Recreational Park

East Coast Park, Singapore     

After taking my brunch (breakfast+lunch) in McDonald’s here with my sister, I headed towards the park. I had earlier explained to my sister what my purpose to the park was. She was really nice to wait for me in McDonald’s for an hour while I do my observation. As I make my way towards the beach park, I felt really awkward. I don’t’ know what to observe or write about the environment. So I told myself maybe I should pretend to be a deaf so that I’ll learn to see things from their perspective which is seeing moving things without noise.  It was difficult because my head turned whenever I hear funny sounds. As I reached the cycling track, I just stood still. There were SO MANY people and activities going on. It definitely felt like Agong’s Birthday here although it was just another Saturday for the Singaporeans. This reclaimed land is totally a place for families and friends to relax and enjoy themselves. The park has barbecue pits, amenities for outdoor sports, food and beverage outlets and an inline cycling/skating track that runs along the perimeter of the park. East Coast Park is also a home to dozens of authentic and delicious eateries, including seafood restaurants, hawker food and Japanese cuisine. There were absolutely a lot of things I can write about the park. For a start however, I only wanted to act deaf and see things without sound.

To stay focus with the agenda, I went hunting for the perfect spot for me to sit and observe. As I was doing so, I noticed there were so many colourful camping tents. Families actually camp there? This is something I have not seen in Malaysia recreational parks! Ah, I finally found a cozy spot to sit and observe. Sitting there was this mummy maybe in her mid 30s who was reading a book. I thought she has to be a mummy when I noticed the baby cart beside her. There was also a camping tent next to this bench where the mummy was sitting. I thought while she’s reading her baby must be sleeping in the tent. Since I was playing deaf girl, I pointed the bench and raised my eye brows. She replied saying “Yes sure!” I replied with a smile and sat down. I thought “Okayyyyy that was really weird! I actually hear her but I’m not going to reply her with any words!”  Smiling, I began my observation assignment.

In front of me, I saw clear blue skies, white clouds and the dark blue sea!  The sea was calm and the weather was excellent with gentle breeze blowing towards where I was sitting. I was shaded from the sun by the tall trees around me.  It was about 10 meters away from the beach. In between, you will find people set up camping tents just beside the jogging track. The beach and the jogging track are separated by a long red coloured rope that ties on post barriers which runs along the beach line. Here, we also have some young coconut trees just to complete the landscape of a beautiful beach. There are a also lot of people overlooking the sea and some are snapping photos with their gigantic SLR cameras. Then along came this Mat Salleh and his Chinese girl friend who were trying to snap a picture with the beautiful sea. The girl leaned on one of those post barriers and posed. The Mat Salleh snapped her photo. Then, she run to his side to check on the digital camera he was holding. The shot must have been bad that she returned to the same spot for a second shot. Afterwards she went over and checked again. This time she nodded, giggled and hugged the Mat Salleh and together they walked away. What a romantic sight!  

As I looked on my right, I saw a short hair Malay mummy and 2 of her kids went to a bench beside mine. I was thinking why are there so many mummies around today? Where are the daddies?  Here was one sitting next to me and then this Malay mummy. Anyway, I assumed the girl and boy are her daughter and son probably age 6 and 3 years old respectively. The mummy handed them their playing beach tools. The sister and brother then took their purple-yellow-blue coloured playing beach tools and start scooping sand from the camping ground. Suddenly I was reminded of myself doing the exact same thing back in Port Dickson when I was just a toddler!   I was also scooping sands into the pail with my younger cousin brother. I remembered it well because I had a photo taken of me doing that.  It was good to see that children today still do the same thing. Not bad!

Then, I looked in front of me. I saw a bald man literally strolling on the beach. It was terribly hot and sunny out there and this bald man was nicely clad in his T-shirts and jeans and strolling on the beach! Even though it was cooling from where I was sitting, I can still imagine the heat out there! However his shiny bald head caught my attention as I begin having thoughts about frying egg on his head with the natural heat available.  How silly of me!   Looking further away from this bald man, I noticed big ships and tankers anchored on the sea. One of the ships must belong to Hyundai. The company logo was as big as the tanker itself that I think my grand mother with poor vision can tell the colour of the logo. My sight was quickly distracted by the bell rang from a bicycle. Another mummy was cycling from my right to left with her baby toddler sitting at the back cart. The baby boy (I think since he was dressed in blue shirt and pants) was so adorable!  His pair of round innocent eyes and a slightly opened O shaped mouth truly paints a picture of an innocent child wondering what all these moving things around him were!  After the mummy cycled away, then came a couple walking their pair of big brown dogs from my left to right. I noticed that the dogs were of the same breed but 1 was male and the other was female. I’m guessing that the couple must have puppies of the same breed at home.

