Balderdash

"In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything." - Jeffery F. Chamberlain

***

On Saturday, I went with MFM and Acidflask to visit Kampong Buangkok, the last kampong on mainland Singapore. MFS was supposed to come along too, but he was lazy to get out of bed after a wild night, so.

Road in. Instead we went in by the back door.

Probably someone rich come to visit (not in the Kampong proper, but along the canal).

Path in

Stream

Stream spoilt by the concrete pipes

House exterior

MFM and Acidflask

House

Hibiscus (and not Vanda Miss Joaquim, tsk)

They're electrified. Somehow I didn't expect this.

Papaya tree

Another house

Notice the SembWaste dustbin and the street light (!). It may be a Kampong, but touches of modern Singapore are still visible. Another is how doors were locked in at least some inhabited homes (many houses have been vacated as people move out).

Moss

My theory was that the windchimes were a burglar alarm, but apparently they're something to do with spirits.

The glorious SembWaste dustbin

"Lorong Buangkok. 1954."
For the kids, 1954 is the postal code, and not a year.

Porch

We encountered a man sharpening his parang with a stone, and he talked to us for a while, though he declined to have his picture taken ("One million dollars!"). They used to have a small shop in there, but they had no business since people had moved out (and mostly old people are left), so it's now a Karang Guni. He also pointed out a coconut tree - banglas sometimes come over and climb it and pick the fruit; there used to be a Malay man with a trained monkey, but he doesn't come by anymore.

Playhouse

Vegetation

I thought this was a rope for people to hang themselves when they were sick of the kampong life, but the guy twiddled with it and showed that it was actually:

A swing for children

Bridge showcasing the juxtaposition between old (wooden planks) and new (fresh, new railings, painted green, like you'd find in the rest of the island)