pick up at east coast park and

drop at changi village

when my two girls were younger, we travelled extensively, and we enjoyed self-drive tours, especially in australia. we have also driven in new zealand, west malaysia and the united kingdom. for self-drive, it is cheaper to return the rented vehicle to the point of collection. however, there were instances when we had to drop the car at another point; for example, when we drove from sydney to melbourne, we dropped the car at the agent's office in melbourne.

now, in singapore, there is also this sort of arrangement. you can rent a 'vehicle' from east coast park and drop 'it' at either changi beach park, near changi village, or a choice of a few other locations that suits your purpose and need.




today, i rented a bicycle from the station at changi beach park and cycled to the east coast park. however, i did not drop it at east coast park because i had to get back to my car which was parked at changi. this was my second time cycling along this section of the eastern park connector. one week earlier, i had cycled with my blogger friends, peter and victor, from east coast to changi village and back. then, we used our own bicycles. to be exact, i rode a bike provided by victor.



it is literally a 'breeze' cycling on this 42-km eastern park connector. you get the breeze blowing in your face even on a warm afternoon. the track is flat most of the way and there is no need to huff and puff because you have to conquer some steep gradient.

so, this second trip, i rented a bike from the pitstop. it cost me $6 for a two-hour ride. any additional hour, you pay another $3. the bike and skates rental company have two outlets at east coast park (car-parks c4 and g1), two at changi beach park (car-parks c1 and c7), one each at telok kurau and sun plaza. so, you can pick up the bike at east coast park and drop it at changi beach park if you have had enough of pedalling.






as you cycle along the stretch of changi coastal road, you get to meet a lot of cyclists, some of whom appear to be tourists, going in either direction. you also get to see planes taking off and landing at the changi international airport. on the ground, there are also some interesting mushrooms, some of which look very much like those grown on the mushroom farm in kranji.






on both occasions, we cycled in the mid-afternoon, just past noon. although it was warm, with the light wind coming in from the sea, we did not feel the 'burning' effect. in fact, we felt quite comfortable cycling at that time of the day. however, we were advised to hydrate ourselves by drinking plenty of water. there are a few drinking fountains along the way from which you can refill your water-bottle.