Life « My Itchy Fingers

Critically Endangered Species – The Last Pelican of Singapore

December 18, 2011 at 2:34 pm | Posted in itchy mouth | Leave a comment
Tags: Culture, Design, History, Life, Nostalgia, Photography, Product design, Uniquely Singapore

In recent months, Itchyfingers have been hearing news that the old HDB estate at Dover Road is going to be demolished; following an en bloc sale to make way for new developement. With the demolition of Dover estate, the last surviving Pelican playground in Singapore will be gone also!

Itchyfingers previously assumed that all traditional mosaic playgrounds in Singapore had long given way to waves of progress and re-development of our nation; but when we accidentally chanced upon the Dover Road Pelican playground more than three years ago, we were really surprised and excited to see it! Itchyfingers visited it back then with our cameras to document it. We had such a great time reliving the memories of our childhood, and that also prompted Itchyfingers to start the series of “It’s Play Time!” to showcase other old and surviving playgrounds scattered throughout Singapore.

This was taken earlier this year (3 years have passed since our initial visit)
…with the surrounding apartment blocked vacated. Obviously not much
care and maintenance have been given to the estate, not to mention the
unused playground…The pelican has ‘aged’ so much…. :(

I remembered having a pelican playground with sandpit just beneath my old apartment at the Queenstown area. I used to play with it a lot; there was also a slide, a see saw and swings too. Like our last visit, Itchyfingers couldn’t help but start to behave like little kids, climbing and posing around the Pelican…

Oooo…holding the moon in the hand? Or is it Dragonball?!

Ha! I can also reach out to the moon! Hahah….The last visit I couldn’t
climb up the pelican’s mouth cos of my clumsiness. This time round, perhaps
knowing that it could be my last chance to do so, I struggled a little and
finally got up…

Itchyfingers with the Pelican. Will this be a memory of the past?

The turtle and rabbit…I got a few insect bites here…not sure if they were
mossies or sandflies as mentioned in other blogs…

Couldn’t help but feel sad…The Pelican and other old playgrounds were part of our growing up lives…They gave us their friendship and witnessed our youthful laughter and our tears. They tolerated our abuses when we threw our little tantrums, kicking and leaving little marks on them. Now the generation that grew up playing with these mosaic playgrounds are all busy with their own adult lives; their children no longer have a chance to play with these locally designed playgrounds…Most of the mosaic playgrounds have to make way for their newer, plastic and metal, counterparts…. due to some unfounded safety reasons. Many people have forgotten about their old friends.

Last week, when I looked at the photos of our last visit to the Pelican, I was shocked to realise it was almost four months ago in August! I have planned to share the plight of the Pelican on our blog after our last visit, but somehow work and other commitments made it slip my mind! I have let the Pelican down! Not wanting to waste more time, Itchyfingers braved the heavy downpour yesterday and went to check out on our friend again. I was so relieved to see that it is still there… albeit in a sorrier state….

The rain couldn’t wash away the green algae growth on the pelican’s body…
It was sitting lonely in the rain…as if crying…”Why have all the children
abandoned me?”

I remembered during the General Election in May this year, one of the MPs mentioned about residents asking her if she can help to keep the ‘ducks’ in their area as they were memories of their childhood.

Remember these?

After visiting the Pelican, Itchyfingers went searching for the other old
playgrounds. I was thrilled to hear on tv that the MP had promised to keep
the ducks. It was only then that I realised these also survived the passing
of time…I used to sit on the duck when I was even younger…

Together with the highly stylised elephants and horses, the ducks are the
only surviving animal stools left now. It is good to know that these will be
kept and not give way to newer playgrounds

MP Josephine Teo has made a promise on national tv during the GE that
the ducks would be kept, kudos to her!

So, if the ducks can be kept for the future generation, why can’t the Pelican be preserved too? Surely it is worth keeping given its unique and iconic design, its significance to the lives of many children who had spent their childhood with it? In fact, it is even more aesthetically appealing compared to the ducks, elephants and horses and does not take up as much space. Will it be possible to move it to somewhere else and made into a modern piece of public art instead?

