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Street Directory or Google map of our Singapore neighborhood, off Orchard Road   首頁
Singapore 新加坡 1
In August 2011 we left Mumbai for Singapore. Our new home, near Orchard Road,2 is at 147 Devonshire Road, the upper of two apartment blocks that comprise The Beaumont (map),3 built in 1985; the red square in the left photo marks the top front right corner of our block. Our balcony is tree-shaded, meaning no dramatic views but welcome mitigation of the equatorial heat. To get there from Somerset MRT Station (illustrated from left):
  1. From the south exit (Exit A) follow the covered walkway to Exeter Road (Exit B goes into 313@somerset and to Orchard Road)4
  2. At Exeter follow the covered walkway right to Triple One, at the far end of which is a FairPrice Finest; our lane (pictured) is right across the street5
  3. At the top of the lane go right, then up this driveway past the guard post; just past it you can also go up some steps and through parking level 16
  4. If you stay on the driveway you enter here; our building ("Amica") is to the right. Go up more steps and buzz us by lifts 1-27

Devonshire Road being one-way in front of our lane means coming by car or taxi requires first going on or passing Killiney Road; the restaurants on Killiney (image) have made it well-known with taxi drivers, so you might begin by saying, "near KiLEEnee Road", then look for our lane.8 If coming from the east the closest bus stop is at Somerset Station; if from the west the closest stops are Orchard Emerald on Orchard Road or Airview Towers on River Valley Road.9

Building age and having a lower floor flat make our rent rather reasonable for Singapore, but this plus the building having only 10 floors, not to mention its prime location and some old houses to the west, must also make the whole area ripe for re-development. Both the Google map and the Street Directory are somewhat conflicting on surrounding buildings, with Google satellite view particularly out of date. As of summer 2011 all the buildings behind us seem to be completed, or nearly so, as can be seen below. The left image below shows most clearly the old houses to the west of the Beaumont (full view); the right image below includes the front of some of the conservation shophouses below us.10 (Note also this image from behind, again showing both Beaumont buildings; ours is the upper one, at lower right of picture; lower left is the other Beaumont building, "Bowbell"; upper right is Triple One.)

From Top of the M (38th floor; expanded view) 11
From *Scape (4th floor balcony) 12

Note that Triple One, mentioned above, has in its basement a FairPrice Finest upscale supermarket, not to be confused with the the FairPrice at Orchard Grand Court on nearby Killiney Road, a 24 hour supermarket at the south end of a well-known strip of casual outdoor restaurants (map; image)

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Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Chinese transliteration/translation of selected names
The Chinese names seem rarely used here, and of course the pronunciation may not be Mandarin:

The Beaumont: 華都閣
Devonshire Road 德文郡道 or 德文莎路 (both can be found online)
Somerset MRT Station 索美塞地鐵站
Killiney Road 基里尼路

I have not yet checked with the post office about Chinese addresses.
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2. Orchard Road (Wikipedia)
See also the Orchard Road Business Association website
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3. The Beaumont
For some reason I haven't figured out, many if not most locals in Singapore when confronted with the word "Beaumont" have pronounced it "Bewmont". It consists of two buildings, #145 and #147 Devonshire Road, named respectively as:

  1. Bowbell (slang: a Cockney?); and
  2. Amica (Italian: friend or girlfriend).

The building name information is of no apparent practical use. Further online information about the Beaumont is mostly from Real Estate companies, including this page.
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4. Image 1, left
This view is from the roof garden of Orchard Central. To the left of the exit is *Scape Skate Park; across the street (Essex Road, which ends just right of here as it merges into Devonshire Road, which comes in from the left) is the tallest building in the neighborhood, the Comcentre headquarters for Singtel Power - image.
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5. Image 1, 2nd from left: our lane, Devonshire Road(!)
The Beaumont guard post is to the right of the Beaumont sign at the far end of the street. Note that Devonshire Road can be confusing: if, having walked straight from Somerset MRT Exit A and so having come to Essex Road, you go right on Exeter you see what seems to be Devonshire Road going to left: actually it is coming from the left and merging into Essex Road, which ends here. About 20 meters after the merge ends is our lane, also named Devonshire Road. If instead of going up our lane you continued straight, immediately on the left you pass some Conservation Shophouses, numbered 111-139 Devonshire. Just after the shophouses is a gate into the Beaumont; it is locked, but this is perhaps the reason the Beaumont is numbers 145 and 147 Devonshire. Just after this Devonshire Road ends by merging into Grange Road.
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6. Image 1, 2nd from right: Beaumont guardpost and driveway
At the guard house there may be a sign saying, "Guard is patrolling the grounds", and in any case they may ignore you. If you drove there should be no problem with parking. The lower building, Bowbell, has two parking levels. As the driveway turns left you pass the entrance to the lower level, with parking spaces marked for guest parking; do not park on the upper level.
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7. Image 1, right: Beaumont entrance
Having come in this entrance, go right for our building, "Amica". Our lift (#1 and #2) is up two sets of stairs. Having found the lift it may then be necessary to phone - it is sometimes difficult for us to hear the buzzer.
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8. Coming to the Beaumont by taxi or car (Street Directory)
As a car or taxi coming to the Beaumont must either cross or drive along Killiney Road, begin by saying "near Killiney". Most drivers don't seem to know "The Beaumont" (or "Bewmont" or perhaps even "Devonshire Road"), so once on Devonshire make sure to turn left into our small side street across from FairPrice Finest, in the basement of Triple One"; if you miss it, it is about a mile around to get back (left on Leonie Hill Road, left on River Valley Road, left on Killiney Road, angle left at the new One Devonshire onto Devonshire Road [across from a 24-hour FairPrice], then about 20 metres after it angles left again, merging with Exeter Road by Comcentre, turn into our side street). Exeter ends as it merges into Devonshire. In the image note the corner of our building, again marked with a red square; to the lower left are the rooftops of shops along Killiney Road mentioned above.

If driving, note one way streets on the map; guest parking at the Beaumont is only on the lower level.
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9. Coming to the Beaumont by bus
The nearest bus stop for westbound traffic is Somerset Station on Somerset Road; for eastbound it would be Orchard Emerald on Orchard Road. Also of note is the Airview Towers stop on River Valley Road. From there walk down Killiney Road to Devonshire Road, as described above.
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10. Conservation Shophouses
There are 15 of these connected houses, #111 - #139 Devonshire Road (odd numbers only). They include, in addition to private homes, a nail spa, at least one hostel, and the 雲夢寺 Dream Cloud Temple.
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11. View from Top of the M (August 2011; expanded view)
Top of the M is a revolving restaurant (at the time under renovation) on the 38th floor of the Mandarin Orchard Hotel (formerly Meritus Mandarin Hotel). On the right you can clearly see the two apparently abandoned houses at #25 Grange Road; below that you can see the roof of #7 Grange Road, currently occupied. In the lower right corner of the expanded view is the roof of *Scape.
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12. View from *Scape (August 2011; also see map)
*Scape, a non-profit youth activities center, also manages the *Scape Skate Park shown above. From the map also note:

  1. It is on Orchard Link next to the Mandarin Orchard, below its Top of the M (previous footnote).
  2. It is just across from Cathay Cineplex Cineleisure Orchard (film schedule; scroll down for The Cathay, more likely to have art films but a 20 minute walk away, near Dhobi Ghaut [map]).
  3. It is also across from Takashimaya and Ngee An City, which has Books Kinokuniya, the largest bookstore in Singapore.

Unfortunately its weekend activities often involve making un-neighborly amplified loud noise from its outdoor open space (see the basketball court).
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