Choa Chu Kang Park

Choa Chu Kang park is 10 minutes walk from where I am. The park doesn’t look all that big. So, I was surprised to learn that it is 11 hectares.

The park provides a wide spectrum of leisure activities for everyone of all ages. It is a good place to take the whole family, as there are some activities for every one.

Facilities of the park include four different playground areas comprising sand play, a pyramid climbing net, a train-inspired playground, a giant swing, and many other interesting play equipment. It is a play wonderland for the kids.

Part of the park is set aside for a community garden. The park provides allotment plots for anyone who wishes to have their own space to garden. Each plot can be leased for three years for a small fee. These plots are very popular. They are quickly taken up, and there are queues for them. The community garden is a good way for the nearby residents and the gardening communities to socialize.

They are looking a bit unkempt because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

There are quite a variety of vegetables in these little pods/plots - bitter gourd, okra, long beans, egg-plants, tomatoes, chilli padi, spinach, lettuce ... and a variety of herbs and spices - lemon grass, pandan leaves, mint... fruits like bananas, papayas, guavas...

Papaya tree with young papayas.

Long beans

Eggplants

Chilli padis

Okra

They call this the ‘four-corner’ beans in Mandarin

Spinach

A recent addition to the park is the Therapeutic garden. It is specially designed with features that bring about restorative effects to our mental well-being and to relieve stress. The garden includes edible and fragrant plants, a calming water feature, and is wheelchair-friendly.

There is also a restaurant for those who want some food or refreshments after a good workout. Or you can have some food after a leisurely walk, or a leisurely walk after dinner, or simply to have a meal in a different setting. So, it is easy to see why the restaurant is popular, and doing well.

Beside the restaurant is a sizeable amphitheatre that is used for cultural performances during the evenings and on weekends. There are fitness corners, and a multi-purpose court for exercising, and dancing. In the mornings, there are groups of people doing Tai Chi. During the weekends, there are groups doing the Zumba.

There is also a small skate plaza for amateur young skateboarders to practice. With broad tarmac pathways, the park is ideal for walking, jogging and cycling. So you see, the park is designed for the whole family, something for everyone, depending on what your interests are.

A corner of the park is fenced off. Rumour has it that they are building a clubhouse. We shall see.

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Humorous Quips

Don’t take life too seriously. Relax, have fun and most importantly laugh as often as you can. Life is too short to waste it worrying about things you have no control over.

Enjoy this selection of quips. They are funny but at the same time, there is a lot of truth in some of these quips. May your weekend be filled with laughter.

Alcohol does not solve problems, but then again, neither does milk. - Unknown

Never in the history of calming down has anyone ever calmed down by being told to calm down. - Unknown

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. A woman must do what he can’t. - Rhonda Hansome

One minute you are young and carefree, the next minute you know it’s going to rain because your knee hurts. - Unknown

If people were meant to pop out of bed, we’d all sleep in toasters. - Unknown

The uglier a man's legs are the better he plays golf. It's almost a law. - H. G. Wells

I’m the person your mother warned you about. - Unknown

A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy. - Jean Baudrillard

I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them. - Phyllis Diller

I don’t have a welcome mat at my house because I’m not a liar. - Unknown

Marry someone who can cook. Looks go away, but hunger don’t. - Unknown

Birthdays are nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake and not worry about the weight. - Unknown

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On Life

If you feel that you are not getting the most out of life, do something about it. Don’t wait for life to get better. The longer you wait, the less time you have. Besides, life will not get better on its own. Life is indifferent, it goes on, whether you like it or not, whether you are ready or not. Only when you take action can your life be better, only then, can you get the most out of life.

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. - Albert Schweitzer

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way. - Sir Robert Baden-Powell

One of the deepest urges in life is to grow. Trees burst through the soil, cocoons emerge into butterflies, babies become adolescents. We must grow and fulfil our changing needs if we are to feel vital and fully alive. - Richard J. Leider

To truly fail in life is to never try. When you fall on your face, it is an opportunity for you to find the road again. It may remind you how hard the road is, but you will never forget its presence once you make contact. - H. L. Stephens

Life is like the harp string. If it is strung too tight, it won’t play. If it is too loose, it hands. The tension that produces the beautiful sound lies in the middle. - The Buddha

Life is so simple when you're just doing your job. - Jeanette Winterson

Live your own life, for you will die your own death. - Latin Proverb

The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking, feeling, lost in memory, dreamingly self-aware, the sub-microscopic moments. - Don Delillo

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Be An Encourager

Everyone needs a little encouragement and motivation from time to time. A few encouraging or motivational words from you could make the difference between another’s success or failure. They could mean everything to someone who is struggling, or going through a bad patch. So, when possible, where possible, be an encourager. People will thank you and remember you for it.

Enjoy this selection of inspirational and motivational aphorisms.

