Saturday, September 02, 2006

Pre-NS routemarch from Tanjong Pagar to Orchard......

Hey all, as you all know. I've only 5 days left till bye bye pink IC and hello 11-B. Yes the day where all young male Singaporeans turn into MEN. 7 Sept is the date and 9am is the reporting time. So if any of you wanna leave any "bye bye, im gonna miss you" or "Go!!! and dont come back" messages please do so by the 6th.

Anyway to today's event, call me crazy, stupid, goondu or watever word related to insane but I walked from Tanjong Pagar all the way to Orchard road. So ok ok some of you will say "easy what!!! very near". Well lets just say I took a longer route.....



My journey started off at Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Dress in a white t-shirt and jeans, arm with my trusty Timbuk2 sling bag and not so trusty Mp3 player(I'll come to that non-trusty part later), I head down towards "GB building" to collect some gift pack for my parents from AXA insurance. After collecting the stuffs. Was contemplating whether to head home or maybe do a little sight-seeing(wasn't really litte but alot). The initial plan was to met up with a friend of mine but he was kinda busy so its just me myself and I.



Headed towards MPH which was along "Robinson Road". Browse thru a few books. Msg a friend and after awhile head off towards "Lau Pa Sat". From "Lau Pa Sat", I headed to Raffles Place MRT station and it was here that I made my decision at a fork. Left to Raffles MRT which means home or Right to "one Marina Boulevard". Being the adventure cum curious type, I head right.



Came out of "One Marina Boulevard" only to be greeted by contructions. Not much scenary. So I walked along "Collyer Quay Road" past the now deserted and under-construction "Clifford Pier". So I press on. walk along the river towards "One Fullerton" and guess who I met?



Good old Merlion, spitting litres and litres of water into the river. You may think, I'm a little "Jakun" or excited. But to tell you the truth. In all my 20 years. I've never really travel around Singapore much. So I dunno what is where or let alone seen the Merlion from such a close vicinity. Usually I would just look at him/her from the esplanade across the bank. Ok back to the story...

After bidding farewell to Merlin(thats what I named the Merlion), Walk across the Anderson bridge to a path called "Queen Elizabeth Walk". God knows why they name that walk after the Queen of England. But I guess it has got something to do bout the time she came to visit. Walk pass the "Padang" and "Parliment house" and turn right into "Esplanade".

So it was here that my Mp3 player ran out of batteries(thus the not-so-trusty) and I kinda ran out of cash to buy extras. So I took a short rest here along esplanade. Took a sip of water and watch some band setting up for tonight's performance.



After resting I head down to "City-link mall". Pit stop at "MPH" and "HMV". After which I head out towards "Raffles City". After "Raffles City", Walk along "North Bridge Road" and found out where "Raffles Hotel" is (Yes I didnt know where Raffles Hotel was, so laugh if u want too). Press on and found out the location of the new National Library (Yeah laugh again if u want 2, I didnt know bout this either).



Reached "BUGIS". Head up to Kunikuya(or something like that) bookstore browse thru a few books and comics. After I got bored, I decided to head back down to town. Unfortunately, with my limited knowledge of the Singapore map, I went the wrong direction. Headed to wards "Sim Lim Square" by cutting thru "Bugis village".



Even after I had past "Sim Lim Square", I headed straight ahead and found myself at "Rochor Canal Road" just opposite "Tekka Mall" any further I would have hit "Bukit Timah". It was then that I realise how far I had walked!!!

Pit stop at "Little India Mrt station". Found a map and I tried to get my bearings right again. So backtrack to "Rochor Canal Road" and slip into "Selegie Road". OK now im back into familiar territory. Pass the old "Rex theater", stop by "Parklane Shopping Mall" to check out some comics and made a right at "Prinsip Street" out into "Orchard Road".



Pass "Cathy building". Pass "PLaza Singapura". Pass the "Istana", oh I saw the "royal guards" change shift and a car being inspect before going into the "Istana", pretty cool shyte. After that it was all the way up Orchard road.



Time check it was already 6pm. Stop by "Al-Falah mosque". Did my almost overdue late afternoon prayers and final pit stop at Taka's Kunikuya. Found some stuffs I was looking for and by then It was already time for evening prayers. Head back to "Al-Falah". Rest for awhile at the mosque and since it was already past 7pm, I guess its wise to head home now.



So there you have it. My Pre-NS route march from Tanjong Pagar all the way to Orchard Road. But I didnt really head home. Drop by SP for some TKD training. Muhaha. Crazy I tell you. If my legs could talk, I guess they would be cursing and swearing by now.

After that long walk kinda realise how small Singapore is. Probably the reason why I didnt feel tired was that I was kinda enjoying myself. Saw places I didnt knew existed. Found out where Raffles Hotel and The National Library is. Saw the different walks of life. From the Japanese tourist at the Merlion to the Chinese at Albert street to the Indians at Tekka Mall and of course the malays and other races all over Orchard Road. I guess it wasnt a wasted day after all. I've learnt loads of stuffs and guess what, my dad got lost once when he was young and he too walked along Padang, pass Clifford Pier. But he walked along Shenton way down towards Harbour Front, back home at, I cant remember the name of the street he was staying at. But still the similarity of us walking great distances and using Public transport as our guide was overwhelming. (I use the MRT as a guide as where I should move next while my dad had to rely on the buses). Like Father Like Son I guess.....

So here I am after a loooooooooooooong days walk. Updating my blog, feet feeling alittle numb after all those walking, feeling alittle sleepy also. I guess Thats all for now. I'll try to update before the 7th. Probably thats gonna be the the last for now. Won't be updating so often (as if i was updating everyday). So yup. Take care all and good nite... ciao

-blog out-

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