July 25, 2004

"Forget Boom Boom Room"

I met Wenn yesterday to hang out at this place called Torino's, which I chanced upon when I was out with Meisen and the postgrad company. It's at China Square Central, which is quite a different place from China Square, which is also different from Far East Square... and who bothers? sigh.

However, by the time we reached, it was closed, 'prematurely', cos business is bad. They do have very interesting desserts and coffees but it's a shame the location is bad. Anyway, since we were there, Wenn and I decided to walk around a bit. That began our little discovery of night life in the Raffles Place area.

Just opposite China Square Central, there were people dancing some sorta mass dance. The music sounded like Thai, like the kind China Dolls would sing. The interesting thing was that most of the people who were dancing didn't look Thai.

Then, we walked on to Far East Square. Now, we all know Far East Square is a bustling lunch place during weekdays. I have been there many times with Mel and Joyce before too. But, I didn't know that all along the outside of Far East Square, there is a little flea market every Saturday and Sunday. As Wenn and I walked on, we saw things like Hello Kitty soft toys, Astro boy figurines (which Wenn really liked), the toys I played when I was much younger, handheld 'Brick Games', and little animal figurines made with coloured dough.

We were really quite fascinated. I asked one of the stall aunties about the place and learnt that the rent is a mere 10 bucks per day, for 12noon till 10pm on every Sat and Sun.

So, since Wenn and I would be at a loss where to hang out after the end of Fat Frog, we thought and decided that we would engage Apple as our supplier and rent a space to sell sex toys. Hmm? = P

And near where Boom Boom Room is, there is a Teh Tarik Store that's quite popular with the Raffles Place lunch crowd. And just outside that, we heard singing. This is definitely an elderly version of Fat Frog Cafe. There were old uncles and aunties singing karaoke impromptu, and some were playing Chinese musical instrument like Er-hu and the flute. The kind of songs that were sung are to the likes of 'Rong2 Shu4 Xia4' - our parents' era. This is really really neat, I tell you. And children were crowding around the stall where a lady was modelling little animal figurines out of dough, families were seated at the Teh Tarik Store, chatting and listening to the impromptu Karaoke. Boom Boom Room is just so out of place there, if not to provide an interesting contrast to the scene there.

Wenn and I walked on. We walked to Club Street, and Ann Siang Hill. This is a place that was actually promoted as a hip clubbing place for expats and locals working in the artistic field. Alas, someone must have tampered with the Fengshui there. Still, I think the cafes, pubs and restaurants there make up a good assortment that is very different from those in or near our familiar shopping centres. Most of them look really inviting, cosy and the interior differs from one Italian restaurant to another. It's really nice. And the best thing? It's quiet, much more quieter than those in town. So, I think it's  good place if you just want to have a cosy place to chill out with your mates.

Ann Siang hill is one of the heritage conservation sites in Singapore. What interested Wenn and me most was this 'Gym and Spa' place called R** (don't quote a place I dunno anything of). We highly suspect that it's a gay place. Imagine, there were swings hanging outside the entrance at the 2nd level, there were a few men (looked good and we agreed they had reasonably nice bodies) sitting there and we can look into what we think is the gym cos we could see gym equipment there. And the place looked elusive and concealed. This is like, hey, cool...

Wenn and I felt like semi-tourists walking around the area yesterday evening. I think, that's one of the few charms of Raffles Place. It's a very interesting place to visit and explore and do observations (in the daytime). But, terribly stifling to work in.

So... take a stroll there if you have the time but ran out of places to go. I think it's a good change of scenery from the usual Orchard Road, City Hall or Mohd Sultan stretch.

Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 22:57