morning ride to punggol waterfront

Two mornings in a row, the boy and i decided to go explore Punggol Waterfront/ Waterway. 

Getting there

To get there, you can either cycle about 30 odd minutes along the Serangoon Park Connector, before reaching the Punggol Promenade. Otherwise, you can hop onto the NEL and stop at Punggol MRT station and then take the LRT to Riveria LRT station. You will alight very near the Punggol Promenade (:  The first time we went there, we kind of got lost and walked aimlessly for almost an hour before nearing the waterway. Do check out how to get there before going, don't make the same mistake as us!

Arriving there

There are several activity centres at Punggol Promenade, including seafood restaurants and an indoor soccer court (i think!). From Punggol Promenade, there is a long board walk where you can cycle, jog or stroll along to enjoy the scenery. I wouldn't exactly say that its very scenic (afterall, there are really nicer views overseas), but i guess this is pretty enough for Singapore, given our extremely rapid urbanization rate.

 there are toilets along the way, so fret not if you have to answer nature's calls (: or, you can do it army style (highly not advisable)!

after walking a short distance (maybe 300m?) from Punggol Promenade, you will see this red bridge, leading to the Lorong Halus Wetlands. If you are an avid bird watcher/ nature lover, do check this out. We happened to see a couple of bird photographers with their extremely large Canon L lenses! heh. 

Lorong Halus Wetlands

We decided to explore the Wetlands, as well as shoot some pictures. So here goes...

view of Punggol waterway from Lorong Halus Wetlands

view of Punggol from Lorong Halus Wetlands

gravel track within the Wetlands, leading to even wetter grounds, which we didn't manage to explore

 water lilly pond inside the wetlands

gravel tracks and tall grass, very suitable for wedding photoshoots (:

Back on track- Punggol Waterways

Generally, we didn't manage to explore much within the Wetlands as most tracks are made of gravel (not tar) and its pretty bicycle unfriendly /: We went back on to the waterways before heading home. Just a couple more shots!

oh yeah, there are seats along the way for you, so fret not if you feel tired yeah. but its a pity that there isn't much shade along the way.

This marks the end of my trip to Punggol Waterways. My parents have traveled the entire stretch and told us that there were still many places we have not covered! Can't wait to go on another exercising-cum-shooting session (:

On a side note, HAPPY LAST DAY OF 2011 (: Enjoy your countdown later (:

riders cafe (:

upon hearing all the raves of Riders Cafe, I just couldn't wait to visit it for breakfast! was really supposed to bring the girls there for breakfast (instead of at Strictly pancakes), but sadly, it was fully booked ):  in fact, i heard its always fully reserved on weekends, so do make your reservations early okay (say 1 week before)! i called 5 days before and there were no seats for us already /:

so yeah, i went with the boy on a weekend morning (before our crazy lessons), just for quiet, serene yet yummy breakfast. he was just nice enough to accommodate to my "weird" request, given how stressed up he was. 

travelling was a chore! its almost impossible to get there without a car. we managed to cab in, but do note that some cab drivers have no idea where it is, because its so packed away in the wilderness. nearest MRT is commonwealth (or so they say), but we realized that Holland Village is even nearer. so if you are going by public transport, do stop at HV and cab in. the cab fare was about $7. and oh, if you are at rider's cafe, so note that flagging for a cab would be... purely based on luck. we were lucky to catch one, but i was certain that if none came, we would have to walk out 1.7km to the big road. haha.

here is the last stretch of road leading into Rider's Cafe.

so here lies a quaint little cafe, way smaller than i expected, given its popularity. 

here's how the cafe look like within!

in fact, there was window side seats. the next time i go back (yes, i intend to go back someday), i will surely request for a window seat as it overlooks the horses! yes, here's prolly one of the main attractions of RIder's cafe. its situated beside Bukit Timah Saddle Club! this simply means that you can watch horses trot by as you enjoy your breakfast, only if you get the right seats.

the prices of the breakfast sets range from $10 to $16. here's what we ate!

and oh, the food was yummy! 

Black Stone Benedict ($15)

i had the blackstone benedict (since it was so highly raved), and i must say, the poached eggs were just heavenly. the golden yolk was watery (my favourite!). their combination of bacon, sourdough, tomatoes and eggs seem simple, but its a power combi! and oh, their tomatoes were so sweet! you will love it! or maybe even like it if you normally hate tomatoes. do give it a try. i will definitely come back for more of this!

