When we think of Ang Mo Kio, we usually think of the heartlands of Singapore. However, besides HDB estates, there are also a few landed estates dotted around the area, one of which we will be visiting today (Shangri-La Walk.)
Today, the area we're walking around is more famous for having the first and only circular HDB flats in Singapore - The Clover @ Kebun Baru, or Block 259 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2 - than for its landed houses. (There's a shortcut from the housing estate to Block 259, but I'll leave that for later in the article.)
Here we are at the entrance to the estate. There is only one way to drive in and out, but the estate is so small, I don't think it'll be an issue. (We'll find fewer than 50 houses here.) PHOTO: StackedhomesDirectly opposite is the Sembawang Hills landed estate, which we saw sometime back. As shown above, Shangri-La Walk is located on higher ground than Sembawang Hills and, in Singapore, having a house on elevated land is usually a good thing. (Better airflow/more natural light in the home.) If you head that way, it'll take you about 11 minutes on foot to reach Sembawang Hills Food Centre (proximity to a hawker centre is not very common for landed estates and we're near two here.) There are also several commercial shophouses dotted around Sembawang Hills, where you can find everything from a pet shop to eateries. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
You also need to cross the road to get to Shangri-La Playground. It's quite sizeable but note that there is no playground located within Shangri-La Walk itself. (It'll take you less than five minutes to walk over.)
Looking to the right of the entrance to the estate. (The road shown is Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2, the "main road" outside the estate.) Continue down this way, turn right and then left, and you'll reach Mayflower MRT station in about 13 minutes. Given that Singapore's hot and humid weather can make walking outside quite unpleasant, I'll leave it to you to decide whether a 13-minute walk constitutes walking distance or not. (We've had some disagreement from readers on what "within walking distance" means in past articles!) PHOTO: StackedhomesLook to the left and that's the famous clover-shaped flats within walking distance. There's also a large open-air car park next to the flats, which will be handy for the festive season when people come to visit. (The houses are elevated above the car park and there's an entrance from the car park to the landed estate.) PHOTO: StackedhomesHouses located above the car park to illustrate what I was talking about. PHOTO: StackedhomesBack to the entrance into the estate - there's a bus stop there, but only one bus comes this way. (262.) PHOTO: StackedhomesNow let's head in! PHOTO: StackedhomesThe estate is shaped like a main artery with two branch arteries (1 to the left, and 1 to the right.) PHOTO: StackedhomesThe houses here are all on the larger side (so pricier) — they're semi-Ds or detached houses (no terrace units here, but you'll find some located across the road at Sembawang Hills estate as well as closer to Mayflower MRT.) PHOTO: StackedhomesThe last sale here was for $4.5 million, way back in September 2021. Sales here are quite few and far between. For example, between 2013 and 2019, there were 0 sales! At the time of writing, only one unit was on the market (asking $6m for a 5,500 sq ft plot.) PHOTO: StackedhomesLooking back in the direction we came from. PHOTO: StackedhomesIf I have my bearings right, that's AMO residence being built behind the houses. This 99-year condo was the first major private development in Ang Mo Kio in eight years, and it had a very strong launch, selling about 98 per cent of the units at the launch. (It's close to the houses but not so close that you feel hemmed in.) PHOTO: StackedhomesLooking down one of the side streets. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe estate is fairly spacious — as you can see the pavements are broad. And, down this street, there are no gates to houses (i.e. it's a continuous pavement) which makes things feel less squeezy. (See below.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesAs shown above, some of the houses have space to park more than one car inside. PHOTO: StackedhomesYou may have to leave the gate open like this, but it still works. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe streets are fairly uncluttered, so there was no issue driving around. PHOTO: StackedhomesWe saw some construction work around the estate, but nothing significant. PHOTO: StackedhomesThere was also a bit of an incline on some of the streets — this is something we often see in elevated landed enclaves. PHOTO: StackedhomesAt the left end of the photo above is a block of HDB flats, but because we're so much higher up, the block looks to be the same height as that of the houses. PHOTO: StackedhomesAnother photo to better illustrate what I mean. PHOTO: StackedhomesIn fact, the house at the edge can even build an infinity pool of sorts! PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesThe houses are all built in different styles. PHOTO: StackedhomesAs you can see, the road is fairly broad, especially for such a small estate. You may even be able to fit 3 (small) cars side-by-side on the road. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesNo need to use dustbins to chope a parking space on the road here. Behind the grey car, there's a little alleyway — let's go take a look where it leads. PHOTO: StackedhomesAt first, it looks like it leads to the main road. PHOTO: StackedhomesBut when we head down, we see that the access is actually blocked off. So a road that leads nowhere, really. PHOTO: StackedhomesLet's head back then! PHOTO: StackedhomesZooming out to get a perspective of the distance between the houses and the apartments. PHOTO: StackedhomesWalked over to the other side street, and we can see the AMO residence hoarding there. PHOTO: StackedhomesIt looks like there may be another path at the end of the hoarding, so let's go take a look. PHOTO: StackedhomesSome houses we pass along the way that show you how much higher you can rebuild. PHOTO: StackedhomesBut this may be a better illustration (compare the house on the right to the ones on the left.) The one on the right looks massive. PHOTO: StackedhomesAh that's the footpath to the main road on the right (hidden behind the house.) PHOTO: StackedhomesHere's the path. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesIt's not accessible though, as it involves quite a few stairs. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
At the bottom of the stairs, you find a playground and the car park I mentioned at the beginning of the article. (So residents could use this playground instead of crossing the road to get to Shangri-La playground. The Shangri-La one is bigger though.)
There's a lot of empty space at the end of the staircase too. PHOTO: StackedhomesIt's marked as a reserve site on the Master Plan so just keep in mind that the landed estate could feel quite different if the land was developed into high-rise buildings. PHOTO: StackedhomesTake a right and we get to the Clover HDB block but turn to the left, and you'll find some amenities, such as a supermarket (and more HDB apartments.) There's also the famous Melben seafood eatery, Ang Mo Kio Secondary School, and Kebun Baru Mall (which has a hawker centre.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesTurning back to look at the staircase we descended from, so you get an idea of how elevated the landed enclave is. PHOTO: StackedhomesWe took a right, and the sheltered walkway brought us to the Clover HDB block. (Unfortunately, the walk to Mayflower MRT is not sheltered.) PHOTO: StackedhomesClose-up of the outdoor gym and playground. PHOTO: StackedhomesAs you can see, the car park is quite full even on a regular day (so your friends/family can't be guaranteed a space during festive seasons, but it's better than just relying on street side parking!) PHOTO: StackedhomesHere we see the Shangri-La walk houses elevated above the car park. (I couldn't see into the houses, so you don't have to worry too much about privacy. I've had much clearer views at some other estates.) PHOTO: StackedhomesExit the playground, turn right, and you'll return to the entrance of Shangri-La Walk, where we started our tour. (You can see the Shangri La playground across the road above.) PHOTO: Stackedhomes
