Round-the-Island Cycling Trip 23/08/2006
Gerald was telling me that he couldn't find this Round-the-Island Cycling post... and I thought I really should transfer it out of my Europe blog. So here it comes...Round-the-Island Cycling Trip: 23/08/2006
This is something that I have thought of doing but I have never had the determination to do. When Gerald told me that he would be organising a round-the-island trip before we leave, I told him that I will be joining him without much thought: since he has done it quite a few times before, and he already had the route planned out, all I have to do is just follow! :)
There were only 3 of us: Gerald, Ching Hua and me (after the experience in Changi East this is expected..! And with Shireen keep telling me that we are 'crazy' or 'insane' I don't think others would have any different opinion...). Originally Gerald wanted to start at 1530 but, as he assembled a new bike (which cost like ~7k in total?!!), Ching Hua could use his old one so he pushed it forward to ~10am. He tried calling me when I was still looking for textbooks in HK and I eventually got the information when I was waiting for my baggage at 12am in Changi Airport.
Gerald and Ching Hua started off from Gerald's place, which is in Tampines. They were supposed to set off at around 10, cycle up to Changi Village, down Changi Coast Road and meet me at East Coast at around 11. When I called them at 10 they were already at TPJC heading towards Changi Village, so I decided to go up Changi Coast Road to meet them as they come down. On the way, I took 1 picture of Changi Airport and 1 picture of a plane taking off (taking any more will make me look like a terrorist, and I don't want to run into trouble now..).
I met both of them at Changi Ferry Terminal (nope, not the sad SAF FT but the happy one bringing people to Desaru) after Ching Hua had his second breakfast at Changi Village and we went down the way I came. Gerald led us to this slip road that connects Tanah Merah Flyover to East Coast Park Service Road which I never knew existed. New knowledge indeed...
We went through East Coast on the Service Road instead of the cycling track; it seems shorter on the road. We stopped twice: once at Bayshore to take photos, once just before Fort Road to use the washroom. And Gerald requested me to take photos of him cycling, so I did...
We went past Dunman High :) (did not take photos this time though) and stopped at the very nice bridge connecting Tanjong Rhu and National Stadium. And as Gerald requested for more photos of him cycling, so there it is again...
By this time I was already starting to trail behind (I can always blame it on my really ancient bike but well, I know fully that I am not that fit actually...). We went past Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Bridge, Lau Pa Sat (we did not stop anywhere in town as Shireen was waiting for us at Biopolis, and we have already postponed the meeting time once when we were at East Coast, so it was not exactly nice for us to keep delaying...), and then Ching Hua's bike's chain came off the gear! Gerald was already so far ahead that he can't hear me at all, so Ching Hua and I were fixing the bike together by the shophouses just opposite Chinatown Point, with streams of people walking past us in their search for food (ours would be waiting for us at Ghim Moh..?). And when we finally finished, I went into a shop selling curry puff to ask for tissues and the auntie was staring at me as though I was an alien who just fell from a spaceship.
We then carried on through Havelock Road, Ganges Ave, Alexandra Road, Queenstown, Commonwealth and we finally reached Biopolis! Gerald and Ching Hua were like rushing up the steep Biopolis slope as Gerald said 'he has always wanted to cycle up that slope' but I simply did not have enough energy to do that. So after 2 metres up that thing, I got off and pushed my bike up rather unglamorously...
We met up with Shireen and continued with our photo taking spree. There is one with Gerald and Nanos and the Biopolis bus, one with the 4 of us and the Nanos directory signboard (courtesy of Choon Kiat, a guy from IBN whom Shireen knows), one with the 3 of us and the Biopolis directory, and of course, one with Gerald cycling in front of Centros...
