Saturday, May 11, 2013

Singapore : Connexxions (Pt.2)

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Singapore : Connexxions (Pt.2)
Singapore City : 27th April 2013
A small group of us went on  ride to explore the Inter-park Connectors
Our route : F1 Pit Building>Gardens In The Bay>Marina Barrage>Paya Lebar>Punggol Park Connector>Punggol>Bishan
Distance covered : approx. 28.02 km.
Time : 10:45 am - 5:45 pm
Time Taken : approx. 7 hrs. (including stops for lunch, drinks, rest, rendering first aid, photo shoots, etc.)


 Route Recommendations :
1. Riding along Marina Bay and the Marina Barrage is full of photo opportunities; so do take your time there and stop to enjoy the scenery.
2. Part of the ride is along busy Singapore roads, do be careful there. When crossing busy junctions, it will be safer to use the pedestrian crossings.
3. The Park Connector Network (PCN) is shared with pedestrians, joggers. Do give way to these people, it's biking courtesy.
4. The PCN is devoid of traffic, but do be careful it rains, take shelter at the provided shelter to avoid being strike by lightning.
5. Other than that, riding along the PCN is an experience. It is nicely landscaped with riverside views, etc.

This is a two page blog, for other page click - Singapore Connexxions (Pt.1).


PRE-RIDE

In Part 1, we had taken a slow, enjoyable ride around Marina Bay  the Marina Barrage and ending up with us having lunch at Paya Lebar.
Here we will continue after having that simple lunch.


THE RIDE


Cycling Route : F1 Pit>Marina Barrage>Paya Lebar>Punggol Connector>Bishan.
Starting from the F1 Pit Building, half of our ride will be along the busy roads of Singapore before we enter the Park Connector Network (PCN) at the Serangoon entrance. From there we will cycle up north to Punggol and then down south to exit the PCN; and it's back to the roads again where we will end our ride at Bishan. Singapore have an extensive Park Connector Network that let cyclist literally cycle all over the island almost without going onto the main roads.
Finished with lunch, we rode off along the clean Singapore back-lanes.
There was some problems with the handle shaft of Kellie's bicycle. Luckily, there was a bicycle shop just around the corner. The owner just took a little while to get the problem right, and he did not even charge anything for that!
A satisfied Kellie test riding here repaired bike.
Mechanical problems solved, we rode off. The entry to the PCN is still about 5 km. away.
To avoid the busy roads, we rode along the walkways. Here we are taking a short rest in the shade of a pedestrian bridge.
But then sooner or later, we had to go onto the main roads again.
We took a quick detour to view Patrick relative's house. Staying in a house in Singapore is a privilege as many stay in small apartments.
The gang at Hougang. Haha! It ryhmes!
We are getting near to our entry point into the PCN.
1:10 pm - Finally we are at the entrance to the Serangoon Park Connector. We stopped here to take a memorable group photo (see top-most photo)
Yippee! Happily riding along the Park Connector, devoid of any automobile traffic!
I can now understand why many enjoy riding here, most of the tracks are shaded and many are next to beautiful waterways.
Another view of cycling along the PCN.

At the Punggol East, we stopped at the Food & Recreation Center. There is a ramp for cyclists to go up.
Here we are taking a well deserved breather. But for some reason or other, all the shops here were closed. Weird... and this is a Saturday.
So we just made do with drinks from the vending machine; and what better drinks to freshen up then 100+ isotonic drinks.
And it's also a break to catch up with friends on the internet grapevine.
Coming our from the center, we saw a group of cyclist stopped at the side; one of the girls had fallen and hurt herself.
Fortunately for her, Patrick had a well-equipped first aid kit on board, and was soon helping her out. Good for you, Patrick!
Further along, the tarred tracks turned into boardwalks, interesting!

That strange metallic brown structure at the side is a toilet; and just in time for us to stop for a pee break.
We approached a strange looking geometric bridge. It looks sort of uncompleted. But what is this?
It is the bridge that crosses over to the Lorong Halus Wetland. No cycling is allowed on the bridge, bicycles have to be pushed across.
We are now at the Punggol Promenade, and a sweet surprise was awaiting us.
The sweet surprise were some beautiful models doing a photo shoot here. They were sporting, and posed with us.
The AhPek Biker also got his opportunity to pose, grinning widely from tooth to tooth.
Ahead, we continued riding on the boardwalk, and with weeping willows beside us - are they lamenting us leaving those beautiful models behind?
An unique hemisphere canopy, the creepers are slowly growing upwards. This place should be nice once the creepers fully cover it.
A pedestrian crossing over Punggol Way, on the other side is the continuation of the Punggol Park Connector. How convenient for us cyclists too!
Conveniently located are maps of the Punggol Park Connector.
Passing by the Sengkang River mouth, we are almost at the northernmost point of Singapore. Kevin as also video taped our ride here at the Punggol Connector (... see Kevin's video)
At the northern end of the Punggol Connector - this is a place worthy of a photo; the Malaysian port of Pasir Gudang can be seen across the Johore Strait.
Cycling back from there, it had started to drizzle. Suit, Patrick and me decided to turn back to a shelter that we had passed earlier. The rest decided to speed onwards to the next one.
The three of us barely managed to reach the shelter when it started pouring.
A little while later, a family of four - thoroughly drenched came into the shelter too. The younger of the two sons were terrified by the rain, and what better way to calm him down than to let him play games on the smart phone. It's modern days these days.
That rain lasted 1-1/2 hours. When it stopped we rode on to meet the others. They were lucky as they manage to shelter from the rain at the much, much large Anchorvale Community Clubhouse.
5:35 pm - We exited the PCN at Ang Mo Ko. Hungry we looked for the nearest place to eat.
That place was the Sin Hin Food Place at Bishan.
Finished with our meals, we said our goodbyes to each other and parted ways - happy that we had cycled across Singapore's breadth, from the south to the north while enduring some rain.
Many Thanks to Tan and Patrick for a wonderful ride.

 ADIOS GRINGOS! WE SHALL RIDE AGAIN.

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2 comments:

  1. Foldable bicycleMay 13, 2013 at 9:34 PM

    Seems like you people had a lot of fun. Have more at Kampar Majesty Ride this 1Jun2013. Closing date 15May

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jotaro ZenMay 15, 2013 at 12:15 AM

      Thanks gs,

      Many on my biking friends will be attending.
      But I myself cannot attend as will be attending a wedding.

      Delete

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