Singapore

A jaunt to Labrador Jetty

Posted on by kymdt

We were back on our bikes for our final day in Singapore. Vida had suggested that a ride to Labrador Jetty and then along the foreshore would be nice.

This route was a little under 20km, and included a ‘tricky’ shortcut back to the hotel on Singapore’s excellent MRT. The route is available on Strava.

From Tiong Bahru we joined the Alexandra Canal Park Connector and then the Alexandra Park Connector to Labrador Park. The first unexpected, but delightful, stop was the “tree top walk” in Southern Ridges park. Perhaps, if we had examined the map, we would have noticed that on the other side of the road was a bigger garden with a range of interesting features. So if you do this ride, you can report back to us on what we missed out on at Hort Park.

A little further down the road, if you are feeling arty, are the Gillman Barracks. They are described as a contemporary arts cluster in Singapore that is home to international art galleries, restaurants and the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, which are all housed in conserved colonial barracks. Unfortunately, late rising artists are incompatible with early morning bike rides – not too much was going on when we made a diversion.

We continued on to Labrador Jetty (which apparently is not accessible at the moment) to take in some local fishing culture and the immense nature of the port operations in Singapore.

After Labrador Jetty we continued along the foreshore. If you ride it, you will need to make your own judgement about some of the advice about where you are not meant to ride! We ended up at Vivo City for breakfast a local chain restaaurant – Toast Box. Unfortunately, there was some confusion between the orderer and orderee – which meant we waited too long – we still got fed and that did defeat the hangry feelings.

Twenty four years ago was the last time I visited Singapore. At that time Sentosa Island was the big thing in town. We took the free tour bus from the airport and went there. I’ve had a look at our old photos – back in the days of film – and I am not sure I took any photos at the time (says something about the cost of film and developing).

Sentosa is still there and its features, such as Universal Studios, are still popular. It is a bit like me – showing its age just a little bit.

What I can guarantee is that it won’t take 24 years to get back to Singapore. In fact, I’ll be arriving there tomorrow (this time not for a bike ride) to transit on the way to England.

After we bid farewell to Sentosa we returned to the hotel to pack our bikes into their bags and prepared for check out.

After checkout, we had a delightful lunch at House of Perankan Petit. It describes itself as a modern and intimate 30-seater restaurant located within a former Peranakan enclave along Eng Hoon Street in Tiong Bahru. Helmed by chef and owner, Bob Seah, the restaurant serves traditional Nonya cuisine from Bob’s treasure trove of secret home recipes as well as a few new Peranakan-inspired creations.

It was yum! I would recommend a visit if you are in the area.

We needed a lovely drink to follow this lovely meal. So, we made our way into the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel and had a Singapore Sling and a Sakura Sling (only one each!) and then chased that a craft beer from the fantastic LeVel33 the worlds highest urban microbrewery. This is where I’ll be tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t know about you, but on my final hours in Singapore I shopped for homewares. For some reason I felt the need to look for a Japanese cast iron griddle. Ultimately, I left it behind because it wouldn’t fit within my carryon baggage limit!!

If you’re at loose end and in need of homeware or furniture during your next layover visit Tan Boon Liat building. It is best described as a vertical homeware centre.

Rest Day and Q&A

Posted on by kymdt

On the fifth day of our tour, we decided to take it a little easier and have a rest from our bikes. So for this post, I’ll share some pictures from that day in Singapore and do Q&A about travelling with my Brompton.

I woke up and decided to have breakfast at my new local coffee roaster, Glass Roasters.

Question: How did you travel to Singapore?

Answer: I travelled direct from Adelaide to Singapore on Singapore Airlines. I purchased a standard Economy ticket. Flight time was pretty fast at around 6 and half hours, we arrived about one hour earlier than scheduled.

We visited the National University of Singapore Baba House in the morning. We got there by walking through the very large Hospital District! NUS Baba House is a three-storey townhouse located in Singapore’s historic district of Blair Plain. Managed by NUS Museum, Baba House facilitates research into architectural conservation, urban and social history, and cultural hybridity.

I would highly recommend visiting – we have no photos to show as they want you to experience this house in real life and to share in its stories. So I’ll show you some photos from the adjacent area.

Question: How much luggage did you take?

Answer: I checked-in an XXF Brompton Bag for the bike and carried-on my essential clothes and other items in my Brompton Bag (the large one that fits on the front of the bike).

After NUS Baba House we visited an air conditioned museum – the Asian Civilisations Museum. That is also well worth a visit. We walked to lunch past the namesake pub of a friend of mine. But, we didn’t eat there as we were in search of Japanese inspired dumplings near the Singapore river. Surprise! The place was called Dumpling Darlings.

Question: Did you have to pay extra to transport your bike?

