Bisita Iglesia 2010

It's our second year in a row. This time I decided to visit churches mostly on the eastern part of Singapore and then ending with 2 churches in the city. Our Bisita Iglesia last year took a lot of walking time  due to wrong calculations in distances, and also a little bit of bad weather, so we finished quite late in the afternoon. 

This year I planned our itinerary so we wouldn't need to travel a long way, no long walks and hoped for a better weather. With the help of more organized planning and better technology (google maps on-the-go, gps, gothere.com, etc), we breezed through the whole day finishing early in the afternoon.

We left home around 10am. Took bus 86 going to:

St Anne's Church

66 Sengkang East Way

Singapore 548593

for the Stations of the Cross 1 and 2. 

view of St Anne from the bus stop for Bus 88

waiting for the bus

After saying our prayers, we walked to Blk 231 Punggol Road (bus stop 65041) to take bus 88 to:

Church of the Divine Mercy

19 Pasir Ris Street 72

Singapore 518771

for Stations of the Cross 3 and 4. We alighted at After Pasir Ris Drive 1, Pasir Ris Drive 12, 3 stops later. The church was around 334m from the bus stop. We had to cross the street and walk towards Pasir Ris Street 22.

The mass was just about to start and they were inviting the kids over to have a separate celebration 

(the one that's more fun, according to the ushers). 

The people (ushers) there were very accommodating - all smiles, greeting everyone who comes along. 

We entered the church for a while to say our prayers.

the church entrance

rested for a while before walking to the bus stop for our next bus ride

We walked on the side of the church at Blk 734 car park to go to the bus stop at Blk 738 (77289) Pasir Ris Drive 1, where we took bus 39 to our 3rd church.

Church of the Holy Trinity

20 Tampines Street 11

Singapore 529455

The bus ride was about 30mins. The church was just behind the bus stop. 

The bus stop is located on the left side of the picture.

entering the church

We were sort of lost. We climbed the stairs to the second floor but the church itself was not there. We saw some offices and preschool classrooms instead.

stopped by near this aquarium for a break

and another one

Then we took the lift going to the third floor. We were shocked to see a hall full of the congregation celebrating the mass. There was no way we could have squeezed in to get to the stations so we had no choice but to go back to the 2nd level and say our prayers in front of the statue of Jesus in the lobby.

Kelvin reading the 5th and 6th stations of the cross

Coming out from the church, we saw this eating place just across the street. We had our lunch there since the bus going to our next destination was not arriving in 15 minutes time (thanks to iris service). 

we had pork! oh no....

can't get enough of the iced tea. The kids were bothered by the hot weather.

After lunch, we walked back to the bus stop (76089), but stopped by at the church gate to take a photo.

We were just in time for bus 28. Few more minutes and were have reached our destination. We alighted at After Perpetual Succour Church, Changi Road, 13 stops later.

Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

31 Siglap Hill

Singapore 456085

we read Stations of the Cross 7 and 8.

kids exploring the church

At the same bus stop, we took bus 30 and alighted at CDAC Building, Tanjong Katong Road, 8 stops later, for Stations of the Cross 9 and 10 at:

Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace

4 Sandy Lane

Singapore 437321

waiting to cross the street

we saw a big Filipino group also going to the same church

making our way to the church entrance

Kelvin reading the stations of the cross

We sat for a while and headed outside to check if there was a bus that would take us to City Plaza, Geylang Road. One of the people waiting at the bus stop informed us that it was easier to just walk since there is no bus going to that side. It was just around 2 blocks away so we walked there. They were right, it was not really that far. 

At City Plaza we took bus 2... 

Ira checking out the GPS while in the bus

...and alighted at Bras Basah Complex, Victoria Street, 14 stops later. Then we  walked towards the junction to get to:

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

31 Victoria Street

Singapore 187997

For Stations of the Cross 11 and 12

a short detour at this bridge 

From the cathedral, we took the left gate exit, and walked to:

Church of Sts Peter and Paul

225A Queen Street

Singapore 188551

Only to realize that it we had to walk around because we entered on the back end of the church. 

We read Stations of the Cross 13 and 14.

the church was under construction

Mark helping out one of the church officials to move the table used during the re-enactment

resting before moving on to suntec city

We finished 7 churches at around 3pm. Way better than last year when the weather was not that good to us at Toa Payoh. This year, the weather was fine and the churches I chose were more accessible from each other.

Looking forward to next year's Bisita Iglesia.