Over The (Ann Siang) Hill

Ann Siang Hill is an area on the fringe of Chinatown and the CBD. It is a fusion of old businesses and clan houses still thriving next to new, hip joints such as design businesses, book stores, cafes and bars. I fear in due course the older, more traditional businesses will be completely displaced by the new businesses as rents continue to climb sky-high.

The lovely architecture of traditional Peranakan or Straits Chinese shophouses co-exist with the other more functional-looking 60s architecture.

Of particular interest to us is the Shots cafe cum photo gallery which serves pretty good coffee, pizza and they also serve shots of sake which we have not tried. The Screening Room has a roof-top bar terrace which overlooks the other shophouses and the interesting mix of skyscrapers and low-rise buildings.

We return to Ann Siang Hill over and over again to wander around this cool area, potter around the book stores, handle the vintage wares and admire cool Scandinavian designs.

Wine Bar Where Angels Fly

After coming across various cool stuff since we relocated back to hot, muggy Singapore from Sydney, we decided that we should start a blog to document these cool places and things to do since most people have the impression or preconception that Singapore is a boring place. There are nuggets of interesting places to visit, things to do in this little island city. One just needs to know where to look and this blog is here to help.

So if you are a newcomer to the little red dot, or a tourist, or even a local who hasn't really explored your own backyard, we aim to to pass on little gems of information.

For a start, there is a building I call "Gotham City". It is of course not its real name, in reality, it goes by Parkview Square and is along Beach Road opposite the Gateway buildings, a pair of diamond-shaped skyscrapers designed by the famous American architect, I.M. Pei who designed the Louvre glass pyramids in Paris. Gotham City has a slew of "fengshui" features in order to counteract the sharp edges of the Gateway buildings, which are believed to bring bad luck to his neighbours especially one which is directly opposite and hence absorbing most of its sharp edges cutting into the "qi" (life force) of the surrounds.

Gotham City is an OTT building with pomo (post-modernist) features, inside the lobby especially, you will be overwhelmed as you look above and around you. Check out the wine bar housed in the lobby, wine angels hooked up to wires, "fly" around to bring down bottles of wine as you order. Prices are steep but it's a nice ambience to have a conversation, admire the design features and have a drink or two.