Answer: No. I didn’t pay any extra. In fact the bike and bag weighed about 18kg and its size was well within limits set by Singapore Airlines. I just checked it through the usual self service luggage drop gates as if it were like any other bag. Flying from Australia to Singapore meant that the weight concept was applied – my ticket allowed me 25kgs of weight. There are no specific size restrictions other than it must not exceed 200cm (length) x 75cm (width) x 80cm (height). Also, the Singapore Airlines website has some further information. Key points are (1) The bicycle is packed in a hardside bicycle case, a cardboard, or a padded protective case that is designed for transportation and (2) The tyres must be deflated.

After lunch, I did a bit of shopping at the Funan Shopping Centre. I wasn’t planning it but this rather hip shopping centre (we were later told that it wasn’t always that cool) was home to Brompton Junction and some urban bouldering. I followed up this shopping with some uber cool (both in a style and temperature sense) coffee from Kurasu Coffee (originally from Kyoto).

Question: Do you have any tips about what to pack?

Answer: Singapore is quite warm. While I prepared for it with a wardrobe similar to what I took to Jakarta the year before (lightweight long sleeve shirts and pants), I quickly decided that riding demand less modest clothes so I opted for a new pair of shorts and t-shirts. In relation to the bikes, you need to make sure you at least take spare tubes, a toolkit (checked baggage – you don’t want that confiscated at security) and battery driven mini pump (the Brompton pump is ok for emergencies but a mini compressor that functions as a spare battery is much better).

In the evening Mary and I caught up with some of Mary’s friends at Great World City for dinner. The night was pleasant and the conversation witty, which might explain why I didn’t take many photos. You will notice that I had two desserts. The first at Great World City a traditional ricey dessert and then some yummy gelato at Tiong Bahru.

Casual breakfast ride

Posted on by kymdt

If you thought the 7am start of the previous ride was early, then you would be even more impressed by the 6:25am start for the breakfast ride the next day. Even more impressive was the fact that Steve, today’s riding partner, got up and started riding even earlier. Today we were going to ride through East Coast Park to visit the newish Terminal 4 at Changi Airport for breakfast.

There are at least two good things about starting so early. First, it is cooler (Strava said it was 27c with 88% humidity). Second, there is less traffic. This means we can ride faster and on relatively empty roads. You’ll see on Strava that we fanged it through the business and financial district. We didn’t stop for any photos but I do recall my surprise of hearing roosters in the financial district.

If you are inclined to ride 52km for breakfast in Singapore then you could consider this route on Strava. NParks Eastern Coastal Loop also heavily features the East Cost Park.

To get to East Coast Park we made our way through Marina Bay and across the barrage. NParks has themed East Coast Park as “Recreation for All”, this park has something for everyone. It has inclusive gardens for all ages and abilities, facilities for cable skiing, Singapore’s tallest outdoor play feature, an Xtreme Skate Park, facilities for inline skating and cycling, and so much more. Our first stop was near Six Pipes Jetty Beach. Steve’s cute little drone was here to take some footage of us!

Just look closely how many container ships there are out on the horizon!

We visited Changi T4 for breakfast. This is the “budget terminal” which began operations in October 2017. T4 aims to serve a larger community of passengers, ensuring that our passengers can travel with ease of mind with greater travel options. T4 boasts environmentally friendly design elements with optimal use of natural lighting and energy management systems. In 2018, T4 won the Prix Versailles Architectural Award for South Asia and the Pacific as a testament to its state-of-the-art design.

I could have taken some more phots – but I was clearly focussed on getting some breakfast into to me. We visited a Kopitiam for a breakfast set, with soft boiled eggs, toast and coffee. I certainly found it enjoyable filling me up after 25km of riding!

In my haste to get to breakfast, I neglected to tell you about the Jurassic Mile along the bike path. Jurassic Mile is Singapore’s newest and largest permanent outdoor display of life-sized dinosaurs. More than 20 different pre-historic creatures from nine different species stretch over 1-kilometre of the cycling and jogging path. Expect to see carnivorous and herbivorous species, defensive dinosaurs, as well as those that fly. The tallest dinosaur stands at almost 5 meters high! 

I didn’t take phots here either – but you can look at some at this article by The Straits Times.

On the return trip, I took some nice photos near the Marina Bay Area before heading back Tiong Bahru.

Thank you Steve for being such a great riding partner and for making our visit to Singapore very memorable! Hope to ride with you again sometime soon.

On my return to Tiong Bahru, I rewarded myself with a cold brew coffee and apple pastry from Glass Roasters in Tiong Bahru. My ‘local’ coffee roaster produces the perfect cold brew for the hot and humid climate of Singapore!

Some of you may know that, I like Japan. Japan is well represented in Singapore. I visited Takashimaya Department Store, ate lunch at Nakajima Suisan, bought books at Kinokuniya, and had afternoon tea at TWG Tea (I have never experienced such a BIG tea menu).

