A leisure stroll from Farrer Gardens Blk 4 to its  Bukit Timah Core’s side gate is only 15min! I’ve timed and tried this morning

Imagine living next to a three-Michelin-star rating garden which was also selected by Time magazine as ‘Asia’s Best Urban Jungle’. This award winning garden has recently added a new attraction for the families – Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

So, here we go! Remember to wear comfortable walking shoes!

This is our starting point. Farrer Garden Blk 4.

Enter side road Jln Kembang Melati after crossing Farrer Road using traffic lights near Lutheran Towers (The orange building seen in the picture below. I’ve just discovered that it was a HDB flat before!)

You will see the side gate very soon

Botanic Gardens station under construction

So fret not if you are living much further away. Very soon, everyone can have convenient access to this garden via the new circle line (which is currently under construction) and alight at Botanic Gardens station. Though Farrer Road station at Farrer Gardens will also be ready then, I will prefer to walk to the garden to save money and exercise for health

These are some pictures taken in SBG along the way to Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden.

You need to be observant to discover flowers, fruits, leaves, insects, animals etc that are part of this SBG experience. Do you have the time and patience to slow down your pace to discover?

We’ve finally reached our Destination!

A huge tree sculpture named Mystree at the entrance created by Zadok Ben-David…

A closer look shows the tree sculpture is made up of more than 500 human forms! Perhaps, that’s the reason for “mys”+ “tree”? What would the children think of looking at this sculpture?

A children’s cafe! Colourful furniture built for them

*Shock*

Is entry chargeable???

Thanks goodness. This garden is free. I didn’t have a cent with me

yay! Let’s go in!

I love these colourful signages. Compare them to the ones for adults. It’s more informative and bigger! PErhaps, NParks should do the same for adult’s signages?

This looks very much like an adult signage though…

Check this out!

Do you know what is this??? Can you tell from these 3 pictures?

It’s not bananas. Did you know?

I was surprised to find 4 classrooms in the garden.

Furniture and teaching tools were available too!

So small and cute!

A water feature area.

Kids love water!

A tree house?

Nope. slides.

u should see how those 4 lovely kids played on the slides over and over again!

Looks like fun!

If your kids are older, you might want to go for guided tours by these young volunteers!

I was a little startled when one of young volunteers greeted “Good Morning” from my back. Just smiled back.

Didn’t know what was going on till I saw them providing free guided tour to some park visitors

Now, instead of spending time in shopping malls and air-conditioned places… how about bringing your kids to SBG’s Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden this weekend for a fun adventure?

Address:
Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden
481 Bukit Timah Road S(259769)

Location (click on the map for a bigger version):

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Now, I don’t take fireworks up, close and personal anymore.

I like to take it from a distance juxtaposing fireworks with our beautiful skyline – just like these pictures!

Taken from a Tiong Bahru flat’s staircase.

Taken from Di Tanjong Rhu flats’ corridor.

Taken from Kerrisdale. Though, it wasn’t a HDB flat, I heard there were 4-storey flats on the site before.

Are you going to catch the fireworks this year?

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<Click here to hear what it sounds like>

The growling green mean machine is the dumpster truck that arrives at 7am everyday. The grinding sound we hear is the crunching of rubbish to make space for… all our rubbish.

There’s a hunchbacked old lady who’s no stranger to my neighbourhood. (She declined to be photographed.) Everyday she goes on a scavenger hunt for recyclable cans and newspapers. I can’t help but cringe as I see her hobble towards the rubbish bin, leaning her weight towards the right for support.

With a toothless grin, she pulls out 5 empty drink cans from the rubbish bin. At the end of the day, she sells the recyclables for just enough cash for tomorrow’s meals.

I don’t know which is worse – seeing people throw away items that are as good as new or seeing this elderly woman sifting through rubbish for a meal.

Those green bins

Nowadays there are recycling bins at most void decks. My block doesn’t have one but the block next to mine does. I was glad to see some responsible residents pick up the litter and throw it away in the bin instead of leaving it scattered around. Fantastic!

This blog post is part of the SPOTTED! series.
Next up> 3 guys and a pizza
Give us the heads up if you spot anything you’d like us to write about.

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Remember back in the day when live chickens were available at wet markets? I vividly recall how they were picked from their cages, given the slit at the throat, plucked of it’s feathers and chopped up for all to see.

