Kranji Farms Tour Guide 2016 / 2017
Hello! I know many of the times, I address IreviewUread as a Beauty, DIY and lifestyle blog but you don’t really see much lifestyle posts right? Well, in this post that is going to change for I’m going to present to you a guide on Kranji Farm Tour! If you’ve been updated with my Instagram Stories - @IreviewUreadsh - I’ve been capturing moments of me wondering around farms just the other day. These are the farms I’ve visited and will be touching on in this post. To start off, here’s a map of the area which we will be covering. Since I took their shuttle bus - The Kranji Express, my journey will be based on that. You can view the schedule of the shuttle bus HERE. I’ll be touching on more details of the shuttle further down the post. Orange line - Route of the shuttle bus Places touched in the post: Hay Dairies Jurong Frog Farm Kranji World War II First landing site Bollywood Veggies Kranji Marshes The opening hours and website of each location will be linked at the end of each part for your reference. It’s better to check out what’s happening at their social media before you visit for they have new events and fleas at different dates. For further reference, do download the respective maps here: Kranji CountrySide Map - JPG Kranji Heritage Map - JPG No they are not viruses, I just linked them to my Google drive for tumblr have a great way of reducing the photo quality of the image in text posts. Anyways back to the Kranji Express, fares cost SGD$3 per adult, SGD$1 for senior citizens and children below 12 years old. The great thing is you can hop on and off the bus at your respective stops so it’s not a one trip only thing. Personally, I felt that it’s quite worth it plus it goes to the main Kranji Farms eg. Jurong Frog Farm, Bollywood Veggies etc. If you have any questions, you can ask the bus driver. Despite being a chinese nation, I find that he was very friendly and he understands basic english! Do note that its a small mini bus so try not to bring your class of 40. Another thing to note would be the bus driver does have his own lunch time and dinner time aside from the time listed in the schedule. However, he will set a time with you and pick you up at the given time punctually :) With that, let’s start with the first farm. Hay Dairies - Goat Farm This is the farm which you would want to visit first if you want to watch the milking of the goats. Goats milking starts early in the morning until 10.30am. Assuming you are coming from Kranji MRT via the shuttle bus, you can board the 830am bus or the 930am bus in order to catch the goat’s milking session. When you first arrive at the entrance, you’ll be greeted by the cashier and the seating area. Behind that was this interactive area for the kids to learn more about goats, sheeps and their relatives. There are touchable wools and information boards to be read. For those stamp collectors, there’s a display of goat stamps for viewing. Goats milking happens everyday. As long as you are there before 1030am, you get to hear the emcee teaching you more about goats and their milk. I’m not sure if the presentation would be done in English for when I was there, it was in mandarin. After the first round of milking the goats dry, the goats were released back to their nest and another batch of goats took their positions. Thereafter, we left to explore the feeding and petting area. Do you know that baby goats are called kids You can purchase a bag of hay for SGD$5 for feeding the goats. Do note that the adult goats will be more aggressive as compared to the kids. If you’re afraid but still want to experience the feeding and petting, do abide by this rule: Start small then go big. I’m not sure if you are supposed to touch their antlers or not but they are surprisingly soft! Finally, when you are done with the feeding and petting, wash up and get yourself some fresh goats milk. There are 2 variants available - Original and chocolate. The 200ml bottle cost SGD$2.50 and the 800ml bottle cost SGD$8.00. For those of you whom have never tried goats milk before, I would suggest that you get the chocolate flavored one first for goats milk takes abit of getting used to. In addition to that, goats milk is really good for those whom are lactose intolerant. You can check out more information about goats milk and their benefits on their website. Hay Dairies Address: 3 Lim Chu Kang Lane 4, Singapore 718859 Opening Hours: 9:00am to 4:00pm (Monday, Wednesday to Sunday) Farm is closed on every Tuesday More information: Facebook | Website Jurong Frog Farm 牛蛙场 Next, we are traveling to the Frog Farm AKA 牛蛙场. Back when I was about primary 4, my mother brought me here with a tour group. I remembered