• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Go to Expat Living Hong Kong
GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Expat Living Singapore HomepageExpat Living Singapore

Moving to Singapore and not sure where to start? Expat Living is the essential lifestyle guide to living in Singapore.

Menu
  • Living in Singapore
      • Living here
      • Neighbourhood Guides
      • Schools
      • Property
      • Work And Business
      • Finance
      • For Guys
      • Environment
        • mens shirts singapore10 of the best places to buy men’s shirts
        • Woman using phone mobile banking bank for expatsWhich bank should I choose in Singapore?
        • lamos featureOnline gift shopping for everyone
        • Chinese New Year lanternsChinese New Year: What to do (and not do)
      • View all
    Close
  • Things To Do
      • Things to do
      • EL Events
      • Calendar
      • Competitions
      • Noticeboard
        • Divaagar, Render Tender Singapore Art Museum Singapore Art WeekDivaagar, Render Tender Singapore Art Museum Singapore Art WeekWhat’s on this week and beyond
        • Chinese New Year lanternsChinese New Year: What to do (and not do)
        • bookGreat books: What to read this month
        • super soulGreat podcasts we are listening to!
      • View all
    Close
  • Kids
      • Enrichment
      • Kids Things To Do
      • Mums & Babies
      • Schools
      • Tots & Toddlers
      • Tweens & Teens
        • kidsHelping our children deal with stress
        • Mark WenzelMeet the new Superintendent!
        • Performers Ballet Academy ballet dancer on stage activities for kidsExciting enrichment activities for kids
        • childrens mental health covidCOVID Fatigue – How it’s affecting us all
      • View all
    Close
  • Homes
      • Home Decor
      • Readers’ Homes
      • Furniture
        • singapore interior designersNeed a bit of help with your home décor?
        • how to do a home makeover tips6 small changes for a big home makeover
        • Bungalow 55Having a party of eight?
        • The Cinnamon roomRugs and carpets – who bought what?
      • View all
    Close
  • Travel
      • Asia
      • Australia & New Zealand
      • Rest Of World
      • News
      • Travel Offers
        • The Fullerton Hotel kids room tent4 fun family staycays – with deals!
        • Merdeka - Where to stay in ThailandWhere to stay in Thailand, reviews & more
        • Covid-19 travel woman mask airportCOVID-19 travel: What to expect
        • Hong Kong with kids - SuperParkThings to Do with Kids in Hong Kong
      • View all
    Close
  • Wine & Dine
      • Asian Cuisine
      • Western Cuisine
      • Bars & Clubs
      • Groceries & Speciality Services
      • Recipes & Classes
        • LyresDry January: Alcohol-free drinks to try!
        • vietnamese food que beef pho singaporeIn the mood for Vietnamese?
        • Barista CoffeeNew Nibbles: Foodie news!
        • online groceries singaporeTop websites to get your groceries
      • View all
    Close
  • Style & Beauty
      • Fashion
      • Hair & Beauty
      • Beauty Offers
        • jewelleryJewellery gift ideas for all budgets
        • Work wear singaporeEasy ways to revamp your office wear!
        • PabloBlau_6AUG2020-02a5 facials for the new year!
        • mens shirts singapore10 of the best places to buy men’s shirts
      • View all
    Close
  • Health & Fitness
      • Dental
      • Fitness
      • Medical
      • Wellness
        • kidsHelping our children deal with stress
        • nutritionist in singaporeA nutritionist that gets to the root cause of disease
        • critical illness insurance family and kids at homeA guide to critical illness insurance
        • COVID-19 PCR tests doctor swab testGetting a COVID-19 PCR test in Singapore
      • View all
    Close
  • Shop
    • PRINT MAGAZINE
    • DIGITAL MAGAZINE
    • BOOKS
    • Close
Home » Living in Singapore » Neighbourhood Guides » Guide to Bristol Road

Guide to Bristol Road

29th August 2018 by Jessamy Smit 5 Min Read

https://expatliving.sg/street-talk-bristol-road-singapore/

Looking to move to a new neighbourhood? Nothing would be better than to hear from the residents themselves. We speak to Amanda Dale, a Cycling Instructor and Master Trainer at Aquaspin from Los Angeles, about the ins and outs of living around Bristol Road,Bukit Timah.

Bukit Timah
Life around Bristol Road

Exact words you tell a taxi driver to get home?
“Uncle, across from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, please.”

What’s the name of your neighbourhood?
The Cambridge Estates (very posh).

Closest MRT station?
We are smack dab between the Little India and Farrer Park stations.

How long have you lived here?
We moved in six months ago and plan to stay as long as we can!

