Labrador Park and Nature Reserve, Singapore

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Saturday, 27th November 2010

I decided I must do this trip today. So after picking up my passport at the ICA Office this afternoon, I headed straight to the Harbourfront Bus Terminal where I hopped on to the weekend bus service, Park 408. This would bring me right to the doorsteps of the Labrador Park and Reserve for SGD1. The bus journey took around 20 minutes, passing through the Telok Blangah Estate before turning into Pasir Panjang Road where the park was located.

Labrador Park had everything under one roof. A gazetted nature reserve since 2002, it was home to a disused historical fort containing the various war relics of the bygone era. At its highest point, it offered an excellent vantage view of the South China Sea.

With so few visitors even on a Saturday afternoon, this was certainly a very quiet place to get close to nature by embarking on a series of easy to follow trails throughout the park. I was certainly impressed by the various war relics scattered throughout the reserve. The guns, the machine gun posts and the underground tunnels were tastefully restored. The various storyboards gave a brief account of World War II and the coastal defence initiatives to shore up the Singapore fortress.

I seconded that Labrador Park as an informative sanctuary for anybody interested in World War II and would like to avoid the touristy (pricey) Fort Siloso in Sentosa. It also provided an excellent alternative to get away from the crowded shopping malls. All you need is a good pair of running shoes and plenty of drinking water to admire the beauty of this piece of unusual oasis of Singapore.

Let your legs do the walking and the storyboards do the talking. An inexpensive way to attend an outdoor history lesson on a sunny afternoon.

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