For my readers who are interested in organising a BBQ party, there is a barbecue pit available to the public at Mandai Tekong Park in Woodlands Avenue 5.
Photograph: BBQ pit at Mandai Tekong Park.
You can read more about the Mandai Tekong Park here, on its location and about its park amenities. It is a short walk from 888 Plaza, Admiralty MRT Station (NS10) and the Woodlands MRT Station (NS9).
This bbq pit is located in a secluded spot, with trees acting as a screen on one end, providing privacy from the children's playground and jogging path. The bbq pit comes with tables, chairs and an open area for BBQ users to party.
As a parent with kids, I like to bring my children to places in Singapore that they enjoy. One of these Singapore kids places I'll recommend is at Marine Cove, East Coast Park, Singapore.
Photo: One of the Singapore kids places' playthings.
These Singapore kids' places in East Coast Park are located between carpark C2 and carpark C3 along East Coast Park Service Road.
Marine Cove at East Coast Park is a commercial development that specialises in food and beverage businesses. There are many good eating places, restaurants and pubs, including the ubiquitous MacDonald's restaurant, to cater to various taste buds and budgets.
The core attraction for my family are the kids places to hang out, not the food and drinks, although we do enjoy dining at Marine Cove. Our favourite spot at Marine Cove is really beyond the bread and butter buildings.
Photo: Outdoor theme park is a suitable Singapore kids place. It is the mini outdoor kids' theme park that attracts us at this Singapore kids place. After dark, the excitement becomes palpable at this kids' place when the flashy lights, spinning wheels and children's screams come alive.
We love the good old miniature 'Singapore Flyer' here at a corner of this Singapore kids' place. Before the days of high technology and record-breaking heights, Ferris wheels that I sat in my childhood were of sufficient thrill by themselves. My kids can now get their turn to enjoy the same thrill as I did in this place.
The kids' carousel is another delightful horse-riding experience for children. The kid's ride at this Singapore kdis place may be short but going around in circles can send kids into a vertiginous high.
If your kids love challenging rides at such Singapore kids places, let them try the 'Viking'. This boat-like contraption swings like a pendulum and will surely make their hearts fly as high as their hair.
For a more down-to-earth kid ride, there is a miniature roller coaster ride at this Singapore kids place for the faint-hearted. Don't worry for your kids' safety as this ride resembles a slow train ride that does not rise more than two feet above ground.
Other attractions at this Singapore kids' place include an arcade hall that has games suitable for young kids and the young at heart. There is also a pasar malam or night market that sells interesting items including tidbits, fashion accessories and toy racing cars for kids and kids-at-heart.
For more Singapore kids places, visit blogspot friend Milly's Singapore Kids Places, a blog I follow via Google reader.
Photograph: Are there National Servicemen crossing obstacles at Mandai Tekong Park in full battle order?
Are there National Servicement (Full time) (NSF) recruits running around the park screaming 'fall in' at the top of their voices? Are there NSF recruits doing Log PT (physical training with a heavy bar of wood) under the hot sun? Are there savvy NSmen taking cover behind the trees, eating ice-cream sold by even more savvy ice-cream sellers? Are there obstacles lying around this park in Woodlands?
During my visit, there were no signs of men in military uniform around the park (unlike what I added in the picture above).
What then does the Mandai Tekong Park possess that earns it this link to two well-known National Service training grounds that most able-bodied men will never forget?
Is there a fitness training facility on site? Yes, there are fitness stations to train every centimetre of your body here.
Photo: A section of kids training in a playground obstacle course at Mandai Tekong Park.
Is there a standard obstacle course with a Jacob's Ladder, high wall and balance beam? Yes, if you consider playground equipment that comes with ladders, slides, monkey bars and such playground stuff.
Is there a cookhouse nearby? Yes, the flats around the park do come with kitchens, chefs and yummy home cooked food. A barbecue pit is also available for the more adventurous 'recruit'.
