One of the things I most enjoyed in my growing up days was the frequent visits we made to Astroworld. It was a great theme park, with lots ofoutstanding roller coasters, as well as less "extreme" rides, and plenty of theme shows. It was a great way to while away a summer day, taking in all the funw ith a group of friends. Several summers when I was a teenager, we got season passes that allowed us to enter the park all summer long, whether to spend a day or just a few hours. We spend many hours at that park, sometimes on days when hardly anyone else was there and we could ride our favorite roller coasters over and over without having to line up.
Those were the days!
I was sad that Astroworld closed down a few years ago. When I would go back to visit my parents, if it was summer, that was always a place I'd take my Singaporean friends who visited with me — sort of a way of sharing my own memories of my growing up days with them. When the park finally closed down, my family members told me they were able to make a last visit to Astroworld, enjoying it all one final time before it closed its gates. But I wasn't able to be there for that, and can't help but feel a little sad that the land it was built on just got to be too valuable for it to remain viable to run the park.
I was glad to see, on my recent trips home, that there's a new roller coaster in the area, not far from my parents' place. It is on the Kemah Boardwalk, right off of Highway 146 (just under the big bridge), and it's called the Bullet. It's an old fashioned looking wooden roller coaster, full of twists and turns, and of course all those great drops that leave your stomach at the peak long after you've made the turn at the bottom of the hill.
The only real drawback to the Bullet, especially for those of us who remember how Astroworld operated, is that you don't get a whole day pass to ride it as often as you like, and it can get a little costly. There are, though, package plans that make it doable, and it is certainly fun enough to warrant spending a few extra bucks.
and join us for the book club discussion going on now and join us for the ongoing book club discussion , just click here click here and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February
and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February and join us for the book club discussion in mid-February
Singapore's west side is teeming with wildlife at this time of year. Last week, when I was on a cycling trip from Buona Vista to Jurong Bird Park and back, I encountered lots of wild creatures right in the HDB heartlands. Three different times, I saw monitor lizards over 2 feet long (two of the three were well over a meter in length). The slow, awkward-looking animals were lazing around near the canals that run alongside the Japanese and Chinese Gardens, enjoying the newly completed cycling paths nearly as much as I was.
Besides the big monitor lizards, which are always in the area, there were lots of fowl friends flying about. We spotted herons, egrets, cranes, and many other types of birds that are wintering here in Singapore's pleasant climate. They sat along the either side of our path throughout most of the day. Right now is a good time for bird lovers in Singapore, because the southward migration of birds has made many breeds visible that may not normally be seen here.
The birds will be moving northward again in the next few months, so if you are the sort who enjoys seeing wildlife moving about in urban landscapes, this is a really good time to head over to the western parts of the island and enjoy the guests who are residing amongst us at the moment.
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