15 minutes from the MRT - Commonwealth

An afternoon in a heartland ’hood


Eat: Half a kilometre north of the station up Commonwealth Drive – or ‘chap luck lao’ to taxi drivers (‘16th storey’ in Hokkien) – is the Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre. Well-sheltered with plenty of ventilation, there are stalls selling hot and cold drinks, desserts and a variety of good-priced eats. Another option is a three-minute walk south of the station at Tanglin Halt or ‘chap lao’ (‘10th storey’). The food centre here is where you can find arguably Singapore’s best peanut pancake at #16 (usually sold out by noon); a popular duck noodle stall at #23; and a mean latte at Café 66 at #01. Elsewhere, Block 49’s corner coffee shop sells good nasi briyani (only Fri-Sun mornings), while the Hainanese chicken rice stall at Block 47 rules. 

Shop: The neighbourhood stores at ‘16th storey’ have more variety than others in the area, hawking everything from fashion and jewellery to ‘masakmasak’ (toys) and TCM products. 

The newbie: Located close to the station are three new blocks of 40-storey HDB flats, which are a good 30 storeys taller than all the other flats around them. Comprising 700 studio, three-, four- and five-room apartments, these flats may well lead to the Tanglin Halt area being known as ‘shi chap lao’ (‘40th storey’). 

Do: If you have never been to one, there’s an air-conditioned columbarium located in the basement of Faith Methodist Church, a Commonwealth landmark next to the station. See how some people decorate their loved ones’ ‘plots’ with colourful artificial flowers and trinkets. 

People-watch spot: There is an interesting playground area fenced by blocks 36-38 in Tanglin Halt area, about a 10-minute walk south of the station. In the late afternoons or early evenings (especially on weekends), mothers and domestic helpers will bring their children and wards to play at the water fountain and children’s playground, while bigger kids play ball games at the hard courts. Other locals chat or read books under the pavilions, play with their dogs or walk on the refl exology paths. 

Walkabout: Behind Block 71, a three-storey flat located opposite the Tanglin Halt Hawker Centre, there’s a 500m footpath running parallel to a railway track. Used as a jogging track by residents, it’s a pleasant shaded walk that leads to Commonwealth Park where, just a few steps from Block 55, there’s a hole in the fence that both locals and expats use to cross the railway track. But be careful of passing trains! After looking both ways, nip across and enter into the Portsdown Road area. Another 15-minute walk through narrow winding roads will lead to the work-live-play enclave Workloft@Wessex and the eating house Colbar (9A Whitchurch Rd, 6779 9859), a popular expat haunt stocked with cold beer and some good pub grub.