We walked (yes, walked) to Ghim Moh to have our lunch. We met Gerald Goh at the bus stop (he is still working!) and the 2 Geralds took photos together. When we reached the hawker centre, the three of us were so thristy that the first thing we thought of was Ice Kachang! Of course we continued with our photo taking; our food/ice kachang/food + Gerald etc. And there is also one with Shireen holding onto 3 big glasses of drinks with her keep telling me 'it is heavy!'... (ok I'm sorry... ;))
We left Ghim Moh slightly before 1430 (Hmm Shireen is supposed to have a lot of work to do after that, and we still have a long way to go, and there is only 5 more hours of daylight?). We continued west, going past Clementi (the traffic there is INSANE, especially near the MRT), Jurong East, and stopped at Chinese Garden to grab a drink. That was where Ching Hua and I bought our first Gatorade, and I started my stretching exercises as I was beginning to feel cramps coming...
We went past Lakeside, Jurong Fire Station, and turned into Jalan Boon Lay where we continued up onto Jalan Bahar and Lim Chu Kang Road. Ching Hua said he wanted to revisit his old camp (4SIR) so we detoured into Old Lim Chu Kang Road just before the reserve runway. I have never been to 4SIR camp (it was just simply so rural and out of the way!) and it is good that just before I leave I get to taste a little the agony of my 4SIR friends when they were booking out :) Ching Hua tried to smoke the RP by telling the guy that he was doing some recce. Apparently he had just given the bored guy some stuff to talk about for the rest of the afternoon...
After that we went past Ama Keng, Sungei Gedong, and finally Neo Tiew! Lots of memories in these places... Ama Keng was an exercise area deep in with REALLY a lot of durian trees and rambutan trees and of course their fruits (I don't eat durians though) during summer, and it was where I had my first outfield exercise (and hole digging) with 3SIR. I have been to Sungei Gedong for both my battalion missions, and by the drain between Gedong and Neo Tiew I was almost struck by lightning... :P and Neo Tiew? Haha have been there to set up casualty stations, learnt heli-evac signals from this Brigade guy, learnt how to use a new stretcher which is able to transport casualties down buildings via ropes, as a safety medic, etc, etc...
Neo Tiew Road was long and winding. Luckily for us (esp me), it was mostly downslope along the way. We stopped by the BBC Far Eastern Relay Station to take a picture (haha one of the places which my dad's company takes care of) and their antennae really looked like those climbing towers in OBS. We went past this place called Bollywood (?!?!) and there is a restaurant inside! It is a mystery who will come and have lunch/dinner at this kind of place. Nevertheless, we took photos in front of it :)
Well, another great mystery was this big group of Chinese High boys (I refuse to acknowledge that they are from Hwa Chong) WALKING along the road towards Kranji. I have absolutely no idea why they were walking; probably their excursion bus got stuck in the deep mud in Sungei Buloh or something...
We stopped by Kranji Dam and took photos, of course! It is the one place where you can see the Causeway side-on: Malaysia on your left and Singapore on your right! It was another discovery for me. We did not stay there for long, but we stopped again soon after, in order to get a 1.5L bottle of 100-plus and some chocolate bars (hmm that was mostly for myself..) at a small grocery inside Kranji Industrial Estate. When we were about to set off, we got so freaked out by this really massive and long lorry that we kept retreating further and further onto the pavement as it reversed into the factory...
We stopped by Kranji Dam and took photos, of course! It is the one place where you can see the Causeway side-on: Malaysia on your left and Singapore on your right! It was another discovery for me. We did not stay there for long, but we stopped again soon after, in order to get a 1.5L bottle of 100-plus and some chocolate bars (hmm that was mostly for myself..) at a small grocery inside Kranji Industrial Estate. When we were about to set off, we got so freaked out by this really massive and long lorry that we kept retreating further and further onto the pavement as it reversed into the factory...
Our next stop was Causeway Point, after we passed by Kranji MRT and Woodlands Checkpoint. Gerald decided to skip Admirty Road altogether as we were running out of time. We bought more drinks at Causeway Point, with me forgetting to bring my wallet down to the supermarket so I have to go up again to get it...
