House on The Pier - An Unfruitful Visitto the Mysterious House @ Lim Chu Kang [Singapore]

Remember that mysterious abandoned house i saw at the end of my Lim Chu Kang road expedition? 

I have finally made time to have a better look with a group of colleagues from NUS! Contrary to 'public' opinion, no one was forced against their will to join this adventure! Read this again, NO ONE!

My sense of direction is not quite as horrendous as some of my friends (you know who you are) and it didn't take me long to figure out the location of the house; somewhere beyond the yellow historical marker. Which means i would bloody need a machete!

The first landing site for Japanese troops during World War II?! Where's the beach then?! Right in front was more a jungle likely to create a dengue epidemic! 

Another access was found after confirmation with operators of a nearby aquarium. The pathway wasn't as well protected as one would expect from state property; hence, we took our chance. :)

To be totally honest, this would be my second time on the quiet dirt path. I ventured this far the first time and stopped going forward because i was alone! Just imagine the danger of injuring myself, coming across a group of illegal immigrants or worse, stepping onto a bed of snakes! 

Having a group of friends accompanying me was definitely much more comforting; i had a much more relaxed time to enjoy the wildlife so abundant in this rural gem of Singapore.

Wildlife, in such insecure circumstances, is defined as all living things that have no potential of harming us. Put it this way, except for mosquito repellent, the most powerful weapon we have then was probably only my huge-ass camera! 

 

Oh my gosh! The same sentence ran through my brain twice when the alert Ms Thng stopped me in my track and pointed at the blackish reptile in the middle of the path!!! For those who are unaware, i have a great phobia of snakes. My greatest thanks to Ms Thng who has helped me avoid this calamity!

Destination in sight! Bad news though; the place appeared to be barricaded which means there would be CCTVs to deter intruders from moving further.

Side-track a bit - don't bother exploring if you are sensitive to smell. The whole area stank of decomposed materials in low tides!

Expected, CCTV in operation... 

Attempts to find a separate point of entry were sadly unsuccessful. Appended above was the best shot i had of the vicinity with no sight of the main building that attracted us in the first place! 

A heavy heart as we slowly trekked back to the car. :(

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Two bloggers managed to gain access to The Pier before the place was fenced up. So for more pictures (envious), please click the following:

• http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/lim-chu-kang-pier/
• http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/a-lost-world-in-lim-chu-kang/

Map

Interested to explore on your own? 

Check out the map where our route is clearly traced by the red highlighter. You may park your car at the end of Lim Chu Kang Lane 9.

Additional Information

We thought of paying a boat operator from the Lim Chu Kang jetty to send us to the house (it was only two hundred meters away). 

No go; the operators are mindful that the mysterious house is out of bounds and it doesn't help to have a police coast guard overseeing the jetty! 

Poison Ivy Bistro @ Bollywood Veggies [Kranji Heritage Trail]

Poison - defined as "a substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, causes death or injury, esp. one that kills by rapid action".

Therefore, it would seem absolutely justifiable to have people getting a bit rattled to dine in a bistro that directly associated itself with poison. 

Things are however not that extreme in Poison Ivy. 

Marketing itself as a place that serves healthy food with no MSG and minimal salt using ingredients that are likely to be freshly harvested from the farm it owns in the same vicinity, the only poison it has would only be given upon your request to add more salt to "poison" your own blood pressure! 

Despite the limited choices on the printed menu, I could not pinpoint exactly what the bistro has to offer as far as cuisine is concerned since it can range from fried eggs with jam and toast to curry, nasi lemak and even fish and chips. 

That's not even counting special dishes (pineapple fish, jackfruit lemak etc) at the menu board which heavily depend on what is available and harvested from the farm. 

Bolly Banana Curry

When i set eyes on the words "banana curry", i knew i had to place an order! Aside from being a novel dish, i am a super banana lover, helped no less by my zodiac sign as the mischievous monkey.

Alas, i was disappointed with this pure vegetarian curry.  

