Scene In Singapore: One-North Park

Scene In Singapore: One-North Park

One-North Park is a public park developed by JTC and Nparks.

Scene In Singapore: One-North Park Photograph 1.

One-North Park is a pleasant outdoor public park with open plaza areas and lawn areas connected by footpaths that allows One-North park users to appreciate the greenery in the midst of an urbanized cluster.

The best feature that I like is a waterfall made up of a vertical wall stretched across part of the One-North park. At night, this One-North park waterfall comes to life with shimmering wall lights.

The open-top hilltop plaza affords a panoramic view at One-North park. Here the breeze can be strong, the tree shade robust and the fellow park users friendly. Pity the scene which is plastered by urban monotony.

Scene In Singapore: One-North Park Photograph 2.

There is also an interactive children playground at One-North Park that serves as a learning tool while keeping kids entertained.

Wide open spaces predominate on the southern slopes of its hilly terrain that is sprinkled with fewer trees and lesser shade. Flowering plants that line the footpaths at One-North park add dashes of colour to shades of green.

Have you seen One North Park in Singapore?

See more places. Live more life.

Seen This Scene That

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

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 tiny gardens in the sky are located 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...]

Place To Watch Sunset, Singapore

Place To Watch Sunset, Singapore

I do not mind sharing this place to watch sunset in Singapore with all my readers. It is a beautiful place in the eastern part of Singapore to enjoy a free outdoor evening show of Mother nature.

Photograph taken at the place to watch sunset in Singapore:


There are wide sandy beaches, cool sea breeze, near-zero car pollutants, pockets of greenery and a cycling track next to a footpath in this wonderful place to watch sunset in Singapore. In the distance, one can view an orange ball kissing clouds, bumboats, waves and a linear landed horizon.

Such a sunset scene could inspire poets to pen new lines. This sunset view might also enable 'pak tor' (dating) couples to peel away from each others' eyes. A breath-taking sunset show should soothe away worry from stressed-out minds. Yes, this place to watch sunset is free therapy to keep you happy.

Where in Singapore did I take this photograph? Where is this place that I visited to watch this sunset?

I shall reveal the answer on the place to watch sunset in Singapore after two weeks, in the comments.

Meanwhile, enjoy the photo at this mystery place to watch a sunset in Singapore.

Do you have a favourite place to watch a sunset? Where is your favourite place to watch sunset in Singapore? Share with Seen This Scene That in the comments below.

See more places. Live more life.

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

Woodlands Town Park East Photographs

Wodlands Town Park East Photographs

(1) Woodlands Town Park East Photograph showing the park's sign board.

This photograph of a peaceful outdoor space was taken near Block 109 at Woodlands Street 13. From here, you can walk up the steps or climb the slopes of this hill (Hill 180).

(2) Another Woodlands Town Park East photograph at the top of the flight of steps.

Visitors who manage to scale this hill will be treated to a panoramic view of a Woodlands neighbourhood scene and beyond. At certain points, one can also look directly into the living quarters of dwellers as HDB flats surround most of the park.





(3) Woodlands East Town Park Photograph show a tombstone-like park seat.

Made of stone slabs with a smoothened flat top, the solid rock allows park users to sit or sleep. Couples out on a date will surely find these seating arrangement suitable for their use. In the middle of the day, avoid using them or risk getting burnt like a hot-stone barbecue.




(4) Woodlands Town Park East photograph of an unpaved route that other visitors have taken.

If you follow this path, it will lead to the base of the park at its western end near Marsiling Secondary School. I saw some park users walk up and down this park in their PT (physical training) attire. With the 10-storey HDB flats as a comparison, this training circuit up and down the park seems like a wonderful way to burn calories and pump up the heart. Navigating the uneven ground is a danger and requires care. Otherwise, an ankle sprain or nasty fall could be the potential side effects.



See more places. Live more life.

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

Ann Siang Hill, Singapore

Ann Siang Hill, Singapore

If you happen to be visiting relatives and friends living around Chinatown during Chinese New Year, this festive period is an appropriate time to detour to Ann Siang Hill in Singapore's Chinatown.


While most workers at shophouses and eating places around Ann Siang Hill will be away to 'bai nian', Ann Siang Hill will remain open 24/7 to receive visitors. In the process of climbing up the tallest hill in Chinatown, you will be rewarded with tranquil scenes filled with greenery at Chinese-themed pavilions and look-out corners.

If you go back in history, when the sea reached Telok Ayer, the Ann Siang Hill scene would have consisted of nutmeg and clove plantations. Now if you wander around the nooks and crannies of Ann Siang Hill, the rear views of shophouses and the facades of distant highrise offices will greet you.


The contrast between the two-level five-foot-way shophouses of ancient times and the tall Central Business District skyscrapers of modern times could not be more stark.


Chinese opera shows and dragon dances used to feature during festive seasons at Ann Siang Hill, the focus of Chinatown's commercial and social scenes. Now the centre of social activities has shifted elsewhere.


