Bekpackr - A Filipino in SingaporeThe office Ministry of Fun organized a “Halloween” treat earlier. It was an excuse to drink some wine and act silly in costumes. I like the team effort exerted by the other departments. One group came as an entourage of scarecrows. I bought a mask at FairPrice to take part in the festivities. I wanted to go as Spider-Man but maybe when I’ve gotten rid of my beer belly.
2nd time here and we got seats fairly quickly. It was around 7:45pm (on a Friday night). My friend and I ordered shrimp dumplings, spinach dumplings, and the Tim Ho Wan crowd favorite “pork buns”. My goodness! The pork buns are just… Ughhh-mazing. Not trying to make it sound overrated but damn that’s what you go here for. The first bite stops your train of thought.
Jogging in Singapore’s HDB heartlands is relaxing. I jogged around the fringes of rural Yew Tee, the town streets of Yishun, and the vast expanse of Ang Mo Kio-Bishan Park. But I’ve never jogged downtown. Where to change clothes? Where to leave my bag? Everyone who jogs downtown needs to look beautiful and handsome. LOL
I guess the real question is “Why not jog downtown?”. Like what’s stopping me? I can change clothes and leave my bag at my office in Tanjong Pagar. I can tame my mammoth and venture out onto the sidewalks of these towering skyscrapers.
Thanks to RunKepper (both the website and the iPhone app), Google Street View (for double checking routes), and Street Directory SG, I created my own running routes. Two years of recreational jogging in Singapore and I still consider myself a beginner so I created a series of 5-6 kilometer routes.
My starting point would be at the intersection of Maxwell Road and Shenton Way (near AXA Tower) since my office is a 5-minute walk from that corner. Then for all my mentioned routes above, I skim past the construction sites along Shenton Way heading towards opposite Lau Pa Sat. This leads me near Downtown MRT where I crossover a few blocks to get to Marina Bay.
When I managed to do my “Tanjong Pagar to Marina Bay Loop” earlier, I was so giddy. Jogging on my own under all these city lights. Office workers still streaming outside of their buildings. By the time I reached Marina Bay at Marina Boulevard, I was once again starstruck by the beauty of it all– Marina Bay Sands, reflections of the city skyline over the water, fellow joggers going about, that feeling of safety.
I jogged towards MBS, then onto the Helix Bridge, past the floating stadium, and Makansutra/Esplanade. I climbed up the steps to get on the bridge connecting to Merlion Park (the new pedestrian bridge is almost done). I noticed the tourist crowds thicken here so better to avoid that area altogether and jog along the sidewalk of Fullerton Road on my way back to Tanjong Pagar.
I may have clocked in at a slow 45-minutes for a 5 kilometer run (I didn’t account for stoplights/pedestrian crossings and tourist hotspots) but I thoroughly enjoyed jogging downtownn. I believe in a race setting I can finish a 5-kilometer in 30-35 minutes (at my current conditioning).
During lunch or afternoon snacks I like to head down to Maxwell Food Centre to grab a bite. My route from International Plaza to Maxwell passes by The URA Centre which contains the Singapore City Gallery. It’s a free gallery which showcases the city’s physical transformation over the past decades. It also shows upcoming plans and concepts.
I learned they are planning to move the container port from Tanjong Pagar to Tuas. This will free up a huge amount of space for a new waterfront development after the 2030s. Amazing. I can imagine it to be similar to Hong Kong’s wider waterfront.
The City Gallery website: http://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/citygallery/
Photos below 🙂
I’ll start referring to Filipino Dragons Singapore as FDS from now on.
I found a photo uploaded on a fellow newbie’s Instagram. Thanks Dex. This photo was taken on our 2nd newbie session two Saturdays ago.
I feel inspired by dragonboating.
Orchard is crowded, Esplanade and Marina Bay have been photographed too many times, and Gardens by the Bay (my other favourite place) is too far from cheaper food options. Here at the Singapore Sports Hub, away from the buzz of cars and buses… it’s peaceful. A beautiful view of the Kallang River basin greets you. There’s a koptiam / Foodfare at Kallang Wave. Kallang Wave has a couple more cheaper food options. You can also head over to the older mall, Kallang Leisure Mall, for other food options and a cinema (Film Garde).
There are events at the Sports Hub and activities you can also do like swimming, biking, jogging, playing beach volleyball, or skateboarding. There’s a basketball area. The area is serviced by an MRT just a short walk (Stadium MRT), unlike Bayfront MRT at Gardens by the Bay which still feels like it’s far from everything.
The space is large and vast. So even if it were crowded, there’s more room to move around.
It’s a great alternate place to see Singapore’s skyline. 🙂
There were fewer newbies and more seniors this time so it was a bit intimidating. But I admire the passion that drives some of the seniors to teach us newbies. I really like the feeling being on the boat and paddling. You have to carry your weight and that is motivation to keep going. My friend and I finished our third consecutive newbie session. One more to go before we graduate!
Omg thanks to a colleague from marketing, I got a pair of tickets to watch the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore last night. It was actually a round robin match between World No. 4 (Simona Halep) vs World No. 7 (Ana Ivanovic) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Lots of people in the stadium were cheering for Ana. We didn’t get to see the World No. 1 Serene Williams but it’s okay. Seeing anyone from the world’s top pool of tennis players is awesome.
Ana Ivanovic won the match. People were standing up to congratulate her. 🙂
Sweldo happened. So now I’m buying sporty things like swim trunks and push-up bars. Velocity at Novena has some great options since it’s a sports mall. They have 2 Speedo shorts for S$39.00 so I grabbed the chance. Wala na kasi akong swimming trunks. The last one I had, Skull prints and all, is too tight. 🙂
My purchases earlier:
Race kit collection was at Kallang Leisure Mall earlier. The race is on November 2 at the F1 Pit. I signed up because I wanted to have a singlet with the Singapore Airlines logo on it. (I am being totally honest!).
The race kit comes with a singlet, race bib, illy Drip Coffee samples, nutri-bar samples, cold gel, vouchers, a tube of Raffles effervescent Vitamin C tablets (not pictured), a big bag of potato chips (less salty, to give cred) and a shoe bag. I like the shoe bag! The kit was supposed to come with a luggage tag but they ran out of stocks. They said they’ll deliver it to our home address.
The winner of the 10KM competitive race will get a business class roundtrip ticket to any destination served by Singapore Airlines. Not saying that if I ran 10KM I would win. My 10KM clocks in at 1 hour 30 minutes which is quite leisurely! If I could choose a destination on business class, I would like to fly Singapore to New York.
I’m excited to get the medal because the lanyard is in the SQ purple sarong livery!
There’s also a best dressed category with an aviation theme. I’d love to dress up as Philippine Airlines!
Or, I’d like to see some runners wearing the SQ uniform… imagine a whole group running in unison. What a great way to fly.
Disclaimer: My company sponsored my slot for the 5KM non-competitive fun run. Salamat, salamat. 😛