Is there a parade square? For sure. The basketball court can double up as a parade ground as well as stage for performances.
Is there a forested area like the one at old Mandai Road? Yes, a small section at this park passes alongside some undulating ground with plenty of trees to give a wooded atmosphere.
Is there a jogging track for IPPT runs? Yes. This is standard issue for parks in Singapore and Mandai Tekong Park is no exception.
How about the bunks and sleeping quarters? No problem, comfortable beds can be found in the multi-storey HDB flats surrounding the park.
Is there a swimming pool for water survival training? Of course not. Otherwise someone would have named it Changi Naval Park.
I may poke fun at the name of this park. But the amenities at Mandai Tekong Park are in no way irrelevant to the residents of the area. From the happy faces that I saw during my visit to Mandai Tekong Park, I am gladdened that the park has found a place in the hearts of residents.
This civilian facility is named after the famous places that moulded you and I while in National Service. Isn't that a great way to acknowledge our shared heritage of National Service?
For all the guys who are presently training or who went through National Service (NS) training on our island of Pulau Tekong and the forest of Mandai, Mandai Tekong Park is for you.
The Mandai Tekong Park must count as one of Singapore's uniquely-named neighbourhood park.
Since I came to know about it, I have been wondering why someone pinned this name to this little park.
Photograph: Entrance to Mandai Tekong Park.
The sight of the gate at Mandai Tekong Park reminded me of my camp on Pulau Tekong during my Basic Military Training many years ago.
Am I late? Must I book-in by 2359 (one minute to midnight in military time)?
Do I have to show my 11B (military identity card) to the guard at the guardroom?
Do I have to swing my arms to march into the camp? Or can I drag my feet across the side gate with a heavy heart as I booked-in to camp on a Sunday night?
There I was, standing in front of Mandai Tekong Park on an afternoon in April 2009 and dreaming about my old BMT camp many years ago.
Situated at Woodlands Avenue 5, Mandai Tekong Park fits into a space between blocks 895C and 523. This public neighbourhood park is not fenced-up in a restricted military installation. Any member of the public can enter the park without a pass, for a visit and orientation.
I could only guess why a neighbourhood park was named as Mandai-Tekong Park.
Could this be an old park that was formed up on Pulau Tekong, then transfered to a holding area in Mandai, before a permanent location was found in Woodlands?
Could it be that a few commanders conducted reconnaisances on parks in Mandai and Pulau Tekong, before assembling a superior product to be built in Woodlands?
Or could it be that the one who named this park remembered his old National Service training days with such a high degree of fondness that he decided to name it after his two favourite NS training areas in Singapore?
Can you think of more reasons why they named it Mandai Tekong Park?
10 Cool Things To Do At Singapore's Peranakan Museum
You would have gone on a cool walkabout around the impressive galleries of the Peranakan Museum since the official opening in April last year. Are there still 10 cool things to do at Singapore’s Peranakan Museum?
Certainly! To spice things up a notch, I shall suggest ten offbeat activities that you can do on a visit to Singapore’s Peranakan Museum.
The 10 cool things or adventures that I recommend are:
1. Make a video of your visit to the Peranakan Museum and submit it to yesterday.sg
Besides amusing yourself during your video-recording session at the Peranakan Museum, you can entertain your online friends, buddies and other voyeurs. Remember to look cool in front of the video camera. Who knows, you may score a lucrative contract with NHB’s HeritageTV and become Singapore’s Next Hot Presenter.
2. Seek ideas on home furnishing for your new flat, and save money on fertility treatments.
Running out of ideas for house renovations? Then check out the well-ornamented decorations and furnishing designs at the Peranakan Museum galleries. While there, explore homegrown ideas at the wedding room gallery on how to raise the nation's fertility rate.