Baked Eggs with Spicy Chiroz (not too sure of its name!) ($15)

i can't comment much on on the Baked Eggs with Spicy Chiroz as i didnt get to try it. the boy said it was really delicious (and gave a really satisfied face upon clearing his plate) , but i figure its a little small for him as we had to grab a cup of Starbucks before he felt full!

the ambiance here is.. priceless. away from the hustle and bustle of life, cooling weather, really fresh air (considering how little cars travel in here). i really enjoyed the tranquility this environment offers. the boy was sooo stressed over school work while we were on our way there, but he was obviously calmer when we were about to leave. well, i was hoping to walk around a little more, but given the location, we just had to catch the first cab we see, else we'd be stuck there for... who knows how long.

we walked around for a really really short period of time, and here are just some sights of the surroundings!

horses trotting by...

 and so, the cab came and it marked the end of our little morning adventure. MORE TO COME! after we have settled the crazy heaps of assignments the school hurled in our faces (:

Fly Kite Fly Kite~

KITE FLYING+PICNIC DAY!! (: wheee!

The last time we went on a kite flying or picnic was almost a year ago! Thank goodness, the boy had some spare time for us to go out and have fun!! We prepared a 3 course meal (it was almost a 4 course meal), which proved to be slightly too much for us. But yay, cooking with him is always fun! So here's what we had for lunch- red date and logan drink (cheated, cause we got it off the shelves of NTUC), borscht soup (cheated as well,its campbell), Don's shepard's pie (cheated #3) and mango prawn salad (which we made ourselves, finally!)

Stupid us left out the spoons, so we had to drink right from the jar

This time round, we chose to go the the Marina Barrage, after the failed attempt near Anchorvale Community Club simply because there was no wind. Boy, it was such a crowded day till our kite got tangled with some other! And the weather was a killer! Just 1.5hrs in the sun and we were zapped out of our energy! If not for the hearty meal we prepared, I would have probably fainted there. Ok, maybe that's slightly exaggerating.

The winds at the Barrage made it way too simple for the pro! Like within 5mins, he managed to get the kite high into the sky! But, I would have been able to do that too! Hmph!

But anyhow, it was a really fun day-waking up way too early to prepare the salad and pack the food and all. This may sound brainless, but it's such simple pleasures that adds colours to your everyday life. No?? 

Lets do it again soon, <3

The Terracotta Warriors

It was off to Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM) to visit the Terracotta Warriors! I love visiting such special exhibitions in museums <3 Geeky me likes to be enriched with historical facts and quirky ideas, you see (: 

Anyhow, I have been wanting to visit the Terracotta Warriors for a long long time. Think once, I even tried to convince my parents to bring me to Xi'an to see them! Now that they've flown all the way to Singapore, there's no reason why I would miss this opportunity for the world! (:

The Terracotta Warriors were found buried together with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. These figures depicted the army which would follow Qin Shi Huang in his afterlife. The army was discovered in 1974, in the Litong District, Xi'an, Shanxi Province. The construction of this mausoleum started in 246BC and involved almost 70,000 workers (talking about cheap labour huh!). Currently, there is an estimate of 3 pits of armies, with over 8000 soldiers,130 chariots, 520 horses (many of which are still buried underground).

The ACM had brought over a few figures and some replicas (as the original figures are too fragile to be moved). And it was really interesting to find out so much more about the Terracotta Army. The ACM had also very nicely designed an iPhone app for visitors to experience the sights and sounds of the wonderful Terracotta Army (: Find out more here!

(psst! its free entry for Singaporean and PR students ya!just rmb your ezlink/matric card)

Here are some pictures of today's visit to ACM!

this is our ticket to enter the exhibition!

camgeek, seriously.

contemporary version of the army! HOW CUTE PLS!

love the lighting of this photo <3

some pottery that were buried alongside the warriors

this is a replica of the original chariot, which is too frail to leave China ):

the horses are so mega cute though (:

warrior gear!

here's the real deal! this is a Terracotta General (:

some other miniatures which were buried in another tomb (yes, its not QinShiHuang's tomb)

extracts of walls leading into the tombs. these stones depict a romanticized version of a commoner's life.

creepy figurines. think they just depict commoners /:

figurine of a maiden buried in the tomb as well.

Well, maybe you should go down to the ACM to visit the Terracotta Army (: