This cache is in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore’s premier shopping and tourist belt. The cache should be easy enough to spot, but the challenge here is to retrieve it among the constant throngs of muggles passing by the GZ.
The Evolution of a Road: From Rural to Retail
Orchard Road is named for the nutmeg and pepper plantations that once defined the area. In Singapore’s early years, the area was predominantly rural, with its hillocks dotted by orchards and landowners' bungalows. Many of the roads in the area reflect this history. Some are named after the plantation owners (e.g., Koek, Cuppage, Oxley, and Scott) while others are named after the bungalows they built (e.g., Grange, Killiney, and Cairnhill). However, many of these plantations failed, and the land was increasingly bought up and developed as residences for the wealthy elite, turning the rural area into a leafy suburb. Some large plots of land were also acquired by Chinese clans and used as cemetery grounds.
As the city grew in the 20th century, the land along the main thoroughfare started to be developed as commercial properties, beginning with the area around Dhoby Ghaut and Cuppage Road, where the Orchard Road Market once stood. Cold Storage, a local supermarket chain, established its first store at the base of Emerald Hill in 1901, while another well-known department store, C. K. Tangs, opened at the junction of Scotts Road in 1958. Ngee Ann Kongsi exhumed its cemetery and used the land to build the Ngee Ann Building in the 1950s, and a host of other buildings and hotels, such as Wisma Indonesia (now Wisma Atria), emerged in the 1960s.
By the 1970s, with more hotels and shopping centres joining the fray, the entire 2.2-kilometre stretch of the road, from Tanglin to Dhoby Ghaut, became one of Singapore’s top tourist attractions. The shopping district has survived many economic challenges, and even with competition from online retailers, the stores and pedestrian mall along the road remain as vibrant and crowded as ever.
The Cache Location
The cache is located near Design Orchard, a space designed to support and develop local designers in the lifestyle and fashion sectors. Located centrally on Orchard Road, it acts as a creative incubator, event venue, and a showcase for Singapore's homegrown brands to display their talent to a global audience. This project is a joint effort by several government agencies, led by Enterprise Singapore, JTC, and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). It is managed by the Singapore Fashion Council, the official body for the country's textile and fashion industry.
There is no need to enter the building to access this cache, and it should be available 24/7. Please exercise your utmost stealth when grabbing this cache because there are muggles aplenty here at all times of the day.
Remember: Look for a sign, and you'll be fine!