a (long) walk in the park

24Aug08

woke up early to meet a sunday morning submission deadline (don’t even ask) and decided to go for an early morning walk.

people wonder why i love mornings. this is why.

the view from our eleventh-floor apartment

singapore really enjoys a milder climate than most people would believe; mornings and nights are generally a nice, cool, and oftentimes breezy affair. we have a vast (by local standards) green belt just in our backyard, perfect for morning and evening saunters.

                                                                                                                          i love parks. nature, in its original, wild form, can be beautiful, but i cannot really stomach being in some mountain or forest for any length of time. the very thought is terrifying. no toilets (with soap for hand-washing)! strange (and likely dangerous) creatures of the wild! no potable water! mud! no cabs! no internet access and mobile phone signals! but parks are a different matter altogether. trees, and grass, and flowers, sans the inconveniences. the reassuring sight of cars and people and bicycles. i am a city girl through and through.

                                                                                                                         

here, we have an excellent “park connector” thing going, which lets us wander from park to park in neighboring estates. if, of course, you have an excellent sense of direction. the “park connector” signs disappear once you embark on the road, and if you are anything like me, you would head in an entirely wrong direction, give up halfway, and discover the park connector road map only very much later.

but i had a fruitful walk anyway.

lovely bushes of white flowers lining the streets

i went round the park once before starting on the journey of the lost road signs, watching the interesting people all around me.

the banshee

i have no intention of being rude. this amazing old lady was vocalizing in the park. to “a” and “o” vowels. pitch-less, but impressively loud. if you weren’t watching her, standing there so steady and strong, you would have thought she was making long, drawn-out moans of pain. after the vocalizing exercise, she dug both ears with her fingers earnestly, then clapped her hands over her ears and continued staring into the distance. i have no idea what ritual that is.

on the road to...

the interesting thing about traversing these green belt roads is that you see nothing but “wilderness” around you. looks pretty much like a scary undergrowth to me, except…

yellow and red water pipe thing

…for the adorable yellow and red water pipe things lining the “wilderness”, interspersed along the sides of the street at every 100m or so. very useful markers if you get lost while trying to hunt down the missing park connector signs (i’m very bitter about the signs. can you tell?)

where the witches meet

i love this; this little ring of trees in the middle of nowhere. where suburban witches have their little pow-wows.

what is this? (besides being a badly-taken picture)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

advertisments for a condominium development project! these figures line the border of the property, and individual spotlights illuminate each figure at night. what a creative and efficient use of space, and so much more effective than just tacky billboards. i first saw these in the form of cow figurines, which some milk manufacturer placed randomly on a field to advertise their milk. later, there were some others – figures of atheletes in various poses in an advertisement for the youth olympics. excellent idea.

and then homeward bound.

illegal?

contrary to popular (?) belief, they don’t impose a fine for walking on the bike path. really. lots of things are actually legal in singapore, believe me. although…

no cycling on the bicycle path... i think.

this sign was next to the bike path, so… i don’t know if it means what i think it means. 

and home to breakfast!

i made this.

ok, that was a minor lie. i did make it, but three months ago, on mother’s day to be precise. except that mum was not home to eat it. i do things like that. don’t ask. my scrambled eggs were a grand success!

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