A Healthy beginning to 2008!

Ever since I read in the news that the Eastern Coastal Park Connector Network (PCN) has been completed, I have been wanting to go on a bike trail along this network. For those who do not know what is PCN, check this site. It basically connects the different parks on the eastern side of Singapore. This is what the network looks like:

Nirva and I wanted to do this last weekend, but to our dismay we found out that her bike was flat and we could not pump in the air at the gas station (the bike shops were all closed since it was a sunday). So I thought, what better way to start the New Year than going on this bike trip on the 1st of Jan! I got her bike fixed on the 31st so that the only thing that could keep us from doing this is our own lethargy-:) Although we got up late, we decided to go for it anyway - the weather was the deciding factor - it was cloudy and windy and the temperatures were low for 2:30 in the afternoon.

So we set out, in full josh, from our home with a bottle of water and a camera (without which this blog post would be quite boring). After crossing the train station (Kembangan) next to our home, we headed into the Siglap Park Connector. From there on we biked for about 4.5km before hauling our bikes up an overhead bridge, which took us right into the East Coast Park (ECP).

We rode along the scenic East Coast Park until we reached the cable skiing area, at which time we decided to take a much needed break (as seen in the picture on left). After resting for a bit, we decided that to do the entire 42km stretch would be a bit too much for the day - so we decided to do the shorter (18km) route that goes through bedok park connector instead of the coastal park connector. This entailed taking the bikes via an underground tunnel to reach the Bedok Park connector. I hauled both Nirva's bike and mine and finally we were on our way on the Bedok Park Connector.

Little did we know that the Bedok Park connector would run for such a long distance. And we were also pleasantly surprised when we saw the Bedok Road Food Court en route. We really could not resist taking a break and having the famous Cheng Tng from this food centre (as shown on the right). Nirva and I enjoyed the cold and hot varieties respectively of the Cheng Tng

Fully rejuvenated, we decided to carry-on uninterrupted for a while since we had taken too many breaks in succession. The next leg of our biking adventure along the loooooong Bedok Park Connector brought us to the canal that runs across the Bedok Reservoir. It really seemed very scenic indeed and the weather added to the charm. Right before reaching the Bedok Reservoir, we had to dismount to push our bikes across another overhead bridge (across a ramp). It would be so much better if these bike paths could allow for uninterrupted cycling - going through these overhead bridges and underpasses really breaks the flow. Anyway, there we were, right at Bedok Reservoir and we decided to move on, since it was already 3 hours since we had started on our bike hike. We crossed into the Bedok Town Park after some confusion with the directions.

This turned out to be the hardest part of the journey. The bike path through Bedok Town Park was a series of slopes and it really took the life out of us. We decided to dismount and just push our bikes through the upslopes until we reached level ground again. All of a sudden, the bike path ended and before us loomed an overhead bridge with no ramps! We realized that we would have to really push our bikes up along the stairs of the overhead bridge and that seemed daunting, given our energy levels. But, we had no choice and so we braced ourselves and conquered the bridge-:). But the reward for crossing the bridge was very heartfelt - we realized that we had come to the area where we normally jog until - that meant that home was not far away - YAY! This gave us energy enough to pedal our way onto another overhead bridge (this time with ramps) that leads right into our HDB estate. We were finally home! We had covered about 18km in 3.5 hours - albeit with numerous breaks in between - but we had done it! Mission accomplished - now give it to the shutterbugs please-:)

Happy New Year!

Hi all - a very happy new year to you and your family! I just looked at the last (and the first) post I made on this blog and I am ashamed - it has been almost 4 and half months of laziness on my part. I really hope I can blog more regularly in 2008. I feel it is a good way to collect my thoughts and review things happening in my life.

So how did you spend the night of 31st Dec 2007? My housemates and I invited some friends over and we played board/card games like UNO and Risk. We ordered Pizza for dinner from Sarpinos Pizzeria (I know this might sound strange to those in the US but having good pizza in Singapore is a rarity) and counted down 10 seconds before midnight. This was followed up by some dancing, of which i was a reluctant participant - but i did enjoy some of the salsa moves. It felt good putting the 4 weeks of salsa lessons to use. I think salsa is a lot fun when the girl really lets the guy lead with no pre-conceived moves in mind.

The next day (1st Jan 2008) was a holiday and Nirva and I decided to start the New Year on a healthy note. We decided to go on this 42 km bike trail - the parks on the eastern side of Singapore are now connected to each other and the whole trail is 42 km in length. We started at about 2:30 in the afternoon - the weather was really nice - cloudy and windy. In the end we did only 18km, but it was so much fun. I will post in greater detail about the bike trail later (with photos).

Another good thing I did yesterday was to call all my mamas (uncles on my mother's side) and talk to them. During the last year, I did not call any one regularly besides Shankar mama, mostly out of laziness, and also because Shankar mama and I can really talk about a variety of things ranging from politics to books to movies to cricket etc. Now when i was in India, I was really very close to all my 4 mamas - so at some point of time last year, my other mamas started feeling a bit left out and thought that I was not very keen on talking to them - when that was definitely not the case. So I forced myself to sit near the telephone and call each one of them one by one and talk to them for at least 15 min each. I also spoke with my cousin and her wife and heard the first words from my niece's mouth - it was just wonderful! At the end of it, I was a bit exhausted after being on the phone for about 2 hours - but it felt very good. It felt that I had started off 2008 on just the right notes - be it personal health or relationships. These are 2 of the 3 things I want to work on in 2008.

The 3rd and the hardest thing for me is to address my work - it has been 4 months since I have really lost any interest whatsoever in my job. The workplace itself seems to be going from bad to worse - come to think of it, it has been unstable since I joined in 2004, with no signs of getting settled ever. I would so want to just get out of this place and do something on my own - but I have 3 more years of my bond to serve. I really must force myself to think clearly and talk to my managers about getting into a meaningful job position here - after all I can't sit here unhappy and under-utilized for 3 years! I just need to do this for myself - for my own good. I do wish I can break all self-imposed barriers and get on this task asap - that would really make the start of this New Year absolutely rocking!