The Otter Run @ Punggol Park

I really miss my days of higher octane sports. Sometimes, I would swim but I only enjoy the floating sensation in the water and the coolness of water when I swim but after some time you are still at the same place. 

Other times I would cycle. Cycling brings you to places you may not otherwise explore. You can ride to one end and realise there is nothing there. Its okay, you can quickly U-turn back. If you walk too far and deep somewhere, you may feel it is better to stay there and wait for someone to rescue you or stay and die there.

I have stopped going to the gym for sometime now. I totally prefer the outdoors. You are not static. You can start and end at different places and never at the same spot. I like to be near, in and around nature. I started with Punggol Park, then Punggol Promenade and these days also to Punggol End. This time I decided to do Punggol Park, coming back to where I have started. After running for years, one can still feel lazy, looking for excuses not to.

The morning sunlight is good. But you must remember that no matter how much the light is shining on you, in the dark, even your own shadow leaves you. 

It is a simple park but the serenity is invigorating.

Even my home looks good from here. 

The bistro here is packed every night. Everybody is talking about Yamazaki these days.

I was just about done with running when I encountered them - the otters. They were frolicking in the pond and my first question was - how did they get here?

My son first saw them and took a video of them somewhere along Sungei Serangoon. They were also spotted at Pasir Ris and at Marina Bay.

Are they the same ones? They are fast and strong swimmers. I followed them from afar and saw them coming out of the water but disappeared. An old  man must have seen them before. He told me that they have gone under a hidden drain that leads to the canal and river.

I was watching for them when suddenly this black cat appeared from some bushes. "I've got nothing but bad luck since the day I saw the cat at my door" so sang Cliff Richard:

(Devil Woman):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tuAkdlLhTE

I don't believe in luck so it did not bother me at all. 

I cut through some trees and took a short cut to catch up with my new found friends. There are an interesting lot.

They were running on the side of the canal looking like mini dinosaurs. 

They were bobbing their heads in and out of the water.

They also submerged and disappeared as quickly.

They were so fast you can't catch up with them.

Finally they were gone as quickly as they came.

Well, I hope there will be more interesting animals to see. It is a good sign that Singapore has been doing the right things. Clean waterways attract such animals. These are good signs. A pair of pigeons like to build their nest at my aircon ledge. A pair of yellow birds just built their nest at a tree just beneath my living room. I wake up each morning to their singing.

(Yellow Bird):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuyb7zhcxIg

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