What we love about living in Katong!

KARMEL SCHREYER is from Winnipeg, Canada via 28 years in Hong Kong. She’s an author of educational materials and children’s/YA literature, and she lives on Singapore’s East Coast.

About your East Coast neighbourhood

What’s the name of your street and district? Amber Road in Katong.

If it’s in another language, what does it mean? Katong translates from Malay as a species of now-extinct sea turtle, or it may refer to the rippling effect of a sea mirage seen from the shore. Historically known as Tanjong Katong (“Turtle Point”), the area was once a coastal, swampy area popular for its sea turtles.

What’s a common myth or misconception about your neighbourhood? That Katong is a seaside resort! Our condo complex, The Seaview, took its name from the old “Seaview Hotel” apparently… but we are several reclamation projects away from the beach now.

Exact words you tell a taxi driver to get home? “Seaview, Katong, please.”

Closest MRT station? If I lived in the penthouse of the tower block two doors down within this condo complex, the brand-new Marine Parade MRT would be within spitting distance.

How long have you lived in Katong? Why here? Our two-year lease at the Lotus in Joo Chiat was not renewed. Joo Chiat has been earmarked for significant regentrification – we had a penthouse unit with vaulted ceiling in a “character” building and were told our unit was going to be renovated.

We moved to the Seaview condo complex to be closer to East Coast Park. I wanted to be up high (I’m a prairie girl and I need to see a far horizon – ocean or wheat field, it’s all the same). And I wanted a balcony. We needed to stay on the east side as my husband is working on the Changi International Airport construction project. The Seaview is a complex of six towers surrounding a large freeform pool, a lap pool and luxuriant landscaping, at the bottom end of Joo Chiat Road. We have been here a year and are very happy.

The Seaview condo fact file

Name of condo: The Seaview (or Sea View)
Facilities: Enormous pools, children’s play areas, gym, clubhouse, manicured gardens, underground parking, tennis court, basketball court, barbecue areas and more
Size: 6 towers, 546 units
Age: Built in 2008
Nearest supermarket: Katong V mall is next door
Community vibe: Eclectic: it truly is all things to all people

Katong highlights

What’s the closest store to the Seaview condo? My favourite coffee shop on the corner of East Coast Road closed last year to become a doggy daycare/kennel, with a dog academy upstairs. Next door is the Katong V mall, housing a FairPrice Finest, and an array of cafés, beauty salons and study centres. Roxy Square mall is downstreet – choc-full of bargain-price beauty services, vintage shops and humble eateries. The i12 Katong mall at the corner with Joo Chiat Road bustles with goods and services, including the famed now Brazilian-owned Canadian doughnut café called Tim Hortons. On the opposite side, East Coast Road is lined with cafés, nail/hair salons and souvenir stores all the way back to Mountbatten.

If your street was chosen for a remake of a film, which would it be? There’s a lot going on in Katong, and it gets wild at night, with all the eateries and bars spilling onto the sidewalks. If Joo Chiat Road were “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” then around the corner at Katong you’d be suffering “Saturday Night Fever”. Tough question!

We’re sure your neighbours are great, but is there anything you wouldn’t mind a little less of? I dream for the completion of the civil engineering works all around. Remember, Seaview used to be the name of a beach-front hotel! The little-used clubhouse I see from the guest bedroom is a beautifully restored beach house from the time that Marine Parade was actually the coastline. As a result, there seems to be need for a major shoring up of the pipeworks in the area. It’s a big, noisy job, but they are getting there.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on your street? I had my face threaded at a wee place in the Roxy mall. That sure felt strange, but I’ll be going back when my whiskers grow back. The two Tim Hortons outlets (i12 and Parkway Parade) are a strange sight to me, but I’m Canadian and I hope Singapore catches on to Timbits as they do kouignamann and sourdough bread. There’s Paws4Splash, a dog swimming pool at Parkland Green in East Coast Park, which is fun to peek at. And I often run into an interesting fellow on the Haig Walk who rides his scooter and blasts out hokeyjokey music from a boom-box. Maybe you know him?

Things to do around Amber Road

Three favourite places to eat or drink? I like the Lower East Side Tacqueria for a delicious sweet cold fresh coconut. They will even carve out the meat for me. (I can only use one hand and, well, I’m a regular.) I still make the walk up the Haig Linear Park to get to Tiong Bahru for a nice coffee and lemon tart… It’s only about 2,500 steps to Supernova on Tanjong Katong Road, where I feast on scrambled egg, croissants and coffee, and maybe a lemon meringue tart. Its sister bistro Neptune is also within walking distance down East Coast Road. On weekends we usually end up at one of them, depending on where the wind takes us, and the staff are always friendly.

Best places to shop in the neighbourhood? Katong is so convenient for shopping and is the reason why we will never leave the area! The assorted malls down East Coast Road and Marine Parade provide all you need at a variety of price points.

Fun or interesting things to do in Katong? The monthly vintage market next to i12 mall on the first weekend of each month. The rock-wall climbing facility at the top of that mall. And, of course, East Coast Park.

What’s one thing you’d never change? The large green space on Haig Road, across from Supernova. There are large condo complexes being built in the vicinity (Canadian International School shifted to Jurong West to make room for one of them.) But there are thousands of kids in the remaining schools who need a place to play. And it’s used by others on weekends.

How about one thing you would change? Plant trees along the Haig Linear Park… it’s a heat canyon out here!

If the city gave you a million dollars to soup up your street, how would you use it? I’d plant those trees, somehow.

Things to do in Singapore

Favourite Singapore spots for taking out-oftown guests? Marina Bay Sands, a boat ride past Merlion, a meal at Telok Ayer hawker centre, the Arab Quarter, Chinatown (with dumplings!) and Little India. We’ve taken a friend kayaking, on her second visit, and are considering the downtown sidecar tour for ourselves.

When you’re in need of a dose of culture, where do you go? We go to concerts or the theatre: Rod Stewart, Coldplay, Tom Jones, Cirque de Soleil… I also like the art galleries; I went to the Banksy exhibition and was impressed by the diversity of the crowd.

If you’re missing home, what do you do? I get on a plane every summer.

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This article first appeared in the April 2026 issue of Expat Living magazine. You can buy the latest mag or an annual subscription, or read the digital version for free now.

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