Pasir Ris Park - Singapore

Pasir Ris park is among one of the largest in Singapore. The full length of the park is around 6.6 kilometres. ... and we visited here on Friday May 28. We really liked the way it is set out, where families can enjoy time together and we can walk along the pathways or sit on the beach.

Only one problem. There is a place where people hire bicycles and we found most people had no idea how to ride bikes, in particular the teenagers. 

Recreational activities including skating lesson, renting of bicycle, skate, kayaking and other water sports equipment are also available.

So when walking in this park you do have to be extremely careful of others on bikes that have total disregard for any rules that might apply - like keeping to the bike path!

 

The above signs are painted VERY CLEARLY on all pathways .... the feet obviously means this is where you walk, and the bike sign ... yes, this is where they are supposed to be riding!!!


So many of the younger ones - females in particular - were screaming and laughing as they were riding along, yelling out that they didn't know where the brake was ... and down they went. We were very surprised that we didn't see more accidents, serious accidents. Somehow some authority should enforce the rules in this park before a major accident occurs.


Apart from the concern for safety with the bikes, we did enjoy our walk and watching families enjoy their times together, some were BBQing, some flying kites, others walking, a few napping and even some were fishing.

 

 

This coastal park of some 71 hectares includes a 6-hectare mangrove swamp traversed by boardwalks for visitors to appreciate the rich mangrove flora and fauna. This is also a popular spot for birdwatching, cycling, kite flying and swimming. Many families come here for barbeques and picnics by the beach. For a range of seafood and local delicacies, make your way to the Fisherman's Village located by the beachfront.

 

There is a 6-hectare mangrove forest within Pasir Ris Park. Boardwalks are built into the mangrove forests to enable visitors to explore the natural surroundings easily. Mud crabs, mudskippers and mangrove trees such as Rhizophora and Bruguiera are found in this park.

There is a 3-storey high Bird Watching Tower in the park, where birdwatchers will be able to see birds perching on tree branches.

Also in this park, there is a beach. There are also many other facilities like a cycling track, barbecue pits and dining. Some resorts located near the park have gates linking to the park.

One of the most popular features of Pasir Ris Park is the huge playground located on the western end. This playground is popular with both children and teenagers. It has features such as play stations, slides, and 'space-nets' for the kids, as well as rope climbing, cableways, and basketball courts for the older ones.

 We also noticed about six Fish Farms out in the water between Pulau Ubin and Mainland Singapore ... as seen here:

 

In one section of the park there is camping allowed. We saw a group of students setting up camp, but what was rather funny was each time they set camp, they decided to move the tent elsewhere!!

They finally settled down and seemed to have a nice little set up going ....

We continued on our walk and located the food stalls where we stopped for dinner and then headed back home to Bukit Batok .... way over the other side of the island!

Nice to spends some time in this park if you are in Singapore.

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some of the things we missed ......

By now everyone has heard about our little jaunt to the Cameron Highlands and probably also read a few of the blog posts as seen here:

 

Click here to read about Booking the Bus .

To read about the bus trip on May 7 to the Highlands, click HERE.

For the posting of: In summary .... COMFORT

The posting on The Smokehouse Hotel is here.

Click here for the blog posting on the Rocking Chair

To wander around the gardens of the hotel, click here.

The blog about the flowers of the Highlands, click HERE.

(update) To read about the bus trip on December 23 to The Highlands, click HERE

this posting is to tell you a bit about the things we missed!!!

There are tour companies that run 2 hour trips, 8 hour trips, half day trips etc. The tours they offer are to places like the Native Village, Mt Brinchang, the Tropical Rain Forest, Jungle Trekking, Parit Water Fall, The Butterfly Farm, The Buddhist Temple, the Honey Bee Farm, the Market Square, Cactus Valley, the Aboriginal Resettlement, the Mossy Forest,  to watch a Sewang Dance and of course the Boh Tea Plantation and the Strawberry Farm. Both of which we had seen on our recent trip.

So if you are wondering IF you should go and IF there would be things to see and do, all I can say is GO and YES there is plenty to see and do!

The blog posting HERE is about a trip up to Mt Brinchang.

 The URL HERE is about the "Nature Escapes" and walking trails as is THIS ONE,  both worth checking out if you are going to visit the Cameron Highlands.

This website (HERE) is about the many waterfalls of the Cameron Highlands.

 

The Robinson Falls are a series of magnificent water cascades down a steep hill slope in a forested area, located near Tanah Rata Town. To reach it, visitors need to follow the road that leads to the hospital from Tanah Rata. A quick turning to the left just before the uphill slope to the hospital will take you to the entrance of the jungle walk to Robinson Falls.

The jungle walks leads downstream to the main waterfall area, which can be reached in as little as 10 minutes. There is no proper swimming area, and the waterfall is only good for looking at and photography as you cannot head down to the shore due to the steep terrain. The waterfalls is also hopelessly polluted by drain water from farms, giving it a putrid stench.

Here is another WEBSITE about the Cameron Highlands, giving detailed information about the  Highlands:

The Cameron Highlands are the largest and most genteel of the hill resorts in Malaysia. It's located in Pahang's north-western corner, at an altitude of 1,829 meters. The Cameron Highlands were discovered by William Cameron in 1885. In these days the British planters realized that those mountains were very fertile. Because tea was  prized commodity among the colonies, they decided to grow tea on the slopes of the Cameron Highlands.

