The Superlatives

What are your three favourite places to eat or drink in the neighbourhood?

Two Men Bagel House used to have the best coffee, but we returned from Christmas break to find they have shut down and the space is turning into a vegan restaurant so that is disappointing. Speaking of veggies, Original Sin has a decent lunch set. The Pit is our fave dive bar in the area, and Kamo Soba Keisuke has tasty ramen and a nice Japanese vibe. The waiter, Angus, is quite a character too!

What are the best places to shop at in the neighbourhood?

RedMart is our go-to for groceries, but we pop over to Cold Storage if we need anything – and recently a FairPrice Finest opened where Taste used to be, so that’s more functional with more useful items. Phoon Huat turned into Redman, which is convenient for little things for baking or for cheese.

What are some fun or interesting things to do in the neighbourhood?

Walking around the rich area nearby is fun. You can make it quite far weaving through the mansion-filled streets. We also host our friend, Joey Lam, in our back garden for sound healing sessions monthly. Chip Bee has such a good neighbourhood vibe so friends pop over regularly for barbecues, dinner parties or outdoor movies! And sometimes you can find me wheeling and dealing free stuff around the neighbourhood like Steptoe and Sons. Jerome gets annoyed when I accumulate additional free stuff!

What’s one thing you’d never change?

I love the greenery and that we are close enough to shops, but I mainly only hear the birds chirping.

How about one thing you change?

I am a little nervous about the large buildings going up in Holland Village and how that may change the ambience and the cost of living. However, if I had to choose one, I’d opt for the high-pitched pandemic dog to stop barking from the condo across the street.

If the city gave you a million dollars to soup up your street, how would you use it?

I would plant more trees, ban parking, and knock down The Merasaga condo so I can see sunset and solve that dog-barking problem. However, that’s probably more like a 20 million dollar endeavour.