Monday, November 9, 2009

Happy Note 5: A journey to a tranquil side of Singapore

Do you know that Sengkang Swimming Complex houses 1 competition pool, 2 teaching pools, 1 fun pool and importantly 1 jacuzzi and 8 water slides? With such attractive facilities at only $1 for adult entry on a weekday, Mr. Robotic decides to embark on an exploratory trip to the less travelled part of Singapore.

Mr. Robotic alighted at Sengkang Interchange with the intention to walk to the swimming complex but decided to take the LRT instead since Mr. Robotic rarely gets a chance to take the LRT.

Little did Mr. Robotic know that there are different routes on the same platform for the LRT. Mr. Robotic can only blame himself for not scrutinising the map first before hopping on the next available LRT. That would have saved Mr. Robotic the trouble of going one big circle on the East Loop line. Mr. Robotic recalled his physics lessons which can be applied to this situation.

Distance travelled = 2 km.
Displacement = 0 km.
Mr. Robotic's rookie mistake. Priceless.

So if you are planning to go to the swimming complex by LRT, remember to look carefully at the signage, you should take the West Loop line on platform 2. If you wish to find out more, you can read "Wikipedia: Sengkang LRT line".

Mr. Robotic alighted at the Farmway station. The simplicity of this LRT station was intriguing, given that Mr. Robotic is used to full fledged stations that have staff manning the control stations or with staff patrolling and gawking at your bags for dangerous items. Some stations even have small "mama" shops for the busy passer-bys. Interestingly, there was a notice in the Farmway station that advertised the leasing of shop space at the station.

Arriving at the swimming complex, Mr. Robotic immediately saw the water slides which he was so looking forward to riding. Mr. Robotic further admired the sheltered pool as the stormy weather lately was hurting his swimming plans. However, Mr. Robotic realised the abnormal tranquility at the area. It was very quiet. In fact, there was no one in sight at the pools or the slides. Mr. Robotic brushed it aside since it was after all a Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. Perhaps, the crowd would come in later?

Alas, his suspicious were not unfounded. Apparently the pool is closed every Monday for cleaning. A check with the sports council website shows that this is a conventional practice for other swimming complexes with water slides too.

Although, Mr. Robotic was a tad disappointed that he didn't manage to get on the rides, there were still some interesting finds. For instance, next to the swimming complex is 3 basketball courts which were empty at Mr. Robotic's point of visit. It may be empty due to the timing of visit but Mr. Robotic thought it seems like a nice place which his colleagues can consider for the next sports day outing.

Also, there are a number of fields (state land) which are undeveloped. Mr. Robotic can't help but laments that soon green fields are going to be unconventional sights in Singapore given the speed of development and the lack of space in Singapore. One day, the earth could be surrounded by likes of Mr. Robotic, cold steel and iron parts and one would need to pay a ticket price just to view a batch of green grass. At least for now, the nice patch of green is free for one to use and one can enjoy flying kites in the wide open space.

Even though Mr. Robotic didn't achieved his objective of the visit, he did enjoyed the tranquility and slow pace of this part of Singapore for a change to the clutter of high rising and attention seeking malls. It was a nice lazy afternoon for Mr. Robotic.

1 comment:

  1. yoz yoz i visited today lo! quite fun but the slides are not as much as the jurong east de lehx.....i tot it will open aft 2pm for all pools with slides. haa anyway meiyi did the same mistake as u( mean went on the monday).

    the one with yellow and purple is very scary, two have different feeling... maybe i old liao cant take the speed:P

    as for the LRT trip she is the experienced one, she say go to the pool cannot take the yellow (which the east One). it is really confusing. Think becos it is not developed the west line only got one way.
    but the jacuzzi is really nice. stay there for almost an hour dont wan to move:P

    ohh anyway for adult is $1.50 there. :)
    $1.00 is for normal de... :)

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