A Walk Along Old Mandai Road

A Saturday with no plans and not even a slight craving for food and sleep means that it's going to be very boring for me! Unfortunately, the hyper-active Cavin can never sit still and therefore hatched a plan to go for a walk alone.

Remember this place? The infamous tower as mentioned here. A walk means i have to start from somewhere. And starting the walk from my house was just too inconvenient; i would likely veer to Northpoint for comfort food!

As a result of that likely concern, i drove to this illegal car park right outside Upper Seletar Reservoir Park to start my walk. To put it in more correctly, it's actually alongside the legal fishing ground.

A bus stop, hosting bus no 183, is located at this popular fishing area and it's quite popular with anglers and loving couples. From my understanding, the percentage for the latter greatly increases as the night progresses!

The start of the visually-very-long walk.

Tree branches that almost touched the water! The blooming yellow flowers made it even more mesmerizing. A pity there wasn't any monkey attempting to catch fish by using the branches as support.

Fish hook stuck to the tree! I would not have noticed this if not for the sunlight that kept bouncing off the silvery surface.

Signboard signalling the close proximity of the very peaceful columbarium! I am still contemplating if i should pay this modern complex an official visit for a pictorial post in the future.

Super like this picture i took for this road; my starting point was right in front! In the past, the trees lining the road provided a thick, natural canopy with occasional streams of sunlight shining through. It was a really beautiful sight then. Sighz.

It's a different story at night though; eerie and creepy with an underlying suspicion that something evil will bolt out and block your way!

Hidden pathway that leads to the unknown only makes me more uncomfortable! Would have loved to venture further but safety comes first!

While i was sweating like nobody's business, the corner of my eye caught sight of something on top of a bare tree! A natural bed made of twigs!

Closer picture for the benefit of all of you!

Taking advantage of my rarely used 55-200mm lens, i present to you a better picture! I am not sure what bird resides in this nest although i remember eagles usually love high places. Hm... it does seem like a home under construction. Let's give it a few more months before i make an update here.

Bus stop outside the columbarium. It may look empty at this time but once the Qing Ming festival arrives, this small road is swamped with humans!

Fallen trees, broken branches, bare land; the disastrous result of a freak wind during the Chinese New Year period in February. I shall elaborate in a future post.

Ending my post with this funny signpost. Can't the National Parks provide something more substantial than "take care"?! Hahahha

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Kindly note that this is not the end of my walk! I am not that weak okay!!! However, this section showcases the portion of the original two-ways, one-lane Mandai Road.

As i mentioned in the second last picture, another post is in the works!

Enjoying The Herbal Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) @ Leong Kee Klang Bak Ku Teh [梁记(巴生)肉骨茶]

Lovers of Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) are always split when it comes their preferences for the best Bak Ku Teh; Singapore versus Malaysia. The arguments can get really political, aggressive and at times, personal.

Not that i am keen to be drawn to this long standing debate but i personally prefer the herbal bak ku teh (aka Malaysia's style) versus the pepper bak ku teh (Singapore's style). No detailed reason as it is, like what i mentioned, a simple preference.

Therefore, when the Gang of Four walked past this herbal scented shop that proudly proclaims its Klang origin (the place in Malaysia that is famous for its bak ku teh) and sells nothing but bak ku teh, we had to make a temporary stop.

Business should be good enough for them to take over the shop next door for additional dining space! Fingers crossed though just in case. It's always good to have lower expectations than higher ones.

Contrary to most Bak Ku Teh (BKT) in Singapore that are cooked in a big pot and served in porcelain/plastic bowls, the ones in Leong Kee are dished out in scalding hot claypots.

Insane order after a full meal at a Swedish cafe: two claypots filled with BKT and two extra sides for two persons!

Pork Ribs Bak Ku Teh (Original)

I am just going to touch on one because the other was filled with disgusting internal organs. Gosh, who can even stomach stuff like that!? Definitely not me!

Five pieces of tender pork ribs were 'found' and i was satisfied with the herbal infusion. The meat easily fell off the bones, making them easier to be devoured!

Soup is of pertinent importance to any BKT! As you can see, herbal BKT is usually darker in colour than the peppery version. Taste wise, it tasted strong in the sweet herbal aspect although the feeling it gave was contradictory thin. It's only upon the addition of soy sauce that the taste became marginally better!

One and only complaint i had was on the thick residue lying at the bottom of the claypot!

Braised Tau Pok (豆薄)

No like. It's like fried beancurd in soy sauce. Give me deep fried smelly tofu anytime!

Salted Vegetables

My desired style must be salty (obviously), sweet and crunchy. This one in Leong Kee only met the first criterion. Need i say more? :P

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Shall be back when weather in Singapore turns cooler!

Location

321, Beach Road.