Then I heard the Malay mummy calling her children to walk to another side. I turned to look back at them. They were walking to the left of where I was sitting. The sun must be too glaring on the bench their mummy was sitting so they decided to switch to another spot. As they were carrying their little scoops and pails shifting to the area on my left, the mummy who was cycling with her baby came cycling back. I couldn’t help but to notice her baby again.  He was still staring blankly probably just like me, trying to look for interesting things. As they cycled away, I looked over to the mummy who was on the same bench with me. She went into her tent few times and I began to wonder why was her baby sleeping alone for so long? Holding that thought, the mummy suddenly walked away! Oh no!  She’s not leaving her baby behind and thinking I’m going to guard the tent right? Or if there was any baby inside the tent?  Well there has to be a baby since there’s a baby cart. Then I saw her walking towards the left side of the beach which is quite a distance from where I was sitting. There she was greeted by a man and a baby! Now I guess it explained the reason why she was reading the book all alone while her husband and baby were playing in the beach! I just shook my head for jumping into conclusion too soon. I chuckled myself and begin to notice the change in weather. It was quite windy and the sun wasn’t that glaring anymore. Still I can taste the smell of the beautiful sea. I looked at my watch and it was already 12.16 pm.

I thought I should finish up with my observation and start looking for something final to write about. So I got up to walk over to the cycling track to admire the sea view. Here, I saw a young and fair looking mummy who was putting sun block lotion for her daughter. I thought this brown shoulder length hair mummy is really pretty. The daughter probably at the age of 10 was wearing a colourful pair of bikini. The mummy was applying the sun block on her daughter’s back. After that, she turned the daughter around and applied on her face, neck, hands and legs. Next, she was adjusting the bikini top and bottom making sure that they are worn properly. Looking at them, I thought I would never allow my mom to adjust my bikinis the way she did in the public! It was pretty embarrassing! But then again, I don’t remember owning a pair of bikini! After that, the daughter ran along with another girl who was probably around her age for some sand scooping! They too had their very own sets of beach tools! Then their respective mummies got together and started taking off their clothes and thus revealed the bikinis they were wearing.  One wore a pair of white bikini while the other wore a black one. Together, they joined their daughters in sand scooping. At this point, I was still wondering where are all the daddies?   By far I only spotted a daddy hanging out with the mummy who just sat with me on the same bench. The two sexy mummies later went into the sea and have a good dip while chatting with one another. It was truly a relaxing day to see children playing and mummies enjoying themselves at the same time. Then I turned behind to look at the mummy who sat next to me earlier, her husband and baby are all sitting with her now. Before walking back to McDonald’s to meet my sister, I have a last look at the sexy mummies. Now their daughters have joined them in the sea and they were splashing water at one another. What a lovely scene to see mother and daughter bonding time.

As I turned away and walked back towards McDonald’s, I couldn’t help but think that East Coast Park is truly a wonderful place for families and friends. Everywhere I turn there were groups and groups of people doing something together. There were groups of people cycling, roller-skating, flying kites and setting up camping tents. Then there were couples who were walking their pets while some were jogging. I wish I had a longer time to explore the whole park instead of staying at one spot. However, my poor sister had been sitting alone for an entire hour and I don’t have the heart to tell her to cancel the rest of the agenda she had planned for my short trip to Singapore. I told my sister that I have to visit East Coast Park once again! The truth is that, this was the second time I’m visiting the park. I must admit it was because of this observation assignment that has made me realized that this park has so much to offer! While we were walking towards the taxi stand just right outside McDonald’s takeaway counter, I bumped into the bald man that I saw earlier! I recognized him by shirt and jeans he wore! Not to mentioned his shiny bald head. He was buying sundae ice cream from the take away counter! If this observation assignment has taught me anything this would be one of it: remembering someone significant!