A dirty biking trip

Today was an eventful day. In the afternoon around 3, I went out cycling with Junjie (aka Lum) who lives near me in Hougang. Occasionally we do meet up to cycle around Hougang area for recreation sake, and once we went Punggol Park, but today was a little different.

Junjie brought me all the way to Serangoon North to see where a friend of his was staying. We biked there within half an hour, cycled around there then headed back. But on the return journey, I suggested taking another route which led us to somewhere near Wood-bridge and Hougang Primary. There, we noticed a remote and rather deserted road. Curiousity got the better of me and we decided to explore that path.

Both sides of the uneven gravel road were occupied by big lorries and vehicles, leaving a narrow path for us to cycle and cars to travel one way. The road was quite long, but nearing the end, it turned out that we were actually in a sort of kampong area, because as we travelled on, there were dilapidated houses amongst overgrown foliage, reminiscent of those in Ubin. I was thinking that this kampong had photographic potential and I could come back again with my camera, so since I was already there, I decided to spend more time exploring the place.

Some time later, we found another smaller path, managed to squeeze in and it was a sort of 'mini jungle' there, cluttered with tall trees, more green foliage and lalang. That place had more photographic potential, and I was excited that I had chanced upon such a place. We cycled on following a narrow rocky path, until we reached a big puddle obstructing our progress. I parked my bike and continued on foot, but Junjie was a little hesitant and remained.



But after a few steps, I found that I was stepping on soft wet mud and my slippers sank in instantly, like in quicksand! My foot was covered in mud, my slippers beyond hope, and Junjie was laughing wildly at me. I lost all hope of recovering my slippers, so I pulled out my foot immediately and cleaned it on the surrounding rocks. 'Yuck' was what I shouted, many times.

And what a big footprint I left behind:


My poor legs: (I had to cycle home barefooted!)



And the picture of the day (super unglam!):



So today I lost a pair of slippers, got my bike and leg muddy, but hey, I've also found a very good place to photograph, and I'll definitely go back again!