The plan: Continue my adventure of visiting every MRT (subway) stop in Singapore, this time riding the Singapore MRT East-West Line from Tanjong Pagar to Pasir Ris to see how the island changes from one stop to the next. I’ve already journeyed along the East West Line’s southwestern stretch, from Tuas Link to Outram Park. Here, I’m starting in Singapore’s downtown core and then heading east.

Looking for more rail adventures? For an overview of every MRT and LRT line, plus suggestions for where to start, visit Singapore by MRT and LRT.

Tanjong Pagar-Raffles Place-City Hall-Bugis

Tanjong Pagar

Once a fishing village, Tanjong Pagar now sits at the southern edge of Singapore’s central business district. You’ll still find hints that this area once stood right along the waterfront, such as the 1933 Singapore Customs House. And don’t miss the 1905 Seng Wong Beo Temple, where parents can still request ghost marriages for their deceased children.

Though a few historic buildings remain, skyscrapers now dominate Tanjong Pagar, including the plant-covered Oasia Hotel.

Raffles Place

Tall buildings tower as far as the eye can see above the beautiful Raffles Place station exits. This is the heart of Singapore’s financial district, which you’ll find celebrated in a “Progress and Advancement” sculpture from 1988:

Once both the largest and the deepest MRT station in the country, Raffles Place remains one of the busiest during the workweek (as an interchange with the North-South Line, it sees its fair share of commuters). But my favorite part is the access it gives you iconic Singapore locations such as the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Singapore River Walk …

… and Marina Bay.

City Hall

City Hall is the gateway to Singapore’s civic district, where you can visit everything from the National Gallery …

… to St. Andrew’s Cathedral …

… to the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall and Singapore Cricket Club (those are the older, shorter buildings in the foreground, with the skyscrapers of downtown just beyond):

And you can also walk from the station to the famous Raffles Hotel.

When the MRT was first being developed in the late 1980s, City was one of the very first stations to be opened — and like Raffles Place, it offers travelers a connection to the North-South Line.

Bugis

Another wildly busy interchange — this time with the Downtown (Blue) line — the Bugis MRT station sits beneath a sprawling shopping area. The centerpiece is one of several malls in the area, Bugis Junction.

Bugis has a colorful past (it was once the center of Singapore’s now-illegal trans culture), but it now feels pretty shiny. And the area is gaining new developments, like Parkview Square (affectionately known as the Batman Building):

If this isn’t your speed and you find yourself looking for a taste of old Singapore, the Kampong Glam neighborhood is just a short walk away.

My very favorite building at Bugis, though, is the National Library of Singapore, with its excellent collection and rotating exhibitions.

Lavender-Kallang-Aljunied-Paya Lebar

Lavender

I had high hopes for Lavender, entirely because of its name (though I knew that residents had chosen the moniker back in the mid-1800s as a humorous nod to the neighborhood stink that arose from the local gasworks and night soil disposal areas).

Sadly, it was not quite as lovely as I’d hoped, though a walk up Jalan Besar (which has its own stop on the Downtown Line) will give you some great shophouse views. Beyond that, I walked by a good number of auto parts and hardware stores. My favorite things to look at were the alleyway spiral staircases …

… and this tiny altar, which was tucked in underneath a fire extinguisher at the base of a semi-industrial building:

Kallang

The MRT pokes its head out into the open at Kallang, the first aboveground station on the eastern section of this line. At first, it looks like the station is a bit in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but wide fields and HDBs off in the distance.

Walk toward the National Stadium, however, and you’ll come across the ruins of what was once the imposing entrance to the Kallang Airport.

This shaded promenade, constructed in the late 1930s, would have welcomed visitors to an airport hailed as “the finest in the British Empire.”

When I visited, I had to squint through the barbed wire to catch a glimpse of the Old Kallang Airport (you can also see the National Stadium just beyond):

The Kallang station also offers easy access to old Singapore shophouses, some of which have beautiful Peranakan styling and tile work.

Side note: the name of this hotel comes from the Gay World Amusement Park that once stood nearby (other amusement park worlds in Singapore included Great World, New World, and Beauty World).

Aljunied

The Aljunied stop sits smack in the middle of Geylang, one of Singapore’s oldest Malay settlements. Today, Geylang is best known for (1) its food and (2) its red-light district (legal and regulated). For whatever reason, there are also a lot of temples — they seem to be everywhere.

