A Neighborhood in Singapore: Sembawang

I had a few hours by myself, so I decided to take full advantage of the easy to use subway that Singapore has. I looked at a map, and picked a place far away from everything else that we were likely to visit and jumped on for aride to the other side of the country. That sounds like a long trip, but keep in mind the country of Singapore is only about 15 miles by 20 miles. My exit was an area called Sembawang, on the northern edge of the country. I thought perhaps, I'd be able to walk from the train station to the Straits of Johor and get a glimpse of Malaysia across the way.

On the way there, most of the trip the train was above ground. I was amazed to find that everywhere we went, all the residences are highrise apartment buildings most between 10-20 stories high. Common place were open windows, and clothes-poles jutting out about 8 feet from the buildings with clothing hanging from them. Not a single house! Anywhere. Every area seemed to be the same kind of gigantic apartment buildings. Only in one spot did I see a few blocks of townhouses that seemed to be a little bit higher caliber than the apartments.

I got off at my stop, and started walking North. I also started to get hungry and figured I'd stop at a restaurant and get some food. I walked passed one early on, and thought I'd pass a few and see what they looked like. Bad idea-I walked probably 3-4 miles for about an hour and a half and didn't find another restaurant. I walked up to the Sembawang shipyards (although couldn't see anything besides some structures jutting up beyond the trees.) which placed me probably 3/4 of a mile from the straits, however there weren't any streets that went through. I turned west down Admirality Road, to Woodlands. In this direction I began seeing several large military vehicles, which suddenly made sense when I walked past the front gate of the Singapore Army base (Sembawang Camp). I didn't take a picture, as I was a little nervous about whether or not that is allowed (some countries don't allow it, and I'm not sure about Singapore) However, I can promise you it wasn't all that exciting. So I continued, going in a large horseshoe and back to the MRT, except at the next stop down the line.

In this area I did see a bunch of factories, and such, including a familiar corporation (see the picture) and something that I didn't see anywhere in the downtown area: litter! Woodlands road actually did have a bit of paper and such blowing around, and even an empty 40oz.

As I got closer to the MRT I began to realize how truly HOT and muggy it was. I felt bad for the people that had to sit next to me on the ride back.

Walking down Woodlands, I did see one interesting picture, posted here. I'm not sure what this building was, it looked like they were getting ready for a big festival (Chinese New Year is next week, could be that). However, there was a street and a canal between me and it with no way to cross.

By the time I got back to my hotel, I was hot and thirsty. I stopped for a "Honeydew Ice Blended" from a little stand in the subway tunnel. To my dismay, it was simply honeydew flavored kool-aid type stuff mixed with ice (I was hoping it would have fresh fruit or puree). The odd thing was, that the bottom of the glass, is filled about an inch high with these black blueberry sized balls. I have no idea what they are, but they feel like chewing on eyeballs, but tasted mildly sweet. Anyone know what I just ate???