There's something i need to do today at Ang Mo Kio and while the easiest way is to take the train; i decided to make good use of my pair of legs to jog there instead as i needed to burn off the calories for the massive gain afterwards.
So here i was; starting from the Nee Soon Central Community Park near my house. Strangely, the park was identified as one of the factors why i purchased the HDB flat but i seldom jog there.
Reaching Khatib MRT station.
I have used this route before, on occasions when there's a light drizzle and i could still make use of the shelter from the train tracks. There's a slight problem though; the area gets quite eerie at night, especially towards the reservoir side where public housing is limited.
Aside from Safra Yishun, HomeTeamNS is also going to have a clubhouse in our notorious town of Yishun. It's supposed to be operational from June but COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a stop of construction work in Singapore. If the situation improves, guess we would see it opening by end of the year.
It's exciting as there's a "four-storey, 2,800sqm Indoor Adventure Hub" that's similar to Forest Adventure @ Bedok Reservoir but indoor! Most importantly, Orchid Live Seafood would be moving to the new clubhouse too; that would guarantee a few visits from me although i expect pricing to be revised upwards.
Jogging past ORTO; guess i am not the only crazy person to jog at 3.00 pm! Anyway, ORTO is a relatively chill out place in Yishun where one can partake in prawning, fishing, dining, karting etc. You can even enjoy trampoline at this Katapult Trampoline Park wtihin ORTO. Its most recent tenant is The Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum!
Coming to the major traffic intersection; should Yishun ever need to build a wall to separate itself from the rest of Singapore, this would be one of its main entry points.
The narrow route towards Ang Mo Kio; i wouldn't mind jogging in broad daylight even though the lack of any other human was still quite disturbing. What if i am bitten by a snake?!
Sungei Seletar - this river is super near the kampong that i used to stay at until i was six years old. I have attempted to find the exact location but i think i would need my dad's help.
Some construction work along Lentor Avenue; in the past, there's a side road that leads to the Springleaf area which was then a mix of kampongs and clusters of private housing.
Shit, no traffic lights, no zebra crossing!
Thanks to the circuit breaker, the usually heavy vehicular traffic from the Seletar Expressway (SLE) was non-existent and i could cross without any difficulty.
Underneath SLE; completed in 1998, this expressway serves as an important joint for Central Expressway (CTE), Tampines Expressway (TPE) and Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).
Finally seeing some high rise buildings here but the road looked a bit strange to me. I used to drive along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 before i scrapped my Toyota Vios and i remember it was a straight road.
SMRT train traversing the track along the North South Line.
Coming back to the strangeness of the road, i think the authority is redesigning the road to enlarge the residential plot and contain it to the left of the train track when you travel towards the north.
You can still catch a glimpse of the old road from the above.
Dark clouds behind me; as you can see, i spent quite a bit of time taking photographs and the worst thing i want is to have rain pelting me when i am so far away from home!
Yio Chu Kang MRT station! Even though there's no shopping mall next to it, it's within walking distance to Nanyang Polytechnic. I studied at Singapore Polytechnic but in the past, i would swim at Yio Chu Kang swimming pool which is just beside the station.
Could you still remember the choices you made for secondary school after collecting your PSLE scores? Presbyterian High was actually my third choice but i got in to my second choice which was Yishun Town Secondary School.
Banner of the politicians who governs the constituency currently; most notable would of course be Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore. I remember it's a six-member constituency; who is the extra person?
Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West with its 120-step staircase! I have always wanted to check it out and maybe i should if travel curbs are still in place in the next few weeks!
Standalone McDonald's restaurant at the outskirt of the garden; how many of such McDonald's are there in Singapore now? I know of Safra Yishun, Kallang, West Coast, Queensway and Bishan Park.
Masjid Al-Muttaqin has been at this location for a long time, even before the HDB blocks next to it were built. From Wikipedia, i gathered that it's almost the same age as me; except i am older by a few months!
The destination for my jog; AMK Hub as i had to withdraw money for the items i would be purchasing later and to play safe, i decided to take out S$200, just in case.
Jog took me slightly more than an hour, across 8.2 kilometres. My younger sister, an avid jogger, was surprised as she thought the distance was longer than that. Now that she can't visit the gym due to circuit breaker, maybe she can consider this route.
Route according to the RunKeeper app! Maybe i should attempt jogging to the beautiful Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park as it's not that far from AMK Hub. And after that, maybe to Toa Payoh which is literally the heart of this little red dot.
True objective of this jog; to procure durians from Ah Di. I assumed i was early as it's only about 4pm when i arrived but his durian stall was already swept clean of the king of fruits! All's not lost though as i had asked him to reserve one cat mountain king and two golden phoenix durians for me! Heng ah!
Time to indulge after burning so much calories from the jog!
As expected, Ah Di Durians don't disappoint.
