The East Coast thread!

[babystan03]

I went to this 2 places recently......totally different feel.....Sentosa has a very fun but touristy atmosphere.....while East Coast Park is very quiet and relaxing......

I shall start with East Coast Park......

You can get to East Coast Park using the underground pass at Marine Parade.....

Very, very quiet underpass......

Here's the entrance




The entrance (looking from the underpass)


The underground pass


I've reached the park.....


More pictures on the park coming up......

[babystan03]

If you like greenery and sea.....East Coast is the place for u......





Relaxing and chatting under the shades.......

[Chad]

Eastcoast park!!, great that I'm about to see it from your pics..

I'v passed it so many times when arrived in Singapore, just havnt got any chances to actually visit it

[babystan03]

Originally Posted by Chad

Eastcoast park!!, great that I'm about to see it from your pics..

I'v passed it so many times when arrived in Singapore, just havnt got any chances to actually visit it

Visit it next time then.....

[babystan03]

Never know East coast has so many cafes and eateries around......







My lunch up next......

[RafflesCity]

East Coast Park is a great place for relaxing!

I think its the biggest park in Singapore and the main venue for sea sports and beach activities as well as seafood.

More pics please!

[babystan03]

Originally Posted by RafflesCity

East Coast Park is a great place for relaxing!

I think its the biggest park in Singapore and the main venue for sea sports and beach activities as well as seafood.

More pics please!

Yeah....I think I'll visit the place more often now.....

Now the food.......

Like Kenny Rogers??

Quarters




Potato Salad


Soup of the day


Lemon Tea


So fulfiling...(but 'sinful' cos too much carbohydrates I think)...

[RafflesCity]

You can burn off the excess carbos by taking a long walk along the entire East Coast

[babystan03]

Originally Posted by RafflesCity

You can burn off the excess carbos by taking a long walk along the entire East Coast

That would be nice........

[rark]

wah.. east coast park is so different on the weekends !!

[baqthier]

Not sure if this wasn made before but...

Welcome to the East Coast of Singapore! Post pics of skyline, food, activities, animals etc!

PS: I've never seen how it looks like from the sea!

[RafflesCity]

hmmm..babystan has a thread on his visit to East Coast Park & Sentosa...should I merge that with this?

[baqthier]

Sure! hehe..I overlooked it

[RafflesCity]

ok merged the East Coast pics.

The original thread is still around

[babystan03]

15 December 2005

Costa Sands East Coast to close doors on Jan 3

SINGAPORE : The Costa Sands Resort at East Coast will permanently close from January 3 when its 30-year lease expires.

Staff of the National Trades Union Congress-run resort will not be retrenched but internally re-deployed within NTUC Club.

NTUC Club operates three other resorts -- Costa Sands Downtown East, Costa Sands Pasir Ris and Costa Sands Sentosa.

In 2008, a brand new 200-room beach resort will be opened at the Palawan Beach on Sentosa. - CNA /ct

Copyright © 2005 MCN International Pte Ltd

[JoSin]

Wow I didnt know about Palawan Beach having new resort...great...now there will be a resort on each beach in Sentosa!!!

[RafflesCity]

yes..there is a new hotel/resort now under construction somewhere in between Siloso & Palawan Beach.

I expect the area just outside the Palawan monorail station to become more attractive in future, with more attractions and better accessibility straight from HarbourFront.

[babystan03]

This story was printed from TODAYonline

ECP facelift: Fears and hopes

Will $160m upgrade result in more facilities and worsen the overcrowding problem?

Tuesday • December 27, 2005

Tor Ching Li
chingli@newstoday.com.sg

MULTI-MILLION dollar area upgrading plans usually get the thumbs up in Singapore — but the East Coast Park's (ECP) proposed $160-million makeover is coming under critical scrutiny by nature lovers.

Even as the National Parks Board (NParks) has until Monday to gather feedback on its concept plan, many regular users of the 30-year-old beach park have spoken up against cluttering the ECP with a "people-mover system", visitor centre and weekend flea markets.

According to NParks, it drew up the concept plan after conducting a preliminary onsite poll of 500 park users in March last year, asking users what they felt needed improving in the park.

Most of the respondents felt that overcrowding, poor access and circulation were the key problems the park faced.

However, many nature lovers and park users now feel that the proposed solutions may not solve the issues, but exacerbate the overcrowding instead.

Nominated MP and Nature Society president, Dr Geh Min, told Today: "My view, as well as that of regular park users I have spoken to, is that ECP is already very crowded, and NParks should seek to maximise utility without trying to inject more buzz and activity."

Today reader Lau Chee Oon wrote in, noting that "from the Big Splash to the food court, there is hardly a stretch of more than 100m without the intrusion of some commercial installation".

Added Mr Lau: "I find that as a park, the ECP is over-provided with commercial facilities, in particular eating establishments, and over the years the place has transformed into a mishmash of various commercial entities and is losing its appeal as a parkland of calm and tranquillity."