3. Join a “Be Counted in the Million-Beads Embroidery Facebook Group” or start one if there's none.
With the Internet generation, it's hip and cool to connect through social media on the Web. Post a picture of yourself next to the exquisite million-beads handicraft at the Peranakan Museum and add your face to the wall. The first one million entries get bragging rights to poke or twitter others forever.
4. Admire the colonial architecture of the Peranakan Museum building when it started life in 1912.
Get excited by the visual treat offered by the Peranakan Museum building at 39 Armenian Street. Spot impressive features of this bungalow: fluted columns, symmetrical layouts and the balcony-lined frontage. Not a fan of architecture? No worries. Its illustrious history as Tao Nan School and beyond is even more illuminating.
5. Have lunch at the Peranakan Museums' restaurants and eat Peranakan food.
I don't need to mention this but Peranakan food is one the most ‘sedap’ in Singapore. Once you finish slurping that pot of Peranakan food at the Peranakan Museum food festival, you will never go back to hawker centres to eat nasi lemak, laksa or mee siam. Hey, where's the Peranakan food at the museum's restaurants?
6. Send your kids for Peranakan-inspired arts and craft sessions, when you can't find a babysitter.
The staffs are friendly, the kids love the companionship of their peers and you infuse the joy of hands-on learning in your children. Isn't the Peranakan Museum's children's programme a safe and secure substitute for your favourite baby sitter?
7. Browse at the Peranakan Museum Gift & Book Shop, when your local library gets too crowded.
For an A to Z reading list on Peranakan culture, consider the selection of reading materials available there. By the way, did you know you could also do some serious shopping and pick up delightful Peranakan knick-knacks, jewelleries and other fashionable keepsakes at the same time?
8. Learn to speak English, Malay or Peranakan through the telephone, without waiting for a campaign.
Pick up the cute old-fashioned telephone receivers inside the Peranakan Museum and you will surprise yourself with lively Peranakan conversations. Spiced with rich intonations, rapid-fire pronunciations and charming voices, the Peranakan soliloquy will let you learn the language in five minutes or less a day.
9. Celebrate a birthday at the Peranakan Museum when it turns one.
Keep your weekend of 25 and 26 April 2009 free. That's when the Peranakan Museum turns one with a “Peranakan celebration of the year”. You can test my tongue-in-cheek stuff to see if they work. Thereafter, you may even consider celebrating your own or your family's birthday at the Peranakan Museum!
10. Baba writings, paintings or sculpturing on Purely Peranakan things.
You can email contest entries to yesterdaysg@gmail.com with your literary and creative works. The content may be based on any aspect of Peranakan culture you fancy or about your latest Peranakan Museum trip. The cool prizes for your loved ones in yesterday.sg’s Purely Peranakan contest include beaded stamps, special edition Humphrey the Heritage Bears or Adeline Foo’s unique children’s books.
Enough said. Go perform these 10 cool things at Singapore’s Peranakan Museum now!
Photograph: Lakeside view at Tampines Quarry Park.
The Tampines Quarry Park is not your typical neighbourhood garden park. It looks more like a gem of a natural lake that has not been sanitized for decades. It is tucked away in a corner of Tampines, off Tampines Avenue 10 that I never knew existed until I read yg's post.
Tampines Quarry Park is a disused sand quarry site. In the old days, loads of sand were trucked off from this area. The cavity left behind in the ground is now covered with water, turning it into a lake.
There are no man-made facilities like walkways, park benches, streetlights or toilets. You also won't find directional signage at Tampines Quarry Park.
There is no entrance nor exit to Tampines Quarry Park. If you read it on the map, one has to bash through thick vegetation to reach this body of water.
I am lucky to time my visit right on this particular afternoon. Other visitors who had just arrived before me led the way and I simply followed them to the spot where they disappeared into the trees.
Photograph: A trail cuts through Tampines Quarry Park. From the obvious trails in the ground, it is easy to reach the edge of the lake. There is litter around the lakeside spot where I stand. Someone must have had a mini-barbecue, as I can see a burnt patch on the ground with bricks coated with charcoal.
I decide not to stay long as there is no proper path to walk along the edge of the lake. Besides, the buzz of mosquitoes is a major warning sign for me.
The Tampines Quarry Park is definitely not a place for a family outing. But as an offbeat place to witness an untamed scene of Singapore, this could be worth a look-see.
In land-scarce, plantation-scarce Singapore, I came across a rice (padi) farm in Singapore's remote Kranji estate on a visit to D'Kranji Farm Resort at Neo Tiew Lane 2.
Photograph: Rice plant on a farm. Having seen a real rice farm in Luang Prabang (Laos) some years back, I had a rice farm model to compare.
Photograph: Farm In Luang Prabang Laos.
The rice farm in Singapore was a mini-plot compared to the one I saw overseas. I could walk around the rice farm in Kranji with ease. Back in Luang Prabang, I was surrounded by acres of rice as far as the eye could see.
At the time of my visit to the Kranji rice farm, the rice field was in need of repair, with weeds scattered all over. Rice grains were wilting, past their prime for harvesting. I had a feeling that this rice farm was planted as an exhibit for curious Singaporeans, rather than for a source of food.
Photograph: Rice grains.
The presence of a scarecrow added a little drama and colour to a less than ordinary-looking rice plantation.
Despite its forlorn appearance, this rice farm is a useful place for kids to learn about rice. It should demonstrate to children that rice grows from the soil, not on supermarket shelves.
Photo: Sengkang Riverside Park offers panoramic views.
Sengkang Riverside Park: Part 2
Sengkang Riverside Park is located at Anchorvale Street in Sengkang housing estate. If you remember from my previous post, the newest public park is divided into three areas, divided by Anchorvale Street and the river Sungei Punggol. These three areas were labelled Visitor Centre Plot, Mangrove Plot and Civic Centre Plot. I have described the Visitor Centre Plot earlier. Today I shall continue with my descriptions of other plots.
Sengkang Riverside Park: Mangrove Plot Over at the mangrove plot, south of Anchorvale Street, Sengkang Riverside Park is an open space with a hilltop that affords a 360-degree panoramic view of Sengkang estate. One can find park benches here to rest and to enjoy the estate's serene scenery.
On cool afternoons, you can expect to be greeted with a mild breeze. On scorching hot days, the cubed-shaped wooden shelter filled with gaps will hardly save your skin from painful sun rays.
The area next to the river, designated for a mangrove park, appears to be under construction. Concrete piles have been planted into the riverbed and a part of the river bank has been cordoned off. Perhaps in a month or two, there would be a boardwalk of some sort to allow park users to inspect the newly planted mangroves.
Photo: Barriers still present at Sengkang Riverside Park. At the time I was there, the mangrove plot of Sengkang Riverside Park seemed rather bare. Even the shrubs and trees were few and scattered far apart.
Sengkang Riverside Park: Civic Plot East of the Sungei Punggol, Sengkang Riverside Park offers another avenue for park visitors to enjoy more open spaces with amenities. However I did not get the opportunity to explore the area.
I wrote about Sengkang Riverside Park last year. At that time, the park was still closed. Recently, I discovered that Sengkang Riverside Park was open to the public for recreational visits.
Sengkang Riverside Park is located at Anchorvale Street in Sengkang housing estate. If you remember from my previous post about Sengkang's newest park, the public park is divided into three areas, divided by Anchorvale Street and the river Sungei Punggol. These three areas are labelled Visitor Centre Plot, Mangrove Plot and Civic Centre Plot. I shall describe each part in turn.
Sengkang Riverside Park: Visitor Centre Plot
The Sengkang Riverside Park car park, available on the northern side of Anchorvale Street, is presently open for use without charge. There are also parking lots for buses. This would be useful for organisers to use Sengkang Riverside Park for large public or private entertainment functions.
First time visitors to Sengkang Riverside Park will be impressed with several physical features here.
