Eve of Lunar New Year - Jogged to Sembawang Park!

I haven't been watching the lunar new year countdown on television ever since I moved out to live on my own and to welcome the ox this year; I opted to do something different. Jogging! Yes, I can literally hear your yawns. 

It's actually nice to jog at night during this period of time as a lot of streets are adorned with dazzling festive lights to liven up the atmosphere and the weather was cooling with light breeze. The above was taken at Chong Pang area and I kid you not; the lights were mesmerizing! 

The jogging route was planned so that I can jog past the lights although the main objective was to venture beyond Yishun and to a place where we can see some fireworks from across the Straits of Johor; distance to be covered was gauged to be slightly more than 5 kilometers.

More lightings! Honestly, I didn't know of the above as the colorful structure wasn't that noticeable in the daytime and my usual jogging route doesn't bring me to this part of Chong Pang City.

God of Fortune - always the important god when it comes to the lunar new year for the Chinese as we all want wealth and prosperity in the coming one year! 

Cross junction signaling the boundary of Yishun; in front and to my left side is actually Sembawang area. Interestingly, the Sembawang Hot Spring Park (三巴旺溫泉) is nearer to the housing blocks in Yishun than Sembawang. 

Rubinah Restaurant - this 24-hour roti prata shop has been around for a long time although I can't remember if it has ever changed ownership. A friend living nearby told me food was good; guess I should drop by and indulge in some prata soon! 

My first job as a crew member of KFC was at Sembawang Shopping Centre and it holds a ton of great, teenage memories for me; the visit to the abandoned floors above the shopping centre, the pizza hut buffet, the famous Thai food at the basement food court, the 4D shop with a preserved crocodile etc. Ever since it was rebuilt and managed by CapitaLand Malls; my visit is mainly for Daiso / Giant. 

Public housing in Sembawang. 

Stretch of path that would be pitch dark if not for the street lights. Alex was jogging with me, which was a good thing, as I am not that brave to jog along such a stretch should I be all alone! I might like ghost stories and enjoy visiting cemeteries / haunted houses, but never alone! 

Canberra estate - the newest housing district in the north with a new MRT station (Canberra) serving the residents! This is already the tail end of the estate though as right across the road would be the public housing in Sembawang. 

Coming to the road that leads to Sembawang Park; a recreational area with a beach that was popular a long time ago; giving rise to urban legends and ghost stories. One ghost encounter, according to a friend, mentioned a man who was glowing green and jogging along the above road in the wee hours. 

Last cluster of commercial activity before jogging into the quiet estate.

Maybe due to the lighted jogging path, the area wasn't as eerie as I remember it was a decade ago. And surprisingly, we were not the only ones jogging! Guess jogging is indeed the most popular exercise in Singapore. 

Well, the black and white heritage bungalows in that area still freaked me out. I don't think I can ever live in a landed property as I am too used to the noise and bustle of housing blocks. Wait, maybe I could if it's located right next to Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens or something. 

Arrival at Sembawang Park; it's still not our destination yet as this entry was more the side entrance. Main entrance would be further down, nearer the beach.

Unlighted path again; I usually jog ahead of Alex and this time, the bloody asshole gave me a fright by singing  loudly, breaking the quietness all in a sudden! 

The Boys' Brigade and Girls' Brigade Campsite - I attended a camp, organized by The Boys' Brigade of Yishun Town Secondary School, right here when I was 14 years old; memories were fuzzy and I could only remember sleeping in the tents and singing songs. 

Finally, our destination! 

Time taken according to my Apple Watch: a little past 40 minutes across 5.68 kilometers. I can still jog a bit more to cross the 6-kiloneter mark but it's obvious our weak Alex was already on the verge of dying. Tsk tsk, and I am the one with a heart problem. 

Sembawang shipyard at the back of the jetty! Jetty has quite a number of ghost stories too and some were told to me by friends who personally encountered something there! Reason why I know of the stories was because Sembawang Park / Beach was one of the popular spots for those living in the North and it's common for teenagers to organize overnight BBQ sessions there. 

View across Straits of Johor. The allure of travelling to Malaysia has never been this strong; no thanks to the pandemic which has resulted in an almost total ban on travelling, unless necessary. Just hope that our Malaysian neighbour would recover soon from their current wave of COVID-19 infections. 

Even though they were not big given that we were so far away, fireworks had that interesting, hypnotizing effect and back when they were not banned in Singapore; they were part and parcel of major festivals. 

It's expected that more fireworks would appear at midnight but I was just too darn tired to wait as it was only about 5-hour sleep for me the night before and I still need to catch the public transportation back to Yishun.

Spotted seven police cars going into the park's carpark. We figured it has something to do with the flouting of the authorities' safe management rules as it was obvious that there were congregations of groups above 8 persons; many of which were drinking alcohol.