Cycling
We should never impose on our children in what they should do or what sports they should play. My parents never did that to me. If I had chosen badminton and fishing among my many sports and hobbies it was purely coincidental but my dad brought me fishing to begin with and I loved it but I did introduce my children to all kinds of sports, music, etc., because these are important for character development.
It is quite common and normal for them not to be interested in what you introduce them like fishing (boring and time-wasting of course until they haul in a big fish) and cycling could be another non-interest. Then at the right time or perhaps they have some friends who became interested or when their interests changed, they can suddenly become crazy over these things. I have friends who are like pro-bikers or triathlon pros and they are amazing people. I am always amaze by how they have this extreme endurance.
So my son wanted me to ride with him and the destinations he mentioned seemed such a distance away. I mean, I have been running for a year now so running a few km I guess would not kill me but the last time I rode a bicycle a certain distance and for a few hours was just too many years ago. I cringed just by imagining about the aches to follow in the next couple of days. In our schooling days, a few friends and I would go to Toa Payoh Lorong 7 to rent bikes for a few hours from a guy who seemed blind in one eye. We would ride long distances and for many hours. Those days, chopper bicycles were very popular.
So we set out to the park to rent them and got going. It was quite a new shop and the bikes were still new. It costs us just a few bucks to ride it for almost half a day back then but now it is $8 an hour for adults.
I knew it could be taxing but if not me then who? If not now then when? I adjusted the seat several times but just could not find the most comfortable position so I thought it might be a rough ride ahead. The beginning was fun but it is always the finishing that counts. Will I have the energy of youth?
We first got to Sungei Serangoon. A few youngsters caught a Red-Tailed Catfish which of course is not a native fish of Singapore, maybe someone released it here.
Why would they want to bring it home? They should just take some photos and release it. You just don't eat a red-tail.
It was a cloudy late afternoon and cooling evening. My son led the way.
The ride was smooth and it was a peaceful, easy feeling like what the Eagles said: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44A9iDQNrss
Nature heals.
Fishermen are fishermen even when cycling. We did fish-spotting knowing where snake heads are likely to be. True enough, we spotted one when we looked carefully. Only if we had our gears!
Wooden planks were laid over bridges across waterways.
The gravel path is lovely but provided a different condition for running or cycling.
I never saw this shelter previously so it must have been added recently with a lovely backdrop.
Just as in life, I could see the long road ahead could be an arduous task. A long straight road looks tiring. A long and winding one could be fraud with danger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt-YSHAr7c0
We stopped by for a minute when we spot interesting places to make observations. Only cycling takes you to places where driving and walking won't.
We quickly past Punggol Promenade. Next destination - Punggol Point.
Punggol Point was formerly Punggol End.
Jomando Adventures. On the right and seaward, you can see the jetty of Punggol End.
Two huge ponds with lots of weeds and fish are now in place.
All the fish are fry - cichlid, koi, pacu and toman.
Reflections. We should take a hard look at ourselves each day through purposeful reflection or we might have lived in vain. See how lovely reflections are.
So too are the curves.
Eons ago, all the popular seafood restaurants stood on this stretch side by side packed with diners each night on attap huts and wooden floors. Choon Seng, Punggol and many more on the other side as well. It offered a most wonderful seafood dining experience.
Buses would take commuters here as it was where the buses ended their journeys before taking the other way out. There was even a petrol or diesel pump that stood here for ages. They are now part of distant memories. Listening to the wind of change. Here's Scorpion with lead singer Klaus Meine:
A big platform like an observatory deck has been built for you to take in the view of the open sea.
Yours truly, ravaged but untainted by time and tide.
It's been a long day or so it seems?
Not all sunrise or sunset is perfect but everyone is beautiful.
This is Punggol Marina. We stopped for drinks. I was exhausted. Should I just rot here and die or find strength to go the journey back? We have to stop and ponder in life.
There is even a fishing pond here now.
Great Atlantis Seafood. Never tried before. Is it any good? A nice place to dine by the sea nonetheless.
They do have great tanks there including a giant puffer fish.
An ugly fish too.
An even uglier and stranger one like an alien life form.
We have to make our way home and probably have to pay the penalty of being late and overtime charges. Going up bridges and and some slopes became evidently more taxing. Some stray dogs attacked some people here quite recently. It was getting dark and some places may appear eerie to folks not accustomed to such places. My energy was waning and felt like Superman affected by Kryptonite. Make it more like made me feel like a creep-tonite.
The good news is that I saw many people at various stretches of the path. Soloists, couples, groups, families - they were strolling, walking, running or cycling and even skating. If you are not already doing anything like these it is time for you to dust your buttocks, get off your couch, put on your running shoes, jump on the bandwagon and join the revolution, the wind of change. The change to a healthier lifestyle.
As it got darker, it also got cooler. For the first time and at this hour, I finally got to see the lallang-like lights at the river front at Punggol Promenade lighted. The colours changed and danced from white to an indigo hue.
When I saw the home stretch, it gave me encouragement as it was home sweet home. I paid for the extra-time. With numbed legs, a breaking back and sore ass I was thinking "hack, I still have some more walking to go before I got my dinner". I lamented the loss of youth and energy. Youth and boundless energy was a time and place where I shall never pass this way but once.
For the next few days, I awaited for the pains and aches to come. The first day itself usually brings forth some tiredness. The second day, the strain and the worst was usually the third day where sores, aches and pains are evident in every sinew. I was surprised that I had none except the feel of what I had gone through. I did a check on the tracks we rode on and found we did 26km under 3 hours. Not fantastic but I have not done this since time in memorial.
This means cycling and running may use a few same muscles or I have grown fitter. Only the buttocks are protesting due to the bicycle seat. Eventually it is going to be better to have my own bike for rental is not cheap and I need a custom-fitted seat for the buttocks and maybe when I grow up to be 80, I may join a triathlon! I also realised that the car and air-conditioning are two of the greatest inventions! Increasingly, it seems I am going back to and doing things in my youth. I may be playing with marbles soon. This is like some April Fool's joke.
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