I obviously overslept again, since it was already the holidays. I woke at 7.30am instead of 7.15, changed, packed 2 sets of spare clothes, a towel, camera and lens, and left for Tampines MRT Station. Boarded 106 at 7.50am, and arrived at City Hall MRT Station only at 8.45. Successfully avoided the morning train crowd by boarding the train there. Reached Tampines 35minutes later at 9.20.
Met up with Jon and WM before w walked to Sunplaza Park to rent our bikes. Estimated time we would complete was 6 hours, from 9.40 to 3.40pm. We wre told that, if we were to rent the bike for a whole day, it would be the same cost(whole day rates from 9 to 6pm) of $18. We started off quite well, until we reached the chalets at Changi. Lots of humps and slopes, which slowed us down alot. Jon became tired after that, and we were slowed down greatly.
Stopped at Changi Village for drinks and a 20-minute break before we continued toward East Coast Park. The sky started to become overcast as we entered the route that ran along the airport runway, and it got really windy. I stopped many times to take shots of planes, and was still able to catch up with them. The sky became more overcast as we cycled on. It was only when we reached the Changi entrance of the park that it started pouring, badly. The rain drops felt like tiny niddles pricking our legs. Stopped at a shelter, waited for the rain to subside before we continued on to the nearest sheltered fast food outlet for lunch. It was really cold. From that point, I was unable to take any photographs for fear it might damage the camera.
After lunch, we continued on, via the Singlap Park Connector. More relaxed, slow cycle to Telok Kurau. We made a small detour due to on-going construction work at a junction. We were stunned when we reached the pitstop, as, it was closed. We reached the pitstop at 3pm, 40minutes ahead of schedule. However, we had to move on in case we could not reach the next pit stop before the closing time at 6pm. We passed Sean's place that afternoon, and if only there was enough time, we might just have been able to knock on his door, rest fo 30minutes before moving on. Had walked along that stretch of park connector three times before, but this was the first time we were actually cycling on it.
At 3.30, we reached the Bedok Park Connector. it ran all the way to Bedok Reservoir Park. This route was extremely challenging for us. Numerous steep hills, rough cycling surface, lack of directional signs which confused us, and a overhead bridge that did not have a slope. So, we were forced to carry our bicycles across the expressway,not push them across like we had been doing since morning. At 4.15pm, we made it back to the Tampines Park Connector.
The remaining route was relatively easy, on level ground. No slopes or humps to cycle on. The directional signs finally returned! At 4.35, we made it back to Tampines MRT Station, and 10 minutes later we returned our bicycles, an hour and 5 minutes behind schedule.
Total distance covered on the park connectors alone, 31 kilometers.
The distance covered in the parks was unknown as none of us kept count.
Total time taken, 7 hours, 5minutes.
Great achievement for all of us, and we plan to go on this trip once again in December, when their A Levels are over. This time, we'll start off from Telok Kurau Park, and I'll take more photographs as long as the weather would be in ur favour.
Went to Tampines Mall after that for dinner. before that we went to a new Japanese fashion shop. They were having a sale, and the items there were unique and unlike the usual stuff Giodano and Hang Ten were selling. 7pm, we all left for home. We went to Pasir Ris to look at the new safety feature, before taking a train back. I alighted at Bedok, and took 196 back to clementi, before taking 106 back home. The Clementi Bus Interchange is beggining to become my regional Bus Interchange to the Eastern part of Singapore!
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