This just gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘fresh’.

Anyhow, that has not deterred me from visiting my favorite wet market every Sunday morning.

Look at the selection of colourful vegetables in so many different shapes and sizes.

Yong Tau Foo, so beautifully arranged….and  tasty too….yum yum

Ahhh….the stall I frequent to get my weekly bunch of fresh flowers for the house.

This market is conveniently located in the heart of Marine Parade at Block 50A Marine Terrace, opposite CHIJ Katong Convent and Ngee Ann Primary School.

Also the hawker food centre adjacent to the market serves my favorite breakfast porridge among other yummies……but that will be another story

If you happen to be in the area, do check it out !

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This morning, a male Koel, which sometimes were mistaken for Crows or Mynahs, sang and woke me up from my sweet slumber. Do you know Koels first arrived in the 1980s and made Singapore their home as well [Source: Wiki].

Anyhow, I had plans to visit Jacob Ballas Children Garden this morning.

I should be grateful to him.

At least, I could enjoy a 2-hour walk before the skies turn grey. I will share with you some pictures of what I’ve seen along the way, walking from Farrer Gardens estate.

Do you know how a male Koel sounds like? Google it

Psst… about the birds seen on the banner above  – young pair of Female Koel (on the left) and Male Koel (on the right)

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No – this is a tropical island right in the heart of South East Asia and you’re not building sand castles in the air if you wish that these beautiful beaches are somewhere near your home.  They are, and some of them are within walking distance from the public housing estates.

And they are free for you -  hmm …  isay -  that is if you like the sun, the sea and the sand – what usay.

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Not only does she buy breakfast for us every Sat morning, supper is also a common fixture as Aunty and Uncle Lim are foodies who scour the island for good food

Her generous actions are of course reciprocated, and the exchange of gifts is very common across the corridor shared by both families. When either family is away, we deposit our keys with each other, collect the newspapers, feed each other’s pets and water each other’s plants

It takes two to clap, and it is always easy to reciprocate kindness with more kindness.   Why not start with some goodwill around your neighbourhood today and let kindness come a-knocking on your door…

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The Beaulieu House, built in 1910s, was a seaside house for the David family. When the Sembawang naval base construction began in 1923, the British took over the house. It served as a residence for the senior engineers during construction and operation of the Naval Base. Admiral Layton, the most senior Naval Officer in Singapore then, lived in this house from 1940-42. He would host tennis parties near the house. The Admiral would stand on top of the roof to oversee his fleet of ships in the Naval Base.

After World War II, it served as the residence to Senior Fleet Officers of the Royal Naval. ,Its present name is derived from Admiral Beaulieu, the Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy. Located on a promontary and facing the Johore Straits, the single-storey bungalow is embellished with Neo-Classical plaster details and extensive Victorian-styled cast iron work.

Years later, I returned to the Park again and visited The Beaulieu House again. How much the grand dame had changed over the years. The house was given conservation status by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on 8 April 2005.
She was given a makeover and refurbished to be a seaside reataurant.

This is one place the had seen the change of time and I would be visiting this place again, this time for a meal there instead

The Sembawang Park is very popular with Sembawang, Woodlands and Yishun residents who lives near the park. Thus, this place is very crowded during the weekends.

You can take bus no. 882 from Sembawang Bus Interchange (near to Sembawang MRT Station) to the Park. From the map, you would also notice that Sembawang Park is approx 10-15 minutes bus ride away from Montreal Green. Sembawang residents are really fortunate to have 3 parks (the 3rd park opp. Jelutung CC) to go to in the vicinity.

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My favourite playground? The ‘Dragon Playground’.
Anyone familiar with Toa Payoh would know the playground that stands in front of Block 28 at Lorong 6.

Perhaps you’ll only recognise it when you see it so… here it is!

My grandmother lived in that block for 36 years. Since 2007, everyone has moved out. (Note: There aren’t any clothes hung out to dry)

The playground remains…

The problem with sand playgrounds is that you’ll get lots of sandflies – their bites cause redness and itchiness.

If you look around newer HDB precincts, you will see that playgrounds now are fitted with rubber mats instead of sand.

Bye sand, Hello rubber mats!

Share with us
- Do you prefer the old-school playgrounds or the new rubber mat playgrounds?
- Tell us about the playground in your neighbourhood. What do you like about it?

