This is Everton Food Place - a heartland coffeeshop located within Everton Park. I grew up in this estate. Moved in since when I was 12 and stayed here till I moved out (officially) when I got married. Well, I moved out when I got into army when I was 18, and never moved back until 7.5 years later. But I moved out again 1.5 years later after i got my own flat. I have never eaten at this coffeeshop until I came back from the US in 2010. Then I realized I am coming back almost 3-4 times a week to have my breakfast and coffee... Little has changed. The cha kuey teow unker has more white hair now, and he hunched more.
My setup and I am bring out today for a test run.
Having breakfast at Telok Blangah Drive food center. The familiar sight and sound was coming back to us. Some stall holders have aged a little, whereas some have gone. The magic of eating at heartland places like this is the comfort we find as we return to things that we are familiar with - it is like going home for a meal. We find ways to cope with the rapid growing urban society, for now, the food market is one.
It cost S$25 to get into the attraction, River Safari, a newly opened river-themed zoo in Singapore. It is built over 12 hectares (30 acres) and nestles between its 2 counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. The River Safari is the first kind in Asia and cost S$160m to build ((according to the website info). At the same time, the Zoo and the River Safari share a common "exhibit" - the frozen Tundra, a 1400 sqm. enclosure that houses the great Polar Bear. The River Safari, though is featuring the giant pandas (leased from China), is only partially opened. I was particularly impressed by the Manatee exhibit which is a gigantic fresh water aquarium named as the Amazon Flooded Forest. I was sketching at the Mekong River aquarium that is as large as 4 double decker buses combined. What you see in the sketch and photo are giant Mekong river catfishes.
Sketching rooftops is always fun.