it was old and filled with “boxes” of frogs. Alike many little girls, I was not impressed and swore to never come back here again. Yet, here I am. Honestly speaking, they seemed to have spruce up the place with colorful murals and attractive signs. It was also a lot more cleaner than it was in my memory. Now, the part which was engraved in my mind. I guess 10 years old me thought that the frogs are going to all jumped up and attack me at once. 11 years have passed since that memory, and now I only view them as bored little creatures enclosed in their rooms. One thing which have changed and got me questioning is, “Why is there a duck in there?” On another note, you can feed them. However, if they actually jumped onto you and attack you while you feeding then … Frog catching with a net is encouraged for the adventurous. I bet it must be hard considering frogs are slimy and such. After walking round the frog farm, we were back to the entrance. Located there is this humble little royal frog shop selling frog meat, hashima jelly, crocodile meat, fish meat and more. You can view the full selection here. Besides frozen food, fried food was also available. They were having a promotion where we can get a set of fried frog skin, fried frog and royal hashimaya jelly for SGD$20. However, I swapped the frog meat for crocodile meat for crocodile meat seemed interesting to try right? Anyways, my verdict is crocodile meat taste a lot like frog’s meat but it’s tougher with more bones. Just as the frog’s skin taste similar to fish skin but less crispier and you can see the veins. Personally, I feel that this is worth a try if you are in the area. For those of you who have not tried frog meat before, don’t be afraid just try them. It’s great! I would say it taste like chicken but it don’t. That doesn’t mean it taste bad you know. Anyways I’m deviating, for more information on Jurong Frog Farm, their products and their tours do visit their sites below. Jurong Frog Farm Address: 51 (Plot 56) Lim Chu Kang Lane 6 Singapore 718864 Opening Hours: Closed on Mondays Tuesday – Friday, 9-6pm (Strictly reserved for Tour Bookings and pick up of purchases ONLY) Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays Except CNY first 3 days (Open to all general public, 9am -5.30pm) Website: Facebook | Instagram | Website Since we are in the area, we decided to walk to the back where there seemed to be more farms. However, there were no pedestrian walkway on the roads. Luckily there were not that much vehicles. To keep the long story short, we got lost under the hot sun, on the long road so we decided to move on to the Kranji World War II site - which was not a good decision either. Along the way, we came across this field of purple orchids - No we didn’t get one, it would be madness to walk with a pot of orchids. Kranji - WWII First Landing Site Finally after a long walk to the end, we reached the site and what a sight it was. Look at the luscious grass and overgrown weeds. History have set a mark on this place. It was such a shame that reality have taken over. To save you the trouble, here’s the wordings on the board if you are interested. Bollywood Veggies After the hike back up to Jurong Frog Farm to take the bus to Bollywood Veggies, we were famished. Thus, we head to the bistro. Poison Ivy Bistro This Bistro have an indoors and outdoors sitting. Most of the time the indoors sitting are filled unless you make a reservation, so just sit outside and enjoy the view. The Bistro was decorated with the farm in mind. Yellow words on green wood seemed to be a Bollywood Veggies theme. In addition to that, glass are installed instead of walls for an open concept ambiance. For a huge portion of food, this set was only SGD$15 for 2 pax. The chilli might be spicier then usual but it’s all good. Free flow cucumber water too - Do you know cucumber water can be used to detoxify your body? Read more natural beauty treatments Here. This is the Nasi Lemak set, there are 2 other sets available. The price varies depending on the sets and the number of people. Good news for vegetarian: There’s a vegetarian set available too! Here is a banana map of the Bollywood Veggies farm on one side and the Kranji countryside trail on the other side. On the Bollywood Veggies farm map, you can see 2 paths. These are the paths which you can take for a self guided tour around Bollywood Veggies: Black path for a 10 minutes tour Green path from a 30 minutes tour Of course, we took the 30 minutes tour which was easily navigated with some green arrows as helping hands. If self guiding is not your thing, you can partake in the guided tours of Bollywood Veggies. Do find out more information about it on their