Lakeside Loop

The original plan for the day is to cycle to Upper Pierce Reservoir. On checking FB, noticed that LCSG has an event going to the same place on Sunday. I decided to abort the trip and go for this route instead. It beats being alone cycling at so remote places.

The route starts from Lake Side MRT. Going along the lake Side and on the bridge on the water front is quite fun. Also, I know that there are plants grown on the lake along the bridge. Besides the pandan leaves there were other plants now.

Cat's tail are nice Typha plants.

The Arrow leaf pondweed flower grows besides the water. The flower is not very clear as the weather is cloudy and my hand is a bit shaky.

The Water pennyworth picture looks sharp though as the zoom is optical.

The Dwarf Papyrus looks small because I am using handphone camera instead. Too lazy to change back as I just switched off the camera.

Today must be a mushroom day. There are mushrooms all over the place. This one looks nice.

My youth time favorite tree - Cherry Flower.

There were some Swiss Cheese Plants growing on a tree.

The Cannonball tree flower smells quite nice. I found out during the Esplanade loop trip which I did not blog about.

This Paper Flower is unusually large in size.

I never get tired of looking at Hibiscus.

Noticed a Mangrove Trumpet tree. No flowers except the dried fruit pod.

I am always puzzled by this thing. Not sure if it is spider web or fungus. Could not find any spider near it. Couldn't zoom in too much as I am only using the 5X magnification camera.

I don't know the name of the tree but its seed pod is all over the floor.

This Weeping Bottlebrush took me a long time to focus. Due to the dim light condition, it is very hard to get a sharp picture. Finally decided to use flash. It turned up sharp but the color is a bit too artificial. Without flash, the color will look softer.

Another mushroom. This one is quite big. You can tell by the grass besides it.

One more mushroom.

This bird is a Eastern Imperial Eagle I think. Tried to zoom in but it moved each time I try to focus. Finally took this blurry picture before it flies off. Not surprising to see many birds here as the whole stretch opposite the golf course is Fauna Sanctuary.

While crossing over to Corporation Rd, I saw quite a number of Indian nationals with their kids. I was quite puzzled and though that there were some Indian festive event till I saw the name of the school - Yuvabharathi International School.

This green Dendrobium Orchid looks exquisite.

This Micky Mouse Plant grows in a small garden near the orchid.

The first park besides Corporation Rd along my route has a community garden and a smaller open private garden. There are quite a number of plants there.

This hairy cactus looks unique.

Another unique plant is this green Butterfly Plant. It's the first time I saw this plant. Very easy to identify due to its odd leave shape. Surprisingly it is a bean family plant.

The Maxican rose plant looks very elegant.

A very close up view of a Crown flower.

At the other end of the park there were a few plants too. This Chinese Honeysuckle looks nice.

Almost missed this red Passion flower as it was facing the other side.

My favorite Blue Pea Vine flower.

Here also you will find non flowering Dracaena and Cordyline plants too.

This Jurassic looking plant is very tall. I just can't find its name.

I walked right into the thread of this Geometer Moth caterpillar. It dropped on to the floor. It moved by looping its body as there are feet at the front and back but not in the middle.

Along the walls of a private estate perimeter is this Creeping Fig.

Yet another mushroom. This one looks special. It seems to have its grills on the top side.

Could not take a better picture on the Oyster Plant. It is a medicinal plant (凉茶). The leaves are purple on the under side.

This is the only plant from a community garden that have tags in Chinese (南非树).

Having a good zoom camera is good at taking large pictures of very small objects. However, if you do not have a camera stand, it is hell trying to take the picture. This one slants to a side despite several tries. Its a Brazilian Joyweed.

I totally don't know the name of this plant till I posted it in iNaturalist. One member told me it is a Tobacco Plant.

