My baby has grown..nope, I am not talking about my flesh and blood, but my hometown- Punggol! About 12 years ago when we bought this place, I loved it because it was new and young, like a baby. I wanted to see this place grow and to see new shops sprouting out as if it was her first baby steps.
Over the years, I have seen changes. Lots of them. From a change of supermarkets, food stalls to new coffeeshops and shops sprouting all across the town, with its latest- The Safra Club and Waterway Point. Finally, we have our own big shopping centre!
At its soft launch opening on the 18 Jan, I went with my Taiwanese mummy friend to visit the mall in the morning, thinking that it wont be so crowded. I was proven dead wrong!
Check out the crowd and queues for the free movie tickets at 945am! Heard from my nearby supermarket lady that there were people waiting outside the mall early in the morning, wanting to be the first to go in when it opened.
Just when I thought I would only see retirees and housewives there. Perpetual question on my mind was.. "Where did all these people come from? Don't they need to work??" It felt like a regular weekend in a mall. Nobody would have guessed it was a Monday morning!
Anyway, I still had fun checking out the shops! The numerous food stalls got me excited as well as the NTUC Finest supermarket and cinema!
To be frank, when I first heard it would be Times bookshop here than Popular, I was disappointed because Popular seemed more affordable and not as pricey. But when I took a look at the new Times Bookshop there, I was pleasantly surprised. My friend made a good point about the bookshop. Most of the books were not wrapped. So it means, we can browse and read in the bookshop. Moreover, there is a nice cosy corner for children to do their reading at the shop!
Now, I am happy that Times Bookshop is here!
The view of the mall is definitely a draw factor. So beautiful!
There are many restaurants offering great view of the waterway. And most of the food are not that expensive, but affordable. The food court was crowded and for now, there are not many exits as the outside is not ready yet. Construction is still on-going. So there's only one entrance and that is also the same exit, thus causing human traffic.
On 20 Jan, I went with the whole family there for dinner. Legs were aching after walking around because the mall is long and not circular. So once you walk all the way to the end, you have to walk back to the entrance, thus you have to backtrack many shops again. We ate at Tenderfresh Restaurant (B2, near NTUC) and it was really good. Yes, its the same Tenderfresh Western shop at some HDB coffeeshops around Singapore and they have made it here to Punggol as a small Restaurant. But it was worth it. The best juiciest and tender fried chicken I have tasted so far. The breastmeat was so succulent! (still drooling while thinking about it)
This mall can be quite confusing.
There are basically two wings- East wing and the West wing. In the East Wing, there are only 3 levels (B2, B1 and L1) while in the West wing there are 4 levels (B2, B1, L1 and L2). Basically, the Cinema and Supermarket is at B2, food court ,Indoor pre-schooler playground, Time Bookshop are at West Wing L2. Food is everywhere.
Have fun exercising here!
I will definitely be back again after the craze is over..