Why here?
We love the quiet, civilised feeling of being in an older part of town – but we also like having the lively, active scene right across the park in Little India. Novena is also a 10-minute walk in the opposite direction, so we have the best of all things: peaceful, practical and party-going.

bristol road singapore
Bukit Timah Bristol Road
bristol rd singapore homes
Bukit Timah Bristol Road
Bukit Timah Bristol Road
Bukit Timah Bristol Road
Bukit Timah Bristol Road
Bukit Timah Bristol Road

When you walk out of your place, the first thing you see is:
The Farrer Park Aquatic Centre, making us feel guilty about not swimming laps every day.

The closest store to your front door is:
A little NTUC FairPrice in the HDB flats down the street.

Your street would make the perfect backdrop for a remake of:
TV show The Jeffersons. All these older walk-ups make you feel like you’re really “movin’ on up…to a deluxe apartment in the sky”.

Your neighbours are great, but you wouldn’t mind a little less:  Smoking in the stairwell. You know who you are.

The unofficial uniform of your street is:
A taqiyah (Muslim headwear for men) and long linen trousers – we have a mosque just a few houses down, and men come all day to pray.

If a celebrity moves in next door, it will most likely be:
Chris Pratt, if I had my druthers! But it would probably be someone trying to stay out of the spotlight and go “low pro” to train for a role, like Johnny Depp or Joaquin Phoenix. You know, hipsters.

The hustle and bustle near Bristol Road

When you’re in need of a dose of culture, you:
Take the seven-minute walk to Mustafa Centre. It’s like a microcosm of all the wonderful, chaotic and odd things about Singapore all contained in one (giant) building.

If you’re missing home, you:
Order a Domino’s pepperoni pizza. They deliver here in less than 30 minutes.

A mandatory stop for out-of-town guests is:
L’Etoile Café on Owen Road for the biggest and tastiest helping of beef rendang this side of Indonesia.

You’d swap houses in a second with:
One of our traditional area’s many homes with authentic, detailed Chinese architecture – all very beautiful and unique.

A common myth about your neighbourhood is:
That we don’t exist! Seriously, without the KK Women and Children’s Hospital as a major landmark, about 90 percent of the cab drivers would have no idea that Bristol Road is a real place.

If you’re ever woken up at night, it’s almost always due to:
The barking of three very, very large dogs (two golden retrievers and an Irish wolfhound) that live two houses down.

A massive late-night rager on your street is likely to be:
Any Sunday night. Hampshire Road is closed from 2pm until midnight, and busloads of workers come here to spend (and party!) their day off.

The Superlatives:

Your favourite neighbourhood joints are:
LK Maju on Jalan Besar – for the best mutton murtabak in Singapore (sorry Zam Zam). Druggists on Tyrwhitt Road – my favourite craft beer spot in all of Singapore. Pacific Dry Cleaners on Cambridge Road– they do a great job and are so friendly. Heart Springs Spa in City Square Mall – their 90-minute facials are super-luxurious.

You won’t find better local food than at:
Pek Kio, for the best local breakfast (soft-boiled eggs, kaya toast and kopi) in town – ask any cab driver and they’ll tell you the same. For local meat, Joe’s Butcher in Tekka Market is fresh, cheap and reliable – and their rosemary lamb sausage is the best I’ve ever tasted.

The strangest thing you’ve ever seen on your street is:
Several multicoloured strings of Christmas lights that our lovely across-the-street neighbour keeps hung up in his front yard all year long. I guess he’s just… festive?

We love a good bargain. The best deals in your neighbourhood are:
The $1 black kohl eyeliner pencils sold in tear-off packs at any convenience store in Little India. Up and down Serangoon Road are little stalls selling sunglasses for $1.99 – great throwaways in fun, trendy styles. And my personal fave is Bugis Street – the only place to go for fancy dress costumes, cute clothes, and the old standby deal: 10 pairs of earrings for $10.

Great bargains to be found at the market stalls

The guiltiest pleasure in your area is:
The roti prata joint on the corner of Rangoon Road and Starlight Road; it has the most amazing selection – everything from banana to chocolate to cheese to mushroom. You could gorge yourself on 10 distinctly different kinds of prata! Not that we have, or anything…

One thing you’d never change is:
The fact that most of the buildings here are multi-storey walk-ups – very few lifts. We get our exercise here on Bristol Road!

But one thing you wouldn’t mind seeing go is:
The stray cats that wander the streets all day. I wonder, how do they get fed?

The city gives you $5 million to soup up your street. You use it to:
Upgrade our shaky front gate, feed and house all the aforementioned cats, demolish the grungy old building just across the street to improve our balcony view, and finally finish the “interim park” on the corner of Bristol Road and Dorset Road that they’ve been working on developing for nearly a year now.

