is Bethany Presbyterian Church and Child Development Centre.Entrance to the landed houses on my right. The overhead bridge here is the only one in the vicinity although there are a few red lights which you can cross at.Terrace houses at Paya Lebar Walk. Parking was also in short supply but somehow this bit felt less congested than Jalan Kelichap. Maybe because the roads are straight and not curving? Quite a few houses under construction in the area. The terrace houses here are also taller than the majority over at Jalan Kelichap (i.e. should have larger internal space.)Like Jalan Kelichap, some of the houses here also have split levels in the middle of the land. (I saw a corner terrace with a split level garden further down to the left of the photo, not sure about the ones on the right as I couldn’t see into the house.) Paya Lebar Walk is shaped like a T and this is the right upper line of the T-shape. The taller building is Da Jin Factory, which we passed by walking over.Spot the stairs in the corner terrace! That’s what I meant by split levels. Oh before I forget, the houses in Paya Lebar Walk are freehold, unlike Jalan Kelichap. Prices ranged from $4.38 to $5.7 million at the time of writing.
Anyway, I headed back out and walked over to Paya Lebar Crescent. Along the way, we pass more terrace houses, this time ones that are situated directly along the main road. I normally am not a fan of such houses as it is SUPER DIFFICULT to enter and exit your house but there is no problem here, thanks to the small side road that separates the houses from Upper Paya Lebar Road (where we see the arrow.)Here’s what the houses look like. As you can see, you can fit 1 car in the porch. Some houses have fully enclosed the upper levels to maximise the internal space.Walk a bit further down and it’s the entrance to Paya Lebar Crescent. Across Upper Paya Lebar Road is a temple and “Just Anthony” an antique shop that always pops up on my Instagram feed!Just Anthony and what I assume is the “tower” of the temple behind it?Anyway, behind the “Paya Lebar Crescent” road sign is a short stretch of really quaint and cool shophouses. One is this vintage coffee shop (not a place to drink coffee but a place to buy coffee roasted in Singapore.) The owners are super friendly, I bought some coffee and they gifted me with rambutans!
Apparently, their coffee is formulated specially for people with acid reflux. (Ho Tit Coffee Powder Factory – it has a 4.8 star rating from 48 Google reviews FYI. Special shout-out here as I strongly believe Singaporeans should support our local businesses!)
You can’t drink coffee here – this is actually a “set” which people rent for filming and what not!Next door is a rosewood furniture shop and a rattan shop – that hanging chair won’t look out of place in an Instagram influencer’s home!
There’s also a small coffee shop at the end: Sam Hee Coffee Shop and “Seafood Zhi Char Beef Noodle.”
Behind the coffee shop is this condo. (According to an ad for a house in the area, the coffee shop is open 24/7.) The road on the left is an exit from Paya Lebar Crescent (it runs behind the row of shophouses we just saw.)I walked back and into Paya Lebar Crescent. This is what I see (Upper Paya Lebar Road is behind me.)Side road to my right. There are quite a few side roads in this area.This side road to my left leads to the bus stop on Lorong Ah Soo that I showed earlier. There is also an entrance to a condo here. (Tangerine Grove, plot ratio 1.4, so 5-stories high.)Back to the main Paya Lebar Crescent Road and passed this interesting house.The area is interesting as you see all types of houses here. Exhibit 1: These remind me of the HDB terraces at Queensway and Jalan Bahagia. Exhibit 2….Exhibit 3: also old-school but in a totally different league!There are also cluster homes. Besides Solaris, there is also Place 8, Aston Green and Urban Villas.As you can see, unlike Paya Lebar Walk and Jalan Kelichap, the roads here are broad and parking is not a problem.Photo to show you the plot ratio maximisation potential here. (The houses you can’t see on the right are single story ones.)There’s a large playground and open space (zoned as a Park in the Masterplan so protected for now) at the innermost bit of Paya Lebar Crescent.I guess I spoke too fast about parking since someone had to “chope” their car park lot here. Oh I didn’t realise the Italian supper club was held here! If you haven’t heard of it, Lee Yum Hwa of Ben Fatto has been featured everywhere from Channel News Asia to The Peak for his dedication to Italian pasta.This house reminds me of a German fairytale!Last look at more interesting architecture before we leave.
Now that we’ve seen the estate: I visited every street in it so you should have gotten a good idea of the surroundings, how did you find it? I was charmed by it! Despite its location along busy Upper Paya Lebar Road, it’s actually very quiet and serene inside!
Oh before I go, I need to mention that there are 3 places of worship (2 temples) in the estate, all along the same stretch. They weren’t in session when I visited but I may feel differently about the peacefulness of the areas if they were!
Photo of one of the temples to end our tour. Quite impressive, no?
Don’t forget to leave a comment if there’s another area you want to see more of! Until next time!
TJ
13 min read
