Old Roads (1) - North Buona Vista Road

I posted this quiz almost two weeks ago, that is to guess the old road behind the foliage. It must have been a challenging quiz as despite three mundane clues and one interesting clue - the road is still around just realigned - nobody got it right. One Anon was close ("near Dover MRT") and I almost wanted to declare a winner until I realized Dover MRT was not the MRT station I had in mind for my clue. I wrote that the road is near and within walking distance to MRT, but I deliberately omitted one crucial piece of information - the station is not functional yet. The station I had in mind was the soon-to-be-opened "One-North" Circle Line station.

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Our Prime Minister Lee, Singapore's Chief Railway Fan

Source: MAS

The end of KTM railway operations between Tanjong Pagar and Woodlands and the consequent return of railway land to the state triggered an outpouring of memories and lamentations from the public, of the once active railway line and stations. The last few weeks stretching into July marked the largest photography documentation of the rail corridor, including Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah Stations. Suddenly everyone becomes a rail fan, in one way or another. Interestingly if there is such a title as "Chief Rail Fan", much like the scouting movement has a Chief Scout, then one person would be most deserving of this label. Do you know who is he?

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Surprising Find at Kent Ridge Park

I had a couple of 2nd shot targets in the South Buona Vista area and in my bid to find two of them (I failed), I stumbled upon a surprising find at Kent Ridge Park.

From the Nparks website, Kent Ridge Park is famous for the canopy walk linking it to the museum Reflections at Bukit Chandu and decommissioned military vehicles on display - M114 artillery guns and a AMX-13 Light Tank. I have known them from previous visits to the park, but this visit yielded an important discovery.

In fact, the website does hint of it vaguely, but it is easy to be overlooked among other more popular activities. The website also does it injustice by not highlighting it in its official map online. The signboard maps in the park do, however.

This is the official map:

This is a map from another website, showing what's missing in the official version. Can you spot the difference?


Lying on the slope of Kent Ridge Park, away from the well-trodden paths of the Park, lies Kent Ridge Park's very own Mountain Bike Trail! This is surprising because I'd never imagine Kent Ridge Park to have one like Bukit Timah, Ubin or Sentosa where their land contour is a natural candidate for a mountain bike trail.

I thought the hilly slopes of Kent Ridge Park is but natural vegetation and there is no way up the Park from South Buona Vista Road other than Vigilante Drive. It therefore came as a surprise when I found myself at the bottom of the slope, beside South Buona Vista Road, by following the trail on the top of the hill.

According to SACA's website, this could easily be the toughest off-road mountain bike trail in Singapore. There is a cross-sectional view of the trail from their event poster:


You can feel your adrenaline pumping seeing the "Steep Downhill Ahead" sign:



There is nice scenery along the trail, for example this bridge:



If you feel the "Steep Downhill" is bad enough, wait till you reach this "Dropoff Ahead":



To be honest, the trail got me excited because it is deja vu once again. I've lost track of my frequent walking miles from those years, up the hill, down the slope, day or night we be there. I have walked on countless similar terrain like this, but the ground was surprisingly dry that day. It would be muddy and slippery last time.



I think the biking trail is out of bounds to hikers for safety reason, but alternatives are available in our green country. Which is why the trail is attractive to me - it is easy to get lost in Bukit Timah or MacRitchie forest trails but this one is pretty short and part of it borders the road. In comparison, the MacRitchie trails can easily take a few hours.

Along the trail, I found man-made remnants on the top of the slope. I'm not aware of any buildings or structures on the slope. Does anybody have any clue?

I'm surprised to find such a nice trail on the slope of Kent Ridge Park. Finding the remnants is a bonus, for they might be clue to a building that once stood on the top of the hill.

2nd Shot: Buona Vista Road

Buona Vista was so named because of the good view it offers — buona vista means "good sight" in Italian. Indeed Buona Vista offered good view of the Pasir Panjang Ridge and the sea beyond during the early days, as shown in the source of my second shots.

Source 1

Source: National Archives of Singapore PICAS

Caption: Pineapple Plantation at Buona Vista Road

Record Date: 1900

2nd Shot

Date: May 2008

Source 2

Source: National Archives of Singapore PICAS

Caption: View of Buona Vista Road, Singapore

Record Date: 1910

2nd Shot

Date: May 2008

The photos, taken at different times, were shot at neighboring locations. In source 1, there is a tree where the road bends around the hill. In source 2, there is a big tree in the foreground. They are uncannily similar. If a photographer stood at the bend in source 1, he should produce a shot like source 2.

So where are these two places today?

The photos should be taken at the Gap area of Buona Vista Road because of the proximity to the sea. After looking through map photos of the Gap, here is the most likely candidate along South Buona Vista Road. Indeed the valley below the pineapple plantation looks like where part of the future Prince George Park Residence will be built.

With clue and camera-phone in hand, I took the 2nd shots under the punishing heat of the midday sun.

Unfortunately, for source 1, the high ground where the picture was taken is gone. There is no way to reproduce the 2nd shot accurately. I have to be contented finding the next best "high ground":

High indeed. Luckily I did not fall down for my effort, after risking my limbs and all. The motorists would think I'm crazy though, standing on the, er what's that called, box.

This explains why the angle at which the road appears from the corner of the first 2nd shot is off. If I were to stand at the position in the above photo, the 2nd shot will be more accurate.

Next, I tried searching for our friend the tree. It has been 100 years since the photos were taken. We can see striking changes, like over the years, part of the cliff in source 2 have been chipped away, so the bend is more gentle now.

Sadly, I couldn't find the tree. None of the trees resemble it. I think it is gone. But imagine if the tree survives, how would it look like?

By the way, anybody knows what tree is that?