The Coast-To-Coast Trail
Following the `success' of my Coast to Coast walk last December, I was wondering what other trails would be worth tackling, during my end-of-year leave for 2022. Fortunately, the National Parks Board has a series of curated trails for leisure and exercise, and this includes a Coast-To-Coast trail. Unlike my own walk which ranged from West Coast to East Coast, NPB's entails walking from Jurong Lake Gardens in the Southeast of Singapore to Coney Island Park, which is roughly in the Northeastern region.
So, on a typically overcast December afternoon, I set off to explore this trail, with a mixture of adventure, curiosity and just a little of trepidation. I had decided to do this trail in sections, so as not to over-exert. No thirty plus km in one shot as I did last year! But I believed that it would be no less fulfilling and meaningful.
DAY 1: Botanic Gardens to MacRitchie Reservoir
The starting point of my trail would be the Botanic Gardens, which had turned out to be my favourite spot in Singapore over the last few years.
The Coast-To-Coast Trail: from Jurong Lake Gardens to Coney Island Park
Entrance to the Botanic Garden, decked out in flowers for Christmas
Not far from the Gardens is Adams Road, where a famous food centre is located. In particular, the President of Singapore had been well-advertised to have bought teh tarik from the drinks stall there. As it was the very first part of my journey, I was brimming with energy and enthusiasm. In terms of natural scenery, I was not expecting this walk to be as spectacular as my East to West trail the year before. Still, it would take me to places like MacRitchie Reservoir and several other Parks and open spaces, and there was still a large part of urban Singapore that I had yet to see (and which could turn up their own interesting surprises!). And surprised, I was. Even the initial walk up to the Reservoir was greener than I had expected, imbued in natural surroundings.
The first section of this walk would range from Adam's road to MacRitchie Reservoir. NPB had put up milestone signboards along the way, which both encouraged walkers and allowed them to track their progress. I was pleasantly surprised by how much greenery adorned my path to MacRitchie reservoir- NParks had done a good job of carving a green path through the city for `trailers' like myself.
Left: A colourful church facade; Right: Encouraging `milestone' checkpoints along the way
On route to the Reservoir- a green path carved through the city
A particularly memorable point of the walk occurred along the path that ran in parallel to MacRitchie Nature Reserve and Lornie Road. Having been walking virtually alone for the most part, I suddenly realized that I wasn't the only primate enjoying this path. In fact, atroop of long-tailed macaques were gambolling along, just up ahead on the track. Upon sensing my imminent presence beside them, three of the troop sauntered to the edge of the jungle that bordered the path and launched themselves onto the trees!
End point for Day 1 of C2C: the tranquil MacRitchie Reservoir
DAY 2: MacRitchie Reservoir to Luxus Hill Park
I was out of the house by six-thirty AM on the following morning. Having found the Express Bus no 52 to bring me home on Day 1, I simply retraced my steps to where I had left off by taking the same bus back to MacRitchie Reservoir. Looking out of the bus windows at the dark silhouettes of trees and buildings, the freshness of which can only be enjoyed at dawn, my mind wandered back to my schooldays when we rode a schoolbus to and from school. That was a time when everything was new. Now, I could enjoy again the freshness of day being reborn from the night.
Back to the Reservoir, a picture of tranquility in the freshness of dawn
`Serendipity is the joy of exploring the path less travelled'
The trail leading out from the MacRitchie reservoir area made for a lovely walk. Here, other walkers, joggers and early morning enthusiasts were also up and about. In a while, I would emerge from this forested area into the city proper, the wider Bishan-Ang Mo Kio area, a hive of vehicles, construction and other human activity. It would be some time before I arrived at the next green oasis, that of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park. I would have my breakfast at a small shed nearby, nothing but some bread and a can of energy drink, but enough fuel to keep me going till the next stop.
Pathlight lights up my path
As mentioned, the next stage of my journey was a path through urban or semi-urban estates, and not a stroll through serene natural surroundings. At some point, I was faced with seemingly endless pedestrian crossings and traffic lights, that I wondered regarding the viability of completing this C2C trail.
