This afternoon I had the chance to go "jalan-jalan" in the Kampong Glam area. What does jalan-jalan mean? It's the word the locals use when they say "to walk" or "to go for a walk". Somehow, I like using this word whenever I talk to friends because they would already get the context right away. For example, whenever I say "I'll go for a walk", there will be a follow-up question that says "Where?" or "Why?". But when I say, "jalan-jalan", they would immediately understand that I'll go for a leisurely kind of walk. In a way, it's a more efficient way of communicating.
A "jalan-jalan" in Kampong Glam is best during the afternoon because it won't be that crowded when compared to nighttime. At night, the alleys of Kampong Glam will be crowded by pub-goers and tourists who are also visiting the place. Although there are also tourists in the afternoon, it's fewer because most of them are only visiting the Sultan Mosque.
I started my walk along the Beach Road. In this area, the most prominent building that you will see from a kilometer away is the The Concourse.
The Kampong Glam or Bugis area is a mixture of old buildings and modern buildings that were built not so long ago. I value both types of architecture so I also took photos of the ones that caught my eye.
One of the reasons why the traditional shophouses were still kept and maintained is the amazing craftsmanship of the ornaments that are installed on the facade.
From Beach Road, it would only take about 5 minutes of walk to reach the Sultan Mosque which is the most important landmark in this area. As I got closer to the area, I noticed that there were many excursion buses that I believe were from Malaysia. It looks like they are on a filed trip and part of the places that they have to visit is the mosque.
If there's one thing that always catches my attention is the abundance of colors and patterns everywhere I look. This whole area is like a tapestry, from the buildings to the things that are pasted or painted on the walls.
There are tight alleys that have street art on either side of it. I was having difficulty in taking photos some people kept crossing the view of my photos and kept blocking the shots 🤣.
In one of the alleys, I found a weird setup of street art on the facade of the shophouse. It looks like they painted artwork on mannequins and then they placed them on the edge of the roof. It looks more like a Halloween display with an artistic touch.
This view gives me a surreal and scary feeling which I find very odd for a street art lover like me, lol.
While the rest of the street art is what I consider to be the normal kinds.
At this point, after a 30-minute walk, I felt hungry so I went on looking for a place to dine. At first, I planned to dine at one of the Middle-Eastern or maybe one of the Malay-style restaurants at Kampong Glam but it was too crowded. So, I decided to back to Beach Road and dine at one of my favorite Thai restaurants called Boraan Siam.
I often go to this place whenever I prefer an air-conditioned dining experience that offers an affordable price for their food. For this lunch, I ordered Pineapple Fried Rice with Prawns.
My impression of Thai food is that they make an effort to use fresh ingredients. The flavor and seasoning are generous and it's never subtle. There will always be a contrast when it comes to the texture of the ingredients.
This plate of pineapple fried rice cost me S$8.80 but it's worth it. Just look at the size of the prawns because those don't come cheap here in Singapore. I feel comfortable paying the price because of the quality of each ingredient in this dish.
It was a great walk and I had the pleasure to eat at one of my favorite places. At this point, I was already satisfied and felt happy about this "jalan-jalan".
Right after my meal, I head to the nearest MRT station to go back home.
See you on my next "walk and eat"!
My journey to the world of places.
