Hotels near Koon Seng Road

Koon Seng Road took its name in 1934 from Cheong Koon Seng, an auctioneer and one of the first pupils at Anglo-Chinese School, and the two facing rows of terrace houses that made the street famous went up in the 1920s and 1930s. They were gazetted for conservation in 1991. What survives is a run of pastel facades with pintu pagar swing doors, glazed ceramic tiles and moulded plaster reliefs, standing between Joo Chiat Road and Tembeling Road. Joo Chiat was declared Singapore's first Heritage Town in 2011.

During TOKEN2049 this corner of the east coast stays almost untouched. The convention centre is eight kilometres west, the side event calendar clusters in the central business district and around Marina Bay, and kitchens along Joo Chiat Road keep normal prices while the ones near Raffles Place quietly stop taking walk-ins. The honest caveat: these are private homes, not a museum. People live behind those doors, there is no entry, no ticket and no facilities, and the street is at its worst between 11:00 and 15:00 when tour groups stack up on the pavement opposite.

Give yourself the wider neighbourhood rather than one photograph. Joo Chiat Road runs north to south past coffee shops, tile suppliers and a cluster of Michelin-recognised kitchens, and the walk from Eunos station down to Marine Parade takes about half an hour at a browsing pace.

Pro Tip: Arrive by 08:30. Morning light hits the east-facing row first, the street is still empty, and you can be back at Bugis on the East West Line inside 20 minutes. Shoot from the pavement opposite rather than standing in the road; it is safer and it fits the whole terrace in frame.