June 28, 2014

Singapore Sports Hub - The Old Dame transformed into a Curvey Lady (1km)

Singapore Sports Hub and the Singapore Indoor stadium
I have many memories of the old Kallang National Stadium and attending the National Day Parade, belting out classical Singapore National Day Songs like "Stand Up for Singapore", "We are Singapore", "One People, One Nation, One Singapore" and my personal favorite, "Count on me Singapore".



That was also the time when the Kallang Roar was coined during the peak of the Singapore soccer fever during the Malaysia Cup in the 1990s, when Fandi Ahmand, Malek Awab, Nazri Nasir, Abbas Saad and "supersub" Steven Tan became household names.

The National Stadium is probably one of the most important building during the national identity building days of 1980-1990s when it is one of the few places that Singaporeans can get together, and celebrate the national identity of this fledgling nation.

As like every other building in Singapore, the country never stop renewing itself. The old dame of Kallang was finally retired in 2010, and in its place, a new glistering Sports Hub, a curvy (it is definitely not spiky like the Esplanade) young lady adorned with some of the most fashionable and high tech accessories the world has to offer.  The retractable roof, is the largest free spanning structure in the world. Its facilities include swimming pools, hard courts, a skate park, lawn ball court, giant chess set, rock climbing wall, and a beach volleyball court. It also has a library, a sports musuem, an exhibition center and most important of all, a shopping mall! (As if we need another mall...)
The various activities during the Open House

Basket Ball Court
Beach Volley Ball Court
Sports Library!!
Kallang Wave Mall
The Sports Hub planned to organize an open house on the 28th of July and so as a typical "Kaypo" Singaporean, the SG Unfit Runners decided to explore the new Sports Hub on jogging shoes, before the maddening crowd descent onto the hub at 9am.

We were wise to come by here at 7am. Other than a few other curious joggers, the place is pretty much deserted and we had fun poking our heads into the various facilities offered by the Sports Hub. The only pity is that we cannot enter into the sitting area and field itself, but I am sure that we will have that chance in the near future.

We are quite surprised to see a running track all around the Sports hub, which is about 1km in distance and we would have content ourselves with doing our run around this track, if not for the fact that our final destination is the Helix Bridge.

The plan is to explore the Sports Hub, head towards Gardens by the Bay East, Cross the Marina Barrage and run along Gardens By the Bay and end at the Helix Bridge at Marina Bay Sands. However, as I was heading towards the Bay East, I felt a sharp throbbing pain shooting up my left knee again.

The "Mouth" of the Sports Hub beckons!
The running track around the hub
The gates are closed! Who wants a Tiger anyway?
A Peek into the interior past the gates
A View of the Singapore CBD from the Sports Hub
The Sports Hub, view from across the Kallang River.
Did I accidentally pull my knee again?!? How can it be!? I was running normally on level ground! Did the stairs at Sports Hub do me in? Maybe its time for me to consult some professional help. Sigh...

I slowed my pace to a walk and decided not to push myself further. The safer thing to do is to walk back to Stadium MRT and take a train ride to Promenade and rendezvous with my friends at Millennia Walk.

Shortly after I reached Millennia Walk, I received a message from Big Boned Guy ," I reached. 7.5km. Longer distance than I expected. Fang Tai should be dying by now."

I believe that 5km should be the limit for Fang Tai, and on top of that, she mentioned that she was still aching from her Zumba lesson from the day before. Er ooohhh. Do we need to rescue her?

Luckily, the mother of two has more endurance than we would have guessed. She made it back in one piece and the first thing that she ordered, was a bowl of high calories Bak Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodle)

We were shaking our head at her choice of breakfast, but she glared at us and retorted, "I deserve a good meal after breaking my limits!"

That's true....

Jia you Fang Tai!


Selfie!! Cheers!


 

 

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