Highrise Garden

Highrise Garden

In most housing estates in Singapore, you can find highrise gardens - those little pockets of space on balconies where residents keep potted plants and flowers. Many of these are tiny gardens in the sky are located in within HDB flats and condominiums.

In this particular highrise garden that I visited, an entire floor is used for gardening, park and playground all rolled into one. These highrise gardens, surrounded by highrise buildings, are not cloistered in dark enclosed spaces. Instead they receive plenty of sun and rain as they remain uncovered.

Residents living around these gardens are a few steps away from the park amenities like jogging track, children's playground, tables and benches and beautiful plants and flowers. Apparently, these skyrise gardens have been shown to lower temperatures, to make concrete living environments more eco-friendly.

Where can you find these highrise gardens in Singapore? If you travel north to Punggol housing estate, you may miss these highrise gardens as they are not visible at ground level. You need to climb several levels to the rooftop of car parks in Punggol estate to visit them.

Take a look at the various photographs that I've taken at one particular highrise garden in Singapore.

Highrise Garden Photo 1: Split level community garden.



Highrise Garden photo 2: Beneath this garden lies a cavernous carpark.



Highrise Garden photo 3: Amenities at rooftop garden.



Do you know of any public highrise garden in Singapore?

See more places. Live more life.

[... read more inside Seen This Scene That...]

Punggol Beach

Punggol Beach

Of the many beautiful beaches in Singapore, Punggol beach is one of the more offbeat locations to find a sandy beachfront on the mainland. I was glad I make a trip there after my last visit last year.

Photograph 1: A scene of Punggol beach.

The greatest allure of Punggol beach is its peaceful ambiance. To me, I find that coming to Punggol beach is like taking a step back in time, away from the maddening crowd of a concrete jungle. Even the winding and undulating road that leads to Punggol beach looks different: no traffic lights, no zebra crossing, no ERP gantry, just a few parked cars on the 2-lane carriageway where durian hunters gather.

Photograph 2: Jetty at Punggol beach.

In terms of public amenities, there are hardly any at Punggol beach. If you visit Punggol beach, you won't find stand-alone kiosks offering bicycle or skate rentals. There are no public barbecue pits along the beachfront. There are no signs allowing or disallowing camping at Punggol beach. The only public toilet is a mobile cubicle that can double as a changing room if you intend to swim in the open sea.

There are no food and beverage outlets in the region of Punggol beach although that may change soon. There is a large sign board advertising the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) sale of a land parcel at Punggol Point for food and beverage development. I hope Punggol beach doesn't turn out to become another East Coast beach, overrun by fast food outlets and car parking nightmare.

The police presence at Punggol beach is apparent with large signs around a small hut-like building situated at the end of Punggol Road. Since a certain fugitive got caught across the Causeway, all appears quiet on this front.

Punggol beach is not really suitable for swimming as there are plenty of rocks just beyond the sandy shoreline. The large open spaces, coupled with sea breeze, is ideal for a quiet family picnic. Kids like mine would enjoy playing on the sand, working creations with sand castle-making tools and bare hands. The other popular leisure pursuit at Punggol beach, judging by the number of anglers on the jetty, is fishing.

One uncommon reason that could bring visitors to Punggol beach is a National Heritage Board historical marker that I wrote about last year, detailing atrocities committed at the beach during World War II, near the police post.

During my visit, I saw a platoon of young shutterbugs combing Punggol beach, shooting everything in their sight. I wonder if they knew about the other kind of shooting that took place decades ago on this very same beach.

What do you think of Punggol beach?

See more places. Live more life.

[... read more inside Seen This Scene That...]

National Museum of Singapore Night Festival

National Museum of Singapore Night Festival

Are you ready for the most talked-about event of the year, the National Museum of Singapore Night Festival 2009?

This National Museum of Singapore Night Festival 2009 will dazzle you (and your friends) this weekend on 10 and 11 July 2009.

Visitors to National Museum of Singapore Night Festival will get the opportunity to experience an outdoor extravaganza of theatrical performances with live music and dance. There will also be delightful interactive light installations created in and around the Bras Basah precinct to tempt you with a visual treat.

Street-side Night Festival buzz will commence at 7.30pm until the wee hours of the morning at 2am. Most of the Night Festival 2009 acts are from Singapore this year with Bersama Hijau, the spectacular opening show of dance, percussion and vocals by 80 talented performers, all ready to delight and enchant.

The National Museum of Singapore Night Festival 2009 will culminate in a special-effect filled pyrotechnics show by Action Theatre PAN.OPTIKUM from Germany.

Watch these and other Night Festival 2009 highlights at the National Museum of Singapore on Youtube video on National Museum of Singapore Night Festival:




National Museum of Singapore Night Festival 2009 details:

Date | Time:
FRI 10 JUL 2009 - SAT 11 JUL 2009 7:30pm - 2:00am |

Venues:
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, The Peranakan Museum, The Substation, Singapore Management University Campus Green, Stamford Green & Stamford Road

Will you be there to soak in the Night Festival fun?

See more places. Live more life.

[... read more inside Seen This Scene That...]