British families who were stationed in Malaysia at the time also took to hills in a respite from the hot, humid tin mines and rubber plantations. Some of the old bungalows, which they left behind are still being preserved for viewing by tourist, with a few facilities added for the conveniences of visitors. So, much of the character of the Cameron Highlands has remained unchanged since colonial times.

 The worlds largest flower is found in Malaysia and Indonesia ..... but more are found in the Cameron Highlands.

Rafflesia are endemic to Southeast Asia recorded 17 known species, the Rafflesia flowers have been found only in Indonesia - Sumatra and Java, Malaysia, including Borneo island and south Thailand. Rafflesias have small, brownish, scale like leaves and fleshy, foul-smelling flowers of various sizes from few inches to meter big in diameter. Rafflesia classified as parasite, which means it just takes the nutrient out of its host.

For extra information on the Cameron Highlands read any of the blog postings above - be it mine or other travel sites.

I have also located a few personal travel blogs and you may like to have a look at:

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

I am going to the Cameron Highlands again in June with four of my friends - am hoping to perhaps see a few of the things I missed on the last trip!

I think my friends are looking forward to this little adventure!

stay tuned!!


(please note:
none of the above images are mine. All are publicly available on the internet)

traveling to the Boh Tea Plantation

While staying in the Cameron Highlands we visited the Boh Tea Plantation. We hired a driver and car for a few hours and he took us to see some of the most magnificent scenery. Rolling hills of tea as far as the eye could see. The rich green colour was incredible .... as seen in some of the following images.

BOH Plantations Sdn Bhd is the leading tea grower in Malaysia with four tea gardens – Boh, Sungei Palas and Fairlie situated in Cameron Highlands; and Bukit Cheeding in Selangor – constituting a total land area of 1200 hectares. With a production capacity approaching 3000kgs per hectare, the Company produces 4 million kgs of tea annually which translates to about 5.5 million cups per day. This represents about 70% of all tea produced in Malaysia.

Just stop and think on that for a minute ...... 5.5 million cups of tea per day!!

I probably only have two of them.  So who drinks the other 5.499999 million cups then?

Annual tea consumption per person:
Irish: 3230 g
British: 2460 g
Japanese: 1080 g
Chinese: 350 g
Korean: 32 g 

But to get a more accurate measure of tea drinkers CLICK HERE and read more on the wikipedia site.

 

Image above shows Moroccan tea being served. It is poured from a distance to produce a foam on the tea.

But back to the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia .... here are some of the images that I took on the drive to the Boh Tea Plantation:

The road was very narrow and the driver often had to stop and wait while another vehicle passed us .... some stopped by the side of the roadway to view the scenery and take photos.

We also stopped to watch the workers harvest the top tea layer by machine ..... but it was still quite primitive. After the 'machine' made its way over the tea bushes, another worker came along and cut the rest by hand.

The image above shows the workers huts at the Tea Plantation in the distance from the Cafe. Below is John enjoying is cup of tea and the view from the cafe.

after our few hours at the TEA PLANTATION we visited the STRAWBERRY FARM as seen in the previous blog posting.

We had a lovely time in the Cameron Highlands and found there was plenty to see and do while there. One day we walked into the town of Tanah Rata which will be in the next blog post.

Click here to read about Booking the Bus .

To read about the bus trip on May 7 to the Highlands, click HERE.

For the posting of: In summary .... COMFORT

The posting on The Smokehouse Hotel is here.

Click here for the blog posting on the Rocking Chair

To wander around the gardens of the hotel, click here.

The blog about the flowers of the Highlands, click HERE.


stay tuned!!


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a very tasty strawberry farm ......

While up in the Highlands, we visited the Strawberry Farm, there are many in the area but our driver suggested the largest one as it has a garden and cafe, also sells plants, flowers, cactus and really has quite a large nursery selling pots and garden equipment too. They also advertise that you can come and "pluck you own" ....

We stayed there for awhile wandering around the gardens and stopped to eat a bowl of strawberries with honey and yoghurt. Then finished off with a strawberry smoothie.

I can eat fresh strawberries, but normally do not enjoy strawberry jam, strawberry drinks or really anything with a 'strawberry flavor'. But all this was entirely different, everything was scrumptious!!

 at the strawberry farm they also grow lettuce and other vegetables, all hydroponically. As seen in the following images:

looking at the pots underneath....

and the strawberry plant leaves are huge, I should have used a pencil or some other device to lay alongside to compare sizes.

But what was also 'amusing' were all the signs as we walked up towards the cafe:

and yes, even lettuce juice!!

after having our strawberry smoothie and strawberries and yoghurt ....  we went for a walk thru the gardens as seen in the following images:

next blog posting will be our visit to The Tea Plantation!!

Click here to read about Booking the Bus.

To read about the bus trip on May 7 to the Highlands, click HERE.

For the posting of: In summary .... COMFORT

The posting on The Smokehouse Hotel is here.

Click here for the blog posting on the Rocking Chair

To wander around the gardens of the hotel, click here.

The blog about the flowers of the Highlands, click HERE.