Mary joined me at TWG Tea. We then headed towards the UNESCO listed Singapore Botanic Gardens for an afternoon [3.5km] stroll! Wow, those gardens are amazing. We concluded our walk with a dinner in the gardens at The Halia (Malay for ginger – which makes sense because it is in the ginger garden). It was pretty active this night because there seemed to be a “halal” speed dating in the event space! The food, nevertheless, was good.

I finished the night by looking for craft beer. Tiong Bahru did not disappoint. I found a small local bar, Canjob Taproom and proceeded to drink some beer and eat spicy popcorn chicken as I contemplated all that I had done, and what was left to be done.

The Great Singapore Rail Trail

Posted on by kymdt

During our World Bicycle Day ride with the Brompton gang, Vida offered to take us on an early morning ride along the Green/Rail Corridor.

This is Singapore’s great rail trail. It runs 24km, from the city centre to a crossing to Malaysia, along what was formerly a railway line used for “commuting and transporting goods between Singapore and the rest of the Malay Peninsula at the beginning of the 20th century. With the return of railway land to Singapore in 2011, the Rail Corridor forms a continuous open space through the heart of Singapore, and presents an opportunity for communities to shape this space, and forge new memories together.”

Wisely Vida suggested that we start early to avoid the heat. So bright and early at 7:00am Vida met us outside our hotel to start, what would be, a 36km ride along this beautiful green corridor and the Alexandra Canal PCN. The route we took is shown below and is available on Strava from this link.

The Rail Corridor is a very pleasant and popular ride. It surprises by offering such a beautiful green corridor to enjoy Singapore. The views above are of the original Singapore Railway Station and of a beautiful sunrise. As we continued on there were more pleasant surprises such as a Yayoi Kasuma pumpkin and one of the original rail bridges.

When I tell most people that I took my Brompton to Singapore they seem to suggest that there are no hills and that there is only city! But Vida made sure that we were aware of at least one hill and I can confirm (as any casual view of a map of Singapore would) that there are plenty of green spaces and wildlife. I should have taken a picture of both the steepish hill and the macaques that crossed our path – but you’ll just have to trust me.

Of course a morning ride wouldn’t be complete without a breakfast stop. We stopped at the Railway Mall for a cheeky pau at Nam Kee Pau (they seem to be everywhere in Singapore). Yum.

Coming from a country that is apparently suffering from a housing crisis, it is fascinating to see how differently Singapore handles housing. I think all Australian’s should contemplate this quote from the Singapore Housing Development Board:

Singapore’s public housing has housed an entire nation – today, more than 1 million flats have been completed in 24 towns and 3 estates across the island. HDB flats spell home for 80% of Singapore’s resident population, of which about 90% own their home.

Perhaps our housing crisis is a collective decision about what we are willing to accept? – There are other ways – The reason I mention this is not because I am writing a political blog – but rather because Vida took us to the 47th floor rooftop garden of Dawson Skyville, a public housing estate. I would have to say, that I have never contemplated entering a high rise public housing estate in Australia. It is an interesting contrast that in Singapore these estates are seen as “public spaces” where anybody can enter. It was eye opening with stunning views. Here are a few photos.

Vida got us back to the hotel around 11am and with just enough time for her to race back home for a virtual work meeting. Thank you Vida for sharing with us your Singapore. We hope to see you again sometime soon.

We freshened up and had light French lunch with rose at Merci Marcel followed by a little siesta.

After the siesta we left the Bromptons behind and used public transport because we had a fancy meal planned. But before we shimmied up to the restaurant to be wined and dined we did some exploring around the Sultan Mosque. This included a visit to the delightful Konditori Artisan Bakes and Patisserie.

The streets are bright and lively here.

Keen readers of this blog would be aware that there is a strong focus on libraries from one of the contributors (not me). But even when that contributor is not physically present her impact is still felt. Somehow we ended up in the main branch of the Singapore Library. So for your library folk here are some pictures.

The finale for the day was a degustation at Seroja. I could try to describe it – but I’ll leave it to short quote from their story and some photos. You’ll be hungry just looking at them.

The restaurant shares the same name as the lotus flower in Malay, a significant cultural symbol for various peoples in the Malay Archipelago region. To me, it represents the commonality in our diversity, how we are similar yet different and the beauty of this harmony.

At Seroja, I celebrate the familiar flavours of the Malay Archipelago that I grew up with and am continuously inspired by. Our food and beverages uses spices and herbs that are native to the region that give our food its distinctive character.

World Bicycle Day

Posted on by kymdt

According to the United Nations, “World Bicycle Day draws attention to the benefits of using the bicycle — a simple, affordable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation”. The UN forgot to mention the benefit of meeting new people and becoming friends.

This year Mary and I were in Singapore for World Bicycle Day. We celebrated by riding our Bromptons throughout the day!

