East Coast Park is the best sidewalk area in Singapore. It is extra best on weekdays, because there is one-for-one hour bike rental and limited amounts of crazy inline-beginners on the paved paths. 1-for-1 is the same as buy one hour, get one hour extra for free. In Swedish "1-for-1" makes no sense, so just putting things straight. And by sidewalk, I mean that this is a park where you can stay safely on the pavement and watch planted nature at a comfortable distance, at all times. Not a park where you need to venture into the unknown with mosquito spray and a knife for protection.
The best way to experience the park is to go by cab all the way to the hawker centre East Coast Lagoon Food Centre. Close to the car park you can rent your preferred bike; the little wagon bikes or tandem bikes being by far the most fun choice. Normal bikes are available for boring people. Take note that if you want to cycle all the way up and down the park (15 km according to Wikipedia!) the wagon bikes are not a good choice. One (or strictly speaking all four or six persons) can trample and hit the pedals like mad but still hardly get anywhere.
Going north (left from the bike rental) will give you the classic Singapore ocean view: loads of ships out in the sea, man-made white beaches, palm trees and every now and then a military drill, a Qi Gong group or a bbq party. Going south gives you opportunities to stop for coffee or at least grab a drink from a convenience shop. Other nice things to do is trying to spot some red faced lovers crawling out of what must feel like hell but actually is small tents, which in Singapore must be the equivalent of human steaming huts. As housing prices in this country are beyond insane, most Singaporeans live at home, and therefore practise the naughty stuff in hotels or tents.
More fun stuff: show off your upper body strength or at least try hanging & dangling, in one of the outdoor "gyms". Then stop by Ski360 cable ski, and check out some cool dudes and dudettes circle the lagoon and hopefully jump or fly over a couple of obstacles/ramps. Or watch the beginners fall flat in what is know as "the superman fall" two to three meters out from starting point. From what I have seen and heard mini golf at LilliPut, dinner at Brusselsprouts, swimming, skating at Xtreme skatepark, bowling at Regent Bowl and jogging are also among the things to do in this park.
Heading back to return the rented bicycles, don't forget to fuel up at the hawker centre. Satay, sea-food and local classic such as laksa, fried carrot cake and mi goreng are among the great dishes you can indulge in here.
Bicycle rent is around $10/hr and person, depending on what bike you go for. One can also get to the lovely East Coast Park by bus, and if Brusselsprouts is not your thing, there is everything from hawker to Carl's Jr (for hungover carnivores), Jumbo Seafood (try the chili crab), and availability to rent your own BBQ pit.
Going north (left from the bike rental) will give you the classic Singapore ocean view: loads of ships out in the sea, man-made white beaches, palm trees and every now and then a military drill, a Qi Gong group or a bbq party. Going south gives you opportunities to stop for coffee or at least grab a drink from a convenience shop. Other nice things to do is trying to spot some red faced lovers crawling out of what must feel like hell but actually is small tents, which in Singapore must be the equivalent of human steaming huts. As housing prices in this country are beyond insane, most Singaporeans live at home, and therefore practise the naughty stuff in hotels or tents.
Heading back to return the rented bicycles, don't forget to fuel up at the hawker centre. Satay, sea-food and local classic such as laksa, fried carrot cake and mi goreng are among the great dishes you can indulge in here.
Bicycle rent is around $10/hr and person, depending on what bike you go for. One can also get to the lovely East Coast Park by bus, and if Brusselsprouts is not your thing, there is everything from hawker to Carl's Jr (for hungover carnivores), Jumbo Seafood (try the chili crab), and availability to rent your own BBQ pit.
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