facebook page for there seemed to be different activities happening everyday. For those whom are not too kin for a walking farm tour, you can hang around at the playground where you can throw some hoops, ride a bike (I’m not quite sure about that) and interact with the dogs. At the start of the farm tour, you’ll be greeted by climbing plants and so many variety of potted plants in reusable buckets. These are the green arrows which was our self tour ‘guide’ as mentioned above. There’re arrows for the 10 minutes path too! Along the way you’ll be greeted with a variety of signage. These signage, information sheets and plenty of fun facts around the farm, allow one to take a self guided tour easily. As the tour move along, you’ll see a variety of greens, rice paddy, pond, compost piles with snakes and lizards in it, butterfly dreams and more. Another common sight around the farm would be these quirky hand painted signs and unique areas bound to attract your attention. Eventually when you get tired during the tour you can take a break at their rest stops - beautifully decorated with the kampung spirit. Swing off a tree or see saw off a plank, it’s all in the spirit of being young again. In case you are wondering where the owner live, look no further for she lives here. Surrounded by her beloved dogs and trees. For schools and study groups, there’s even a recreational area for you! At the corners of the farm I noticed some abandon chairs and tables. It really does remind me of those days where we were coped in the classroom hoping the classroom will turn into a forest. That is now reality. Presenting the lotus lagoon. Finally when the tour ends, head back to the bistro and wait for your ride. Bollywood Veggies is definitely worth a visit, a farm which takes you back to the Kampung days but not too far back - just the right amount Bollywood Veggies | Posion Ivy Bistro Address: 100 Neo Tiew Road, Singapore 719026 Tel: +65 6898 5001 Opening Hours: Wed-Fri: 9am - 6pm Sat, Sun & PHs: 8am – 6.30pm Mon-Tue: Closed unless public holiday *Closed for a fortnight each year for Lunar New Year Website: Website | Facebook Kranji Marshes The last stop of the day would be the newly opened freshwater park, Kranji Marshes. Initially, we did not plan to go to the wetland. Since the sun was still up, we decided to make the last stop of the day. We arranged for the bus driver to come back to Kranji Gate (I shall refer to this area as the starting point) an hour later since we read online that it was only a 30 mins walk in - another horrible decision. It is a 30mins FAST walk not the brisk walk which we were expecting. Plus it’s a one way street. No shortcuts. You get out the same way you get in. The “nest” of your starting point. The icon which makes you real happy when you come back from your hike from Neo Tiew Woods. This black board could be found under the shelters of the marshes. I wonder if one can draw on it… After the long hike, we finally reached the Raptor tower. Mind you, the sun was crying that day so getting to the shelter was on my mind more than taking a photo of a three story tower (It’s 10.65 metres tall). Yup it ain’t that tall. Everything else was really flat. As seen above, following that path was the Kranji waters. I’m not sure if that is the reservoir or not but it most likely lead the way to the floating boardwalks. Don’t bother planning to climb the boardwalk for it’s only opened for special occasions. …or area which you can sit and watch the birds/sunset. Now, for the photo you may or may not have been waiting for. The view from the tower. It would have been better if there was a sunset or sunrise happening or maybe a majestic bird spreading it’s wings and flying in the sky. Take your pick. Since the time was running out, we had to rush back to the starting point where we agreed to meet the bus driver. I would definitely go back there again but I would not ask the driver to come back in an hour for that is definitely not enough time to explore and appreciate the wetland. Or even brisk walk from one point to another. Kranji Marshes Address - Kranji Gate: 11 Neo Tiew Lane 2, Singapore 718814 Opening hours: 7 am to 7 pm daily* *Technically the gates won’t close but due to the lack of street lights in the park, it’s recommended that people don’t go in or stay after dark. This applies to Coney Island as well. Website: NParks Website And that’s it for Kranji Farm Tour! This is also the last post of 2016 for IreviewUread. Wishing you a very Happy New Year and see you all next year! Don’t want to leave so soon? Stalk me on my social media for more updates! Instagram: @IreviewUreadsh Facebook: Ireviewuread
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