Our vanishing kampong...

Read about the Government’s plans to demolish and develop kampong Lorong Buangkok, our last surviving kampong (village) of its kind in our country. Thus, like many other kiasu guys, I decided to make a trip there to see for myself the kampong in question before it is destroyed.

Located in some corner of Yio Chu Kang, at the junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Lorong Buangkok Road is a quaint little village that's so near, yet so far from urban civilisation, far from the maddening crowd.

Chat with a few residents there. One reminisced about the good old days when the kampong was a lot more alive. The different races mixed around freely then, taking care of each other as if they were a big family. While some residents lamented about the uncertainty of Kampong Lorong Buangkok's future, there some residents who were not bothered by the news at all - they are still renovating their houses!

Glad that I made this trip today, otherwise, I would have missed what a real Malay culture was like! Most of us urbanites live in flats and once home, we are confined in our four-walled cells without knowing what’s happening outside the 4 walls. Though a short chat with the folks but enough to transport my mind back to when it was quieter, where the air was crisper and when life was, well, a lot simpler. If you want to get a real feel of Singapore history, I strongly recommend you to visit this place, our last kampong, before it is gone.


left: a old-fashioned letter box of house no. 13
right: their toilet and bath


left: this Guan Yin statue stands behind house no. 13
right: card playing is the past time of these friendly uncles.


right: this house belongs to a Chinese; notice the "Tu Di Ye" below the right window;
left: the side of the same house.


left: This house has a signboard above its main door, maybe they are operating a home business?


left: the drain lessens flood in this area.

above: a karang guni store, where discarded items gathered

left: a 'jia hong zhu' (meaning luxurious house) by kampong standard

right: this house has just been renovated, looks like they are not bothered by the news

More photos of the other houses and scenes of the kampong...

left: this canal separates the kampong from the opposite detached houses

right: old road sign of Lorong Buangkok

Desaru, this week...

This week, we headed for Desaru, a popular beach resort, located on the eastern tip of the peninsula. I've been here before, just that I was wondering if there is anything new now...

Desaru is a village of casuarinas with 25km of clean sandy white beaches with a lush tropical forest. The beach is quite unique as the sand is quite grayish but you can walk nearly 50m into the sea and still the depth is approximately 4 feet deep. The clean water has made many water sporting activities such as snorkeling, fishing, boating and canoeing possible.

Desaru is a popular destination for tourists as well as locals. The numerous resorts and hotels cater to the budget traveler as well as families seeking fun in the sun. Among some of the many activities include golfing, horseback riding, tennis, canoeing, swimming, boating, fishing, snorkeling, jungle trekking, theme park and other sea sports.


Let's go to the Desaru Fruit Farm first...


per entry is now RM18 per adult & RM12 per child...


right: dragon fruit; left: flower of a dragon fruit


left: baby jack fruit; right: big one


left: mango; right: breadfruit


left: passion fruit; right: roselle


left: langsat; right: banana


left: pineapple; right: passion fruit



The guide took us around the garden and showed us the various herbs. He also explain to us their curative properties and how to use them for various illnesses

left: assam leave;

right: this herb gives laksa that minty flavour. Yes, when dried, these become our 'laksa leaves'

left: basil leave; right: cat whiskers (apparently good for treating a range of kidney ailments)

left: lemon grass

below: jambu trail begins...

Desaru Ostrich Farm

Next we visited the Ostrich Farm. Here you get to see the life cycle of an ostrich. You also get to hold an ostrich egg (it's huge!) and even stand on it. There were also various displays showing the different stages (from one day old ostrich to week old ostrich). There was also a shop selling ostrich related products.

Entry ticket is RM10 per person.

What was special about this trip to the Ostrich farm was I got to witness a female ostrich laying egg! Oh my God, she merely gave two pushes and an egg dropped on the ground (see picture below). Then she just walked back to join her mates.

The guide said the egg was "useless" because there was no baby ostrich inside the egg, meaning that this egg was meant for consumption.

We were told that every egg layed by an ostrich is given an unique number. And this egg's number was 8032!

Bye-bye ostrich. See u again!

It was time for lunch! We had our lunch at Jade Garden Seafood Corner.

We ordered 2 steamed jumbo prawns, a steamed fish, a plate of stir-fried ostrich meat and a plate of sambal kangkong. They costed us RM 109.60 which was about S$46. I don't think we can get this price for similar food at East Coast Seafood Centre. No wonder this restaurant is so famous among Singaporeans.

Desaru Beach

Look at these natural sand formation on the beach!

but where is everybody???