The first feature to impress visitors is the brand-new Visitor Centre. This building at Sengkang Riverside Park has a huge open space under its distinctive curved roof that reminds me of the dorsal curve on a fish. There is shop space for a cafe or restaurant and sitting space for outdoor dining with a pleasant park view.
Another feature that visitors may like about Sengkang Riverside Park is the presence of a pond filled with small fishes. It lies at the bottom of a slope from the Visitor Centre. A prominent no-fishing sign hangs beside this pond.
Photo: Sengkang Riverside Park Scene. The small hill with a terrace-like slope is another unusual characteristic of this park. I think young saplings of fruit trees have been planted at Sengkang Riverside Park although I could not identify most of them.
Photo: Another Sengkang Riverside Park scene. On hot and sunny days, visitors will be pleased with the shade provided by an atypical bamboo shelter smack in the middle of Sengkang Riverside Park. Elsewhere, trees that one can find at Sengkang Riverside Park are too small to provide much shade. On the plus side, I think kite flying will likely be popular at Sengkang Riverside Park precisely because of the absence of tall branches to put kites at risk.
Famous Old Places of Singapore (That Still Exist Today)
I saw an old 1930s movie about Singapore, entitled "Singapore: Crossroads of the East" at yesterday.sg.
Described by a 22 September 1956 issue of Boxoffice (a trade magazine dedicated to the film industry at that time) as "an economic look at Singapore, its harbour, rivers, natives and other peoples", I found some famous old places of Singapore featured in the 1938 film rather familiar.
YouTube (below): This film is available for download. You can also embed it in your blog by clicking on the right lower corner of the YouTube movie below.
For old places and buildings to remain standing after 71 years and more, despite the constant makeover of our little island, they richly deserve publicity and fame.
What impressed me about this film were the many famous old places of Singapore shown in the film that are still standing today. As a comparison, how many of you live in properties that are older than 71 years?
To travel back in time to see those old places in the 1930s was an out-of-this-world experience. Better than photographs, the film breathed a surreal sense of life into those famous old places.
The surrounding neighbourhoods around those buildings and famous old places in Singapore may have changed beyond recognition, but the buildings and famous old places have kept their shapes mostly unchanged.
Do you recognize those famous old places in Singapore that were shown in the film? I could discern Chinatown's Thian Hock Keng Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple and Sultan Mosque. The Singapore River scene with Cavenagh Bridge and Elgin Bridge, plus the famous rows of godowns would be familiar to most of you. How about the Cenotaph, Victoria Memorial Hall, City Hall, St Andrew's cathedral near Queen Elizabeth Walk (now Esplanade Park)?
Besides the buildings and places, I found the mode of transportation in those days to be fascinating too. In one scene (3:45), did you notice the poor guy using 'car' (leg) power to pull his rickshaw that was loaded with four occupants? How about the bullock carts, horse-drawn carriages and bumboats? No traffic lights in 1938? No problem, call the mobile traffic light warden with the huge sign across his back and white gloves to direct traffic flow.
Guys who have done or are doing National Service duties may be interested to know how a regular in 1938 wore his uniform, helmet, rifle and SBO. Those in the Airforce, would likely blink twice to see the state-of-the-art flying machines performing airforce duties.
You do not need to be a heritage enthusiast to watch this old film of famous places in Singapore. My kids were really thrilled to watch a slice of Singapore life that they never knew existed. You may even find some of those scenes a little comical.
While some of those famous places may be still be around today, do you think they will last forever?
For future generations to learn about our history and understand our roots, I hope they do.
Photograph: A Must-See Life-Like Re-creation of a Rubber Plantation at the Singapore Botanic Garden's Botany Centre.
Tree Planting Ceremony At Singapore Botanic Gardens
After a glance at the invitation card that mentioned a primary school's contribution, I had expectations of helium balloons and brass bands under white tents surrounded by a crowd of cheering onlookers for the tree-planting ceremony at Singapore Botanic Gardens. This tree planting event was to kick off a year long series of activities for Singapore Botanic Garden’s 150th anniversary celebration.