The Pelican is part of the living heritage of Singapore, part of the collective
memories of many children growing up in the 70s and 80s, and maybe even
up to the early 90s. It is definitely a great loss to see it go. Will the voices
of concerned citizen be able to save the last Pelican of Singapore?

If you feel as strongly as Itchyfingers that the Pelican playground ought to be preserved for posterity, please leave your comments here. Better still, go to the “Save the Last Pelican Playground in Singapore!” Facebook page and post photos of you posing with the Pelican or other older playgrounds. We would be glad to consolidate your feedback and comments and have them forwarded to the MP, HDB and NHB. Hurry up! Time is running out!

Also see related posts:
> It’s Play Time! #3
> It’s Play Time! #2
> It’s Play Time! #1

No-Standard Chartered Singapore Walkathon 2011

December 6, 2011 at 3:37 pm | Posted in itchy backside | 2 Comments
Tags: Life, Sports, Uniquely Singapore

Last year, Itchyfingers were spectators at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. This year we joined the Half Marathon and were looking forward to running in Sentosa when the route was out. Due to some (stupid!) requirement from the voluntary programme that I joined, I had to get a flu jab before the end for November. Then after a longer run of 12 km, I was down with flu the next day! So dumb! I was flu-free for so long until this flu jab! The doctor was smiling at me when he said the jab would only take effect after two weeks when I went back to him! Anyway, taking a flu jab has never been a guarantee against flu cos it only protects against certain strains of the virus. I just hoped to get well quickly and recover in time for the run. But the virus persisted even after I went to another doctor.

It was the first time we had to ballot for a time slot to collect the race pack, or the Race Entry Pack Collection (REPC). This was supposed to facilitate speedier collection, after which the next two days would be opened to the rest of runners. But when we went during our allocated time slot at the Marina Bay Sand, a rather inconvenient venue, we had to queue more than an hour for the pack. We found out later that people on the next two days had a much better experience. I suspect some people turned up even when they didn’t ballot for a time and somehow got through. Collection only started three days before the actual race day, leaving not much time to try out the new gear to check for any chafing and abrasion problems.

I was not sure if I could join the run especially when the doctor advised strongly against it, in case the virus attacks the heart. I had high fever, was coughing phlegm and suffered from runny nose for 10 days and it was only until last Saturday after finishing my last dose of anti-biotic that I finally decided that I would want to go ahead with the race. But I would just walk…All 21.1 km to the finishing line if that’s what it would take me.

This year, our transport folks at SMRT and SBS Transit were kind enough to provide overnight train services. So we took the train from Chinatown to Vivocity. It was such a sight to see full train of runners…

So many runners! Wow, a lot of them were in the official tee…By the way,
the ladies’ tee looked much nicer than the guys’, which had too much green and
the white slash that cut across in the middle looked odd. But I think it can be a
bit longer….

Those not using the baggage deposit service proceeded towards Vivocity. I heard
that there was a long queue which caused major delay in their starting times.
Maybe runners can consider bringing minimal valuables in a waist pouch?

Despite taking my usual pre-race brekky of a red bean bun, my tummy started
grunting…I was getting hungry even before the race! Goodness! I didn’t
prepare any energy gel as I thought walking would burn calories slower
and I could pick up one at one of the water points later…

6.30am and the horn sounded! But we were so far behind that I could not
even see the starting line…So Tisu Boy took this picture for me to see…
We waited for the crowd in front to slowly disperse…

Finally could see the start point! I was feeling ok so thought I shall slowly
jog across the line so as not to block others behind…

The blue sky matched the official tee! It was a great day!

I was jogging so slowly that I wasn’t feeling any strain on the heart or lungs…Maybe I could just keep at this slow pace all the way?

But barely 2 kms into the run after some up slopes and turns, we were all stucked in a narrow path!

Life’s a b*tch when you were just steps away from the starting line. We were
at a total standstill for at least 3 – 5 minutes here… It was a cool but
humid morning, so when you suddenly stopped running and stood so
close to so many sticky bodies, the air felt horrible. I started coughing here….