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SPOTTED: All these colourful blocks seem to have one thing in common – clothes hanging out to dry on bamboo poles (known in Malay as ‘galah‘).

Pictured and painted by many Singaporeans, the clothes flying in the breeze have become iconic of public housing here. When you spot a block without any clothes hanging from the balconies, you’ll immediately think ‘Hey, there’s no one living there!’

It actually takes quite a lot of strength to carry a bamboo stick laden with semi-dry clothes. Once out the kitchen window, you must have a strong hold on the bamboo or the clothes (and the bamboo, probably) will fall to the ground floor! It happened to me before and I had to go racing down to pick up the soggy clothes. (Ugh)

Luckily new flats will have redesigned service balconies to ‘hide’ our laundry from sight. Billowing clothes in the wind can be a pretty sight but we don’t really want to know what’s in your wash…

This blogpost is part of the SPOTTED! series.
Next up> The Green Lean Machine
Give us the heads up if you spot anything you’d like us to write about.

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It’s such an interesting subject that I’ll surely recommend foreign visitors to see if in Little India vicinity.

Drawing closer.

It makes me wonder on the flat design. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we have such elegant boxes to hide wet laundry?

These night pictures were taken on a separate occasion. On the eve of 1 Jan 2007,  to capture New Year Eve’s fireworks.

I was standing alone at a corridor of another block of HDB flats. Looking back, I wonder why I had decided to do that then. I could have just slept earlier instead.

Closer.

I really appreciate HDB flats with long corridors and good scenic facing like this!

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For S$5.50, you have generous servings of pork cutlets, bake beans, fries, a cucumber slice and a soft bun.

Pork Cutlet

Strangely, their pork chops aren’t as nice. Meat was  dry and hard.

I have not tried other Western Food dishes offered on the menu… cos this is worth a second order!

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But, if u observe carefully, its body is longer than usual.

Where on earth did this come from?

I envy the passengers at the back. There’s so much leg room!

I’m sure it enjoys some attention parking in a HDB estate’s carpark

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This park is newly built and the trees are still too young to provide much shade.

There’s a restaurant located within this park and it seemed very popular with the residents in the area. I have been to the restaurant before and found it  a really nice experience dining while surrounded by nature.

View of the park from the top of the hill. It’s a tiring walk up the hill but it did provided me with a good work out

I went back to the park again last month and was amazed at how much the park had changed.  Check out the before and after pictures:

Picture before the restaurant occupied this location

After the place was renovated,  a restaurant occupied this location. They even cleaned the pond up and you can see lotus growing in the pond with fish and tortoises swimming in it.

Check out the pics of the pond before and after it was cleaned up

Before Clean Up

After the clean up. Can you see lotus growing in the pond? Aren’t they lovely?

This park is not near the MRT station and is only accessible via bus or private transport.

You can take bus no. 903 from the Woodlands Regional Centre to Admiralty Park. The trip is approximately 15-20 mins long.

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Had these tender and juicy grilled pork chops from a Western Stall at the coffeeshop.

It only cost me $6 for 3 pieces of pork chops and you can order 2 sides to go with it. I chose mashed potato and stir-fried french beans. The serving was alot for me and I really found it value-for-money.

Also ordered a bowl of mushroom soup to go with my main. Was surprised that the soup tasted nothing like canned soup which most hawkers would serve when you have western food at these stalls. It tasted freshly made. Not too salty too and full of mushroom bits. Simply yummy. Cost me only $2.

All their food were served in porcelain ware, instead of the usual plastic which most western food hawker stalls use. It’s like dining on restaurant quality food minus the ambience, service charges and taxes.

Other than western food, there’s another stall that serves pretty delicious Korean food that is located a couple of stalls away from the western food stall. One of the popular dishes is the Grilled Mackeral Fish on hotplate set. The set comes with soup, rice and 2 side dishes (kimchi and ikan bilis).

Ordered the spicy pork slices on rice set instead. The pork slices were well-marinated and it was not too spicy for my liking . The tender pork slices went really well with rice. Yum Yum

So the next time you happen to be shopping at Bishan, you can consider having lunch/ dinner at this coffeeshop. This coffeeshop also serves other hawker fare that are very popular with patrons too

Bon Appetite!!

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