Walking Along Waterloo Street
Waterloo Street is a street between Bras Basah Road and Rochor Road. It was named in 1858 to commerorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over the French in the Battle of Waterloo. Although Waterloo Street is relatively short at about 500m, there are numerous buildings reflecting the different architectures and buildings of Singapore, and the NEW2U thrift shop.
I started my walk from Bras Basah Road (Circle Line : Bras Basah MRT).
From Bras Basah Road
Bras Basah Road is a busy road, while Waterloo Street has much reduced traffic in the midst in Singapore CBD area.The Manual Life Building and the Singapore Art Museum mark the start of Waterloo Street.
Photo taken at about ~10am
There is a Synagogue beside Manual Life Building and a few two-three storey houses, one being used by the Dance Ensemble Singapore.
Further along, there are two private apartments and a public housing complex, Waterloo Centre. It provides a glimpse of the public housing and the private apartments in Singapore. The Waterloo centre has open public access unlike the private apartments.
Singapore Council of Wowen Organization(SCWO) New2U Thift Shop
The Singapore Council of Women Organisation(SCWO) building is beside the private apartment.
Within SCWO, there is a thift shop 'NEW2U' that operates on weekdays from Monday to Friday, 10:30am to 2:30 pm. It is open to the public. Three rooms(space) and the corridor are filled with a myriad of second-hand goods.
One room has men's clothings and shoes.
Another room and the corridor has women attires, scarves and bags. One of the rooms is at the other side of the building, and it sells books, toys, household stuff and accessories.
Most of the staff are volunteers' and the proceeds go towards charity. The staff are friendly and helpful. It is a wonderful place where you'll find all sorts of interesting things for sale, and getting the jackpot feel when one finds premium quality items at bargain prices. Volunteers constantly restock the store with items at low prices. One never knows what new "treasures" will be available. Thus, both SCWO and buyers benefit greatly from the NEW2U shop. And Kudos to the groups of volunteers! :)
SCWO NEW2U thrift shop
After a fruitful purchase at SCWO, I continued walking along Waterloo Street and reached the Middle Road intersection. Crossing Middle Road, you begin to feel the hustle and bustle of the city. Fortune Centre with many cafes (especially vegetarian eateries) is situated beside the traffic intersection.
Sri Krishnan Temple and Kwan Im Temple
Two famous places of worship, namely the Sri Krishnan Temple and the Kwan Im Temple sited beside each other, are at the last section of Waterloo Street.The Kwan Im Temple is a very popular as it is almost synonymous with the other commonly used name for Waterloo Street - "Four Road" or 四 马 路。
The pedestrian area in front of the temples are buzzing with vendors selling flowers, joss-sticks and many other goods. The temple area also marks the end of Waterloo Street.
To Bugis MRT
Walking through the Housing Estate across the Temple is Queen Street. The Bugis Street Shopping Area is along Queen Street. There is also a huge Waterloo Street Food Centre with many delicious and reasonably priced local foods such as Chicken Rice and Indian Rojak.
On the other side of Bugis Street Shopping Area is Bugis Junction. The Downtown line and the East-West line MRT are located here.
Although Singapore is a small city, I still make interesting pockets of discovery when exploring its streets. All in all, it was a good walk.