The Green Corridor Part 1

So you heard of the Singapore Green Corridor, but what is it exactly? Is it really green? It's actually the railway lands from Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar, which the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) proposed to the Singapore government to keep as a natural "corridor" after the train operations ceased, for recreation, nature appreciation and for flora and fauna to thrive in land scarce Singapore.

"The least challenging and most unimaginative 'solution' would be for policy makers, planners and developers to parcel the land out as real estate, dismantle the line, erase the railway and its memory from the public domain and relegate it to textbook history. That would be a costly mistake - Dr Geh Min"  (www.thegreencorridor.org)

So we decided to ride the Green Corridor. Where else to start but the the old iconic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. This was the place where I used to board the train to get to Malaysia, especially to Jerantut Station, where the formidable Gunung Tahan awaits. Sometimes we would sleep over in the station to catch the train in the wee hours of the morning. This was also the place to get one of the best teh tarik, chapati and Ramly burger in Singapore. Can't believe it's become a national monument.

Or so we thought....the station was closed to public access! The last time a train departed from this station was on 30 June 2011! I thought they would still allow public to enter its premises.....what's the point of making it a "national monument" when it's closed to public??

Undeterred, the old but adventurous duo decided to look for ways to get into the Corridor. First we showed excellent teamwork by getting ourselves and our bikes across a deep drain. Even managed to take a shot in the process of transporting the bike across! 

We cycled across an amazingly muddy construction site, only to find ourselves behind locked gates.....problem solving to get ourselves (and our bikes) to the other side. Any guess how we got the bikes and ourselves through/under/over the gates?? No we didn't break the locks, we are law-abiding citizens. 

Mud everywhere....and we haven't even started on the Green Corridor! 

Finally found a small gap beside the fence to get into the Corridor. Actually along the way, we found many gaps that allow people to get into the corridor. If you're not too hard-up on starting from Tanjong Pagar, you can enter through the more user-friendly access points. 

And so we begin....finally!

Passed by Queenstown, my old estate. Btw Queenstown is THE FIRST satellite town in Singapore and one of the earliest housing estates, even before Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio!

Turnaround point near Buona Vista mrt station, under the track.

Mud everywhere....

Dead tired. To be continued....