Welcome back, readers to my series of exploration in my own country. Happy to have you here! Today, I went to Bedok Reservoir located in the eastern part of Singapore. I took a train from Redhill to Tampines station on the East-West line before changing to the Downtown line to Bedok Reservoir station. The area of the reservoir was so vast. This was probably the first time, I see a reservoir that huge. I needed to take two photos to show the large reservoir.
On the morning of 9 August 2003, Singapore's independence day, Members of Parliament governing Bedok joined the public in forming a human chain around the reservoir totaling 12,000. This signifies racial harmony and unity among the public. I wonder if this was in the Guinness Book of Records forming the longest human chain or it was broken by another longer human chain?!!
A bunch of condominiums serves as a backdrop against a line of trees. How lucky are the residents are when they woke up in the morning and enjoy the scenery of the reservoir.
The reservoir has an area capacity that would enable canoes to be paddled. There are a large number of canoes kept on a shed here. Speaking of canoes, I remembered the heydays of National Service when I was a trainee in the Section Commander Course and my platoon was going to an OBS camp in Pulau Ubin. I remembered when I was rowing a canoe around the perimeter of the whole Pulau Ubin and the experience was unforgettable. Of course, I was fit then. What a nostalgic experience!
In the distance, I saw an obstacle course focusing on heights or the "heights elements". Another nostalgia hits me during my primary school days. I was a slim boy then and I remembered zipping past on the flying fox at Jalan Bahtera during a school camp. I also remembered spending an "eternity" on one of the obstacle course where I must go from one point to another at a height. I was so scared of heights until now.
The office in charge of the obstacle course has a vending machine and I was relieved by that as I was getting thirsty. I was taken aback when all of the drinks cost SGD 2.00. I chose the H20 bottle as it was worth the dollars.
As I was walking to complete one round of the reservoir which seems endless to me, all of a sudden, it started drizzling. Fortunately, I was on a pathway sheltered by a line of trees.
Along the way, I saw stones with the distance engraved on it. Hmm...2 .0km and the total perimeter is 4.3km. My legs felt tired at this point.
In the distance is the Bedok pumping station, one of two out of the whole Singapore. The other one was located in the west of Singapore called Tengeh pumping station. I cannot take the photo of the premise closely as unauthorised person will be shot once inside so I was afraid of this and there are a lot of CCTVs to be aware of my movements. I realised that these pumping stations form the heart of the water supply system in Singapore which transport water from the reservoirs and canals to and fro to the water treatment plant to be transported to our homes. That explains the heightened security at the place.
There is a little promenade and I gave it a try walking on it because of huge frame and weight. Every time I walked past the lamp post, I can hear the metallic vibrations. It seems I have superpowers.
I kept on walking for some time and I saw a path to a bus stop nearby. My legs automatically walked me towards the bus stop and hence and I cannot complete one round. I took Bus 66 to Bedok Interchange. Upon reaching there, I came across an eating shop selling Chicken Rice and what a nice meal I had there.
After I finished eating the delicious meal, I took Bus 16 home. During the journey, the downpour came and I felt safe inside the bus. Signing off! Sejuk!