Its Saturday and I'm glad that it's a sunny day. I have miles that I have to make up today and wet shoes are not welcome. I climb out of bed at 6:30, pack my bag, and head down Orchard by 7:00. Its amazing how much cooler it can be here in Singapore an hour before I'm normally out the door. I pick up a coffee, some oatmeal, and due to distance and time constraints, I hail a cab near Orchard Towers.
There must be a thing about Orchard Towers on a weekend morning (cross reference: Day 5). because as soon as I sit down in the cab, I find a man's silver wedding ring on the seat. It's too thin for an engraving so I hand it to the driver. If you are reading this and missing your band, contact cab SH66338 at Comfort.
Its a bit of a haul today back to Sebawang Park; just over 30 minutes. I'm looking to get back to the beach outside of Kampong Wak Hassan where I got cut off by construction the day before. Luckily, there were several residents at the bus stop and they pointed me in the right direction.
First stop: Bananas! Its not uncommon to see banana tress in Singapore but for some reason it always makes me happy.
 |
| A banana or banana-type tree on Andrews Avenue |
And just down the road was this lonely bike without a rider.
It looks like a beautiful morning with the sun shining through. In reality, it more likely the haze which has been choking in Singapore in the past few years. It results from regional land and forest burning. Where exactly its coming from and who is responsible is a touchy subject, so I will not get into it here. But this
aggregation from the Straits Times is helpful. I have an app on my phone that tells me today's air quality at 56 (moderate). Last June (just before I arrived in Singapore) the haze was so bad (read: 400) that there was a run on N95 masks. My family and I considered delaying our trip. Lucky for us, it cleared up the week before we left and did not return in any significant levels. I have no memory of this issue in my previous trips.
I make my way to the coast and land here, a busy beach and a "hazey", yet beautiful sunrise.
 |
| The beach near the old Bottle Tree Village, Sembawang |
People were in the water, throwing nets and digging for clams and other shellfish. Others were preparing boats and taking pictures.
On the immediate left, you can see the last in my series of drainage pictures. (See Day 3 and 7 for more). This is the big one that drains into the Straits of Johor. Its hard to imagine that much water. This one starts its life in nearby Yishun.
Lucky for me, Yishun is where I'm going, so I follow it south. Its a park connector, meaning its paved and its being actively being used for running and cycling. There is outdoor exercise equipment along the way.
Its a long haul along this path but I finally make it Yishun. I stop at the hawker center to sample the Bao here and take a picture of this Hindu temple off of Yishan Avenue 2.
 |
| Holy Tree Balasubramaniar Temple |
I love the architecture of this buildings and there are many other interesting and diverse architectures in Singapore. Here is a picture of a Muslim mosque from the top of Yishun Neighborhood Park,
 |
| Darul Makmur Mosque |
and this Chinese temple on Yishun Ring Road. Note that all three of these buildings are within 2 city blocks of each other.
 |
| Chu Siang Tong Temple |
I'm at the top of the park now and there are two things that catch my interest.
The first are these trees:
 |
| Pine Trees? In Singapore? |
The second is a man singing opera. Its just a practice but its good and there's a small crowd gathered to listen.
Its time to move on, so I head down Yishun Avenue 2, around the hospital and into Yishun Park. There are some beautiful weeping figs here. Out of the park, it's straight east to the Yishun Avenue 4 and then north along the Lower Seletar Reservoir. On the way, I see my first HBD's with murals. Nice!
I'm getting outside of suburbs now. On the left is at least a half a mile of construction sites (more flats) and on the right is the Lower Seletar Reservoir. Now there more trees (shade!) and less people. In order to get to the next destination, I have to cross the reservoir. With heavy traffic, I make my way across the dam.
Luckily, the dam quite spacious and surprisingly populated. There people fishing and digging for clams.
 |
| Fishing with nets along the Lower Seletar Reservoir dam |
At the far end is the Jenal Jetty, home of mangroves and apparently crocodiles?? I did not go in, but
this blog has many pictures and suggests that it may be the last fishing village in Singapore.
 |
| A rickety pier at Jenal Jetty |
Walking past the jetty, I'm heading north again. On my right is Seletar Airport. It was built by the British just before WWII. Later, it was the main airport in Singapore until the international airport was built in Changi. Today it supports flying schools and charter flights.
I'm on a bridge and for the first time I'm about to leave the Singapore Main (Is)land. Singapore is not just one island. It many islands, small and large. From the bridge, I can see Seletar Island on the left of me. In front of me and my next adventure are Punggol Barat Island and Punggol Timor Island.
Punggol Barat is a very large set of beautiful fields, thankfully windswept today which is cooling me down. There is little shade here.
Punggol Timor is has a factory or two, but is mostly used for storing building materials, such as this huge mound of sand here.
 |
| Stored sand and stone on Punggol Timor |
Both of these islands are reclaimed land by Singapore which means up until the late 80's they did not exist. Up until recently, they were restricted territory. While I would not recommend it for walking, it does make for a great bike route.
Okay, I've been walking for 3 and a half hours now and I'm pretty tired. Its 90 out and I'm lacking shade. The umbrella out for the past 5 miles, so it's time to finish this up.
I complete North Seletar Link and just as I pass into Punggol, I head north past the Marina. The skies have just started to cloud up which is common in the afternoons in the rainy season. According to the GPS, I have one mile to go. I find that I'm back walking along the straits. The rods are still out hoping to catch something.
I on the other hand have had it, so I sit down and finish my water.
Its a half mile now and I've had a 10 minute rest. Time to push through. As I round the bend, I see this statue tucked in the trees overlooking the Straits. An older gentleman stops in front of it for a moment and then heads on his way.
 |
| Statue overlooking the Straits near Punggol Point. |
Its just one more stretch and I make it to Punggol Point. My destination for the day!
There is a boardwalk here and many people are walking, cycling, or enjoying a snack. At the actual point, I walk up the stairs and look out. I'm guessing there's a ferry here that goes to Malaysia as I see guards checking the bags of folks who are about to get on that boat.
Its been a busy morning. I stop to pick up a cold drink and some cookies (yes, cookies) and make my way back home.
Total route: 13.78 miles. 4 hours, 03 minutes.
