Exploring the North-South corridor

The North-South corridor is a segment that many Singaporeans living in the North can relate to. Comprising of Sembawang Road on the North, continuing downwards to Upper Thomson Road before ending with Thomson Road on the Southern end, this stretch connects the Northern part of Singapore to the city district and serves as an alternative to The Central Expressway.

Despite being of strategic importance to the transportation of Singapore, this area also boasts a large collection of food and heritage which is often overlooked by busy commuters. I thus decided to take a night walk down this area starting on 9 February 2017 at 2300 hrs, starting from Admiralty MRT station and ending at the junction of Thomson Road and Moulmein Road, walking for almost 20 km and taking a total time of 6 hours. Geared with 2 litres of water and a determined mind, I began documenting this journey.

When I first got to Admiralty MRT station at about 2300 hrs (pictured), it was not very packed, but many people were seen walking home. Most of the people have ended their day’s work and are carrying the usual tired face around. From the MRT station, I proceeded to walk east towards Woodlands Ave 7.

Walking along Woodlands Ave 7, I spotted the Woodlands Park Connector and decided to follow along its trail, since it was also the same path that I was supposed to take to Gambas Ave. The ambiance was comforting, especially since the area was rather dark and that there were very little people on the streets after I left the MRT station, thus allowing me to immerse myself in my own thoughts. There were also interesting sights I saw along the way, especially near a pop-up building for the new NorthWave executive condominium, which I have included pictures in the album below.

As I travelled along Sembawang Rd near Yishun, I encountered Chong Pang City and saw a Cai Shen “guarding” the gates to it (pictured). The Chinese New Year spirit is still there from the looks of it, and it did warrant a photo to be taken.

Just down the road after Chong Pang Camp, it was the famous Chong Pang Nasi Lemak. The food looked great, but I did not get the opportunity to try it as I was not having an appetite for it. Nonetheless, I did take a photo of the food available for my reference in the future before I headed down for some McDonald’s instead.

After a refill of food, I got going again, heading along Sembawang Rd before entering Upper Thomson Rd. Majority of Upper Thomson Rd was forest, with the occasional rows of shophouses near road junctions. Along the way, I managed to encounter the construction site of Springleaf MRT station and Upper Thomson MRT station as part of the new Thomson-East Coast Line. Around Springleaf MRT station was the Springleaf Nature Park (pictured).

Behind the Springleaf MRT station, there was also a row of shophouses which seemed to be selling some good food, but I did not manage to go down and have a look due to time constraints. Nonetheless, the journey down south continued, occasionally hitting places such as Sembawang Hills Estate and the area around Upper Thomson MRT station before ending the journey of Upper Thomson Rd at the junction with Lornie Rd and Thomson Rd.

I then continued on with exploring Thomson Rd, first with the florist area outside MediaCorp and continuing on after Balestier Rd until I reached my destination of NS20 Novena MRT station at 0500 hrs. Along the way, there were more shophouses, especially at the stretch opposite Novena Church, though I did not explore further than taking a photo of their signboards.

As pictures speak a thousand words, here’s the album that contains all the photos I have taken throughout this whole journey. Feel free to add your comments here, on the album or the individual photos.

To conclude, this journey has been one of the longest late night walks I have embarked on, and it is a drastic difference compared to the usual route that I would have taken (which is mostly urban areas). Nonetheless, this journey was made in celebration of the end of my RCC in the Army and the start of a new chapter as a commander. Here’s to the next 1 year in service!