I really needed something to boost my spirits, some motivational words to drive me on, perhaps? Arriving at the perimeter of Pathlight School in Bishan, I found what I needed. A series of posters was neatly presented on the outside of the fence surrounding the school compound, each one a gem of wisdom spoken by a bright and smiley face belonging to a staff or student of Pathlght School.
To capture these motivational quotes in their entirety, I walked the whole length of the fence bearing these posters, with my handphone on video recording mode.
Find your fire
You always have a choice
Dreams do come true
Enjoy today
Collect moments not things
If not us then who
Now or never
You are your only limit
Carve your own path
Go for it
You are your choices
Make it happen
Dare to be different
This too shall pass
Every moment matters
Don't be afraid to fail
You are worth it
From MacRitchie to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park
A serene morning at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park
Crossing the urban landscape once more, I made it to Tavistock Park by late morning. Resting on a bench here, I was curious at the vociferous chatter of schoolchildren emanating from the buildings nearby, wondering what school was in this vicinity. Resuming my journey, my curiosity was further stoked when I encountered more than a few French speakers along the pavement leading away from Tavistock. I finally realised that this pavement ran just outside the Alliance Francais, the premier French school in Singapore.
Tavistock Park
I had been unsure of which direction to go in order to resume my C2C adventure. By this time, I was feeling quite hot and tired, made no easier by the trail which necessitated much street crossing in a high traffic area. After walking for some time, I realised that the general direction that I was heading would take me to Ang Mo Kio town, which was more westerly, when I needed to head in a more northerly direction towards Sengkang and Punggol.
Summoning my reserves of energy and enthusiasm (and perhaps drawing from the subconscious reserve of inspiration derived from Pathlight!) I corrected my path and thankfully, managed to find my way to Luxus Hill Park, an `official' stop of the C2C trail. I was on the right track again. However, it was now high noon and with the sun bearing down upon me and the Singapore soil, I knew that I would have to come back again to complete the C2C. Compared to the first segment of the trail though, the journey back would be naturally longer. First, I caught a bus to Sengkang LRT Station, which led to Sengkang MRT, changed from the NorthEast Line to the Circle Line at Serangoon, before I finally found the Downtown Line again at Botanic Gardens, to finally head back home.
Luxus Hill Park
Honestly, at that point, I never thought I would be completing the C2C trail going all the way to Coney Park. At least not this year! The thought of the `superhuman' effort to get to Coney Island and having to come back all the way home was a leaden weight on both my mind and feet. During the next two days, I stayed mostly at home, only leaving he house to run a few laps around Mayfair Park in the evenings. I would have done the same on the third day, if not for Ethan. That Friday, 23rd December, he would be meeting some friends to watch a movie at Bishan. I had a choice, to languish in the house for the rest of the day or accompany a boy on the MRT to Bishan and on to Serangoon. I chose the latter. I would undertake the last leg of my C2C trail.
It was an achievement just to find my way to where I had left off two days before. Getting off at Serangoon on the Circle Line, bus no 70 would take me directly to Luxus Hill Park, my last stopping point on the C2C trail. My next destination was Sengkang Riverside Park.
I had never wandered in this region of Singapore before. It is strange to think that one can spend over thirty years in a small city state and despite the inherent limitations of space that are already imposed by living within the boundaries of that nation, limit oneself further by staying within an even smaller region within those boundaries. For me, I had limited myself to the Western region mainly, with places in Bukit Timah, Bukit Batok, Jurong and Clementi being regular haunts, while others in Sengkang, Punggol, Woodlands and Yishun were rarely visited, if at all!
My coast to coast walk in 2021 had turned up some gems. There were the surreal experiences in Haw Par Villa and Kent Ridge Park and the small pocket of kampong existence in Purmei Estate. The refreshing final leg along a casuarina-lined canal leading to East Coast Park.
On my way to Punggol Waterway Park, close to the LRT station at Sumang, I found my gem for the C2C trail in 2023. As I was trekking up the waterway, along a small tributary of Sungei Punggol, I came across a mural that had been tastefully painted on a wall supporting a flyover.
As part of the LAVA (Literature and Visual Arts) programme, the National Arts Council had commissioned an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator, Sonny Liew to produce an artistic interpretation of lawyer, Gilbert Koh's poem called `Accident', back in Dec 2012, almost exactly ten years ago. The mural depicted a line of robots, each 'reciting' a line of the poem in sequence:
And I, gazing at the stars
Stumbled unto you
Fell painfully in love
Couldn't get up
For ages
And amongst the mostly gray robots were the two protagonists, prominent in blue and pink.
