Headed out for a bike ride the other night, and because it was night, and I was alone- on the roads- I decided that I didn't want to travel very far, so I decided to explore a route that I'd always had been curious about, but hadn't done before.
From the east side I headed up Dunman Road, passed Haig Road and Tanjong Katong Road, then turned into this road that I (now) know to be Crescent Road. Straight ahead I went, cycling past lovely terrace houses and large bungalows, before turning right into Goodman Road.
It was Goodman Road that I particularly wanted to cycle on. Because it is an interesting road this side of town that begins from Tanjong Katong Road and ends at Mountbatten Road. Along the way there are pretty bungalows (some dark, some lit up this time of day), there is Chung Cheng High School in the middle, and then Goodman Arts Centre at the end where it connects to Mountbatten.
At the entrance of Chung Cheng High School that I braked.
Just to gape upon the stone arch guarding the entrance of the school with her name carved upon it in Chinese calligraphic style.
I didn't take pictures, and neither did I hang around long. No one wants to answer questions from the school jaga at that hour of night.
So I continued on Goodman Road and turned into Arthur Road. From there I found myself at the junction of Mountbatten, but there was a small gap right in front of me, so through it I zipped across to the other side of Arthur Road, then went straight all the way until I turned onto Meyer Road.
It was here I got (sort of) lost.
Because I didn't have my phone, I didn't know where exactly on Meyer Road I was. The only thing I was certain was that I could go back the way I came from, so I made a left, then made another left and turned back into Broadrick Road.
Finding myself back on Mountbatten, I turned left towards the public housing estate of Jalan Batu. Here I knew- it had been a frequent route we used to take to get to the Marina Barrage- so I followed the road. But tonight, instead of turning into the carpark that would lead me to the river which would eventually see me at Kallang Stadium, I followed the road that led me past Performance Motors and then into Kampong Arang Road, which I hadn't travelled before and had no idea where it ended but there was nothing for it, so along I went, going past the back of Dunman High School, and then finally out to Tanjong Rhu.
I knew it was Tanjong Rhu because the Singapore Swimming Club was on my right.
With a rough sense of direction, I kept on Tanjong Rhu. Where it would lead me I really didn't know but I convinced myself that I was at least heading in the right direction.
Guess what, I ended up crossing Fort Road (of which in the dark of night I had absolutely no clue) and hey, I was back onto Meyer Road- again.
Meyer Road is also another interesting road this part of town, and one day I think I'm just going to do a daytime ride of both roads for the fun of it. If you think Goodman Road has some history, Meyer Road has a wee bit more. The holiday bungalow that once belonged to the Manasseh Meyer family is somewhere there, I'm sure, but I didn't stop to look around.
One thing though, I hadn't realized that Meyer Road was sooo long. I mean, I'd always thought of it as a short road, but no, it was remarkably long- so much so that I began to wonder if I'd crossed another (unknown) road and was heading to goodness knows where, but the sign PP was not in sight, so I kept on anyway. The road felt a little winding too. It's not a straight road. I guess the land reclamation that took place all those years ago was somewhere around here.
Meyer Road turns out onto the junction where it connects to Tanjong Katong Road South, so up I went, zipping past a bus stop, and finding myself at the junction of Katong Shopping Centre.
From there I got my bearings (thank God!) and headed back to my original starting point.