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
Last week, we visited Cashew Terrace in D23 and I was very impressed by how expansive and accessible the area was (it is right next to an MRT station and only 1 stop away from various malls, but still quite peaceful.) Hence, when I saw that there was another, smaller estate across the road (Hazel Park Terrace) I thought it would be worthwhile to pop over for a look.
When you first turn into Hazel Park Terrace, the area looks very promising, as the entrance is quite wide and spacious.
It is separated from the busy main road (Upper Bukit Timah Road) by a very wide canal so the estate is protected from road noise.That’s the canal to the right of the photo. To the left is the turn in to Hazel Park landed estate. In the background is a large park and Cashew MRT – there is a path by the canal which will take you there, without having to walk besides the noisy cars.If you turn to the other side, the canal and its parallel path continue (although they look a little less scenic here.) There is a petrol station right before the entrance of the estate (shown in the photos above) so you can pop in to the shop if you need something desperately. If you take this path down, it will take you to some shophouses, where you can find a few eateries and shops, but nothing too interesting.Here’s a better look at the walkway. As you can see, part of it is shaded. There were quite a lot of schoolboys hanging out along the path when I visited the estate.Facing the entrance into Hazel Park landed estate is Hazel Park Condominium, which consists of high-rise apartments. The long green landscaped area in front of the condo makes the area feel rather open (and not cramped) when you first walk or drive in.Standing outside Hazel Park Condo and looking at the main road. As you can see, the canal is such a wide buffer that you can’t see the traffic on Upper Bukit Timah Road at all. I’ll walk down so you can have a better view of the area.Right at the turn-in from Upper Bukit Timah Road is this little park – it looked very nice and made the area feel very expansive on turning int. However, it’s not extremely practical, as there is quite a lot of noise and dust from the cars here. (Thankfully there is another section of the park further down (very close by), which is more protected from the traffic.)As mentioned, there is a sheltered walkway outside the estate.Turn left and it will take you to Cashew MRT station (about 3 minutes away.)Turn right and you see the Shell station I had mentioned earlier.As you can see above, Upper Bukit Timah Road can be very busy during peak hours.View of traffic in the other direction. Note that this is the only vehicular entry and exit for Hazel Park condo AND landed estate. I didn’t have to wait to turn in or out, but I imagine it could get a bit jammed at times.Looking across the very wide Upper Bukit Timah Road – no high-rises in the distance that way. Now that we’ve seen the main road, let’s head back in.This is the road leading past Hazel Park Condo and into the landed estate. (I’m actually taking the photo with my back towards the landed estate and looking towards the main road, as one of the houses here was having an event, and I didn’t want to accidentally intrude into their privacy.) However, as you may have noted, there are cars parked all the way to the entrance of Hazel Park Condo, which is not a very good sign regarding the street parking situation of the state.Thankfully there’s a decent path next to the street for pedestrians (as there’s a sharp turn in the road, which makes it hard for oncoming cars to see pedestrians when there are parked cars blocking the way.)Photo of the sharp turn I mentioned.After the turn, we reach the main part of the landed estate. It comprises one long road, with terrace houses on both sides. As shown, it’s a dotted white line, so you can park on the street here. Although the street looks quite open here, it was actually pretty difficult to drive down.
There was also nowhere to park, as many houses had reserved spaces outside their house using dustbins. In addition, the houses here are narrower than the terraces that we saw at Cashew Terrace, so even when you can find an empty space on the road to park along, it could be facing the gate of a house on the opposite side. (I don’t park at these spots, as it can make it difficult for people to enter/exit their properties.)See what I mean about the cones? The road is actually very wide – you can park a car on both sids of the road and still have a 3rd drive in between the 2. Ironically, that’s one of the reasons the area felt cramped – when the 2 parked cars are large, it can be a bit tight for the car driving through. (If you’re wondering whether it’s my driving, I had the same thought myself, so I waited at the spot to observe the other vehicles going through and they all slowed down a lot when trying to squeeze through.)Some houses were very clever about managing the parking situation – they did not use dustbins but still managed to prevent people from parking there. Check out the small barrier shown above. When I parked at that spot, I realised that you’re unable to open your door because either the “fence” or the plants are in the way of opening your car door! Creative thinking, for sure.View of the houses. As you can see, some have built a little bit upwards.The original houses had triangular roof above the car porch but some units have had them removed.Example of 2 houses, one with the original car porch roof removed, whilst the other still has it remaining.Side view of the units so you can get a better idea of how much higher you can build here.This photo might give you a better idea of how many cars are parked on the street here.The road widens a bit at the end, but it can be challenging to drive all the way to the end as, when there is oncoming traffic and cars parked along the road, one car will need to reverse into an empty spot to allow the other car to pass.
You might think that it is quite obvious which car should give way – the car that is closer/has easier access to an empty space of course. But well, let’s just say I met 3 oncoming cars when driving out of the estate and not a single one gave way. (Even though 1 of the cars only had to reverse 1-2 metres to make space, whilst I had to reverse around the sharp bend that we saw earlier in the article AND go halfway back up the street to find an empty lot that I could pull into.) Personally, I wouldn’t enjoy driving in and out of this street on a daily basis but it’s all relative, I guess.
Looking back down the street from the top.
Now that we’ve seen the entire housing enclave, let’s go take a quick look at the amenities in the area.
It probably has not escaped your notice that there is no space for visitors to park in the estate. If you turn right on Upper Bukit Timah Road, there is a very, very small car park a few minutes away.
I think the car park can hold only about 10+ cars though.Next to the car park is 1 of the eateries in the area.Which is next to a spa and a few other commercial units.
Walk back towards the estate and you’ll find an open space on your left.
There’s also a sheltered walkway here that takes you to the MRT. (However, note you will need to walk out of the Hazel Park Terrace landed estate onto the main road to get to the shelter.)The open space has a lot of seats for people to rest on.Spotted a chicken in the area.Slightly further ahead is a playground.If you enter the park, you’ll see it is extremely generous in size.The Cashew Terrace houses, which I very much enjoyed visiting last week, are actually behind where I’m standing.And that’s Cashew Terrace MRT.
If we walk out of the park and turn left (instead of turning right to the MRT), the sheltered path will take us to Bukit Panjang Primary School and Assumption Pathway School.
That brings us to the end of today’s tour. Let me know if you have any questions 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