Taking pictures of birds is never easy. You can't go too near and it is almost impossible to capture large image of the bird from afar using zoom. It took me a few minutes to just snap one picture of this bird. I should have used the burst mode but wanted to try my skill with single shots. The result is not bad. Its a Zebra Dove.

Guava plant is common but to find one with large fruit is another thing.

This unknown plant grows besides the canal near the MRT.

Finally, just for the fun of it, took a picture of a tiny White Heads Flower. This one is taken free hand with maximum zoom. It is still not perfect but at least it covers almost the whole flower. Couldn't have done any better. Some student were laughing at me taking pictures on the grass beside the road. Who cares!

The Picasa album is here.
The WikiLoc route map is here.

Nice and Easy RI

Usually cycling trips are not my choice to write blogs on. This one is an exception as I take it easy to enjoy the surroundings. The original plan is to go or my route "RI on mostly PCN". Since Ulu Sembawang PC is closed till middle of the year, I decided to just cycle around the Island and try to go on PCN as much as possible without planning the route in advance.

The trip started at 6.30 AM. At this hour, the PCN is still dark where there are no lamp posts. However, I am going on the PCN routes from Woodlands to Yishun. The whole route is beside roads. It is very unusual for me to go on PCN at this hour. Usually I prefer to start at 7:00 AM or later.

I am quite surprised that there are quite a lot of people use PCN to commute to work or school. At this hour, there are many people using the PCN thus I really have to slow down to accommodate them. Most cyclists go much faster than I do as I am in no hurry to go places.

Upon reaching Yishun, I noticed a flower on a Handkerchief Tree. Its the first time I saw the flower.

I used the Khatib Bongsu PC instead of the one that leads to Yishun Ave 1 as I intend to bypass Lentor Ave. There is much less people using the Khatib Bongsu PC. The ride is quite enjoyable.

Since there is no PC that connects Yishun to Punggol or AMK, I used Yishun Ave 6 instead. Yishun East Park is just at the road side in this road. I decided to detour into the Park. Unfortunately, there is a "No Cycling" sign in the park. This is one of a few parks that is not cyclist friendly.

There are Pulai trees grown in the park.

On exiting the Park, I continue on to Seletar North Link via Yishun Ave 1. The road is quite empty at this hour. Since it is Monday already, there isn't any Angler visible at the Reservoir. Usually I would speed up at Seletar North Link, but this time I just take it easy and go with a much slower pace. I called it 'No Sweating Cycling'.

Instead of going into Punggol Waterways, I decide to turn left to the northern PCN instead. That was a huge mistake. The PCN is currently paving new metaled paths. Many parts of the route have temporary paths but was not compacted enough for cycling or walking. I ended up going on the grass patch instead. Quite bumpy as I am on a high tyre pressure bike.

Took a 'leak' and took a picture of a Lily flower at Punggol Point Park.

Heard previously that Coney Island will be open next year. Can't wait to use the new path. For now, I just have to be patient.

I passed by Lor Halus Wetland several times but never go in. From the look of it, there is nothing much to see. However, this time I just make a detour to confirm what I think. Well, I am right. There are indeed some plants but not special enough to attract my attention. I could have missed some as I am on my bike and the path is rocky. I need to pay more attention to the path than the plants.

Used the path near Pasir Ris Farmway 3 to go to Pasir Ris Dr 3. Its dry season so the path is much easier to cycle through.

Took a detour into Pasir Ris Park via the underpass near Blk 505. It is a PCN I have never gone through before. Cruise around the park for a short distance before exiting at Pasir Ris Close then back to Pasir Ris Dr 3. There is another exit further down in the park but is more difficult to maneuver and I can't remember how to do it.

Since is is Nice and Easy RI, avoided the hill at junction of Pasir Ris Dr 3 and Loyang Way. Instead took the path Near Pasir Ris Primary School to cut across to Loyang Dr. However, since it is the first time I go by this road to Changi, I got confused and turn out to Loyang Ave near Tua Pek Kong Temple instead of further down to Loyang Way. Anyhow, the climb is very much shorter and lower at Loyang Ln.