But a regular user of the park felt a free shuttle bus service running along the periphery of the park would help move people from the more popular areas, like those around Marine Parade, to those less frequented further up the coast.

Dr Geh said that NParks could look at having "more jetties and other extensions into the sea", so that the sea and beach can be more than "a backdrop" to the ECP.

Bedok Jetty could be lengthened and developed to allow more visitors to enjoy the breeze and perhaps a spot of angling, said a park user. For that matter, why not build a big jetty, perhaps closer to Changi, with food and handicraft outlets, which it could prove to be a major tourist attraction, he said.

As things stand, the NParks is going ahead with the construction of a bougainvillea garden and a cable ski facility to be completed by the first half of next year.

The cable ski project in the East Coast lagoon will draw even more crowds to that the area of the park, predict regular park users. They also feel a centre for international cuisine, in addition to the Food Court and the SeaFood Centre in already there, should prove a hit.

Dr K Raguraman, head of the Physical Development Feedback Group, said the challenge lay in catering to regular and occasional local users, as well as to tourists.

He said: "It all depends on what NParks hopes to achieve with the ECP. I believe NParks wishes to develop the ECP into a dynamic activity centre, not just a static place catering mainly to regular visitors or those living nearby."

A visitor centre would be useful if there are to be activities that change frequently, and if the aim is to attract more casual visitors, said Dr Raguraman.

Dr Geh said: "NParks should resist the temptation of turning the ECP into anything resembling a theme park, which would just add to the noise and crowds and detract from the peace and tranquillity that many people seek in a park. I do not think trams will add to the ambience."

The same concern was shared by Mr Ben Lee, president of the Nature Trekker Society. While agreeing with the need for more public accessibility, he said the introduction of "vehicles or many forms of transport" into the park would detract from its appearance.

So will a people-mover system be a boon or bane to those who need it most: The mobility-impaired?

Said Dr Geh: "It would be good for the park to be user-friendly for the elderly and the handicapped, but this can be done without people-movers. After all, this group would also like to go to a park for exercise and to unwind.

"Trams take up a lot of valuable space, not to mention adding to the noise and there being a danger of being run over!"

A NParks spokesperson explained that the $160-million budget was an estimate but that the needs of the population will be taken into consideration. With the plan to provide linkages from the various sections of the park — from Changi at one end to the Marina area at the other — the ECP promises to be one vast haven for recreation and relaxation.

Feedback can be given to the concept plan online at www.nparks.gov.sg

Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

[RafflesCity]

Quiet farewell for East Coast resort

4 Jan 06

By Marcel Lee Pereira

THE 28-year-old Costa Sands Resort in East Coast Park closed its doors yesterday with little fanfare.

Towels, playing cards and travel bags were souvenirs the 1,500 people there over the weekend received to commemorate the resort's last days.

The last of the New Year revellers checked out on Monday and now all 197 chalets there stand empty.

Designer Aidit Shahrul, 32, who was there on New Year's Eve with his wife and three children, was one of the last to leave.

His family lingered there till 1pm on Monday, long after the official check-out time of 10.30am.

'We were hanging around taking a last look at the place,' said Mr Aidit, who stayed at the resort once every two years.

'So many memories are left behind here,' he added. It was there that he proposed to his wife in 1998 at a barbecue.

When The Straits Times visited the resort yesterday, rooms were being emptied of their furniture.

Meanwhile, water was slowly being drained away from the two swimming pools, which had remained open till noon on Monday for guests to take a final dip.

The owner of a provision shop there, who wanted to be known only as Mr Chia, 48, decided to close his shop early on Monday because there was no one around.

'I don't know where to go after this,' said Mr Chia, who has been there for 20 years. He has no plans to open another shop elsewhere.

The East Coast resort's 30-year lease runs out next Wednesday. The Singapore Land Authority has said it will call for a tender for the 4ha site in the first half of this year, and has not ruled out the area remaining as holiday chalet grounds.

NTUC Club, which owns the resort as well as three others in Pasir Ris and Sentosa, is set to open another one in Sentosa in 2008.

[babystan03]

Nov 14, 2006
New $6m attraction aims to make a big splash

The Big Splash water theme park is gone for good - and its towering slides, are not coming back. Seafood International Market and Restaurant director Justin Tan shows off his company's plans for a new park, with a combination of dining, shopping and recreation outlets.

Seafood International, which recently acquired the venue at East Coast Park, will spend about $6 million refurbishing it.

Slated to reopen in December next year, the new attraction will do away with admission fees and the fences around the compound.

Mr Tan said that it was necessary to take down the Big Splash's iconic slides. This was because fewer than 100 people were using them every month.

The Big Splash closed its doors two months ago, after almost 30 years in business.

Copyright © 2006 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.