My kids were initially thrilled when I mistakenly told them that there would be balloons and a mini-carnival at the Singapore Botanic Gardens event. Fortunately for me, they could not make it because of their schooling schedule.
Photograph: White tent next to newly-planted rubber tree (red arrow) without brass band, with videoconferencing IT band of technicians.
I was an invited guest at the Botany Centre to attend the official tree planting event ‘A Tale of Two Gardens’. While I will not give you a minute by minute account of what happened, here is a synopsis, together with my thoughts.
Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, gave a rousing speech to inspire the smartly-dressed audience, made up of members from MND, NParks, GFC, sponsors, partners and volunteers.
The generous and elegant Lady Yuen Peng McNeice launched the Singapore Botanic Gardens commemorative book "Gardens of Perpetual Summer" to great fanfare.
Pupils from Nanyang Primary School presented a birthday cake with a tuneful rendition of a song that kids love to hear at birthday parties.
The tree-planting ceremony on 3 April 2009 was a symbolic gesture by both Singapore Botanic Gardens and London’s Kew Gardens to mark their 150th and 250th anniversaries respectively. I had expected to witness a team of workers in yellow boots to work the ground during the ceremony. Instead, the tree planting was almost completed long before the first guest arrived.
We watched a videoconferencing display of the simultaneous tree planting ceremonies at Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) and Kew Gardens.
Photograph: Simultaneous broadcast of tree planting at Kew Gardens and Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Under the hot sun, three distinguished souls at Holttum Lawn, Singapore Botanic Gardens were pushing soil to put the finishing touches on the tree planting (and probably perspiring during their toils).
Watching the grainy videoconferencing telecast in a silent hall reminded me of an old soundless movie. If the effect was to convey a somber mood, it succeeded in a very dignified manner. But somehow, this scene triggered in me the memory of a burial scene from a war movie of old. Spooky.
Photograph: Young Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree) planted to commemorate Singapore Botanic Garden’s 150th Anniversary, outside the Botany Centre (to the left in background). On the right in the background is a second-generation rubber tree that came from United Kingdom's Kew Gardens more than a century ago.
The audience applauded the tree planting efforts while I was glad the applause ended my morbid dream.
As a newbie to such a tree planting experience, my initial reaction was to wish that I (and the audience) could be brought closer to the actual tree planting site during the ceremony. This would have made the physical connection between plant and people more pleasurable.
The event ended with the launch of "The Seed that Changed the World", a month-long public exhibition on the botanical and commercial contributions of rubber. The sight of an impressive rubber plantation at the exhibition reminded me of Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East park in Singapore that has giant sculptures of rubber seeds.
This experience had been an eye-opener for me. I hope my readers have gained some insight from this tree planting event. Most of all, I hope that you will check out the site of these planted rubber trees as well as watch the interesting rubber tree exhibition at the Botany Centre now.
For more great reasons to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens, be informed that our Botanic Gardens is Asia's Best Urban Jungle and that 3 million visitors come every year to bring home fond memories close to their hearts.
Do you have any tree planting experiences to share?
Photo: Minister Mah Bow Tan at "A Tale of Two Gardens".
SBG: Two Gardens And A Tale
Seen This Scene That was invited to Singapore Botanic Garden's 150th Anniversary Celebration - “A Tale of Two Gardens” yesterday at the SBG's Botany Centre.
This special tree-planting occasion was to mark the anniversaries of two renown gardens this year – Singapore Botanic Gardens (150 years in existence) and Kew Gardens (250 years in the United Kingdom).
With a chance to get close to plants and gardens, and to learn about the history of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, I readily accepted the invitation to visit Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG), although I had no idea why I was chosen to attend.