Following PCN, I took the longer path to Changi Village. Had brunch at Changi Village then continue to Changi Beach Park. It is getting hot now but I still refused to move faster. Took a leisure ride all the way down to East Coast Park.

At the ECP, this Asoka tree is simply too beautiful to miss.

Further down, I was amazed at the Flame tree's bright red color. Unfortunately, the flowers are way too high to take a nice picture of the individual flower.

I have never go across the bridge over Ford Rd. This time round I decided to explore a bit and pushed the bike across. This bridge is quite old. Some parts are creaky and rusted. The path at the other side ends near MCE. According to news the path joining to GBB East will be completed in 9 months time. It took that long to build a path that is less than 1 KM? I am amazed.

Since the path is a dead end, turned back and exit to Ford Rd via the heavy vehicle car park. Use the Tanjong Rhu Rd to go to GBB East.

At GBB East I tour around the north side of the park and took quite a number of pictures. It is now too hot to tour the south side of the park. Below are some of the nice flower pictures.

 Duranta white

Duranta

Spatoglottis

 Blue Twilight

 Asystasia Rose Pink

 Chinese Violet

 Trumpet Flower

 Giant Potato flower

Cape Honeysuckle

Shrubby Lespedeza (bean family)

Bitter-wood

Going over the bridge to GBB West, I came across this small Cupey de Monte flower. Made several tries before successfully taking the picture despite the strong wind.

Found a Praxelis plant further down. It is a nice blue cluster of flowers.

The Sandpaper Vine flower is the liveliest one I ever took.

The white Thunbergia flower looks nice too.

This Donkey Ears flower is quite difficult to find. I passed by this path several time and this is the only time I see it. It belongs to the Stonecrop family (Crassulaceae).

You can't imagine how tall is a Agave flower till you see it.

The Love & Peace sculpture is still as bright red as ever. A woman just walked into the picture but I am too lazy to retake.

Water lilies grows abundance in ponds at MBS. This two are some of them.

Got a bit confused at the Promotory end up having to dismount and push bike near One Fullerton as there are "No cycling" sign boards. My GPS also goes bonkers around this place.

Crossing the Fullerton Bridge, I cruise along the Singapore River. Have to dismount and push through the various underpasses. Saw a few bust of famous persons erected there. It must be new as I have not seen it since I last passed by.

The construction at Kim Seng Road is still on going thus has to detour to the path behind Kim Seng Plaza. Go on River Valley Rd till it cuts across the Singapore River again where  I can access to Alexandra PC. Along the PC, I caught sight of a Oriental Pied Hornbill eating grasshopper. There were a number of children crowding near the bird but it simply ignores them and continues its business.

From then on, the cycling is very much routine and dull. I went all the way down to Jurong East via PCN then to Bukit Batok. It is here that I notice a Purple Heart (without its beautiful flower). The flower only appears early in the morning. This is the last plant picture of the day as I am already too tired to detour to the parks. Moreover, I have to make it to Woodlands before it gets dark.

Going via PCN all the way till Pang Sua PC. It is the fist time I go without GPS guidance and still never get lost. At Pang Sua PC, I have to go on to Woodlands Rd. It is here that I start to chiong a bit around 30 KPH till the hill near Kranji Mrt. Go back on PCN after Marsiling MRT for a short distance before exiting at Woodlands Ave 5. Too lazy to go on the longer distance via PCN to Republic Poly. The trip took almost 12 hours. Distance is just 110 KM.

Did not use WikiLoc for the whole distance. I only use it at GBB to get geocode of the plants. Later replace the trail with the Endomondo one thus there is no waypoints in the map. My Android phone camera goes to sleep and turn off GPS at the same time. So I use WikiLoc to keep the GPS awake when taking picture with WikiLoc.

The WikiLoc Map is here.
The full Picasa Web Album is here.