The Jurassic Mile route that runs from the eastern end of East Coast Park to Changi International Airport opened to great fanfare in the third quarter of last year.
The excitement amongst everyone was rife- not just because there was now a new route to the airport (which everyone loves)- but (also) because we were all surprised that the distance between the easternmost point of East Coast Park and Changi Airport's Terminal 4 was less than 5 miles (7km thereabouts).
The distance didn't seem so short when traveling on the expressway.
Honestly I was surprised too.
As in... that was it? 7km?
It certainly didn't feel that way whenever we turned out from the same Tanah Merah Canal exit towards Changi Village!
Okay so maybe the (old) TMCR did run parallel to the runway, but still, who would have imagined that it were just a mere 7km away to the edge of the airport?
I was also quite eager to take a look, but was advised to maybe wait till the crowds had lessened and thinned lest we be squishing and squashing both Daffy and Blue on the (narrow) route.
Also to let them iron the structural kinks out.
So it was only until the early part of this year that we rode Daffy to Changi International Airport (Terminal 4) via the Jurassic Mile.
We went there twice.
First time we went there we got rained out.
Seriously rained out. :D
What happened was that we had actually ridden through the Jurassic Mile all the way to the car park at Terminal 4- it was a mere drizzle then- but because we weren't sure whether there was parking over at Hub & Spoke in Terminal 2 (quite a distance away) we decided to park our bikes at the car park and then make our way there on foot instead.
Of course, that would be the moment when the rains really started coming down.
We didn't mind.
Just looked at each other and walked through the rain. :)
Second time we cycled on Jurassic Mile was in the evening, and the view, I thought, was better.
It's not a complicated route from East Coast Park, by the way.
All you need to do is to keep heading east.
Go past the lagoon, go past the Village Food Center, go past Bedok Jetty. From there, keep going on the path all the way until you reach the Sailing Center. Go past that along the trees towards the chalets and the bridge, then it is just another short distance further until you get to a sign that directs you towards the intersection road.
Cross the road, make a left and keep heading on that route until you get to a cute little bridge. By then there'll be enough signs to indicate that you've reached the start of Jurassic Mile.
It's straightforward from there after.
The route is fenced up on either side (as well as over the top after one too many stray golf balls flew into the route from overhead) so all you need is to keep moving on.
Towards the end of the route when you're reaching Terminal 4 there'll be a few turns here and there, but generally all you need to do is to follow the red path and you'll get to Hub & Spoke over at Terminal 2.
I'm glad to say that Jurassic Mile is prettily lit up at night.
Not only is it easy to see who it is in front of you (especially when they're taking pictures with the dinosaur figures), not only is it easy to be charmed by the beauty of the path all laid out in front of you, the lights actually make the place look kind of surreal.
I don't know.
Maybe Changi just looks different when night falls.
Or maybe because it's quite a different perspective seeing the 3D life-sized dinosaurs all bathed in a prism of colorful rainbow light.
Whichever it is, I didn't take pictures of the dinosaurs.
I took pictures of Singapore Airlines sitting on the runway instead.
