19.47km
14/07/24
💁💁
★★★☆☆
The route mainly focuses on the Tengah area, but we also intended to visit the BP LRT stations in order. It starts at Bukit Gombak, where we saw the Little Guilin. Then, we travelled to Le Quest Shopping Mall, then Tengah to visit Plantation Plaza. We took bus back to Bukit Batok to visit West Mall, then taking the MRT to Choa Chu Kang. Then, we visited Lot One and Keat Hong Community Centre, before walking next to the LRT track, from South View, Keat Hong, Teck Whye, Phoenix and Bukit Panjang. Then, we visited Junction 10, Hillion Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza. After that, it was quite late already, so we stopped there.
We bought drinks at Le Quest's Koufu, then water in the supermarket at Lot One, then lunch at Hillion Mall's Ichikokudo. We wanted to eat Springleaf Prata Place at Junction 10 but it was too crowded.
Haiya this Donovan we say meet at 9am but he come at 930am. So late... So anyway, I expected the Little Guilin to be bigger. But it's just a rock. It looked great in picture, but in reality, maybe not so much... Maybe Big Guilin will be better. As for Le Quest, well... I've been there before, about 2 years ago. And the construction is still there haiya... The mall also has pretty much nothing. All the shops are on the outside, with only a Koufu inside. Tengah, on the other hand, is shaping up to be quite a nice and modern place. Of course, the planted trees are still small, so it's still quite sunny out, but the architecture looks promising. The design of the Plantation Plaza itself was pretty good as well, with very tall ceilings and wood accents. But of course, there were basically only 3 shops (Koufu, Giant and McDonalds) so there was nothing much to do but take the bus 992 out of there. As for West Mall, I've been there twice before, so there was nothing new to see. But overall, despite the construction outside, West Mall is one of my favourite, as it's atrium looks top-tier. Very open and tall, making the mall seem huge. Next up, we have Lot One. With little natural light, and a rather small central atrium, the mall seems quite dark and small. Architecture is just a boring white and shiny. The LRT walk was quite okay. Nothing much to see other than the HDBs and the stations themselves, but the talking/banter was fun. Arriving at Bukit Panjang, I've been to the malls before, so there's nothing much more to add. But here's my summary of them. Junction 10 is dark and narrow, with the second floor being a corridor for tuition centres. Hillion Mall has a really great exterior, but a VERY poorly-designed interior. Narrow and short corridors, non-existent atrium, and with a bus interchange making navigation difficult. Very confusing layout, which messes with your sense of direction. Lastly, Bukit Panjang Plaza was my favourite, and remains one of my favourite malls to visit. Large and tall central atrium with tonnes of natural light, and a very open layout. The shops are all around the atrium, so it's easy to navigate. The library also has a unique quirk, being split in half into the children section and the adult section.
Haiya don't be like Donovan. The trip can actually take a long time. If I were to continue this, I would have extended the trip to the other LRT stations (even though I have visited them already).