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.

Happy Note 2: Whacking things

Alright, Mr. Robotic is definitely not a violent piece of machine, unlike "The Terminator" which derives joy from gunning things down. Neither, does Mr. Robotic advocates fists and kicks as a means to resolve any issue even though the temptation to give a slap to certain deserving people did played out in Mr. Robotic twisted little mechanical brain on several occasions.

"Whacking things" to Mr. Robotic does not include the harm of any living creatures. In fact, what Mr. Robotic likes to do here is playing a racket game like badminton, squash. Especially the latter sport.

It is funny though, when Mr. Robotic was first introduced to this sport several years ago, he didn't enjoy squash as much as he did today. It could be because the opponents that he had then were a bunch of competitive people who are so concerned on winning and getting the approval from Coach that the fun element of the sport is missing. Playing it at a recreational level without feeling any burden is really a much better way to enjoy this sport.

The objective of squash simply put is to return the ball back to the designated portions of the wall in a manner so as to prevent your opponent from returning the ball. The adrenaline rush from trying to react and outsmart your opponents moves is exhilarating. It is like a chess game, except at a fast pace with little time to ponder.

Mr. Robotic also likes releasing all the pent up frustration on the little black ball instead of fuming it inside his bots. Not only is it a good form of exercise for this depreciating machine, it aids mentally too for Mr. Robotic to deal with the stress and unhappiness in his life.

In our busy environment whereby we are constantly bombarded by information seeking our attention and thereby making one lose one's concentration. Squash like other sports is a much welcomed change. In that enclosed room, one trains to focus all the attention on a little black ball. By constantly improving one's focus, that skill would essentially allow one to deal with the challenges at work.

Whatever the case, "whacking things" or other sports is good addition to Mr. Robotic's otherwise unhealthy lifestyle of eating junk food and sitting in front of the computer whole day. Hopefully, one day, Mr. Robotic can take on new sports for instance... Tennis.