Why should your neighbourhood be featured in a guidebook?
People think the Little India neighbourhood is loud and chaotic; in fact, where we live is the most peaceful part of Singapore I”ve been to yet. Our street is centrally located to all the great food and shopping, yet still cosy, and it feels genuinely Singaporean.

 

This article first appeared in the January 2016 issue of Expat Living. You can purchase a copy for the full article, or Subscribe now so you never miss an issue!

We have a whole heap of Neighbourhood Guides to help you get to know your hood, or if you are thinking of moving! Or check out more about Living in Singapore.

Categories: Living in Singapore Neighbourhood Guides Tags: Living In Singapore Moving To Singapore Singapore Homes Singapore Property

Jessamy Smit

You May Also Like

Woman using phone mobile banking bank for expats

Which bank should I choose in Singapore?

New Year’s Tech Resolutions

contactless pest control and cleaning services Mom and daughter

Get rid of pests and pathogens safely

Primary Sidebar

Editor's Picks

where to buy furniture in Singapore

Where to buy furniture in Singapore – online too!

royal albatross yacht singapore romantic dinner

39 Cool & Fun Things To Do In Singapore

kate marsden facial review iyac med spa aesthetic clinic

Best facials in Singapore: Our reviews!

brunch st regis singapore

Best Brunch Places in Singapore: Champagne Sunday Brunches

hair salon in Singapore before and after

Best Hair Salon In Singapore – Our Favourites

What's On

Singapore International Photography Festival exhibition

Singapore International Photography Festival 2020

Stone Stacks Stefanie Hauger solo exhibition Miaja Art Collections

Stone Stacks

ThisConnect - Threading Worlds

ThisConnect – Threading Worlds

Battle between Rama and Ravana Faith Beauty Love Hope Our Stories, Your ACM Asian Civilisations Museum

Faith Beauty Love Hope – Our Stories, Your ACM

Perfect Stranger by Dawn Ng asian civilisations museum exhibition

Perfect Stranger

thINK exhibition Asian Civilisations Museum

thINK: Chinese Calligraphy, Connoisseurship, and Collecting

Expat Living Singapore 🇸🇬

expatlivingsg

Open
Guys: did you know that your skin is structurally different from that of ladies? For most men, androgen (testosterone) stimulation results in skin that’s thicker and tougher than women’s skin. This also means you might need something more than just your wife’s, mum’s or sister’s moisturiser or face wash! 

Lumin was founded on this concept; this California-based online store offers simple yet effective skincare for men, tailored to different skin types and concerns. So, whether you’re looking for a good face cleanser or a moisturiser for men, this is one brand to check out.

To differentiate Lumin from other men’s skincare brands, founders Richard Hong and Darwish Gani flew to South Korea to work on formulas that benefit the thicker and more stubborn skin constructs of men. Most of the ingredients used are powerful plant-based extracts like ginger root, rosemary, coffee and shea butter. The paraben-free and cruelty-free brand also makes a point of avoiding unnecessary nasties commonly associated with popular off-the-shelf products.

If it’s your first time shopping for men’s skincare, you’ll be glad to know that the Lumin experience is simple and fuss-free. Just fill out a brief questionnaire and you’ll get a personalised skincare regime that’s suited to your skin type and lifestyle. You can choose to go with a one-time purchase or have your products delivered on a subscription basis. Alternatively, shop from the curated range of skincare sets catered to different budgets and preferences.

Read about our readers review on our stories
Open
We are completely in love with the new Bvlgari Parfum Allegra that lets you customise your own scent...how cool is that! 
 
Step 1 - select your base fragrance 
Step 2 - personalise your fragrance with a magnifying essence 

The bottles are so pretty we want them all 💕 
 
The Allegra collection is available online at bulgari.com/en-sg and in-store at the Takashimaya Department Store from 19th January and if you can’t wait they also have a pop up only for today at ION SKY
Open
Say hello to our latest Kids' Guide! Want a free copy delivered to you? Visit 👉 expatliving.sg/KG and place your order before 30 January.
 
🧸 The guide has everything from finding an obstetrician and caring for your newborn, to fun activities and choosing the right schools for your child. There’s also lots of useful advice from other mums and dads.
Open
We love finding cool places to check out at weekends.

The Whiskey Library at the chic Vagabond Club Hotel is a must for Whiskey lovers. 

Be entertained by bespoke adventures such as specially curated (sung and told) Jazz stories, intimate theatre sessions, book readings, artist evenings, musical showcases, and even independent film premieres whilst enjoying delightful small bites. 

