Joo Chiat / Katong

The most photographed spot is Koon Seng Road, a short stretch of two-storey terrace shophouses painted in pastel colours, with moulded plasterwork, tiled facades and shuttered windows dating from the 1920s and 1930s. There is nothing to pay and no set opening hour, since this is a working neighbourhood of shops, cafes and homes rather than an attraction with a gate; most businesses run from mid-morning into the evening. The dish to try is Katong laksa, a coconut-and-dried-shrimp noodle soup served with the noodles cut short so the whole bowl can be eaten with a spoon alone — 328 Katong Laksa at 51 East Coast Road is the best-known name.

East Coast Park is a short walk south, so the two pair easily in one afternoon. Since June 2024 the district has had its own stop — Marine Parade (TE26) on the Thomson–East Coast Line — and the exit towards Joo Chiat Complex leaves you at the bottom of Joo Chiat Road, a roughly ten-minute walk up to the Koon Seng Road shophouses; before the line opened this was a long haul from Paya Lebar or Eunos.

The pastel shophouses on Koon Seng Road are private homes, not a museum — there is no interior to visit, so the whole point is the facades seen from the pavement. Go in the morning, when the terraces face the light and before residents' parked cars fill the kerb directly in front of them.