Sunday's Silent Structures

Trapped at home during this festive Hari Raya period with nothing much to do.

Just like this family, most families are postponing their Raya visits for now until the final year exams are over. So there is not much celebration going on for now.

With Sonny buried in books and revisions with Wifey, I decided to take my bike out for a ride. My first one since we stopped during the month of Ramadan.


It was a perfect day for biking.

The sun was out today after many days of cloudy skies and rain, against the prediction of the weatherman who said today would rain too. It did not and I was happy to busk in the afternoon sun, riding my bike topless today for God knows why.

I decided to ride along Old Tampines Road... along the route where I take the bus Service 72 every weekday to work.


I especially like the stretch of road where the rain trees on opposite sites meet and form a covered stretch of road that is cooling and with not much traffic, actually was serene.

Once passed the Paya Lebar Airbase, the stretch of Tampines Road has one of the most beautiful display of pink and purple blooms in the centre of the bidireictional road. Flanking on both sides are yellow Golden Showers.


Though not much of a display was for this afternoon, but a glimpse of what is to come can already be seen... usually after several days or weeks of downpour and followed by a stretch of sunny days, these trees will display their spectacular blooms lavishly.


Yet this afternoon, what took my attention was not the blooms so much, but the permanent structures along the route. I did not go far down Tampines Road until the KPE flyover, but I would like to do it one of these days.


The most imposing stucture has to be the NEWater Service Reservoir. One of our local answer to used water recycling apart from the many reserviors - natural and man-made ones, on this island for drinking water.

Yes, we live on an island... surrounded by water, but not a drop to drink... until desalination is done. One of the more expensive methods to convert into drinking water here.

With its very strange funnel shape, it could have been used in the Man In Black movie to masquerade and house a couple of spaceships if these were in Hollywood.


The once busy national airport, now converted to an airforce base, the landing guide lights have always intrigued me. I got to see it up close for longer instead of passing it by while on the bus.

Traces of old, long gone villages still visible if one observed properly. Not from the structures of the kampong houses, but the very few surviving fruit trees that are still there. One such tree is the Buah Betik or papaya tree... flowering along the road near a bus stop.


One intriguing moss-like plant that I have been meaning to get up-close for about two years now is actually just vines... lots and lots of yellow vines with no leave at all. The vines twirled everywhere, choking the tall Lalang and stretched all the way to the tree tops.

These vines are so dense, they look like moss to me all these while. I have no idea what this species of vines is called.

There is a cluster of houses a stretch further called Jalan Telawi that I wish to explore, but will save it for another bike-riding day.

Good bike ride today, and I got a good enough tan too. Loving it.

Papaya Leave behind the sun

Moss vines atop mango tree

Tapioca shoots growing wild

Papaya flower & budding fruit

Lalang flower blowing in the wind