Two and a half months of summer has lapsed. During this time, I’ve been to several locations that I haven’t explored before or visited in a long time. I revisited Pulau Ubin which I haven’t been to since 2007. The place have changed quite a bit from the bumboat fare to the scenery though it’s great to see the overall feel of the place still being retained over the years, even as the place is becoming more commercialized.

More recently, I revisited KTM Bukit Timah Railway Station, a place I had so much trouble finding when I was doing my navigation exercise there in 2003. I got lost and that eventually led to me deeming Bukit Timah as one of the most confusing districts in Singapore. The station still looks the same after 7 years, but this time, it wasn’t just purely visiting the building but exploring a long forgotten piece of Singapore’s history. A couple of friends and I located the long disused tracks to Jurong and followed it all the way to Clementi, going through some serious jungle bashing at the same time.

In the past month, I also made a return to West Coast Park which I haven’t visited since 2003. We biked all the way from East Coast to West Coast and then back again. The park looks to have expanded in area with the inclusion of the 24-hour McDonald’s, marsh walk and bicycle obstacle course though ultimately, it is still lacking in basic amenities like shower facilities to the detriment of overnight campers. The pavilions still look the same albeit there being more with the expansion of the park.

Due to extensive biking for the past month, it also rekindled my passion to pick up my own bike and start pedaling again. It’s been 6 years since I last hit the road and what an awesome experience it is to be riding again and touring CBD late in the night where busy traffic gives way to tranquility.

Then came Taiwan, a reminiscence of the days spent in 2008 when we darted around from shopping to food given the limited time we had there. With friends, I headed to Taipei for a long overdue post-ORD trip to sight-see, eat and shop. It also served as a gathering to catch-up with them after a long academic year. Though the trip wasn’t that fantastic, mostly due to the gloomy weather, we managed to complete most of the items on our itinerary. I’m satisfied.

Now I’m a couple of hours away from being back in green. It’s been more than a year since I’ve last touched my army gear but when duty calls, there’s no running away. So for the next 2 weeks, I’ll be keeping the nation safe while the rest of Singapore catches the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals of the World Cup. But I’ll be back for the finals. Yeah.