With a choice of over 1,000 rare and unique whiskeys you can even book a cool Staycation so you don’t have to travel home! @thevagabondclub
Open
So if you are still managing to cling onto dry January or still pondering whether to do dry February (like some of us here at EL), then you must check out our round up (link on stories) of alcohol free drinks to stock up on...we also spotted some pretty cool cocktail recipes on the links to help you out🍸🍹
Open
We are on the lookout for cute baby pics for our next issue. Have you or a friend just had a baby? Send over a baby pic with the date of birth and parents names to editorial@expatliving.sg and we'll feature them in our next issue (swipe to see an example of our baby noticeboard). Tag some friends in this post to share their news with us. 

All babies will receive a free personalised print from the gorgeous @hellosammyeve worth $150 (see 3rd pic). 

We just can’t wait to see the pics of those cute bubbas👶
Open
We are craving those pineapple tarts from @littlehouseofdreams packaged in a pretty eco-friendly canister with an engraved bamboo lid.

Check out their pretty gifts, hampers and roasts to help you usher in the year of the 🐂 

15% off regular items and 10% off gift sets until 31st Jan
Open
Hunting for new foodie places is a tough job but someone has to do it! 

Check out our stories link for a few new hot spots to try. There are more listed in our January print issue and others springing up next month!

Tag your favourite hot spots in our comments, we are always on the lookout 👀 🍽🍷🍻🍹
Open
We had some wonderful  celebrations today for our amazing Editor in Chief Rebecca. Happy Birthday and lots of love from all of the EL team ❤️ x
Open
We love cocktails in a can, what an easy start to kick off your weekend. Available in Espresso Martini, Margarita, Pineapple Daiquiri & Negroni - yum!  Order @curatif
Open
Time to get moving!

Our fitness experts share top tips helping to stick to those New Years resolutions 🏋️ 🧘‍♀️ 🏃‍♂️ 

Link in our stories
Open
The rain and cold winds getting you down? A warm beverage and maybe a good book to snuggle up to might just chase the blues away!

If hot chocolate is too mainstream for you, could we offer up this red velvet alternative? @littlefarms have a wide selection of oat milks, almond milks and soy milk options. 

Since it's #Veganuary, we recommend using dairy free milks to recreate this recipe....

2 cups non-dairy milk of choice
4 medjool dates (pitted)
1 tablespoon cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon beet powder

Add the milk and dates into a saucepan.
Heat, over medium, until it reaches a simmer. Add the warm milk with the dates and the remaining ingredients into a high speed blender.
Blend until completely smooth and creamy. Serve and enjoy! 

Image and recipe courtesy of @darngoodveggies
Open
Read our January issue on any device for free! To get started, visit 👉 expatliving.sg/digital/IG
In this issue, step inside a heritage shophouse, find out where our readers buy their carpets and dining tables, discover amazing glamping locations, plus find out how you can win a glamorous home decor prize worth over $7K!
Open
🎉 We're so pleased to announce the winners of our Readers' Choice Awards! Congrats to all the companies who were voted among the best in Singapore, and to the voters who won the amazing prizes. See the full results online now at 👉 expatliving.sg/readerschoice

.
#expatlivingsg #sgbusinesses #singaporebusiness #elsgreaderschoice
Open
What better way to choose movers than to get the inside scoop from happy customers themselves.

We hear from some individuals and families about their successful moves. 

Whether you’re relocating across the globe or just moving to the condo next door, you’re probably going to need some professional and reliable help to pack and transport for you so check out some recommendations in our stories
Open
Now, to start the new year off with a bang, @areteculture is excited to give one lucky winner a home décor essentials package to refresh their space!  Read more about this amazing giveaway here 👉🏻 www.expatliving.sg/comp-arete  #expatliving #singaporelife #areteculture #giveaway #expatsingaporelife #beinittowinit #homedecor #goodluck.
Open
Recently engaged? Check out our recent story on how to find a fabulous elegant dress plus wedding tips and details of some upcoming wedding trunk shows.

Congratulations from the EL team 💍🥂🍾
Open
Whilst we are all keen to stay in bed on this drab morning, it’s giving us time to work on our New Year Resolutions for a healthier 2021. 

Take a look on our stories for some fab suggestions to start the New Year.
Open
Happy New Year from the team at Expat Living. 

Let’s raise a glass to welcome 2021 🥂
Open
As we welcome the start of a new year, it’s time to look back at the year that was. 

Obviously, a standard review of 2020 would be dominated by one global issue, however, we’ve decided to avoid any mention of the C-word and instead, we’re taking a look at some of the other things that happened in 2020 
month by month, from pop culture phenomena to mystery objects in our deserts and skies (full link in our stories)

Enjoy – and have a wonderful 2021!
  • Competitions
  • Noticeboard
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy

© 2021 Expat Living Singapore, All Rights Reserved.