Celebrating the first haze-free morning in days

I have been taking countless morning walks in our parks over the years. Never once did I stop to think what would be able to stop me from this habitual activity other than rainy weather until we were so badly affected by the ridiculous forest fires originating in Indonesia over the past week. We were blanketed in thick haze that made it look like there was fog everywhere. We stayed indoors as much as possible and scrambled to buy N95 masks to avoid breathing in hazardous micro particles in the air.

My walks were made impossible overnight and I missed my daily routine where the only complaint I made was against the scorching heat and humidity at this time of the year. The Indonesian minister said that the situation we are in was the result of nature and asked us to pray for a miracle. Well, I prayed for a miracle for two days consecutively and the winds changed direction. Unfortunately, our good fortune over the weekend caused Johor to take on the bulk of the pollution from Indonesia. This morning, the haze seemed to have disappeared and the skies were clear. I wasted no time in donning my walking shoes to go and enjoy this reprieve from the haze. We never know when we will be hit again with a Pollution Standards Index (PSI) of above 100 or worse still be overcome by smog at a PSI of 300 and above.

This morning I walked with a friend, from Hortpark, across the Alexandria Arch bridge and walked along the elevated walkway to Telok Blangah Park. The air was clear and it was no different from those numerous other occasions when we did our morning walks in the parks of Singapore. This time, however, I saw everything with new eyes. Never again will I take clean air and clear views of things for granted. You do not know what you have till you experience loss. So I hope that everyone will be more environment conscious in their daily lives from now onwards.

Alexandria Arch

There was a full moon above our heads as we walked in the cool of the night across this bridge. There was nothing much to distract us because everything else other than the lighted bridge and the streetlights and the cars was cloaked in darkness. So we just walked and enjoyed the night with a full moon above our heads.

Alexandria Arch and park connector

From the Alexandria Arch at the Hortpark we walked on a 50 metre steel structure and were elevated up to 18 metres from the ground at the highest point. On the way back we walked below this superb and amazing walkway that connects the Hortpark to Telok Blangah Hill along a pleasant and cool Earth trail. Being a Sunday, there were hordes of people thronging the narrow steel structure. A walk between Hortpark and Telok Blangah Hill is estimated to take only 20 minutes. We took nearly an hour and a half because there was so much to see.