November 21, 1998

PGP forest

[211198] There's this patch of 'xiang si shu' forest facing East Wing, an eerie juxtaposition of life & death with trees struck dead by lightning & bleached white by e sun standing in e midst of their living counterparts. Walk past it along Prince George's Park Rd on my way to Arts fac. My route takes me past e colonial bungalows that line e road, past e Institute of Molecular Agrobiology (IMA), Bizad fac & Hon Sui Sen Memorial Library (HSSML), Guild House, Temasek Hall & Shaw Foundation Building (AS7), ending in GEOLAB on level 2 of AS2, Dept of Geography. Along e way I pass 2 long drains that run down e slope of e ridge. After heavy rain water flows down in torrents & it sounds like a real gurgling stream. Just love e sound of flowing water. e 2 trees mentioned above are old raintrees with spreading bunches covered by thick moss, bird's nest ferns & staghorn ferns. Have spotted squirrels on them, as well as e resident flock of chatty bulbuls. Growing near one of e drains is a patch of heliconia, my favourite =) Often spot a kingfisher there, most probably e one that frequents Cafe 9 too. Many have seen this pair of sulphur-crested cockatoos near KE VII, and watching e sunset from e east wing B3 corridor I usually see e sea eagles flying sorties in e reddish glow.

[071102 update] e forest has long given way to e by now not-so-new PGP student housing complex; here are pictures from e pre-PGP era....

KE7 west wing, from staircase nearest B301:



Pasir Panjang wharves, from other end of B3 corridor:



Prince George's Park Road:



I love tree-lined winding roads where grass grows right up to e edge, just like in storybooks; people are so obsessed with building & racing along straight character-less roads.

my favourite tree - ferns, squirrels, bulbuls & all:



perfect picnic spot off Prince George's Park Road:



[ filed under: 9_lives_1998 + thewonderingstraycat + nature1 ]