On Mother’s Day ( and Pat’s birthday as
well), we decided to check out Labrador Nature Park. Google suggested many walking
routes from home at Bukit Batok but we opted for the 14km route with promise of
minimal traffic crossings.
We set off at 7.45am. The sun was just
visible from the next tower block in my estate and we walked in the long
shadows along Clementi Ave 6 before joining Sunset Way via Sunset Grove. At
Clementi Rd, we hit the second major traffic junction that disrupted an
otherwise smooth walk.
From Ulu Pandan Park Connector, we walked eastwards.
The heat was starting to sap the life out of
us so we kept talking to a minimum. We passed by Dover Station on
our right and almost persuaded ourselves to get out of the sunny PCN onto the
shaded walkway along Commonwealth Ave that came with a couple more traffic
junctions.
Nearing the end of the PCN, it was now
southwards to Star Vista and then Rochester Mall to get onto North Bouna Vista
Rd. It was an uphill task as we labored in the heat towards Science Park. It
would have been a monotonous walk but pretty candy colored buildings at InSead
and Ayer Rajan JTC broke the monotony and injected some interest in where we were
heading.
Across AYE, we did a left to Science Park
Dr, passing shiny buildings that bore names of scientists. Clueless to their
contribution to mankind , I mentally made a note to look them up after the
walk.
At Normantan Park, we accessed Kent Ridge
Park through a series of steep steps. It was hard work but the prospect of
shade and a view of Pasir Panjang Port motivated
me to carry on. We continued left on
Vigilante Dr and finally got onto the Treetop walk leading to Hort Park. Now at
almost 10am, the sun shone relentlessly on us. Beyond us, the city smog hung
low, blurring the skyline.
Hort Park is huge. Perhaps jaded from the
countless walks here, I hardly gave the place much of a glance. We used the bridge to the Southern Ridges to
access Alexander Rd. Very soon, the sky did an about turn and it became
overcast. It began to rain fat drops of rain and our pace quickened until we
sought shelter at Labrador Park Station.
It was a passing shower and with much
relief, we reached our first milestone at the park via Labrador Villa Rd.
Runkeeper announced my feat of 14km but I wasn’t too elated when Harborfront
was not even in my line of sight.
We hugged the coast and headed east on the
unsheltered boardwalk, passing multimillion dollar condos and the marina where
the rich played. At Keppel Bay Drive, a
sign made known that we have reached the end of our trail. It was back to the
road again on Telok Blangah Rd. Harbourfront beckoned us and we made haste for
the sky has turned grey again.
We took almost 4 hours for the 17km walk. Except
for Kent Ridge Park, we were sun drenched all the way. The shower did not
provide respite. If there was anything that was interesting and worth checking
out, it would have to be Gillman’s Barrack with its promise of food and art
galleries. Remind me to visit, but this time with a car.
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