Sengkang Riverside Park's Wetland Walk

Sengkang Riverside Park sits where Anchorvale Street meets Sungei Punggol, a river that runs between Anchorvale and the surrounding HDB blocks of public flats. It's 21.3 hectares of marsh and mangrove, free and open 24 hours. The first choice is which LRT stop to ride to, and we'd pick Kupang, the stop for the Visitor and Mangrove plots.

Come in the morning, before the heat builds, and bring water. Our plan is simple: breakfast at a hawker centre in Kovan, the light rail up to Kupang, a slow loop of the wetland and the bridge, and home before the midday sun. Mondays are fine here, since the park never closes. Everything else in this corner of Punggol and Pasir Ris can wait for another morning.

Kovan 209 before the river

Kovan 209, at Block 209 Hougang Street 21, is where people along this stretch of the North East Line go for breakfast. Like every hawker centre, it's a hall full of small cooked-food stalls: you order at the counter and carry your tray to whichever seat is free. This one is a few minutes' walk from Kovan MRT. Stall hours vary, so go by what's posted on each one, and return your tray when you've finished.

The whole centre closes for cleaning from 16 to 20 November. If you're coming in from the Downtown Line side, Tampines Round Market makes a good breakfast instead. From Kovan to the park it's a bus and then the LRT to Kupang.

Off the LRT at Kupang

If you'd rather stay on the train, ride the North East Line to Sengkang MRT and change to the LRT's west loop, the light rail that circles the estate. By taxi, ask for Anchorvale Street and Sungei Punggol rather than Waterway Point, which is the mall by Punggol Waterway.

The park is laid out in three plots. Kupang LRT is about five minutes' walk from both the Visitor and the Mangrove plots, which is why we'd start there. Farmway LRT is five minutes from the Civic plot, handy if you finish at that end. If you're driving, the carpark by the Fernvale Street entrance has 77 car lots, eight motorcycle lots and one accessible lot.

The constructed wetland

The wetland is the reason to come. NParks calls it one of Singapore's largest constructed wetlands, a marsh made by people rather than found. Mangrove birds feed along the edges and damselflies hover over the still water. Find a spot on the boardwalk and stay put for a while. If you sit still, you may see a Purple Heron in the shallows, a Little Tern over the open water or a Collared Kingfisher close by.

The boardwalk has a fruit theme, and more than 20 kinds of fruit tree grow in the park. Read the labels as you go, especially with a child along. You'll find mango, starfruit, longan, tamarind and white dragonfruit, fruit most of us only ever meet in a supermarket. The herons reward anyone who isn't in a hurry.

Across Riverside Bridge

Sengkang Riverside Bridge carries you 290 metres across the canal to Punggol Reservoir, raised above the water with views back over the marsh. PUB, the national water agency, runs the Sengkang Floating Wetland close by, a boardwalk on the water that ties Anchorvale Community Club and Sengkang Sports Complex to the park. For a smaller garden in the estate, Compassvale Walk Park has an outdoor foot reflexology area, where the granite chips underfoot are part of the point, and a sensory garden of herbs, spices and old-school plants.

One section of the park's track is closed for pipe-laying until 31 December. The rest of the park stays open, so follow the posted alternative route around the works. Fishing isn't allowed anywhere in the park, and pets need to be on a leash. Wheelchair users can reach most of it, with the pond areas the exception.

A kampong down the line

If you still have energy, pair the wetland with Kampong Lorong Buangkok, a short ride back down the North East Line. A kampong is a traditional village, and this one, at 7 Lorong Buangkok, is still lived in. It's privately owned, and there's no ticket. From Buangkok MRT it's a walk or a bus toward Yio Chu Kang Road. Keep to the public path in daylight and come in a small group, quietly. The zinc roofs are someone's home, so don't peer into the houses.

Another morning nearby

Punggol's parks are close too. Punggol Waterway is 25.79 hectares and open 24 hours, with Damai LRT as its stop, and it's the one for a child who wants to see Jewel Bridge. Coney Island closes at 7pm and deserves an unhurried day. Punggol Point Park, at the end of Punggol Road, stays fenced off until December 2027.

For a child who has had enough of herons, Kidz Amaze runs an indoor water-play room called Splash at SAFRA Punggol, 9 Sentul Crescent. Off-peak weekdays run 1pm to 7pm with no reservation needed, adults pay S$5, and everyone needs socks. For a gentler afternoon outdoors, Punggol Park is the older lake park in the neighbourhood.

Kovan MRT is also the stop for the Japanese Cemetery Park at 825B Chuan Hoe Avenue, a bus ride from the station and open daily from 7am to 7pm. It's a quiet morning of its own. For another mangrove, Pasir Ris Park has 6 hectares of it in Area 2, near carpark C, with a 1.5km boardwalk that takes an hour or two.

In the evening, Jalan Kayu, the northeast's prata strip, is a short taxi ride away. Prata is a crisp pancake of stretched dough that you tear up and dip in curry, and the strip is at its best late. Keep that for a night out, though. Sengkang Riverside is a morning place, best with a hawker breakfast behind you and a heron still standing in the reeds.