Another meaning activity for the September holidays is to embark on a heritage trail of your neighbourhood! You can check the National Heritage Board website to see if there’s a suggested trail for the area you are interested in and download a PDF version of the guide.

About a month ago, I explored Queenstown on ‘My Queenstown Heritage Trail‘. You can attempt the heritage trail on your own or sign up for a guided tour that is conducted on the last Sunday of every month. The tour is really popular and they are fully booked until next January! The Queenstown Heritage Trail begins at Queenstown MRT Station and can be further broken down into 5 smaller trails. While it is possible to attempt the trail on your own and at your own pace, being on the guided tour means that you get to listen to personal stories of the older residents and their interesting tales really add flavour to the trail.

Queenstown was named after Queen Elizabeth II to mark her coronation and is the place of many firsts: the first satellite estate, the first HDB flats, the first neighbourhood shopping centre, the first branch library, and the sports complex. Although I did not grow up in Queenstown, I have many fond memories of the area, especially of Queenstown Public Library. When I was a child, I would visit the library while my grandma and mum were at the Chinese sinseh nearby for tuina, and I spent many happy hours reading on my own.

Sharing some photos of the sights along the heritage trail:

Although many of the historical buildings have been torn down and replaced by modern structures, there is still so much to see and discover in Queenstown! Do consider signing up for ‘My Queenstown Heritage Trail’ or at least try it on your own because many of the buildings and old shops will be gone in a matter of months to make way for further development of the area.