A couple of days of rest were needed. All wounds are healed and I'm ready to go.
Its Saturday, overcast, and about 79 degrees. I'm planning a 7am start today. As I packed my bag, a heavy downpour started. Luckily, it was brief and by 8am I was on my way.
It pretty far form Orchard to Chinese Garden. My fancy phone app says it'll take 68 minutes by bus and MRT. So, I hop in a taxi and I'm there in 20.
Its early, but things are already happening. In the space between the MRT station and the entrance to the Gardens, a cricket match is taking place.
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| Early morning cricket at Chinese Garden |
The Garden opens at 6, so I continue my tour, heading to the right around Jurong Lake, over the bridge and into Jurong Lake Park. There lots of jogger and bicyclists this time of morning, but I'm stopped by these ladies, practicing some very elegant moves with swords and fans.
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| What appears to be Tai Chi with Taiji sword or fan |
From here, I follow the park connectors along the Jurong River to Boon Lay. I'm walking behind some old landed houses here with open kitchens in the back. I enjoy hearing the families (grandparents, parent, children at the same table) talking over the their morning meal. As the river meets Boon Lay, I spot another Malaysian Water Monitor Lizard (about 3ft nose tail). I make a note never to swim there.
I'm about an hour underway on a 10 mile trip, so I stop into Jurong Point Mall to get some iced caffeine and some aircon. On the way out, I snap this picture of the overhead tracks of the Boon Lay MRT set against the local housing.
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| The tracks at Boon Lay |
Speaking of, Singapore has a population of ~
5.4 million people (est. 2013). They have to be housed somewhere, so many communities are city-like, mixing malls, shops, schools, and housing together. The Singapore government provides residential housing called
HDB flats. 85% of the population live in these flats which cater to all income classes.
I'm fond of these building in which most are painted in bold, pastel, or other interesting colors and patterns.
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| Block 948 HDB Jurong West |
Just up the street, the geography starts to change. As I cross under the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), it becomes decidedly more green. Nanyang Technical University is on my left and trees and grass are ahead and on my right. Its telling me that I'm about to head in to the countryside.
Exiting NTU, I turn North up Jalan Bahar, a wide open 4 lane highway. A couple of miles up the road I reach the Choa Chu Kang Cemetary Complex. With space limited in Singapore, its the only cemetery left that allows burial. I wanted to keep up my pace, but I'm fascinated here. The cemetery goes on forever as you can see in this picture, looking all the way to the back.
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| Burial plots in the Chinese Section of the Complex |
I came at a great time as it was during "Qingming" also known as "Remembrance of Ancestors". Singaporean cemeteries are typically quiet. But today there were many, many families here cleaning their ancestors graves, lighting incense, and leaving offerings of food. Near the graves were fire pits where the families burned gold paper offerings representing money for their ancestors to use in the afterlife.
I expected to spend maybe 30 minutes at the cemetery and wound up spending an hour and a half.
Singapore is multi-cultural and thus this cemetery also houses all other religions. I was particularly fond of the Muslim Cemetery very due to its bright and colorful burial plots.
Its time to wrap this thing up, so out of the cemetery and North again onto Jalan Murai, a tiny road that starts our first farms of the next leg of the journey. On this road was an organic vegetable farm as well as proof that eggs produced in Singapore are actually grown in Singapore.
At the end of the road, this my first back road, I turn left onto Lim Chu Kang Road and end my journey by the first bus stop.
Picking up the bus, I head home feeling pretty good. I note that there should be more overcast days in this journey.
Total route: 11.70 miles. 3 hours, 24 minutes.