The other highlights worth seeing in this neck of the woods are the shophouses, many of which seem to have been built in the fabulously detailed Late Shophouse style so popular in the 1920s.

Wandering down the street and looking at the architecture is a real treat in this neighborhood.

If you find yourself near Aljunied and need a great lunch, I’d recommend An La Ghien for Vietnamese food — it’s nothing fancy, but it’s delicious.

Paya Lebar

At first glance, it looks like everyone at this stop is getting off to visit one of Paya Lebar’s multiple malls — it’s the largest commercial hub in this neck of the woods. But a short walk will bring you to the Wak Tanjong mosque …

… the Sri Sivan Temple …

… and the Foo Hai Ch’an Monastery …

… with its fabulous shrine cat!

Eunos-Kembangan-Bedok-Tanah Merah

Eunos

Eunos is a very local neighborhood, and they’ve tried to stay true to the area’s heritage in the MRT station design: the roof has been crafted to suggest a traditional Malay atap building. Just beyond lies a vast world of HDBs.

Long rectangular buildings stretch out as far as the eye can see, some in the older style (above), and others in a more contemporary design:

Kembangan

The world changes abruptly at Kembangan, as HDBs give way to a large swath of condos and landed houses. It’s an elegant neighborhood with homes that range from fascinating …

… to just plain fancy:

But it’s not just houses here; various temples and mosques are tucked in along Kembangan’s side streets:

Bedok

My initial summary of the area immediately surrounding the Bedok station was this: HDBs, condos, and a mall.

We did not find much to see on our wander around the station, though we did investigate the ill-named “play corridor.” This sounded promising, but we couldn’t find anything to play with (the wind towers featured in this tiny park have lost their sails) — and the “corridor” is four kilometers long, so if you really want to play, you have to be willing to walk a lot.

Tanah Merah

HDBs stretch out as far as the eye can see between Bedok and this stop …

… and then at Tanah Merah, you’re suddenly in the land of private condos.

The real excitement of Tanah Merah is that this is where the East-West Line splits — you can either head north through Tampines to Pasir Ris, or east to Expo and Changi.

The Expo-Changi Airport Spur

Expo

The name here says it all: this is the site of Singapore’s convention and exhibition center. You can also access a good number of malls and commercial buildings from this stop. But to me, the best thing here is the station itself — I’m a big fan of the UFO (the flamingo sculpture is just a bonus):

Changi Airport

For visitors using public transport, this impressive station may be the first glimpse of Singapore they’ll get. It’s the gateway to Singapore’s spectacular Changi Airport — and the world.

Dozens of people also alight this stop to visit the wildly popular Jewel: “Singapore’s nature-themed entertainment and retail complex.”

That’s a fancy way of saying that the Jewel is a mall with a waterfall — but this particular waterfall (at 40 meters, the world’s tallest indoor specimen), set within the lovely Shiseido Forest Valley, is so impressive that it’s worth the trip.

Simei-Tampine-Pasir Ris

Simei

You have to double back from Changi to get to Simei, which sits in the middle of a large cluster of HDBs.

We had a great mixed veg rice snack at a coffee shop here, but there’s not much to see — even the park connector feels distinctly un-park-like:

Tampines

Tampines is a huge residential town with all sorts of amenities: a multitude of malls, a giant community space (Our Tampines Hub), and even a skate park:

Despite all of this development, Tampines still feels very local — rows of HDBs march down every street.

Pasir Ris

At first glance, Pasir Ris looks like an incredibly busy stop with a mall, a bus interchange, and a pretty cool station. But a short walk will take you to pleasant little Pasir Ris Town Park — and another ten minutes will get you to the beach!

Once you arrive at Pasir Ris Park, you’ll find small stretches of sand, palm trees, and mangroves (all in evidence above). There’s also a great boardwalk through the mangrove swamp, where you can see an untamed river (a rarity in Singapore) …

… and — if you’re very lucky — a jellyfish bloom!

These river jellyfish, also known as mangrove jellyfish, are wonderfully fun to watch. I can’t guarantee that they’ll be around if you try an East-West Line adventure, but here’s hoping!

Interested in traveling on? Join me in riding the East-West Line from Tuas Link to Outram Park.