Upon arrival, I had a brief chat with Ms Lee Pin Pin, Deputy Director (Communications) of Nparks, before Daphne Chiang, New Media Manager, showed me around the function room, exhibition halls and tree-planting site. She also passed a thick dossier about the event with lots of helpful notes pertaining to the afternoon's anniversary celebration to me.
I think I will skip the dry facts about “A Tale of Two Gardens” and how the close ties between Singapore Botanic Garden and Kew Garden started off when Kew Gardens presented 22 rubber seedlings to Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1877.
This is done to save space and because I think the main newspapers would cover “A Tale and Two Gardens” in greater depth over this weekend.
Instead the only tale that I will tell is that of my own – my observations and my thoughts about “A Tale and Two Gardens”. I shall post the details next week. Stay tuned.
In this "Where to find this place in Singapore (2)" quiz, all readers are invited to participate.
Answer the following questions:
(a) Where to find this sculpture in Singapore? (Give the name of this park.)
(b) What is the name for this sculpture?
(c) Who created this sculpture?
(d) When was it installed?
I can offer some hints.
There is only one such sculpture (well, its the only one that I've seen) in the public parks of Singapore.
You can't physically touch the top of this sculpture because of its height, unless you are a good climber.
You can find other tall public sculptures and artwork in this park.
There is a children's playground nearby.
HDB flats surround this sculpture.
The answers to questions (b), (c) and (d) are pinned to the base of this sculpture.
I think these will be all the clues that I can give without revealing answers.
You may leave questions in the comments but I will only answer with a "yes" or a "no".
If there are no correct answers, I shall reveal the answer at the end of the month. You have about a month to go on a treasure hunt and find this place in Singapore.
Photo: View of childrens' playground (on left) from top of Observation Tower at Upper Seletar Reservoir.
Upper Seletar Reservoir Playground
Upper Seletar Reservoir Park has a special place in my heart. I've written about my experience at the look-out tower (also known as 'rocket tower' to me).
It was with much pleasure when I brought my kids to Upper Seletar Reservoir park recently. For me, this was a trip back to my childhood. But for my kids, the buy-in was the children's playground.
The look-out tower did not elicit signs of affection from them. For one of my kids, the reaction was quite the opposite. It was the fear of height that struck my youngest child. She had to be coaxed to climb the spiral staircase.
I have no impression of a children's playground when I visited Upper Seletar Reservoir decades ago.
Photo: PICAS. (P.S. I wasn't born yet when this picture was taken.)
What impressed me then (and even to this day) was the look-out (rocket) tower that still stands. I believe this rocket tower has been designated as a Singapore economic heritage site.
The children's playground I saw at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park delighted my kids. There was a UFO-like playground equipment that could take four seated kids on a see-saw with four separate seats. This contraption allowed my three kids and I to bounce up and down, and to swing to the left and right as if we were riding a rocket blasting into space.
Photo: Spaceship-like see-saw and the court of Hopscotch at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park playground.
Besides this spaceship-like see-saw, there was also a drawing on a mat-like surface for a classic game called hopscotch.
In my school days, we used to draw the hopscotch course on sand or soil with a piece of stone. I looked at the present hopscotch design and was impressed by the colour and the wonderful material that cushioned the impact of our jumps.
Photo: More playground amenities at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park playground.
Another colourful mat was noted near the hopscotch outline, although I have not figured out what game it is meant for. Does anyone know how to play that?
To round up the list of children's layground equipment at Upper Seletar Reservior park, there was a flying-fox-like piece of set-up where one could slide from one end to another.
If you run out of companion at this playground in Upper Seletar Reservoir, you may consider inviting the native residents to play with you. Just remember not to feed them at the end of your game.
Photo: Would you like to join us for a game or two at the children's playground?
scene that
Photograph: Simultaneous broadcast of tree planting at Kew Gardens and Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Photo: 
Photo: Spaceship-like see-saw and the court of Hopscotch at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park playground.
Photo: More playground amenities at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park playground.
