Everchanging Landscape 1 - Alexandra Road

Personal Musings:

Alexandra Road- Prince Philip Avenue, Prince Charles Avenue : These British sounding roads are still around. However, the landscape around these roads had changed totally. The 4-storey rental flats along Alexandra Road (from former 'Thye Hong Biscuit factory' till Lower Delta Road) were demolished in the 90s. Those higher blocks inside the estate near where Crescent Girls School were gone way before that. At present, only CGS and the old Post Office building were left behind.

 

Block 39 Alexandra Road where I lived in the 80s till 1993

September 2016

Where Blk 39 used to be is an empty land now

Blk 39 empty land looking towards Blk 101 & Alessandra Condominium along Alexandra Road

Now, Viking Road has disappeared!!!

The old Alexandra Post Office Building is still standing but the PO occupies only a small part of it.

The Cars I owned in my lifetime:

My first car was a second hand 7 year old orange coloured Mazda 323 in 1980 costing around $7000.

1980 Mazda 323 : EG 4503 P 1000cc car

My second car was also a second-hand car, a midnight blue Mitsubishi Lancer ET 9112 L in the mid-80s costing around 10K for a 7-year old 1400cc car.

 My third car, a brand new Proton Saga 1.3 (late 1980s to early 90s). Proton was Malaysia's pride then. SBQ4101C

My fourth car, Mazda 323 (late 1990s), a champagne gold 1.3L car SCV9104Z

The fifth car was a Nissan Sunny EX, late 90s to mid 2000s SFA 3049P costing about 43K

In 2006, again I opted for a Silver Nissan Sunny 1.3 costing 47K, a facelift version of the previous car. Drove it for ten problem-free years.

SGJ312P

April 2016 : White Kia Forte costing 89K SLB1622X

Everchanging Landscape 3 Margaret Drive Singapore 2 (Revisited)

Margaret Drive in 2004

 The thriving provision shop at corner of Blk 39A

 Abandoned 38 Commonwealth Ave wet market

 Entrance of the 38 Commonwealth Ave wet market

 Refuse dump area of wet market

 38 Commonwealth Ave wet market from Blk 39A

 Refuse dump area of wet market. Pictures below showed me and my brother at that area in 1961...the familiar bricked wall

 

 The other entrance of 38 Commonwealth Ave wet market

38 Commonwealth Ave wet market - used to have a very good Bak Kut Teh stall 

NTUC Fairprice Supermarket Margaret Drive circa 2004

I visited Margaret Drive again in the 2011 when it was on the verge of being demolished for future development into a new town. 

The cinema cum bowling building - ticket payment booth

Queenstown Cinema and Bowl exterior : right side is the heritage 38 Wet market

Side view of the Queenstown Cinema and Bowl building

The other side view of the Queenstown Cinema and Bowl building

Ticketing booth with the signboards

Second level of the Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre where the famous steam chicken rice stall was located

Ground level of Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food centre as viewed from the former Polyclinic

Side staircase of the cooked food centre

Car park directly opposite Queenstown Public Library

Ground level as viewed from staircase

Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre as viewed from open field opposite Quuenstown Public Library

Another view from the open field

Another view of  
Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre

This well-known Poh Piah Skin stall on the second level is now located at Commonwealth Crescent Market

View of the Poh Piah Skin stall on the second level

 

Last desolate look at the second level of Commonwealth Ave Cooked food Centre 

Path leading from Blk 39A to Food Centre

The former Queenstown Polyclinic

Block 39A , one of the last Margaret Drive housing blocks to be demolished

View of the former Queenstown Polyclinic taken from top floor of Blk 39A

East-West MRT Line from Blk 39A

View of Commonwealth Cooked Food Centre 

View of Margaret Drive running between the Food Centre and Polyclinic

View of Queenstown Primary School from Blk 39A

View of Tanglin Halt Estate from Blk 39A

View of Mei Ling Estate in the far right

View of Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre from Blk 39A

View of NTUC Fairprice Supermarket from Blk 39A

Desolate view of corridors of abandoned Blk 39A

Corridors of Blk 39A

Airy view from corridor of Blk 39A

Blk 39A Margaret Drive circa 2011

View of the land where the Commonwealth Ave Cooked Food Centre used to stand as taken from Queenstown Public Library circa 2013

View of land where NTUC Supermarket used to stand as taken from Queenstown Cinema before it was demolished circa 2013

Rebuilding Margaret Drive 2016

The vacant site now 2016. It used to be Blk 6C (below),  beside Queensway Secondary School

Entrance of Blk 6C

Piling works began for the new HDB apartments in the area where the Cooked Food Centre used to be.

 The drain at the edge of Margaret Drive

September 2016 : The construction of a new HDB precinct is in full swing at this moment. 

Only the Church of Our Saviour, The Fisherman of Christ Fellowship building, Blk 38 Market, Queensawy Secondary School, the former Queenstown Polyclinic Building and Queenstown Library are left after the development.

The Future Margaret Drive/Dawson Estate