To Punggol, With Love


this morning was ok. at about 9am..it was getting pretty darn hot.
maybe u juz do a check wif the met service b4 u leave ur home.. they have got rainfall reports for various areas
 

A Field Report

Hi guys, went to no.1 this morning..the mouth of the river.. 1st time going in, went alone lah. was there at about 7plus am.

My takeaway lessons..

1) always walk with ur tripod (maybe ur monopod) in front of ur face... say about 20cm infront.. helps break thru the spider webs that was made earlier in the night.

2) Do Not wear jeans. if you are gng early in the morn. the early morning dew is going to wet ur jeans, ....yea..wet ur pants.. making ur jeans heavy. luckily i was wearing a pair of cotton long pants. by end of everything, from my thigh downwards..all wet.

3) wear worn out shoes. i was wearing sandals.. now..my sandals koyak already.. besides, i gotta lift my knees to walk.. u know..to prevent dragging my feet along the undergrowth as the blades of the grasses or roots may cut ur exposed part of the feet if u are wearing sandals. after my little fieldtrip, my legs tired coz of the lifting.

4) better to go wif a partner, coz if sae u sprain ankle or fall (*touch wood*), at least got someone with u.

5) morning, no mozzies. i din get a single bite.

think tats all i have. thanks for reading.

thanks niki! updated the information on the 1st post :)
 

Today. I made my first attempt to shoot at Punggol. I found the The Drain easily at Punggol East. I was only able to shoot at Location No.11 and 12 as recommended by Eikin due to being complacent in preparation and the abrupt change in weather.

The entrance to this route seems almost impossible at the start. The drainage ended abruptly with a concrete platform hanging over the top. Beside the concrete platform was thick growth. After screening through the region, I found a potential track which seems like one that has been taken by the other photographers in CS, or even Eikin himself. I extended my tripod to full length and used it as a walking stick. I started to trek down a short but steep slope that seems rather hazardous, bashed through tall mimosa ("touch-me-not") trees and grass that is almost chest level. I probed for possible potholes using my tripod before I made any firm step. Finally, I was rewarded with gigantic stone slabs that I had no difficulty moving forward in a 'Lara Croft-like' movement. Shortly, I reached the converging point of two drains. These drains seems like potential shooting spots for the AG Dungeons explorers. I was greeted by some "waterfall" to test my ND8 filter. I realised that I could not move any more forward as there are not more stone slabs and dry marsh for me to step on. The water level is almost shin level and I believe that if I had my Army Gortex boots, I should be able to move on. Apparantly, there was someone with an Army boots as well as the shoeprint seems fresh. I was rather disappointed because I believed that the end of this route would be a rewarding one with a sight of Coney Island and where Serangoon river opens into the sea (Locations no.1-4). By the end of the shoot, I was drenched in sweat and glad I had not worn jeans. But I was punished by tons of mild scratches from the mimosa trees.

I definitely need to revisit with my boots and No.4 slack (maybe, to make myself feel more garang). Most importantly, must have the mentality to get dirty and the least to worry is any possbile presence of crocs.


Here are my shots. nothing fantastic but just to share with those who are planning to visit.

Today's shoot is not possible without the contributors in the thread especially Eikin.
Thanks guys. Hope to bump into one of you guys one of these days.
For those who stay in AMK like myself and don't drive, can attempt (a crazy one) to take Bus 88, drop off at Sengkang bus stop B13 (before it turns into TPE) and take a 10-20 mins walk to junction of Punggol Road & Punggol Dale.
 



Here are my shots. nothing fantastic but just to share with those who are planning to visit.


wah. thats adventurous. and to think i was gonna try trek myself to this place tom or the day after :sweat:
 

wah. thats adventurous. and to think i was gonna try trek myself to this place tom or the day after :sweat:
Oh, and if you want to spend more than 3 hours there please, please, if it's sunny maybe put sunblock or something.

