We talk to Emily Cheetham from the UK about her neighbourhood in Singapore – Serangoon Gardens. Emily is a designer and founder of bag brand Elyse & i (elyseandi.com).
About Serangoon Gardens
What’s the name of your street? Conway Circle, Serangoon Gardens.
What’s a common myth or misconception about your neighbourhood? Some of our friends joke that we live near Johor Bahru but we’re only a 15-minute drive to the heart of Orchard Road, and three stops to the Botanic Gardens MRT! Ironically, we’ve never lived more centrally in Singapore.
Exact words you tell a taxi driver to get home? “Conway Circle, near Chomp Chomp!” All the uncles know and love Chomp Chomp hawker centre.
Closest MRT station? Lorong Chuan – it’s about a 12-minute fast walk or shorter bike ride. We take our own bikes or pick up a Hello Ride bike from the station for a dollar.
How long have you lived here? We’ve been in the ’Goon for coming up to two years. It’s quite by happenstance that we ended up here. After five lovely years in the Greenwood Avenue area, our landlady served us notice as she wanted to renovate – we were four days out from our first summer break to Europe after COVID and the housing market was heading to it’s all time high. Then, by sweet fortune, our good friends were moving suddenly, so we were able to take over their house here in Serangoon and sort everything with our new lovely landlord before taking off for Europe for five weeks.
Neighbourhood highlights
When you walk out of your place, what’s the first thing you see? A lovely little park, lush and newly renovated, with echoes of little (mostly French!) voices giggling as they play on the swings mingled with the squarks from the resident parakeets.
What’s the closest store to your front door? Within a short walk we have a raft of shops and cafés such as Little Farms, Apollo, Tiong Bahru Bakery, Baker & Cook, plus a FairPrice, hardware stores, pharmacies and more.
If your street was chosen for a remake of a film, which would it be? Well, given how many French neighbours we have, and my name, could I root for the Emily in Paris TV series instead?
We’re sure your neighbours are great, but is there anything you wouldn’t mind a little less of? Other than building works, no! Our street has a strong sense of community, with a WhatsApp chat, and my neighbour organises a neighbourhood trick-or-treating map for Halloween. If you ever need to borrow anything – from crutches to a lawn mower – the neighbours help out.
Last summer, we were away on holiday and one of our neighbours alerted the chat to the fact that a delivery truck had just crashed into a parked car on the street. Turns out it was ours! Our neighbours connected us with the driver (who was luckily not injured), advised that they were witnesses should we need them for insurance and the whole surreal situation was eased thanks to their kindness.
What’s the unofficial uniform of your street? It’s not so much a uniform but an accessory – a bicycle. Everyone, from the French kids cycling to school, to parents and everyone else seems to cruise around on their bikes – including us!
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on your street? Aliens! Well, giant inflatable ones for Halloween, that is!
Things to do around Serangoon
What are your three favourite places to eat or drink in Serangoon Gardens?
Chomp Chomp, our local hawker: When I mentioned to a Singaporean friend that I was moving here. she extolled the deliciousness of the barbecue stingray at Chomp Chomp. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t all that keen to try it, but we obliged, and my mind was blown. It is delicious. The satay is the best on the island, too – it’s a family favourite go-to and also where we take our visitors.
Chu & Co: This quirky little corner bakery uses flavour combinations in its pastries that are adventurous, sometimes unexpected and (mostly always) delicious. The Community Coffee shop attached does the best oat flat white.
The Kind Bowl: Vegan Vietnamese food in My Village. The banh mi, summer salad, spring rolls and barbecue bowl are honestly the tastiest, mouth-exploding veg food in Singapore.
What are the best places to shop in Serangoon Gardens?
Little Farms: The Serangoon outlet of Little Farms opened a month after we moved in and it has a great butcher counter. I love the selection of tofu and tempeh, and the cafe is really good too. They do regular wine and food tastings in the store and have the friendliest staff.
Cut Butchery: This small butcher in My Village is really good value for high-quality meats and fish.
Plonk: A fun little bistro that does an excellent three-for-two deal on pizzas when we’re feeling too lazy to cook!
FairPrice Finest: Great for everyday essentials, plus as there are so many French expats in the area, we have a “French aisle” where you can find a lot of French biscuits, condiments, syrups – it’s like being in a tiny Carrefour!
Nex: If we want bigger shops like Daiso, Uniqlo, Cotton On, Krispy Creme, Poplar or Din Tai Fung, we just cycle to Nex mall, which is less than 10 minutes away
What are some fun, interesting things to do near Serangoon Gardens?
In the middle of Bishan Park, tucked away amongst the tropical greenery and foliage is the best little spa, Aramsa. It’s a heavenly retreat and they do a great mid-week deal on facials (ask for Grace!).
Bishan Park is ideal for walks, scooting or EzyRolling with the kids. You’ll see turtles, birds, maybe an otter or two and there are even signs to watch out for stingrays!
When we go biking, we join the park connector at Bishan and head towards Kallang. There’s a pub-style place called Essen where we stop for a refreshing drink on the way.
The Japanese Cemetery Park is a very tranquil space to walk around.
What’s one thing you’d never change? My 5km loop walk or run (depending on how early I can get out) weaving my way through the local streets and parks – I always go through one park that is buzzing with seniors getting their morning exercise rituals in. The average age must be 75 – it’s inspirational how dedicated and seriously these folk take their morning exercise. If I’m feeling lazy or disinclined to get my body moving, I think of these elders and get going!
How about one thing you would change? We are surrounded by French neighbours as IFS is close by – I wish I spoke more often in French to my neighbours to practice my language or signed up for a speaking class at IFS. The trouble is that they are all too great at speaking English so I get a bit embarrassed to speak – with the exception of my kind neighbour Gaelle who will patiently speak to me in slow French!
If the city gave you a million dollars to soup up Serangoon Gardens, how would you use it? I would add cycle lanes to the area, and in my view you can never have too many trees.
Things to do in Singapore
What are your favourite Singapore spots for taking out-of-town guests?
- East Coast walk or cycle, followed by Sunday lunch at Little Island Brewing Co.
- Joo Chiat strolling
- The Orchid garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens
- Shopping on Haji Lane and Arab Street then dinner at either Piedra Negra (Mexican) or one of the alfresco Middle Eastern restaurants with the Sultan Mosque as backdrop
- Sunrise morning walk around Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay
- Trishaw Uncle rickshaw tours around Chinatown or Kampong Glam
- Walk from Blair Road through to Keong Saik, into Chinatown to see the Yip Yew Chong murals, then back up to Ann Siang Hill and Club Street
- Walk around MacRitchie Reservoir
- Day trip to Pulau Ubin
When you’re in need of a dose of culture, where do you go? We’re always ingesting different cultures by way of the many different cuisines we enjoy as a family. I also try to keep up with my French and Italian language by listening to different native language podcasts.
I’m looking forward to seeing Hamilton during its Singapore run, and the annual Affordable Art Fair is something we attend most years. When the kids were smaller, we used to regularly go to the National Museum of Singapore, Arts Science Museum and SAM but I’m guilty of not going that much recently.
I also never tire of mooching around Blair Road – I’m in love with the colourful shophouses!
If you’re missing home, what do you do? We go ice skating in Kallang so that we can wear a jumper, jacket and gloves and feel like we’re either in a breezy British summer or skiing in the Alps!
Tell us about your neighbourhood!
Share what you like with others – just email us at contribute@expatliving.sg with “Street Talk” in the subject line. Include your name and street, and we’ll be in touch.
This article first appeared in the July 2024 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe, so you never miss a copy!
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