After watching the Official Half Marathon Route Video, I already had the feeling that bottlenecks would be formed as most of the roads were narrow, but I didn’t expect the first one to come so soon!!! At certain stretch, the other lane was opened up but that was for runners running in opposite directions. Few more bottlenecks followed…we were again forced to slow down, walk or stop completely for the path to clear…

Getting to 3 km took so long with the bottlenecks and my painfully slow
pace. It was already past half an hour! How nice if we could get “sng bao”
(ice popsicle) here…The first water point was supposed to be after 4 km…
A bit too far…

Passed Siloso Beach. Too early for bikini babes…

Running towards Rasa Sentosa. Didn’t manage to catch the logo on the
building…I was running too “fast”…hahah

Finally saw the first water point at 4 km…My stomach felt empty and I was hoping to get a 100plus for some sugary perk. But the water point was crowded, and the volunteers were only pouring water into the cups…Didn’t smell any 100plus…Since I had my own bottled water, I just moved on…Still a long way to go….

Discarded cups all over….

More upslopes ahead…

There was no 100plus also at the next water point at about 7 km. I switched between walking and jogging as I didn’t wanna be too complacent and push too hard…

Then from far far away, I could see that finally we have reached the land
of “Far Far Away”….Many runners started to stop for photos at the entrance

It was my first visit to the Universal Studio, but I have seen so many photos
of it

Gloria! My favourite character in the movie Madagascar besides the four
neurotic penguins! I wanna go hug her! But there were people waiting for
their turns…

There was no queue here since these were further inside…

I wanna move it move it! I wanna…MOVE IT!

Huge crowd around the lovable Kungfu Panda, Po! No way to go nearer!

No choice, gotta DIY! Hahaha….

Was expecting to see Shrek or Puss in Boots but they were not around…
Shouldn’t Puss come out to promote his new movie?

But they were fast to put up this in time! The Transformer Ride was opened
only last Saturday, a day before the run…So it was one of the hottest spot
for photography

Since I was already so slow, might as well spend some time taking photos
as I will never pay to come in here. Too expensive and no way am I gonna
queue so long for rides!

I’m not into roller coasters as I have a weak stomach…Ok lah!! I’m a coward!

From “Far Far Away”, we ran into the exotic Egypt…

Only 8km in the run. The official video put here as 9km…

Water point outside here was cramp as the two narrow lanes were spilt for runners in the two directions. Again, no 100 plus… At this point I saw a very old uncle in a bright yellow cap slowly jogging along. That inspired me to continue moving my tired legs slowly to catch up…

Running into this car park…

Was this about 300 metres long or more? It was a bit stuffy and hot with big buses
and cars driving in. Felt like stopping to visit the proper toilet but looking
at the queue, I think it would be a better idea to get out of here quickly…
Setting up muscle rub station here was a bad idea as the smell of the rub was
a bit choking…Didn’t notice my GPS watch lost its satellite signal momentarily
here…It was already 1:40 hour…

Finally out! But the path was narrow again…A lot of people started to walk
from here…

Half way there. I knew at this rate I would take more than three hours to
finish. But my aim was to finish the race safely…

I can’t remember now where exactly was the water point where we could pick up energy gel. It was supposed to be at around 11km mark before we hit the highway. There was only one table for gel and I was not sure if there were any more left for the slower runners as it was so crowded that I couldn’t even get close! But I didn’t see anyone squeezed out there with any gel, so I reckoned they must had run out of it. Still no 100plus. Saw a middle age runner lying on the ground while some other runners attended to him. I think he had some muscle cramp.

When I saw Vivocity, I was thinking of running to the shop to buy some
100 plus! Hahaha! But of course we didn’t run there. We made a u-turn
here into the highway…

Wow! I was walking and running with an empty tummy now…Value meal
sounded good…hahahah

One of the up slopes along the highway towards Marina Bay Sands. There
were so many walkers that it felt more like a walkathon…Actually it was
a bit depressing especially when there was lack of distance markers and water.
Then we had to make way for an ambulance to zoom past…

The Flyer. Everyone was walking…Many had to stop to stretch the muscles…

It was a long stretch along the highway with many up slopes. Many people were walking but they were walking all over the place. I was also walking, but was mindful to keep to the side, if not always on my left, cos sometimes even if you were walking or jogging slowly on the left, there would be people behind pushing and bashing through. Only got to drink 100plus at the next water point, more than half way into the run. But it was complete chaos with so many runners crowding around and few volunteers to pour the drinks. I took one cup and came back to refill cos I needed the sugar.

