Visited.blog

The walk that is 4 years overdue! Finally we got a date! My friend ST has done it several times, but for me the first. According to official map it’s 36km from Lakeside to Punggol, passing through some central parts of Singapore. We decided to start from the West side since both of us stay in the Eastern and North-Eastern area.

Arrived fresh and excited at Lakeside, the site of Checkpoint 1. We could not find the location though. There’s lots of park upgrading works, with sections fenced off. We were walking all the way to Chinese Garden MRT but couldn’t find a way into the park.

So off we head towards Bukit Batok. Saw the huge signage for Bukit Batok SMC, which no longer exist. Checkpoint 2 is right outside Bukit Batok Nature Park. From here, the plan is to enter BBNP and exit via Lor Sesuai. Unfortunately again, parks upgrading prevented that. A big loop needed, heading towards the Old Fire Station via the main road. Nice memories of this area. We did many hikes here during the convid years when I started hiking!

Getting pretty hot as we head towards Bukit Timah. An ice cream treat from a petrol kiosk is so good! Grateful that we could grab little cold snacks along the way!

Checkpoint 3 is right outside Bukit Timah Nature Reserve! Came here so often but never realised its existence!

Continued down the road towards Checkpoint 4, outside Adam Drive Hawker Centre. Yup, everyone who does this route have their lunch break here! What’s good here? I was so disappointed with what I’m served. Wanted mee soto. My bowl looked nothing like the one in the photo. When I asked the uncle where is the bagadil, he replied “0that one photo only”. That was so blunt!

Anyway, heavy from lunch, we continued towards Bukit Brown, passing by some tombs that’s along the roadside. Crossing the bridge, ST noticed a caterpillar sticking on my leaf clip! OMG, he thought its food???

Checkpoints 4 to 5 seems like forever! Passing Macritchie, Marymount, cutting through the Community Club and into AMK Bishan Park. Walking in and then out from the side route really isn’t fun. I recalled the Yellow Ribbon run I went years ago. The route requires us to run through one road only to exit the same way. It’s demoralising seeing other participants at the opposite side of the road!

I enjoyed the AMK segment though, finding the merlions and accidentally stumbling upon ang mo kios in the heartland!

Another ice cream break in MacDonalds in Ave 3, then towards Checkpoint 6 at Ave 5. By now my ankle has been screaming and my calf and thighs pretty sore. I was lagging further and further. And I was to attempt my long-awaited lambak butterfly trail in 2 days. Plus I’ve done the stretch from Sengkang to Punggol several times already. Lots of reasons, or excuses .. anyhow the most important – we decided to stop here in case of any possible injury. This is a sweet spot to end too. We ended up having fish and chips in Seletar Hills, just a stone’s throw away. Home is even a smaller stone to throw.

And that’s it. 10hrs with a total of 32.6km from Checkpoints 1-6, according to my strava. So I guess maybe the total isn’t 36km? For sure, I enjoyed the company more than the C2C! Thank you, my friend!