I got a delayed peeling thing, after the shot the other day, I thought it won't peel, but it happened anyways. =(
 

Hi,
while walking there, i have seen some cars drove right inside to where the water is (around 18 and 36 area) and fishing there. Anyone have directions on how to drive all the way deep inside?
 

0_punggol.jpg

see location 14, you can drive there
after which you cont. going straight and at the end of the road there is an opening
to off road area.

drive in and keep right, you will come to a bridge.
on the bridge keep right as the left side looks like the wood is not too strong
right wheels on the metal bridge and left wheels on the stronger wood section
(i may be wrong, judge for yourself when you get there)

keep going straight and you will come to the spot opposite the drain at location 1.

BTW I just came back from there
and i saw 3 other photographers on the otherside of the drain

DSC_1159.jpg
 

Wonderful shots from Eikin and Ortega.:thumbsup:
 

Anyone wants to go Punggol tomorrow in the afternoon?
 

0_punggol.jpg

see location 14, you can drive there
after which you cont. going straight and at the end of the road there is an opening
to off road area.

drive in and keep right, you will come to a bridge.
on the bridge keep right as the left side looks like the wood is not too strong
right wheels on the metal bridge and left wheels on the stronger wood section
(i may be wrong, judge for yourself when you get there)

keep going straight and you will come to the spot opposite the drain at location 1.

BTW I just came back from there
and i saw 3 other photographers on the otherside of the drain

DSC_1159.jpg


Cycled in to where Alex mentioned (directions is very accurate). Saw a van there. Guess its driveable if you don't mind driving off road. Hope the pics below may be of some help for those who are going in. (Did not do a good assessment as it seems like storm is coming)

"see location 14, you can drive there
after which you cont. going straight and at the end of the road there is an opening
to off road area.

2.jpg


drive in and keep right, you will come to a bridge. (approximately 600m from off road opening)
on the bridge keep right as the left side looks like the wood is not too strong
right wheels on the metal bridge and left wheels on the stronger wood section
(i may be wrong, judge for yourself when you get there)

6.jpg


keep going straight and you will come to the spot opposite the drain at location 1.

9.jpg
"

Just my 2 cents worth. Do keep right as you are driving or cycling in as the sand seems to be firmer there. I forgot abt keeping right and my bike got caught in the soft sand on a few occasions.
 

Wah! Very interesting and informative thread! Lovely pics by Eikin and the rest of the gang. I hope we get some good lights soon. Anyway, I usually hang around point 35-37. Still need to venture more I guess.

Here are some of my takes:

20070306232941_ac0t7076_4_5.jpg



20070311214141_ac0t7085_3_4.jpg



20070314224611_ac0t7092.jpg
 

Wow hazmee, first one is absolutely superb in my book! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 

Amazing! It's almost got that "300" feel to the pics!
 

Swee!!! How you do it? :o :bigeyes: :eek:
 

nice HDR processing there hazmee, pretty dramatic :)
 

after my last visit,
i decided to go back to the drain again for a second round.
but was flooded.
so i searched around and found the alternative way in, if i am not wrong, as mentioned by Ortega.
Reached the end of the drain finally (Location 1).
Just a question... the island I see there is Coney Island or Pulau Ubin?
After a while of relaxing and enjoying the sunbake and wind,
I realised that the tide subsided and I crossed the drain and went back by Location 14.
There from 12nn -5pm, not the best time to be there, hazy skies.
Lost my lousy tripod head along the way...
now tripod without head.. useless... anyone find it, let me know ok! :-D
It is a Steinseizer (similar to those cheap digipod one).
my friend laughed at me and tell me to buy a good one instead...
anyway, share some pictures.

 

some things you can find in the drain, when i tried heading back towards Location 12 from Location 1. but the site at location 12 was apparantly still flooded... I think the water there is clearing at a very slow rate compared to the huge drain at location 1.



please pardon my boring pictures. me very noob and dunno how to make my pictures chio chio like many of you folks here.
 

sorry to hear that you lost the tripod head, you walked across the drain? it's rather slippery, got to be really really careful! and those are really interesting finds, thanks for your updates :)
 

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