As we left Woodlands, Ching Hua suggested that we take an alternative route to Gerald's as it ought to be faster. He led the way from then on, and I continued to follow behind, with at least a distance of 200m between them and me. They had to keep waiting for me at junctions where we had to turn.
So there we go (hmm when we first set off from Woodlands Gerald was forced between a lorry and 3 buses, it was, scary...), passing Admirty (where I was testing the patience of 2 bus drivers), Sembawang, Yishun Ring Road, Yishun Ave 1, and finally, Lower Seletar Dam. We witnessed the finest sunset over there: the sun, with its orange glow, hanging just above the greeneries and the reservoir, with the water shimmering in its light... it was beautiful. It was just sad that my camera did not capture the scene properly.
So there we go (hmm when we first set off from Woodlands Gerald was forced between a lorry and 3 buses, it was, scary...), passing Admirty (where I was testing the patience of 2 bus drivers), Sembawang, Yishun Ring Road, Yishun Ave 1, and finally, Lower Seletar Dam. We witnessed the finest sunset over there: the sun, with its orange glow, hanging just above the greeneries and the reservoir, with the water shimmering in its light... it was beautiful. It was just sad that my camera did not capture the scene properly.
From there we carried on through Seletar Airport onto Jalan Kayu. I had some serious leg cramp after negotiating an upslope stretch and Gerald and Ching Hua was waiting for me to recover in front, not knowing what happened... It was so paiseh. Anyway, we stopped at Jalan Kayu Roti Prata Stall (hmm one of them) where Ching Hua had Bundung, with Gerald and I just sitting around, and of course I was massaging my legs. Though surprisingly, my legs did not give me problems anymore after that, even though Yio Chu Kang Road was crazily hilly...
We went onto Yio Chu Kang Road and it was getting dark. So I told Gerald I would be cycling on the pavement instead because it is really dangerous for me to be on the road (my bike did not have lights, and I was wearing a dark shirt! To an inexperienced driver, it is equivalent to sticking 'please knock me down' on my back and compelling him to follow the instruction). So they zoomed ahead, and when I reached Boundary Road I knew I overshot as I knew that they were supposed to get on Tampines Road. And that was where I saw Gerald's message saying that they had decided to go ahead, and I, not having to follow them, chose my own (safer?) route back.
My route was as follows (to anyone interested): from Yio Chu Kang Link to Boundary Road, Upper Paya Lebar Road, Lorong Ah Soo, Hougang Ave 3, Eunos Link, Kaki Bukit Ave 1, Bedok Reservior Road, Bedok North Ave 3, Bedok North Road, New Upper Changi Road and then back home! It took me roughly 45 minutes to get back from there. I was rushing all the way as it was rather late (~1945? and I was hungry!), and the pictures taken were all bad because I could not hold the camera still. However, one thing I realised was how nice Bedok Reservoir was at night! And there were really really lots of burning everywhere as it was the last day of the seventh month (though the month started again one day later...).
It was really an achievement for me! Though at the expense of my bike... The gear handle dropped off and I don't think I would attempt to fix it. After today, my old faithful would retire...
My estimation using the Street Directory of the total distance covered is ~118km for me, including the stretch along Changi Coast Road which I repeated. Gerald and Ching Hua's was ~116.5km (Gerald's figure), as they did not repeat any stretch. However that did not matter: we were so tired that I slept at 11pm yesterday, and Gerald woke up at ~12pm today, when I was at NUS Coop... And without sunblock, I am going to Baltimore with a peeling forehead. As I told Shireen, what a negative illustration of Singapore's weather... :)
My estimation using the Street Directory of the total distance covered is ~118km for me, including the stretch along Changi Coast Road which I repeated. Gerald and Ching Hua's was ~116.5km (Gerald's figure), as they did not repeat any stretch. However that did not matter: we were so tired that I slept at 11pm yesterday, and Gerald woke up at ~12pm today, when I was at NUS Coop... And without sunblock, I am going to Baltimore with a peeling forehead. As I told Shireen, what a negative illustration of Singapore's weather... :)
