Highlander Coffee

Nested amongst sleazy karaoke bars along Kampong Bahru was Highlander, a cafe serving gourmet coffee brewed with beans from Sumatra, Costa Rica, Kenya etc.

The smell of coffee hits as you step into the cafe. "We roast our own beans here", say the lady serving us. The coffee I had was aromatic, but not too bitter. I had 2 cups of flat white, beyond my usual a-cup-per-day habit.

But it was the homely atmosphere I was drawn to. I was happily settled reading from my Kindle and many customers were also enjoying their cuppa whilst flipping through the papers. And I was pleasantly pleased with the lady server who offered to warm up the cookie to go with my drink.

A delightful way to spend the afternoon.

Address:
Highlander Coffee
49 Kampong Bahru Road
+65 62261686

The Journey of Re-discovery

The inspiration for this project came from my year as a graduate student in Sydney.

I spent more time exploring Sydney than I did studying. I never ran out of things to do on weekdays and weekends. Days were spent exploring new neighborhoods, or checking out cafes, second-hand bookstores etc with the aim of spending as little money as possible. Not much money on hand does call for creativity.

I think the push of wanting to experience everything that Sydney had to offer was to do with the fact that I knew I only had a year to do it all.

When I came back to Singapore, I kept hearing the same refrain, "But Singapore is boring, there's absolutely nothing to do." "The malls are full of people. I'm not sure where to go." And I settled back into that familiar, comforting groove.

But it wasn't until I met Mr. M, an American student in Singapore who told me about the hawker stall selling great fried tau pok (and only fried tau pok) that was just a street away from my house that I realised that he, like me in Sydney, was trying to discover as much of Singapore given the limited time he had.

So, I decided to re-look at Singapore, my home, the place where I grew up, with fresh eyes. This blog is about discoveries, of unearthing hidden gems in Singapore, whether it be a old-style cafe-bakery, a funky new designer, or a slice of heritage.

The areas that I'll be attempting to re-discover:

• Near the Valley: River Valley/Kim Seng/Tiong Bahru
• Heritage District & the Quay(s): Boat Quay/Clarke Quay/Fort Canning/Heritage District/Hill Street/Robertson Quay/Mohamad Sultan Area
• South of the Bridge: Chinatown/Outram/Telok Ayer/Amoy/Club Street/Ann Siang Hill/Tanjong Pagar
• Arts Belt: Bencoolen/Middle Road/Selegie/Bugis
• Little India
• Around the Mosque: Sultan Mosque/Haji Lane/Arab Street/Beach Road
• Westenders: Alexandra/Portsdown/Pasir Panjang/Buona Vista/Holland/Rochester
• Around the Orchard: Dempsey/Botanic Gardens/Orchard
• Hillside: Bukit Timah/Farrer
• Central Catchment: Newton/Novena/Thomson
• Red Alert: Geylang/MountBatten/Lavender/Balestier/Bendemeer
• Eastenders: Tanjong Katong/Joo Chiat/Siglap

I hope you will also enjoy this process of re-discovery as much as I will. I will be happy to hear from you at urbanewalks@gmail.com

Cheers,
Cindy