Coast to Coast
After a long hiatus, Immy and I finally got back to our uncommitted weekly weekend 'exercise', which 100% of the time we are more of focusing on chatting about work, colleagues, dreams, Shinhwa and our past overseas life in Hokkaido and Beijing.
Still, with the Labour Day holiday yesterday, Immy and I decided to challenge rollerblading at East Coast Park.
What makes rollerblading at ECP challenging is not the smooth crowded roads, but our laziness in lugging the heavy blades on the the long one hour bus journey there. But since East Coast and the Parkway area were Immy's turf during her secondary school days, I happily followed her suggestion and we reached East Coast Park at around 10 in the morning.
As expected, it was pretty crowded, with lots of angmos (Caucasians for the Singlish-illiterate) and Chinese nationals. Of course there were native Singaporeans too, but they made up the minority. I guess it's still the foreigners and expats who enjoy coming to such ulu and 'sunny' places?
At first, we had decided to just head towards Bedok Jetty. But it was pretty near on blades and we decided to go on as far as we could. About an hour plus later, we had reached the less crowded and more ulu part of East Coast Park. Still, we pushed on and Immy even joked that we might end up at Changi airport.
So, imagine our surprise when we arrived at an ulu stretch of road that said Coastal Park Connector and a signboard that indicated that we were about 8km away from Changi Beach. Naive us decided to continue on, happily assuming that if we were tired, we could just find a bus stop and get ourselves to a nice cool cafe for lunch anytime.
Nope. We were absolutely wrong. The Coastal Park Connector eventually ran parallel to Changi Airport's huge airfield, and though it was running right along a long stretch of road, the road was empty and there was absolutely no bus stops. It was either push on, or go back the same way we came... oh, and it was here I fell on my bum because I was day-dreaming. (Damn paiseh coz a cute guy on his bike immediately came and asked if I was okay.)
By 12 plus, we arrived at the east end of Changi Beach Park. It was probably my first time there since my secondary school days. Back then, our school had arranged an excursion for us to visit Changi Beach where the Sook Ching massacre during World War II took place. (Changi beach was the popular killing ground for the Japanese armies and many Chinese who were suspected of anti-Japanese sentiments were killed here during World War II.)
Perhaps due to the bloody history and being ranked as one of the most haunted areas in Singapore, Changi Beach Park is generally not as famous as East Coast Park, and thus was less crowded while we were there. I can definitely say that I like Changi beach more than East Coast Park because of the beautiful tranquility. But I'd probably freak myself out at night.
Immy and I were both starving by then, having rollerbladed for two and a half hours with only short water breaks in between. But still, we decided to push on just a bit further and head to Changi Village at the other end of Changi Beach Park. Half an hour later, we finally arrived at Changi Jetty and I was more than ready to peel off the blades. For the rest of the day, my left leg was so sore I had to limp around. orz
Anyway, there ended our 3 hour rollerblading journey. We honestly had not expected to make it so far. upon calculations, we actually skated about 20km from East Coast Park to Changi Beach Park. (From A to I)
Well, I think I might do it again, but definitely not on a regular basis. It'll probably be more of a twice a year thing, because I was pretty fried by the end of the 3 hours. And being the otaku I am, I still prefer hikkikomori-ing in my room or at least under some shade, and that's how Immy and I ended up pampering ourselves over coffee at Chock Full Of Beans located right at Holland Village.
I ordered an Ice Rose Latte that came in a beautiful cup (looks more like a vase) and Immy's hot Rose Latte came with a cute puppy art!
Anyway, thanks to Immy I think I'm falling in love with cafes, I just wish I were much less sensitive to caffine. Thanks to the Iced rose latte, I didn't fall asleep till 2am this morning. orz
Now... where should I explore next. Pulau Ubin is looking very attractive thanks to the Barbie temple that Immy told me... but who can I trick into going with me... oh wells, Gardens by the Bay this Saturday first!