Die die must run…Er, but she was walking leh…This year there wasn’t this
extra blank bib in the race pack for us to write encouraging words to
fellow runners…

I can’t believe I had walked so far….Could see some full marathoners here

It was another stretch of walking and jogging until I felt strange in my tummy. Maybe it was empty too soon and for too long and the sudden feeding of isotonic drinks made it angry…Felt a bit bloated and started burping. The cough and runny nose also acted up. I felt terrible and it was here that I received a sms from Tisu Boy. Was surprised that he had just finished not too long ago…Must have been delayed by the bottlenecks…I had just crossed the 18km distance marker…Another ambulance sped pass us…At this point I was so worried that I would start to throw up and get a free ride in the ambulance…

I think this was the last water point before the finishing line. Chaotic…
More water was being poured on the table and on the road than into the cups.
We were running on wet road littered with paper cups along water points.
Runners should really try to throw the cups into designated areas! I think we
should also try to bring our own water to minimise the use of paper cups…

I was running out of water and was still feeling terrible. It was getting hot and after drinking two cups of water and resting at the side for a while, I continued walking…The last 3km was really a struggle!

The only band cheering us along the way. Maybe we were too slow and others
had already called it a day…

It was a welcoming sight to see these familiar buildings along the highway…
We were at the last kilometre…but couldn’t see the last and most important
distance marker to perk us up…People were still walking…I called Tisu
Boy to tell him I was coming back…and started jogging again. Didn’t know
there were already official photographers ambushing there and later I saw
photos of me walking while talking on the phone! Hahahaha!!!!! Caught
in the act!

Finally reached the old Supreme Court! I wanted to speed up but I didn’t
want to risk collapsing at the finishing line…

In any case, the path was narrow and the walkers were still strolling towards
the finishing line, blocking others…

I have finally finished the run, my second Half Marathon! Never mind about the lousy timing, cos I was so glad I didn’t have to trouble the medics!

A mountain of paper cartons welcomed us while we walked to collect our
drinks and medal

While waiting for me, Tisu Boy took some photos with his phone. This lady,
a regular runner who often dressed up for runs, was seen in her video game
character, Chun Li’s outfit

We saw a similar fiery red wig at the department store and joked that maybe
I should wear one for the run to prepare myself to show up on the next day’s
paper as the last walker of the day! Hahah…Didn’t know I was beaten to
it by this pacer!

Well, I didn’t managed to be the last walker of the day despite walking for most of the distances. But it was just as bad, as I was among the last 10% to finish! Hahahaha!!! Took slightly over 4 hours to complete 21.1km! The last 3 km took more than 45 minutes! A relatively fast runner would have finished a full marathon in this time! Hahaha…But now looking back, I think it was stubborn of me to insist on carrying on with the race when I was still sick. I think I was lucky that my flu was at the recovering stage and I managed to calm my cramping stomach with water and a long rest, and not to push myself too hard just to have a better timing. Was shocked to read later online that a fellow half marathoner had collapsed after crossing the finishing line, and died an hour later in the hospital.

It was the last race of the year for Itchyfingers, but it was the worse one in
terms of running experience and personal performance…hahaha….

But the medal was nice…

The back

Here’s a useful guide on how to survive the Half Marathon! :p

20.11.2011

November 29, 2011 at 12:31 am | Posted in itchy backside | Leave a comment
Tags: Life, Sports

On 20.11.2011, where were you and what did you do?

On 20.11.2011, Itchyfingers had a taste of the sweetest bottled water again after climbing 73 storey, 1,336 steps up to the helipad of Swissotel the Stamford. Like last year, Itchyfingers joined the Lovebirds Challenge for the Swissotel Vertical Marathon.

The goodie bag for the climb. Last year’s bag was better and the contents
were better too…hahah…Was expecting to get another pair of bears for
our category but was a bit disappointed to find none…Would be nice to be
able to collect one series of bears for the climb….

As usual, we reached earlier to kaypoh around…Boy, the weather was hot!

