By the numbers
19,453 steps
15.26 kms
Level of Chaos: Soaking wet from humidity
I wanted to start the day early as I was wanting to get something to eat and then head out to Kranji for the war cemetery and then off to some of the battle sites if I was able to. I would have to say that I was in for a long ride on the train out to Kranji, even though I was staying on the same train line. The interesting thing I found upon getting to the station was that there seemed to be bus services leaving from the station and crossing the Woodlands border into Malaysia. Meanwhile I was walking down the road to the cemetery. I had to cross at some traffic lights and walked past a road and a bust stop that said Kranji War Memorial, but I thought he road was down further until I realised it was a business, and the road I had dismissed was indeed where I was supposed to walk. The cemetery also had the state cemetery next to it and I think there were two graves there of past Singapore Presidents. I was more interested in the war memorial part, and I had to keep an eye on the weather as I could hear thunder and amongst that the air force training too. I found the cemetery to be interesting and I had thought there was a marker here for the Kranji battle, but that was further up the road and way out of my way. It was saying another hour to walk there. It was starting to get really warm and my shirt was soaked from sweat. What I hadn’t realised was there were family members of the service people in the cemetery as well and those who passed well after the war itself, so I thought that was of interest. What was in a way interesting was the Australian soldiers were in front and then behind them were the British. At the back of the cemetery were the Indians and other groups like the Gurkhas. The wall of the missing covered a few walls including some nurses, although there would have been more.
I felt some drops of rain and was expecting there to be more that just a couple of spots and it actually stayed that way. I was happy not to get wet as I had to walk back to the station, and for this entire trip away, I had not needed to breakout my umbrella at all. I have walked in the rain when its spitting, while the locals have been using their brollies. It was quicker to get back to the station strangely enough. The next stop was to Labrador Park, where I was happy to sit for a bit in the cool of the train. Labrador Park was also the sight of fortifications that had been built in the 1800s and was the twin to Fort Siloso on the other side of the harbour on what is now known as Sentosa. I had really been hoping I had not been blocked by more government fencing, and I hadn’t as that made me happy. There were various information panels explaining the fortification being built and even the role during the Second World War. I even found one tunnel, although you could not enter that.
It was getting closer to 2pm and I thought it was best to head back as I wanted a rest from the heat and to get some washing done as well. I was given a 2 hour window to get it done as other people probably wanted to use the laundry as well. In the time I was waiting fort the machines to finish I had worked out that I could get to the airport early and drop my bag off on Thursday so that I could take my time at the airport instead of having to wait around with a heavy bag. I even organised my customs forms for arriving home, and then realised I didn’t have my transport card from home with me as I must have left it in the pocket of my trousers after seeing Torvil and Dean
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