I think it's time I began writing about this walk that I took several months ago.
What season it was, I don't really remember, but we were on our way out of the Kembangan area at that time and I knew I didn't want to miss out on any opportunity to drop in on any part of the area that had caught my eye but hadn't had chance to visit.
So this afternoon I got myself out of the house.
My intention was to just go where my feet took me- hardly any destination had I- so I simply turned left, walking down Jalan Daud towards Lorong Marican and Lorong Marzuki.
But instead of the route- and the road- that I would normally take pictures of, I got Chonkycam on the greenery, the plants, and the flowers instead.
First up were the willow shrubs hanging over the low yellow wall of the house next door. They had caught my eye for a long while- impossible to miss them- but it didn't feel right to take picture of people's tree when their car was in the porch.
After that came some random but beautifully shaped leaves planted close to the gate of the same house. I don't know what they are, but I liked their rough-tumble shape. They gave the place some sort of a homely feel.
Up next my eye caught sight of the rich fuchsia hues from the bougainvillea shrub planted in the garden a few doors down. I don't know if this were in season- I didn't always notice the bougainvillea- but this afternoon they were exceptionally bright, colorful and cheerful to the eye.
Somewhere further down I also came across this plant of which I don't know its name but whose leaves have a wax-like surface pleasant (I imagine) to the touch.
And finally, on the road that was, I think, on Lorong Marzuki, there was this plant that seemed to be a cluster of small narrow trunks which had me thinkin of bonsai, only much larger, and, of course, way less pruned.
Now you might find this unusual, like why did I bother taking pictures of my neighbors' plants, but if there is one thing you must know, it is that there is quite a fair bit of abundant greenery in and around this zone.
It is one thing if it be one house or two brimming with lustrous plant energy in browns and greens and all manners of floral color.
It is another thing, however, if nearly every house has the same lustrous plant energy whether the plants have been skillfully gardened, maintained, pruned, looked after, or otherwise.
That's how it was in this suburb, this estate, this zone.
It didn't matter if it were a fruit tree or a shrub or a flowering bush.
Everything just bloomed beautifully.
There would have been more pictures of beautiful flowers had I continued onto Jalan Daud or turned into Lorong Marican, but I made a left onto Lorong Marzuki, left again afterward onto Jalan Ishak, and then onto Lorong Melayu.
The intention was to take pictures of them big, tall, leafy trees.
There were a good few nestled at strategic positions this HDB estate of Lengkong Tiga.
Some were in the carpark.
Some however lined this stretch of Lorong Melayu, and for a few years now these trees had provided me a comfortable semblance of shade, especially on late mornings and early afternoons when making my way back from the supermarket.
I wanted to remember them.
It might not seem very interesting, these trees, but almost ten stories high they all are. Some have wider canopies, some have narrower. There're trees that look like they're less than a meter away from someone's window. There're trees that look like they have been carefully pruned (by Town Council) at definite periods of time.
I had been fascinated by them.
Had they been here when the estate was built?
Or were they planted after the estate was built?
There're no answers.
But there're memories.
What's funny is that I had thought I would simply just take pictures of these trees along Lorong Melayu and inside the carpark and then afterwards head on home, but then I walked to the other side where the road of Lengkong Tiga is, and decided that- since I had a bit of time- to walk down the canal a bit more.
The entire time I walked along the canal I wondered if I would one day miss it.
Maybe I would.
Maybe I wouldn't.
I wouldn't know.
But it did strike me that this present-day unblocked view of the Astoria Park condo at the MRT station opposite the field would be one not there forever.
New flats were coming up along the way.
Today my feet took me along this side of Jalan Kembangan on the opposite side where the canal was.
I'd walked along here before- once- and I knew roughly where it led- but I had not walked the entire length the other time.
Today I was determined to see where this path ended.
So back on this familiar pavement my feet trod, first passing by the road of Jalan Senyum, after that, Jalan Senyang on the right side. It crossed into Jalan Selamat right after, then entered into the Jalan Senang Linear Park.
I think I crossed into Jalan Senang after that, then onto this route that forms the back boundary of what is the LTA Academy.
Frankly I wasn't really sure what it was I was looking at all along this side of the route. Most of it seemed to be bungalows and residences of all sizes.
But the sight of these homes by the canal- some big, some small, some very big- were pleasant to the eye, and all of them had the same sort of restful vibe that this section of Kembangan tends to have.
Onward this route I now continued to walk.
To my right was the LTA Academy, to the left, there were the factories on the roads of Jalan Paras, and Jalan Senang, then, I came upon this flight of (vintage) little stairs in between a fence, some shrubs, and another fence.
Looking at these pictures now, I really do come to realize just how kampong this place of Kembangan really is. It's a little hard to imagine how it would have been like years and years ago, but perhaps, around the time when Bedok was being developed this place- the industrial side, especially- was already as it was, not much different from what it is today.
This flight of steps didn't look very new either.
It is a wonderful thing in life when we end up in places where we didn't think we would, and so imagine my surprise when I found myself standing at one junction of Chai Chee Drive.
I ought to have taken a picture of the road.
Or the blocks.
But somehow I didn't.
All I got was a shot of the LTA Academy (it looks like a refurbished school) and the path from void deck of Block 55 leading up the slope to the road and to the building beyond.
My walk this afternoon didn't end here.
From this block here, I cut through the carpark, and the estate, to one of the HDB blocks in this zone called Ping An Yuen that I had seen over a year ago, and now thought I should visit.
But I'll have to write about that another time.
There's quite a bit.