14 September 2025
I made it!
Finally got to do this: woke up at around 5am and got out of the house around 6am. It was a Sunday and the usual Bukit Timah Hill climb with the Hub was off. I decided to TRY to catch the infamous misty dawny rays at the Ulu Sembawang Park Connector, hyped much about some time back.
I estimated that I would need about half an hour to reach the sunrise view point. My aim was to reach the spot at around 6.30am or so.
Forwent my usual longer morning routine and because I am someone who can't run empty-stomach, I made 3/4 mug of Coffee-Lo (Instant coffee with Milo), with a slice of plain wholemeal bread and 2 mini Marie biscuits. Grabbed a sweet and a snack as well and off I went. As I was afraid of not making it in time, I did a much scaled-down warm up and stretching in less than 5 minutes.
And boy I ran - at tempo pace - I seldom, or in fact, never started a run with such speed. But it was a good training nevertheless.
I did not expect that waiting for the traffic lights to change colours could be so long in the early morning. Our city was already well-lit with moderate activity ongoing along the roads - walkers, work-goers, and many buses were already full-engined. It was no quiet run.
I read that the Park Connector is not lit 24 hours and hence it would be dark. No problem! The MRT Depot next to the entrance was well-lit up with rows of lamp-posts providing ample lighting. The morning sky was already brightening - I thought to myself if I would really catch the 1st rays through the forest? The time now was 6.24am.
Switching out of such gloomy thoughts, I congratulated myself for having climbed out of bed on a Sunday morning at 5am, and made it in an hour to leave the house. Sunrise or nor it didn't matter anymore - I had gained a new experience and a personal milestone!
Unexpectedly, I was the sole intruder into the park connector.
And before long, it was well, darkness. The Depot left behind, this stretch of the road was dark. No lights. I heard only sounds - of wildlife.
Feeling rather nervous, I turned on the torch function of my cell-phone - but it was still very dim. I could barely see the front. It didn't help that I did not carry my glassess along with me on long runs...
Finally as I emerged from the thicket of trees and vegetation into the open field on my left, morning rays had seeped through the greenery in the distance. It was around 6.40am when I reached the sunrise spot.
There were no dramatic hues of the morning rays promised in the pictures, online. I was disappointed.
I climbed up the slope to have a better view, and yes it was misty, but not that mysterious...
I felt some slight drizzles and I thought this must be the reason for the dismal sight.
Then I continued running down the connector, hearing the chipping of wood by the woodpecker, which I never manage to spot on this route. I see a second human on this stretch of the connector when a cyclist zoomed past me as we exchanged morning greetings. The sky seemed to be giving way to dark clouds looming and grey weather seemed eminent ahead. A few more early bikers appeared and I decided to explore the side of the Mandai Park Connector leading to the Zoo, which I never had ventured onto. At this time groups of road cyclists have started their weekend hobby as well.
After slightly more than a kilometre and my curiosity satisfied, I turned around and ran back to where I came from. By now the sun is up. No rain. As I entered Ulu Sembawang Park Connector again, more cyclists appeared, so did runners and walkers. Upon reaching the Sunrise view point, I took a closer look at the Bidens Pilosa flowers, admiring their beauties in the morning light and freshness. And I spotted something extra amongst them!
That's when my run became a hike and nature walk plus macro-photography time! I discovered more and more little critters in the macro world as I trained my phone lens on the grounds and shrubs.
An uncle cyclist greeted me and requested that I help him take a photo. He started to chit chat with me about exercise, food places etc that took about 10 minutes. He explained that the sunrise here appears only at around 7.30am! The misty condition is weather dependent. It was almost 7.30am and I really wanted to see the effect but he was so excitedly talking that I found it impolite to just turn around to look for the sunrise instead. Finally, I managed to cue him that I wanted to move off and we parted.
By the time I went hunting for any sign of the renowned sunrise rays, the sun was fully up and about and I only managed to see some small patches of orange hue shadowed by the trees. Nevertheless, the uncle gave me some tips that I told myself I would make another or more trips for this experience.
Since I had rested so long, I decided to walk and admire the nature instead. I could hear a woodpecker nearby and I finally caught glimpse of it "climbing" on a single bamboo stalk that shot high into the air. It was too distant for me to discern what woodpecker it was.
The more I looked, the more critters and unique nature I spotted. It made me very happy too, that many fellow walkers, runners, cyclists were high-vibed and chirpily greeting "Good Morning!" π
By the time I resumed running it was already 2.5hours past since I started running from home.
I slowly regained pace to run back to my neighbourhood but happy that I had discovered so much more in our world of nature, and also about extending and renewal of the current version of myself!
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