The Excitement of Living with Nature

Sunrise @ East Coast Park

Have you ever tried walking from Singapore CDB toward Bedok Jetty (Area F) in East Coast Park to see the sunrise? Walking through the wee hours of the night? is it safe? is it possible?

In urban Singapore, our government put in great effort to provide a green living environment for Singaporean with Nature. It is exceptionally importance to have a livable and sustainable city state, within a very densed population here. There are many good Parks and Nature Walks, pain-takingly created by our government. And East Coast Park (ECP) is just one of the many. 

East Coast Park is one of the many park here in Singapore, but is one of the most trasured urban green lung by the sea. It has the theme of "Recreation for All", with activities ranging from recreational, sporting and dining. Friends and families can enjoy this exceptional green space by the sea, enjoying picnics under swaying coconut trees, ketapangs and casuarinas. There are also play towers, water play area and nature playgardens. For the action-seekers,sporting activities includes includes beach volleyball, cycling, cable skiing, Xtreme Skatepark, BBQ, on-site camping, swimming, etc. For yummy food, one can indulge in sumptuous cuisines at the hawker center, restaurants and fast food such as the famous McDonald's at Marina Cove. One point to add is: only Coffee Beans is opened 24hours while McDonald's is not (discovered during the night walk...). ECP has a total land size of 185 hectares and a beautiful coastline of over 15km. It has a Cyclist Park (CP), located at Area D, with a whopping 5.4hectares of space, serving as a one-stop hub for cyclists along the Round-Island-Route (RIR) which we have introduced in our earlier article here. The CP has two cycling circuits - The Learner Circuit and the Advanced Circuit, which allow beginners and more confident cyclists to practise various techniques. All in all, an exciting and interesting Park that is meant for ALL who come. 

East Coast Park lighting hours is 7:00pm to 7:00am. True or False?

We started our night walk from Lau Pa Sat ( Telok Ayer Market ) at 11.30pm, started with a sumptuous satay supper with teh tarik, under the starry night, to gather enough calories to burn through the night, expecting a scary, "dangerous" and weird encounters that will make us run for our life. Destination is Bedok Jetty by 7:12am. Reward: A Singaporean Sunrise, comparable to Santorini's. It was a pleasant walk around Marina Bay Financial area, amidst beautifully litted-up commercial buildings and the water front. It was surprisingly full of life and activities when the time was way past midnight on a weekday, with several expensive Brompton bicycles zooming past and beautiful couples doing star-gazing. [it must be still early]. Our night walk brought us toward Gardens by The Bay [saw the MooGate], into Marina Barrage and right into East Coast Park. 

Sitrep : We reached Area B by 3am. 

Our first refreshment point [ there is a cool vending machine]. At this stage, we were pleasantly surprised with the beauty of East Coast Park at this wee hours. Yes, the Park is totally litted up. It is true that the lighting hours is through the night. We enjoyed the cool breeze, the sound of rushing waves, the beauiful landscraping and yes, the night walk. And, it was perfectly safe; with no wild boar in sight, and despite it was 3am, the park was still busting with cyclists and people having fun. We discovered the majestic Desalination plant by PUB there, fully light-up like an UFO, something one will not notice in a day walk. 

Sitrep : We reached Area C by 4.30am.

Time to have a cuppa at ..... Coffee Beans [ we were expecting Mcdonald's]. Such refreshing moment to have a cold latte by the Park. We pushed on with high spirit for our goal, our golden sunrise, and there was a time line. 

Final Sitrep : We reached Area F by 6.46am

Bedok Jetty was just in front of the night-walkers. The sky was starting to change in its colour of shades. We walked past the XtremeSkatePark and finally landed our weary feets on the destination : Bedok Jetty. And it was 7am. 12 minutes before sun rise, a perfectly well-executed timeline schedule, and we were safe. 

At 7:12am, our reward: The Golden sun rise, right before our very eyes. Are we alone on the jetty? Not at all. The jetty was packed with beautiful people, all gazing East. As we departed this beautiful Park, walking toward Costa Del Sol condonminum, the Park transformed into the colorful wonderland, with butterflies and flowers along the way.

So, is it possible to walk through the night in Singapore one and only East Coast Park? the answer is a definite YES. Stay tuned for more sharing on Singapore Park and Nature.