woodlands waterfront (phase one)

i had been waiting for woodlands waterfront to open but when it finally did open officially, i was away in melbourne. like its neighbour, the admiralty park, it is being opened in two phases. in the past, this normally quiet stretch of road - admiralty road west - would see a sprinkling of walkers and joggers along the footpaths. in the mornings, especially on working days, it can be abnormally noisy when the malaysians entering s'pore on motorcycles via the causeway are channelled onto this road.

until two years ago, you could see people openly feeding the monkeys near where sungei china drains into the straits. today, the monkeys are still around, so are the feeders who are now more discreet.

where this playground now stands, there used to be some run-down warehouses. among the old buildings were some motor vehicle repair and service workshops as well as a spray painting workshop. the transformation of this forsaken place to a high-tech playground with a two-storey structure called the 'sky walk' is truly amazing.

the picture below shows the jetty before it was refurbished

an old jetty, built in the 1920s, has been refurbished and it now can lay claim to be the longest jetty in singapore. the old jetty was used by the malaysian navy (kdm) when they were housed in this part of singapore. the former malayian navy base is now the admiralty west prison, which is next to admiralty park.

however, the sad thing about our having first world infrastructure and amenities is that some of our habits are throw-back to the cave-dwelling days. although there are enough trash bins around, some visitors still choose to litter. after the weekend, the place is a sorry sight not just for the poor cleaners but for the week-day visitors.

i had assumed that parking was free until i saw the display signboards when i was walking back to the car. i wonder why they would want to charge for parking when the nearest housing and development board (hdb) block is more than a kilometre away. nevertheless, those who want to save on parking charges, you can park at admiralty park (north entrance) which is less than 200m away, across the road from the playground.