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. - Robert Brault

Empty the coins in your purse into your mind and your mind will fill your purse with coins. - Benjamin Franklin

Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country. - Cicero

Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t. - Pete Seeger

Some things in life come along only once, and it is our choice alone whether we seize them or not. - Leo Buscaglia

The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell. - Zora Neale Hurston

Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. - Unknown

There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope. - Baruch Spinoza

Some people see more in a walk around the block than others see in a trip around the world. - Unknown

At the working man’s house hunger looks in but dares not enter. - Benjamin Franklin

Extremes, though contrary, have the like effects. Extreme heat kills, and so extreme cold. - George Chapman

Avoid misunderstandings by being open and honest with others about how you feel. - Unknown

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Wednesday Walk

Unlike other forms of exercise, walking is free, requires no special equipment or training, and is a safe, low impact workout with a low risk of injuries and accidents. - Derek Brockway & Julian Carey

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Don’t just walk. Enjoy your walk. Do not be in a rush. Observe the surroundings, the plants and flowers, the weeds and grasses. You will discover the wonders of nature.

A zen master, oblivious to the world. There are quite a few of them around.

Now you see me - the train, that is...

Now, you don't...

A heron waiting for his dinner. There are plenty of fishes, and turtles in the canal. The canal is also home to a couple of komodo dragons.

Another heron further up the canal waiting for his dinner.

Spider lily

There are beds of them along the route.

A seed pot. It had burst open and the seeds scared. The name of this plant escapes me.

This is a very young plant. It can grow very strong, sturdy and to quite a height.

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Overnight Success

There are no overnight success stories. Success is not a linear A to Z process. It just doesn't work that way. Success appears to happen overnight because we all see stories in newspapers and on TV about previously unknown people who have suddenly become famous. We do not see the length of time, and the hard work they put in behind the scene, before they become famous.

Success does not come easy. It takes time. You have to dare, to take risk. There is a price, and there is sacrifice to be made if you wish to achieve success. The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether you succeed or not, you have applied the best of yourself to the task at hand. If you are not willing to do any of that, you will never succeed.

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure. - Benjamin Disraeli

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. - Napoleon Hill

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning. - Denis Waitley

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. - John C. Maxwell

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. - John Maxwell

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. - Abraham Lincoln

No matter how hard you work for success, if your thought is saturated with the fear of failure, it will kill your efforts, neutralize your endeavours and make success impossible. - Baudjuin

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Of Friends and Friendship

Surround yourself with friends from different backgrounds and different age groups! In this way, there is always at least one who will understand, inspire, and give you a lift in your time of need.

It is never easier to forget friends than when we imagine they have forgotten us – friendship, like love, requires reciprocal assurance of continuity. - Norman MacDonald

Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend. - Albert Camus

We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light. - Winston Churchill

He that wrongs a friend wrongs himself more, and ever bears about a silent court of justice in his breast, himself the judge and jury, and himself the prisoner at the bar ever condemned. - Lord Alfred Tennyson

Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. - Anais Nin

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend. - Saint Augustine

If you go looking for a friend, you're going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere. - Zig Ziglar

The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away. - Unknown

The walls may crumble, the pictures may fade, but we’ll never forget the friends we’ve made. - Unknown

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Common Weeds

Grass cutting is not considered essential services. That is why grass patches, fields, play areas and roadside verges hadn’t been attended to since the lockdown, or as we call it here, the 'Circuit Breaker'. Hence, we are seeing grasses and weeds growing wild, popping up all over the place.

What interests me about these weeds since noticing them along my walk route and path is that they are actually quite pleasing to the eyes. As weeds, perhaps they are a nuisance in a garden, but in the wild, they, like a lot of other weeds, are fighting for a place to grow, and to survive.

The flowers of the weeds are quite nice – all sorts of colours in a background of green. They add colour and life to the surrounding. I found myself loving them, and wishing them well, for I know that they won’t be around for long. A phrase that came to mind a lot recently during my walks is that when you look at things with beauty in your eyes, you see beauty in the things you looked at. These are beautiful things indeed.

There is also a noticeable increase in butterflies, dragon flies, and grasshoppers. This has prompted nature lovers to take to social media to propose a reduction in grass-cutting to help ‘wildlife proliferate.’ There was also talk that perhaps “the neat, image-conscious city-state” should make wilder green spaces a permanent feature after the Circuit Breaker is lifted.

Nature lovers put forward that the benefits of more natural surroundings are well known. People are less likely to suffer from stress and fall ill. Hence, they are more productive at work and perform better whether at work or in school. Plants also provide natural pollution control, absorbing pollutants from the air. It was also suggested that the wild greenery could also help to keep the temperatures down.

Perhaps, the “Circuit Breaker” lockdown period has been a good time to reflect on how green areas could be managed differently in Singapore. If people come to accept a more natural look and see the value in beautiful insect life, it could become the new normal. Personally, I will be looking out for them on my walks, from here on.

Here are some pictures of the weeds I come across in my area, and during my walk. I do not know their names. The pictures are not clear nor good enough for Google Image to recognize them. Sorry about that. The weeds are small and taking pictures of them at a distance, they will not show up well. If taken close-up, I find that they keep moving in the breeze. Anyway, having a look at the pictures.

This, I think could be a nutsedge. Correct me if I am wrong.

This, I think is Yellow Nutsedge.

These weeds are all scattered along my walk path. I think they are all pretty.

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