Like last year, drinks were abundant…They gave out these Vitamin Water
this time…First time to try these, we had this orange and the other clear
one. Tasted a bit like diluted sugared water…

Results were already out for those categories that started earlier…

Remember this uncle? He’s the oldest participant for the previous few years.
What was he looking at?

Ah, uncle was looking at these photos! It was a nice gesture of the hotel
to take and print these complimentary photos for us!

No more chocolates and chicken essence hampers for this year’s prizes!

There seemed to be some delay for the Men’s Open category. Either they were waiting for the stairways to clear before starting or the VIP was late…So this was what happened….

The guys in the first line seemed to be protesting in silence by sitting down
doing their stretching…They looked like Nepalese…

Itchyfingers near the starting line

We spotted one guy with soiled tee, shoes and compression socks. I think
he might have just done another run earlier in the morning before rushing
down for this climb. As it was a day with a rather unique date, there were
a couple of other races held today…

When the elites were climbing, there were a lot of people crowding around
waiting to see who would emerge as the champion. This year the screen
only showed one angle at the final steps to the helipad. Last year was better
as we could see more action at the stairs

Finally it was the Lovebirds’ turn!

Many had already assembled around the waiting area. This tee the guy
was wearing was for another vertical marathon, which we didn’t participate…

We din managed to get to the front of the queue this time. It was already very hot as it was close to noon. Wonder why the Lovebird category always has to start so late…We had drank so much water and visited the loo three times while waiting!

Then, finally it was our turn! My heart raced as we waited to be flagged off. Due to work and time constraint, we only did two practises before the race. But from last year’s experience, I know I must really control my pace properly…Though I tried to take it slow and steady, my heart soon started pounding harder and harder, same with my breathing. Had to fight not to look at the number of storeys climbed. At a few points we were blocked by some couples..was too exhausted to say ‘excuse me’ and maybe my body wanted the excuse to slow down too. We eventually overtook them and a few others. I started to slow down at about 45 floors…It was a mistake to take a peep at the floor numbers!

Finally, Itchyfingers saw the end of the last flight of stairs! Wanted to speed up but the legs did not do as I commanded…Claps from staffs welcomed us as we approached the finishing line! We were then presented our medals and a bottle of water. I remembered the familiar taste of this water. Someone once commented that rather than spend so much money, so much effort to climb up, we are better off taking a lift up to the highest level and spending that money for a drink at comfort. But I think it is just different when you get things so easily…Will you remember the taste of that drink you bought years later? I know I will remember my bottled water that I exchanged with sweat after climbing 1,336 steps.

But the bonus was the clear and fine sky up at the helipad! The view was even better than last year!

Beautiful weather!

Hotels and offices…

See those colourful blocks? These are the blocks at Rocher Centre which would
be torn down to give way to the North-South Expressway soon

Can you see the Chinatown and Singapore River area? Where else can
you recognise?

Time to try out the lomo-effect on iphone!

A picture at the finishing line!

One more!

Medals! Same design as last year but no more die-cut…Save cost?

The good thing about starting so late is that we were given more time to spend on the helipad since there was only the Corporate Challenge category behind us. No one even asked us to make a move this time round. Would love to stay even longer if not because it was so hot and we needed to fill our tummies!

More couples finishing…

The defending champion for the Women’s Open, Ms Suzanne Walsham,
an Australian resident here. Her time was 8.23min!

The defending champion for Men’s Open, Mr Thomas Dold, couldn’t make
it this year for the climb. So it was Mr Matthias Jahn who won with a time
of 7.16 min

Tokens of appreciation were presented also to the physically challenged
participants. The double amputee, Mr Mr Fernandes Dwayne, was also here
last year. We saw the gentleman in red during the Terry Fox Run early this
year

We also found our photo on the board! Too bad it was taken while queuing
for our turn and not the one at the helipad. The polaroid was taken by
another couple who wanted to clear the last shot from his camera

It was later when the full results were out that Itchyfingers found that we were among the top 15 in our category! Hahaha…it was slow even though we had more than a minute of improvement from last year…Maybe next year we should really train harder to squeeze into the top 10? Hahaha…Then the bottle of water will taste even sweeter!

Also see related posts:
> Scaling New Height
> Taking Baby Steps
> Stepping Up @ NLB