There was absolutely NO taste of bananas and if not for their obvious cross-sectional pattern, i would have sworn they were sliced potatoes! And Cavin is no admirer of potatoes. 

Warriors Chicken Curry

Warriors chicken? I can only assume the unfortunate fowl was either a kampong chicken or one that gained victory in a gladiator-like competitor involving the same species! 

Curry wise, it lacked the deciding "spice" punch although the flavour was way richer than the pathetic banana one i had and i wasn't hesitant in devouring the pieces of tender, succulent chicken! 

Bollywood 3 in 1 Desserts

Touted as having no preservatives and no additives, these three types of desserts would be less of a worry to health conscious consumers who enjoy a sweet treat every now and then.

I like the moist banana bread which was heavily charged with the delicious aroma of banana, unlike its curry sibling. 

Kueh Bingka was a tad too rich in coconut whereas the weirdly named Kueh Kosui (kosui is saliva in Mandarin) was the best of the lot; lightly sweetened with a soft texture that surprisingly didn't get caught in between my problematic molars! 

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Location

100 Neo Tiew Road

Price

Bolly Banana Curry - S$8.00

Warriors Chicken Curry - S$8.00

Bollywood 3 in 1 - S$7.50

Plain Rice - S$1.00 a serving

[No GST. No Service Charge].

Opening Hours
Wednesday to Sunday - 9am to 6.30pm
Monday to Tuesday - Closed unless it falls on PH

Printed Menu

As above. 

Website
http://bollywoodveggies.com/aboutthebistro.html

Additional Information

Please click here for my official entry on "Bollywood Veggies".

Take time to read the many notices pasted all over the place and you would find yourself laughing at their sarcastic content. 

For my Muslim friends, Poison Ivy was strict in maintaining that no pork products are to be allowed within their bistro. There wasn't a Halal certification which i attributed to the sale of alcohol. 

Outdoor seating is available for diners who would like to be closer to the rural surroundings so common in Singapore thirty years ago.

Beware of the irritating flies! There were so many of them; Alex blamed me for not bringing the ultimate fly eliminator. My G-Shock! Want to know more of its capabilities? Click here!

Lastly, Poison Ivy closes at 6.30pm so don't travel all the way there for dinner! 

Bollywood Veggies @ Kranji Countryside (Heritage Trail No 11), Neo Tiew Road

Don't be deceived by the name.

Bollywood Veggies neither screens any movies from India nor does it import its vegetables from India! Despite the veggies tag, it does not even grow many vegetables to speak of in the first place! 

But, is it still worth a visit? Definitely! 
And we shall let the following pictures explain why.

This was obviously the main entrance yet it put people off by placing the big "No Entry" sign across the gate. I seriously thought the place was out of bounds when i first arrived!

However, there was another sign at the side indicating an entry fees of S$2 [no one seemed to be collecting them though and i strolled in without paying a single cent. Yoohoo]! Free entry is given to children below twelve years old, senior citizens above sixty years old and visitors who were transported by Kranji Express

Central walkway that cuts across the farm with interconnecting paths allowing you to have a perimeter tour of the entire place! 

A normal walk will take roughly thirty minutes even though for kampong boys like myself, i took 47 minutes and left with the impression that i should have stayed a tad longer.

Original custard apple! The bigger, greenish ones we see in the market nowadays are hybrids and they come with lesser seeds. 

The wooden signs labeling the trees and plants are very beneficial for visitors who are ignorant yet interested to know the source for some of their favourite fruits and vegetables.

To take an example, could you guess the purpose for this structure?

It's a metal support net for pumpkins! And all the while, i have assumed that pumpkins grow on the ground like watermelons! 

One of the many dirt paths in the farm. When i was living in the kampong, a keen eye was required whenever i came to a dirt path. You never know what kind of shit you would step on; literally.

Iguana enjoying the sun tanning! The peacefulness of a quiet Saturday made it really conducive to spot little reptiles, insects and mammals. I was lucky i didn't encounter any snake!

Papaya tree! My father's family was involved in the fruit business and papaya was fondly remembered as one fruit commonly found in the huge garage that also served as a holding warehouse for fruits. 

