Kent Ridge Park

I was on childcare leave today. After bringing the daughter to the SCDF Heritage Gallery - which was rather disappointing and then to the missus' office, we went back to my parents' place for lunch. Left there at 3 plus and went home to unload my stuff - checked the net for weather forcast at Pasir Panjang which shown as "partly cloudy". Since the weather for the whole of morning and early afternoon was fine, I trusted the info, and hopped onto a taxi to Normanton Park, where I embarked for my "hike" at the Kent Ridge Park, somewhere which I wanted very much to go - because of its canopy walk and the "Reflections of Bukit Chandu"- famed for the exhibits to comemmorate the Battle of Pasir Panjang in 1942.

View from the Lookout Point

Well, the fine weather was short-lived, as it started to drizzle when I reached Science Park and wondering if I should back out, but after seeing a family (with kids) still walking around with umbrellas, I decided to do likewise. The park was not huge, and after some series of steps, I reached the "summit" where there was an old AMX13 tank and the lookout point was nearby. Incidentally it was also known as the Army Green Park, but you would not see much military stuff there. An irony. There were a few cars with couples sitting on the front seats chatting, but I suspected there was at least one car with the humans behind. Could be sth fishy, but since the intent was not to be a spoiler, I headed straight for the Canopy Walk.

The "Entrance" to Canopy Walk

It was not fantastic, compared to the Treetop Walk at MacRitchie. Still, it was a refreshing experience walking around trees, on an elevated platform. On the surroundings, you could see buildings along Alexandra Road, and also the garden nursery of NParks located at the bottom. Believed this is the place which NParks would be developing as a horticure hub, to increase interest and awareness. Currently it is not opened to the public. It was also interesting to see that there were private apartments located on the top of the hill where the Canopy Walk hugged. Rather lack of privacy as you could see the windows clearly. Btw, this private development was known as "The Peak".

The "Exit"

The "Reflections of Bukit Chandu"was closed when I reached there. So no chance to go. The walk down was quite siong, and it was fortunate that I did not take a bus to Pasir Panjang and march all the way up. May have turned back after seeing the steep slope.

The whole trip was less than 2 hrs from home to home. The next place I would want to go it the Changi Boardwalk. Perhaps next week?

Some useful sites:
http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/bukit_chandu/homepage.htm
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/park15.asp