(Corner Shop bordering Sultan Gate and Beach Road)

Price

Pork Ribs BKT - S$5.50 each

Braised Tau Pok - S$0.50 per pax

Salted Vegetables - S$0.50 per pax

No GST and no Service Charge

Additional Information

For my review on Singapore's very own Founder Bak Ku Teh, please click the following link; http://cavinteo.blogspot.com/2009/02/gastronomic-weekend-beside-usual.html

Life-Sized Statue along Joo Chiat Place

While driving along Joo Chiat Place, Ms SaNeVa suddenly exclaimed that there's something in one of the houses lining the road. The image of a ghost immediately came to my mind although the bright sunlight continued to shine on us!

Knowing my penchant for the paranormal, I had to walk back in order to get a fuller picture of what Ms Tan actually meant!

At first look, the house seems a bit displaced from the luxury bungalows and heritage houses common in that area.

Look closer and you can find a life sized statue (actually half of it) in the compound!

I am no expert but this statue was wearing a Malay attire and the man that inspires this stone effigy must be of a higher social standing (maybe a datuk or a member of the royalty?) due to the kris and numerous badges on him!

Do you know of any additional information on it? Well, there's one thing i know for sure; this statue must have given many motorists and pedestrians a good scare, late at night!

Far Far Away Zone @ Universal Studios Singapore (USS)

With the Shrek series being my most favourite animated movies, I was really anticipating my visit to the land of far far away back in March.

Key attraction was definitely the 40-meter tall far far away castle; the first of its kind in the world! Deep in my heart though, I would love to see with my own eyes the Disney castles! Castles of those classic fairy tales remain etched in my 31 year old memory.

A real water moat surrounds half the castle. It's missing something.... Oh, a crocodile!! Will incur too high maintenance? Get some piranhas then!

I always have the naive impression that access is granted for the castles' vantage point (towers etc) of all theme parks. You know; the feeling of seeing the buzz of your 'country'; just like what the king will do every morning.

Of course i am wrong! At least for far far away castle in Singapore. :(

The most i can do, as a visitor, was to enter this castle to catch Shrek 4-D Adventure!

Contrary to the bright and sunny weather outside, the interior felt pretty dark and gloomy. Walls were generally sparse with only a few paintings of King Harold and/or Queen Lillian. Well, at least it's air-conditioned!

Waiting to go into the theatre to catch the 4-D show. Mom enjoyed it tremendously; especially the part on jumping spiders! Hahaha, she was screaming with disgust lor.

Baby ogres on cups shaped like an ogre's head. My favourite juveniles are unfortunately the dronkeys! These hybrid offerings of Donkey and Dragon are too adorable!

Fairy Godmother Potion's Shop is a souvenir shop, a juice shop and it includes a kid's ride. I was expecting some really weird liquid concoctions that used lizard's eggs, dog's fur, bat's droppings etc. Count your blessings as none of them existed in the outlet.

This is the Magic Potion Ride for kids!!! Shouldn't Ferris wheel of this size be banished to those temporary fun fairs? Even the Cadbury Wheel at Downtown East is bigger! Like WAAAAAAY bigger.

The opening scene for the first instalment of the animated film was at Shrek's swamp house. A real life replica was built in USS and it's a total waste of space. Taking up a considerably big space and no entry to see Shrek's messy bachelor pad, it's of no surprise that people practically walked pass this white elephant.

Anyone knows who is this? Did he appear in Shrek?

Big ass crown in front of the castle! Loads of people were seen taking pictures with the castle and crown as the background. Managed to take this picture when the glaring sun was right in the middle of the sky!

Goldilocks restaurant that was packed with diners at 1pm! There are so many F&B outlets in USS and it's impossible to try all of them in the recent future. Unless (and that's a big unless) i purchase the annual pass!! *cross fingers*

Entry point to Far Far Away from Madgascar zone! Don't think there's any access to the castle's walls as well. Sad..

Touted as a junior roller coaster, the Enchanted Airways was actually quite thrilling. Please do not compare this with Battlestar Galactica; the G-Force from Cyclon and Human was just too scary!

Puss in Boots!!! I was hoping to take pictures with it but sadly, like all costume characters in theme parks, they disappear very fast. =_=

Newspaper vending machine that is purely for decorative purpose!

Time was limited (sister was getting sick due to all the heat) and it was with great regret that I was unable to explore the park further and take in the small little details of many items.

To beat the heat, we escaped to queue up at the Donkey Live show (it's indoor and it's air-conditioned)!

Thinking it will be a stupid, children show, i was amazed by the interactive bantering between the donkey (on the huge screen) and the audience! How did the donkey manage to immediately answer the questions posed by the audience? Definitely not a set up as one of the participants is a family member of a fellow colleague!

Okay, another picture of the far far away castle! It's so difficult to get a "full view"!

Guess this one taken from New York Zone shows a fuller picture.

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For my 1st post (Hollywood Zone), please click HERE.

For my 2nd post (New York Zone), please click HERE.

For my 3rd post (Sci-Fi City Zone), please click HERE.

For my 4th post (Ancient Egypt Zone), please click HERE.

For my 5th post (Lost World Zone), please click HERE.