I have never seen Ann Siang Hill before its face-lift of wooden pathways and covered walkways. But from looking at its old map, yellowed photographs and type written notes placed along Ann Siang Hill, the spirit of this place remains to stir thoughts of what a hub of a hill it must have been.


View Larger Map
Map: Park is located next to Ann Siang Road. You can access from Amoy Street too. (Google Map)

Do you have places and tours of interests in Singapore to share?

See new places, live new life.

Other related posts to tour:
1. History of Ann Siang Hill Part 1 of 4
2. History of Ann Siang Hill Part 2 of 4
3. History of Ann Siang Hill Part 3 of 4
4. History of Ann Siang Hill Part 4 of 4

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

A Fishing Site Near Marina Barrage

A Fishing Site Near Marina Barrage

For those who tried the quiz on my earlier "Where is this fishing site in Singapore", the answer is posted today.

Readers of Seen This Scene That who enjoy fishing would also note that this part of the southern coast near the Marina Barrage is connected to the Marina South Promenade.

Two good reasons to choose this site near the Marina Barrage for fishing:

a) washroom facilities available at the Marina Barrage building to freshen up after your fishing is done and

b) shelter available at Marina Barrage if rain should interrupt your fishing trip.

I have not attempted to fish at this site near Marina Barrage. Anyone had a good outing here?

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

Free Outdoor Places To Relax In Singapore

Free Outdoor Places To Relax In Singapore

These are my 8 free outdoor places to relax in Singapore’s parks and gardens. While I’m sure you have your own selection of wonderful free outdoor places to relax in the parks of Singapore, the choices provided here are my current favourites. For some reason or other, these outdoor destinations in Singapore are free places that relax me and make me feel at home.


Picture: One of the free outdoor places to relax in Singapore. Keep to designated walking paths and you won't have to worry of being run down by heavy vehicles.

The top 8 free outdoor places to relax in Singapore’s parks that I shall mention are not listed in any particular order of preference.

1. Singapore Botanic Garden
This park and garden that most Singaporeans grew up with has undergone tremendous transformation in keeping up with the times. Despite outgrowing its infant years, the sweeping changes in outdoor landscape somehow do not lessen the fond emotional attachments I have about the Singapore Botanic Garden. Whichever way you turn, there are numerous pockets of outdoor places to relax in this spacious park.

2. Upper Seletar Reservoir
Avid readers of my blog will note that the Upper Seletar Reservoir’s Observation Tower cemented a memorable bond in my early teenage life. Moreover, this free-entry reservoir park is one of the outdoor places to relax that I am fond of, as it possesses sweeping views of water and sky without the distraction of overcrowding and its attendant consequences.

3. Kent Ridge Park
Kent Ridge Park offers good outdoor views of Singapore’s southern shoreline, a scenic pond and a tranquil forest environment that relaxes my mood. While its secluded outdoor location may have been exposed with the opening of the Southern Ridges park connector network (and the crowds that it brought), the free area still remains as one of my preferred free outdoor places to relax.

4. Bishan Parks 1 and 2
This centrally located free-to-use outdoor park in the middle of Singapore offers places with plenty of options to relax. From wide spaces filled with scenic lotus ponds, cool shelters by the water’s edge, long shady walking paths, fiery-red arched bridges to convenient restaurants, eating-places and an educational plant nursery, I like the well-planned blend of traditional park elements capped with a modern utilitarian twist that makes it one of the unique free outdoor places to relax.

5. Marina South Pier
As I have yet to visit the newly completed Marina Barrage, Marina South Pier remains my destination of choice in the Marina South area as a free outdoor space. I like its free-to-access rooftop that offers visitors a chance to relax with a panoramic view of the sea. Come to this outdoor place if turquoise waters, stunning sunsets, historical steam ship and other waterside views are must-see items that relax you.

6. East Coast Park’s Eastern End
It is a close call in choosing East Coast Park’s eastern end over the equally attractive West Coast Park as a place to relax in Singapore. This outdoor beach cum park is the favourite location for my children to relax, as they like to play on sand and build sandcastles. To relax in an outdoor place filled with almost-perpetual sea breeze, under shade of Casuarinas, powdered beaches and foamy white waves is a resort-like way to relax for free in Singapore.

7. Bukit Batok Nature Reserve
Bukit Batok Nature Reserve is a free-entry outdoor place with scenic lakes and mesmerizing cliff views that relax the soul. I prefer nature walks around this reserve just slightly ahead of MacRitchie Reservoir Park or Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Park. With modern park amenities like a children’s playground and live fishes in the lake, my kids get to relax and enjoy the free outdoor places around Bukit Batok Nature Reserve as much as I.

8. Neighbourhood Park ‘X’
There are many free-entry public neighbourhood places with parks scattered around Singapore that serve as good outdoor places to relax. I happen to like one near my place that I shall name as ‘neighbourhood park X’. While park X started as a carbon-copy duplicate of other neighbourhood parks (children’s playground, fitness station, jogging path, etc), over time I have developed an affinity to this place. It is a quiet park to take a leisure stroll, after an evening meal with family.

These are just eight of my current favourite outdoor places to relax in Singapore. I’m sure you have your own list too.

See more places. Live more life.

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