Upper Seletar Reservoir Park

One of my earliest memories for a family outing is that of a viewing tower located at Upper Seletar Reservoir (实里达蓄水池上段).

Living in a one-level house in the kampong (village) back then, i always found it exhilarating to run up the stone steps and get myself all giddy with the staircase that goes round and round and round.

Officially opened on 1969 by Princess Alexandra (no idea who she is), this park used to be popular with courting couples and families back in the 1980s - when computers were not as widespread and public transportation meant a hot journey on a non-airconditioned bus.

It's much quieter nowadays although there are the occasional joggers, walkers, families.

And macaques with hanging nipples too! Haha. Now let's continue with the rest of the pictures!

A floating jetty that is reserved for those with valid authorisation. The reservoir is also used by the Singapore Zoo (directly opposite the tower) for a boat ride attraction.

On streetdirectory.com, this is 'the' jetty but you can see that it's untrue! Maybe there's a secret gateway that brings you down to the underground caverns operated by the military?! The caverns are near to Seletar from what i remember.

Not very well maintained playground for kids and adults who never grow old (Alex to cite an example). I am a mature man.

An exercise corner that wasn't there in my last visit. They could install more fitness machines as the blue area looked too sparse! Under-utilisation could be an issue though.

The track frequent by joggers. Visually, it looks torturing with just a long, straight road leading to the viewing tower. And once you reach the tower, there's another extension of the jogging track of an equal tortuous length.

Its close proximity to the golf course just a golf ball away is serious enough to warrant this warning sign along the track!

Nature is in abundance here and it's sometimes just a matter of slowing down your pace and be patient. I even managed to catch a brief glimpse of a hornbill.

Victorian style benches with classic lion heads that are no longer as common in Singapore.

A standalone hut in a bleak state of not being used for a long time. It was a pretty view nonetheless as the hut was surrounded by dry brown leaves and trees that had lost more than half their green glory.

Finally coming to the tower - a definite icon for upper seletar reservoir!

Designed like a rocket ship, it has its fair share of paranormal stories that revolve around a lady ghost in red dress (it's always female and always in red). Details are fuzzy as i heard it a long time ago!

Information is practically non-existent for the viewing tower, which used to be have splashes of red and ponds on its ground level.

Being older now (although still not very tall), i am now more attentive of the surroundings (including the many pieces of dried lizard shit).

The top of the viewing tower is a simple area that has not changed much for as long as i remember (friends will know how 'good' my memory is).

It isn't as majestic like the KL Tower but still provides a bird's eye view for those who took the effort to walk up!

Panoramic view, as always! A newspaper article once reported sightings of crocodiles lurking in the reservoir. It has never been proven (as in no buaya has been caught.. yet) and remains an urban legend to this day.

I have always felt that the tower is a grand old dame and its structure might not be as strong as its heyday. This could explain why i choose to walk slowly instead of running up the stairs!

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Location

Map taken from streetdirectory.com.

Red star is the location of the viewing tower. There are car park lots available and those without a car can take bus number 138 from Ang Mo Kio bus interchange (press the bell when you see the tower on your left).