Orchard Road Dec 2008

December is usually an interesting time to walk down Orchard Road. The Christmas lightings give a seasonal feel and brighten up an otherwise normal-looking shopping area.

I was meeting an Indonesian friend whom I had worked with on the previous project, a couple of months back. Michel (yes, not a very Indonesian name) briefly bunked over at my serviced apartment during the last two months of my eight-month stint in Jakarta. As I waited for him outside the busy Wisma Atria, I joined in the countless number of people taking pictures of Orchard Road, drawing in the sights that this place has to offer.

Since the Busking Scheme was introduced in 1997, followed by the much-welcomed relaxation of the regulations, buskers have been appearing along the streets, mostly in front of the widest stretch of pavement of Takashimaya. Most of them are highly entertaining and breathe new life into the Singapore entertainment scene.

Before Michel arrived, I was contemplating where to have dinner, and entertained the thought of treating him to one of the restaurants in the area. A moment later, he turned up with four other Indonesian friends, and the previous thoughts were quickly discarded when I learned that they had their dinner at Vivocity Of all the things that they wanted to see in Orchard Road, they asked me for the location of Charles and Keith… duh! I had to make an emergency call to Warden who seems to know this place like Google Map, and she duly informed me that there is one C&K at the basement of Wisma Atria. Handy person to know, my Warden