expiration date 

the picture above is the running path i took this morning, and by far, the longest and the most fun path i’ve run on (17km).

ever since i’m doing this half-marathon training, i’ve been running before dawn. and usually the streets are dead. no one’s around and there is hardly any cars. i’ve seen a very old woman on her walking stick j-walking on Holland Road. it was that empty.

but i guess it’s different for Orchard Road. even at 4-5 in the morning, there were still a lot of cars passing by. in front of Orchard Towers, a lot of drunks half-passed-out on the street and couples making out… and it’s not even the weekend yet. weird.

it turned out that the employees of most of the road-side stores on 313 Sommerset have started working very early in the day. they were busy changing clothes of the manequins and sweeping the floors at 4:30 in the morning. i was honestly expecting to see an empty Orchard Road.

Dhoby Ghaut and Bras Basah areas, however, were empty. the SMU campus was sooo dark that i tripped over some uneven pavement.

then i turned to Armenian Street, which was nice and empty. the area around City Hall was already awake. it was Friday, so it was still a weekday. people have started to line up at bus stops, busses and taxis were flying by, and the sidewalk was no longer empty.

i crossed the street and the river to the end of Boat Quay and ran along the river. some areas across from Clarke Quay were super dark, it was really tough to run there. i tripped over the uneven pavement again a few times.

but around Robertson Quay, some of the bars were already open (or maybe they were open 24-hours?). cafes were getting ready to open, the employees were sweeping the floor and arranging the chairs. and the area was really bright and pretty. they have many colorful lanterns hung on the trees, making beautiful reflections on the river. i wanted to take pictures of it, but it was raning lightly, so i had my iphone inside a ziplock.

as i was approaching Zouk, i could see bottles of liquor and empty disposable plastic cups laying around on the riverside pavement. i’ve seen this before when i cycled by the river late at night on the weekends, a lot of people were having somekind of alcoholic picnics on the riverside. but i thought this only happens on the weekends. i guess some people have those on weekdays too…

Zouk itself was closed and empty. and i ran by my usual running path: Alexandra Park Connector. i love this stretch of the Park Connector, it goes from River Valley all the way to Queenstown. the Park Connector goes along the river, right next to the towers of HDBs. and it’s never empty. in early mornings, waaay before the sun is up, i usually find grandmas and grandpas doing their exercises. some of them doing fast walking, some jogging, and some doing taichi on the side of the road. the machines on the community gyms located on the side of the Park Connector are always being used, even at 4 in the morning. they are always older uncles and aunties using the walking or the cycling machines. the younger ones don’t usually show up until the sun is up.

once i got to Queensway, the road was already busy and the sun was almost up. school kids were already on the street, walking to their bus stops and MRT stations. it was only 2+km away from my home.

i think i like this running path… the 21k path is going to be even more fun, since it’s gonna go around the bay. yay!