Taiwan Camping 台灣露營

31 May 2007

Getting bored with city life, I proposed an idea to family of cycling and camping in Singapore, all of them agreed and we set off. We planned a 4D 3N relaxing cycling camping trip. Starting from our place in Choa Chu Kang around 3pm, we cycled down south along Bukit Timah Road to our first camp ground which is 13km away. Just around 3Km from start, daughter took a fall and crashed into a railing resulted in a broken brake lever. She suffered some swelling and cuts on her hand and knee but nothing broke, good that she had gloves and helmet on. The weather was foul before and made the ground rather slippery, I guessed she had probably squeezed the front brake too hard. Took my FAK fixed her up and some cable ties fixed the lever back in position. We continued on to West Coast Park for overnight camp. The brake lever held pretty well for the whole trip.

On Second day we rode down to Singapore busiest business district, crossing Singapore oldest bridge, Nicole Highway and down to East Coast Park using the bike path, the oldest and most beautiful bike path. After which we did nothing except camping and relaxing ourselves by the beach for the next 3 days. There is a Food Court nearby with 43 stalls to choose from, further down the park there is a Toilet with shower facilities. In the evening we would packed BBQ chicken wings and some other dishes from the food court back to our camp.

On the last day we headed back through Singapore busiest shopping area; Orchard Road, Botanics Gardens and from there all the way back home. Total Distance we cycled around 70km.

During this trip we packed light, most of the ration was omitted as Singapore is an island where food finds you.

For safety, helmet, gloves and eye ware is a must in my book. In this trip something unexpected happened. and glad we had these gears.

We tried as much to cycle on pedestrian path, almost 90% of the cycling routes were on pedestrian path. In reality, Singapore is not a bicycle friendly place, unlike Taiwan there are no bike lanes at all. Cycling on pedestrian path is illegal, you will be fined for this action. Now with the booming oversea labour force and them driving on the road is a kill zone. Cycling on Singapore roads is dangerous, I rather have a fine than someone knocks my family down.

We tried as much to cycle on pedestrian walkways

stopping over for a hot tea and Indian Roti Prata

West Coast Park

Stopping over for breakfast, it's a shame they tore down this food court. This place used to serve very nice Indian and Malay food. During my Navy days I would pack breakfast from here.