Modern technology that made watering a breeze! Another advantage to installing these water sprinklers was to provide visitors a temporary cooling relief from the scorching hot sun!

Clusters of banana trees! Bollywood Veggies is the largest banana grower in Singapore and it's not hard to see why with two large plots of land reserved specifically to grow bananas.

Banana flowers - there is an old saying that spirits love to reside in the banana flowers and you could force them to do your bidding by tying one end of a red string to your big toe. The other end must be threaded to a needle and has to be stuck in the heart of the flower. 

I was dumbfounded to see the above transformation.

Stupid me have no idea that bananas come from the flowers! It was embarrassing as we used to have banana trees in the compound of our kampong house!   

One of Bollywood Veggies owners, a gungho lady by the name of Ivy Singh Lim, is one quirky person and her sense of humour can be seen, often in very subtle forms, around the farm.

Custard apple trees that were still in their infancy stage! Honestly, it has been a long time since i last ate any original custard apple! It could easily be more than ten years ago. 

For a moment, i thought these were just gigantic green lime but was proven wrong; they were young lemons. By the way, this is not a fruit picking farm and you should not attempt to pluck the fruits yourselves!

More banana trees.

A rustic shack to shield you from the sunlight and occasional rain! Don't bother sheltering yourself in the shack during heavy thunderstorms as the roof was simply covered with just a black piece of plastic sheet!

I might be alone but it didn't stop me from having a go at the swing; it felt so good to relive my childhood memories! Maybe i should bring the kids here when they are slightly older. 

If you look closer, you would notice that the boundaries of the dirt tracks were in fact planks of natural wood.

Pond that collects rainwater for irrigation uses. Contrary to what the sign says, water is necessary to life! When was this fact ever a secret in the first place?!

I bypassed this area thinking i should not walk beyond the half opened gate at the end. There was absolutely no one in the vicinity and safety should always be the top priority in such situation!

Curiousity abandons all rational decisions; i marched straight into the mysterious Sanctuary. 

The first thing that almost caused by eyeballs to drop was the above declaration that nudity is allowed! And this is Singapore where conservative Asian values are still highly regarded!

Tough luck - i saw only one human and he was fully clothed with a camera in his hands.  Bet he had the same intention as me when he saw that nudity board. 

Crystal fruits - i am not sure if they are edible although they appear to look like a mini version of those rambutan like fruits with hard spiky casing.

Another pond fully covered with wilting lotus leaves and flowers! 

As my visit was during the hot summer season, i am guessing that the wilting was just a natural cycle of renewal for a dazzling display in the near future!

Pointy thorns on a tree trunk. Dislike someone? You may 'playfully' push that person towards the trunk and feign ignorance after that! 

Out of the Sanctuary since the dead quietness of the place unnerved me. At this section known as Truly Fruitti, you can find information sheets explaining the fruits, their nutritional benefits and alternate uses. 

The one and only scarecrow in the farm; clearly placed for aesthetic purpose in the context of a rural village and as an additional spot for photo taking opportunities.  

Is there any difference between a Bali tapioca and a normal tapioca? Whatever since i have never fancied tapioca in my whole life! 

Cotton plants! 

Other common crops. Wait, there was a pumpkin plant as well! Does that mean that pumpkins grow on ground as well, similar to watermelons?

A wishing well; yet another installment for aesthetic purpose. 

Failed version though as it is certainly not a well! Cannot imagine that there were actually people willing to toss coins into the shallow water for a wish!

Located right outside the Poison Ivy Bistro was this aromatic garden that did a fantastic job in creating a "strong smelling" environment. *p.s. i chanced upon this garden as i needed to use the restroom*

Another visit would be planned to dine at the bistro! Kindly note that dinner is not available as it closes at 6.30pm! 

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Location

100 Neo Tiew Road

Opening Hours

9am - 6.30pm

[closed on Mondays and Tuesdays except Public Holidays]

Website

http://www.bollywoodveggies.com

Guiding Map for the Farm

As above.