I realised now that I had not had my lunch, and it was almost 4 pm. I checked Maps to see if there was any food and drink nearby, for sustenance. It just happened that there was a flight of steps close to the mural and nearby to the riverside bench where I was catching my breath. Sure, Maps showed that there were some restaurants just above me, but I wasn't keen for the Punggol specialties of Black Pepper Crab or seafood right now! I made my way up the steps to emerge where the shops were. Glancing and walking around, a sign caught my eye. 'HaoMart, your friendly grocer'. Just as the mural had been my psychological saviour, a supermart in the same vicinity turned out to be my physiological saviour!
Entering the mart, I was assailed, not just by the warm aroma of bread and food but also by the soothing melody and voices of a song from the 80s, 'Eternal Flame' by the Bangles. Talk about food for both the spirit and the soul! I bought a bottle of coconut water and cream buns of two different flavours to go. With the music of the Bangles still in my head, I soon found myself back on the bench by the river, devouring my newly procured sustenance.
In the region of Punggol Waterway. top left: Hao Supermart
Having rejuvenated myself, it was time to continue on my journey. Next stop- the Punggol Waterway. I didn't want to give this famed scenic spot a miss, thus followed the river a bit further upstream to enjoy the scenery.
Following that, I crossed a bridge that sailed across the river and onto a ridge that overlooked it. From this point onwards, it was serious business. I would be heading towards Coney Island in as direct a manner as I could. Beneath me, my legs were starting to feel weary and several kms still separated me from the island.
I can remember these few kms as a haze of LRT stations and a shopping mall, where I made a toilet stop. On Google Maps, I could see a straight path to Coney Island. A sense of excitement permeated my being, sending a surge of energy through it for one last push. There appeared to be much building activity in the area too, a condominium estate appearing to be in the works.
Then... where Google Map showed that I should be crossing over to Coney Island, I reached a cul-de-sac! Considering my state of near-exhaustuloon, that was indeed a bummer!
Now, I had to backtrack a hundred meters or so, to get back on track and find another route to the island. Fortunately, with the help of Maps, I was soon back on track. Roughly West from the cul-de-sac was Punggol Point Park, where the coast was lined with eating establishments selling drinks and especially seafood, that Punggol is well known for. Emerging from one of these shops, I was finally face to face with a boardwalk and the open sea! I remember savouring this achievement to the accompaniment of uplifting music that was blaring from one of the shops. Finally, I had reached the latter Coast of the Coast-to-Coast trail.
There was the complementary selfie. And the final trudge of some two hundred metres or so of boardwalk, before I could finally cross the bridge to Coney Island. My legs felt quite like jelly as I made the crossing. Some environmental workers were hard at work, cleaning up trash near the rocky shore line.
Coney Island itself was quite a wooded and sheltered island. There was a pavilion of logs close to the entrance where I had a much needed rest on a log bench. Apparently, there were environmental initiatives being carried out in the vicinity. It was obvious that wildly growing mushrooms and other moulds were accorded special treatment on Coney Island, for example, as valued exhibits rather than unwanted growth.
I was too tired to explore the entirety of the island and decided that my only other itinerary there would be to sit on the sea-facing concrete benches that looked out onto the waters. Almost alone there, save for a group of Flipinas, I pondered on my experiences on this Coast-to-Coast trip. It was tiring almost to the limit of my physical ability, but I never doubted that it was worth it. Feeling the sea breeze on my face and hearing the waves breaking on the shore, I was glad to have seen a part of Singapore that had remained invisible to me all this while.
I also felt a sense of achievement - I had walked from West Coast Park to East Coast Park at the end of 2021 and now, I had completed a walk that was even further, a year later, albeit being spread out over three days.
Before leaving Coney Island, I remembered something important that I just had to do! To capture a photograph of the Coast-to-Coast Trail signboard here, at Coney Island itself. And there it was- the little red spot highlighting my location was all the way up there, at the end of the trail.
Andrew Wan
Dec 2022
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