Sleeping Dragons

On Friday we ventured out for a walk as the PSI was registering in the moderate range, below the unhealthy level. Sometimes it is hard to accept the published data results because it doesn't feel a lot different, however you just have to trust them. We walked through to the river in Hougang where they have extended the park connector and then back towards home for an early lunch of roti and teh tarek at Prata King. 
It remained reasonably clear across the weekend and on Monday I walked the Southern Ridges trail. Eric stayed home. as he caught another nasty cold, probably from others on staff who then took time off. That meant he felt obliged to go to work on Saturday and Sunday even though he should have stayed home. They are struggling to find enough relief staff at the moment.  Luckily it was testing week so he didn't need to do a lot of talking. 

Our walking group was made up of just the old stalwarts but that's fine. Bev is back from a trip to Aust for her mother's funeral and I hadn't seen Jo for several weeks because, like me, she hasn't been walking in the outdoors. You can understand why when you look at the image below. Those are the towers of Reflections on Keppel, a residential complex we see from Henderson Waves. The one on the left was this week, the one on the right we took from almost the same spot when the Crisps were with us last year. 

We spent more time than usual in Hort Park this time, a one-stop gardening resource centre that brings together gardening-related recreational, educational and research activities in a park setting. They have a number of themed gardens within the park. The children's garden now features a dragon's head in the classic design many of their parents would remember. We were particularly impressed with the kitchen and recycling garden where, among other things, we found beautiful birdcages used as mini gardens. The urban gardening galleria runs workshops and has a cafe which we all found just perfectly placed among interesting furniture and gardening bric a brac for a cool drink. 

Have you heard of Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD)? I didn't know there was a name for it, though I have read about the effects of overprotective parents who have real fears of exposing their children to the great outdoors. It is rife here in Singapore. The urban garden workshops held here aim to help urbanites reconnect with nature in a fun, creative and manageable way, regardless of age. According to them, as the world moves rapidly into urbanisation, all of us suffer from NDD to varying degrees. I don't know, my fingernails have never looked so good. 

Eric had spent quite a bit of time on the Ireland photobook while I was away and in the afternoon cooked up a storm in the kitchen. The restful morning has been good. By Tuesday morning he was keen to escape the 4 walls so we caught a train across to Boon Lay, way out west, and found our way to the Dragon Kilns on bus 172 and a short walk.  They are an ancient Chinese invention consisting of a long firing chamber built on a hill slope with various stoke holes on the side, dragon kilns operate on the simple principle that hot air rises and so efficiently maximize the heat produced within the kiln. When the entire kiln is fired up it flames, smokes, hisses and bellows, hence the name “dragon kiln”. Chinese immigrants brought the dragon kiln technology to Singapore in the early 1900s. Although there were more dragon kilns in Singapore in the 1940s to '70s, only 2 remain today. Together they are now known as the Jalan Bahar Clay Studios. Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln, built in 1944, is 27m long. The Guan Huat Dragon Kiln is only as old as me, being built in 1958 and is much longer at 43m long. Below you can see the firebox of Thow Kwang at the front of the left picture, its chimney far at the back. The picture at the bottom right shows the main chamber. 

The dragon kiln is made up of a front firing chamber (the firebox), the main chamber where ceramic pieces are fired (containing anywhere from 3000 – 5000 pieces), and a chimney at the tail end where smoke and hot air are released. There are stoke holes along the length of the chamber to feed wood and to observe the fire.
They are no longer commercially viable, replaced by newer and less labour-intensive electrical kilns, but they were restored in 2001 after being recognized for their historical value. Today both sites operate as commercial operations offering pottery lessons, studio rental and a plethora of ceramic items for sale. The dragon kilns are very infrequently fired up, just on special occasions, and even then only a section of the kiln is fired. Hence the name of the post, sleeping dragons. And below is just a small selection of the wares for sale. It is probably a good thing I have to pay to ship them home or I might have gone silly!

There is also an open studio which caters to professional as well as hobbyist potters. You can rent space as well as the pottery equipment and participate in workshops too. I am going to enquire about a one day workshop and see if any off my workmates might join me. After all, this is a good way of getting your hands dirty and reconnecting with nature. No NDD for us. 

We returned to Jurong Point at Boon Lay for lunch at Boleh Malaysia. Jurong Point is the mall where the Jurong Branch of MAE is located and Eric has eaten here before. Malaysia Boleh is set up like a food court hosting our favourite Malaysian street food all under one roof. We both enjoyed a plate of char kway teoh which didn't disappoint. 

Then we figured, since we were travelling on the green line, we might try to find a little piece of history in Whitchurch Road. We alighted at Dover and caught bus 14 to Wessex Estate. Nestled in lush greenery off Portsdown Road, Wessex is a housing estate built in the traditional colonial black and white style of the 1940s. It was once home to the British military forces and the original Temasek Club (Military Club).

Opened by a Mr and Mrs Lim in 1953, Colbar (short for Colonial Bar) was a popular restaurant along Jalan Hang Jebat which catered for the British troops who resided in Wessex Estate. In 2003, the Colbar restaurant was closed to make way for a flyover linking two of the main highways in Singapore. Being so popular, it had become a local institution, and a petition to save Colbar surprisingly succeeded, so the previous building was carefully dismantled and many of its parts were used to reconstruct the new restaurant at Whitchurch Road 300m away so that it resembled the old bar. 
It felt like stepping back in time entering the standalone building surrounded by lovely tall, shady trees, a retreat from modern Singapore. No need for air-con here, Mrs Lim offered to 'on the fan' for us on the veranda. Looking at the pictures on the walls that record its history, I was astonished to see Mrs Lim doesn't seem to have aged at all in the last decades, despite working daily for over 63 years in this business. They serve traditional English beers and ciders along with a food menu that hasn't changed much either by the look of things. The Western offerings include prawn cocktail, Ox liver chips and peas, Chicken Merry Land. We just had a refreshing drink then caught a bus from across the road back to Holland Village and the mrt home. The original building can be seen below top left, its roof tiles, doors and fans etc were used in the new construction top right. Eric enjoyed his London Pride under the fan and a segment of the traditional fare served on the menu.

What began as an escape from the confines of home ended up being quite and excursion.