April 20, 2014 Update : I was cycling on the way
to my Dragonboat practice and this time I saw Kallang PA!
The building still stands! It's just that it seems to
blend in with the surroundings. Also the gate is
locked and I could not get in. Anyway, here's a
pic I took this morning :
These past few weeks / months I've been attending
Dragonboat practice in Kallang. We're preparing for
the first race of the season AKA MR500.
I go to Kallang using my bike. I normally go out
of the house at 6:30AM, cycle to Kallang and go
through the closed-off roads/construction area to
East Coast Park. I'll cycle to SAFRA and then
do a U-turn, go to Kallang KFC, have porridge
for breakfast and then go to Kallang Dragonboat
nursery at 9AM to meet up with my team.
I've been doing this for quite some time ... until
... it struck me ... where is the Kallang Airport Tower?
I can't find it ! Is it still there? So one morning I
brought a mountain bike instead of a road bike and
cycled around that area .... I still can't find it !
Has it been demolished?
Sighhhh ... anyway, I managed to find the gates
to Kallang PA. I remember that when the car / taxi
that I am riding in goes through the gates, the
surroundings was cool due to the shady trees.
You might ask why this place is special to me.
Here goes. Do you notice that Remote Control
Race Track at East Coast Park? The one where
RC Car addicts race their 1/8 on-road gas cars?
Looonnnnggggg ago, it wasn't there. Also, loonngg
ago, I was one of those RC car addicts. We didn't
have any place to run our cars. So there we were,
having toy cars that cost thousands of dollars and
can reach speeds in excess of 80kph and yet we don't
have any place to run them.
Until Winnie of Swan Models whispered to me that
there is this place in Kallang where like minded
people meet to run their cars.
That 'place in Kallang' was actually the big lot
behind the Kallang PA. I went there one Sunday
morning and saw people make a 'race track' with
corner dots. Then more people will come and then
they will contribute more corner dots.
These meetups were a very relaxed affair. People
come with coffee in plastic bags. They will sip their
coffee, hang them by the string on their big bags
(we used luggages last time, yes, complete with
Samsonite markings) and drive for a tank or
two then come back to their coffee and chit chat.
You will always get help tuning your engine,
truing AND gluing your tires, repairing your car.
You can even buy some parts from those who
carry lots of spares.
I started my RC addiction with a Tamiya TA01
car. But my FIRST race was in Kallang PA using
a Picco RS600. The race track was deadly to our
toy cars because it was made up of unforgiving
4x4s. I think I finished last. I didn't even finish
my qualifying heat as I refuelled very early
so as not to be a victim of the dreaded pitstop
traffic jam. But my refuel was so early there
was not even a pitstop! So while my car was
refuelling, another car came and hit my car!
My car went back to the unassembled kit
form and broke some aluminium wishbones.
(Yes, those times, Picco had aluminium wish-
bones! Not plastic like today).
So 1 wishbone back then was 50$ and I
didn't have spares. Come on who could break
an aluminium wishbone on a toy car? Hehehe
I could. So my race day was over and I went
home.
That was the LAST Time I went in Kallang PA.
So last Sunday, I took pictures of the gates of
Kallang PA and said goodbye to another Singapore
landmark :-(
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