When I tell people that I have just returned from riding Singapore, the usual response is one of surprise that it is big enough to do multiple days of bike riding. As you’ll see over the coming posts there are plenty of cycling opportunity in Singapore. This is certainly helped by the strategic encouragement of folding bikes as an integral part (first kms and last kms) of city journeys. Further, it is supported by the amazing Park Connector Network which

is an island-wide network of linear green corridors linking major parks and nature areas across Singapore. With more than 380 km of trails, the PCN presents a diverse palette of recreational green opportunities, provides avid outdoor enthusiasts with enhanced accessibility to nature spaces across the island, and serve to enhance ecological connectivity between our natural habitats.

Source: https://pcn.nparks.gov.sg/files/NPARKS_OVERALL_MAP_R8.pdf

The the first part of our World Bicycle Day celebration we decided to ride part of a the “Central Urban Loop” route. NParks has already prepared a number of loop rides that show off the PCN. The bad news is that they are presented as PDFs, which are really not compatible with my GPS Bike Computer. I did, however, prepare a number of GPX files that the the best of my ability follow the PDF published route. These might help you:

The Central Urban Loop started from Kallang MRT. This gave us the option of taking the MRT to the start. But it was, after all, World Bicycle Day so we decided to ride from the Tiong Bahru Bakery (yes riding is better with some pastry in your belly) to Kallang MRT. I’m glad that we did this pleasant 9km trip- as you’ll see from the photos below.

We followed the Central Urban Loop along waterways and parks for a further 13.5 kms before the heat of day politely suggested that it might be time to stop riding. We saw many of the HDB public housing estates, local hawkers centres, shopping centres, and other local life.

With an MRT station always nearby and folding bikes encouraged on public transport, it was no trouble at all to fold our Bromptons and make a beeline to the National Gallery of Singapore after a quick lunch in the Buangkok Hawker Centre in Sengkang Great Mall.

Surveying culture in an air conditioned environment is recommended in the mid afternoon!

World Bicycle Day is clearly best celebrated with friends. Riding a bike is actually a great way to meet people and become friends. Riding a Brompton Bike is even better. Riders around the world of Brompton Bikes are generous, friendly and engaging. Travelling with a Brompton, is in my view, the best way to see the world.

About a week before we arrived in Singapore, I left a message on the Brompton Singapore Facebook Group about our imminent arrival. Steve reached out and said he and Poh Leng would arrange a ride for us. There was no better way to celebrate World Bicycle Day than with our new Singapore friends (and a little drone).

A ride down the river and through the financial district, a shared meal and then the illuminations of i Light Singapore, there was no better way to celebrate World Bicycle Day. Thank you!

After the lights at Marina Bay the gang rode back up the river for some late night snacks at ABC Corner. What a great day!

I look forward to riding with our new Singapore Brompton friends again – Here in Australia, somewhere else overseas, but most definitely I’ll be back for another ride in Singapore, perhaps this time fully around the island!

Preemptive nostalgia

Posted on by kymdt

Is it possible to be nostalgic about a place before you have even visited?

I guess it would take some priming. Perhaps it would start with booking a hotel called Nostalgia Hotel.

Last year Mary and I effectively organised and booked our trip in a day or so. We looked for a good rated hotel that was not part of an international chain. Somehow Google Maps popped out Nostalgia Hotel – it looked locally run, well located and well liked. We took a punt and booked it.

Little did we know, 7 months later, we would find ourselves in the middle of place that does come with considerable nostalgia. Tiong Bahru is one of Singapore’s oldest housing estates constructed in the 1920s. It shows. When we spoke with our Brompton friends we were told Tiong Bahru is a popular place that had gentrified. It certainly is a pleasant place to stay.

While there are fashion boutiques, famous bakeries, cool cafes, and gelateria – there is still the Tiong Bahru wet market and hawker centre which was located across the road from the hotel.

We arrived at Changi International Airport in the late afternoon on the 2nd of June. By 4:00pm we had arrived at our hotel, checked in, unpacked our bikes and were riding towards Fort Canning Hill. A place with much history.

A word of warning – the paths around Fort Canning Hill are very slippery when they are wet. So we proceeded carefully. Rain at 30c is a pleasant surprise and far more tolerable than rain would have been in Adelaide. When I had left Adelaide the temperature was around 10c .

We then popped down to Clarke Quay for some satay and beer. This is also quite an historical location. What was to become clear over the coming days was that the Singapore River and its paths would be the bike transit backbone for us getting around Singapore. It is a pleasant, if sometime busy, route.

Of course that was only a light snack. We finished our meal back the Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre. Note-to-self – 8:00pm on a Sunday night might not be the best time to visit – many stalls are closed or finishing up for the night. I ate some great rice, stir fried bean shoots and a quite delightful (if not beautiful) pork hock soup.

Not bad for leaving Adelaide at 9am?