The Niwa-ians set off to Bollywood Veggies on a bright sunlit Thursday morning. After about half an hour of travelling, the excursion bus arrived safely at the entrance of the farm where we found ourselves landed foot on an unfamiliar picturesque so very different from the residential and industrial buildings of Woodlands.
Enthusiastically, we walked towards the reception and was welcomed by a young personnel of the farm who kindly led us to the adjacent spacious air-conditioned room. At the table where we were seated, we saw many interesting and wall paintings hanged on the huge wall, one of it was an illustration of a UFO piloted by a group of cute looking aliens.
Soon, the aroma of freshly baked banana cakes filled the air. According to our teachers, the banana cakes were baked out of the fresh bananas grown from their own orchard. The proof of the pudding is in the eating! It was so tasty, many of our Niwa-ians were asking for extra servings.
Hooray! It was time for all of us to tour on the farm. We quickly formed a beeline and made our way excitedly to the field, right behind our personalised tour guide whom we dearly addressed as “Uncle Steve”. Just before we stepped foot onto the orchard, Uncle Steve highlighted to us on some of the safety measures to take note and off we went.
The sun drenched orchard of Bollywood Veggies’ was a sea of colours. Besides the many types of fruits that we touched and smelled, we were greeted by flowers of different colours and shapes. There were big blooms of hibiscus, marigold and spider lily compared to the smaller ones like violets and blue pea flower. In this journey, we learnt to tell the difference between a male to a female papaya tree; banana flowers are edible, they are a common dish in Indonesia and pineapples grow out of the ground. We also learnt to respect other living things living on the farm, such as the ants, by leaping over cautiously and not stepping on them when they crossed our path.
Finally, it was time for our potting session! The avid little planters headed to the backyard as fast as their feet could take them. With the help of their teachers, the children quickly sat down on the sandy cemented floor as they waited for more surprises to unfold. The staff patiently laid out the tools and materials such as pots, soil, layers of netting, stalks of lemon grass and baby pandan and water bottles needed for the planting on the table and started with their instructions.
In the twinkling of an eye, the potting activity was completed. Uncle Steve then ushered us outside to a long thin pipe parallel to the shed and said, “Get ready with your hands… 1, 2, 3… Go!” To many of our astonishment, sprinkles of water spout out from the tiny holes along the pipe as we washed our fingers covered in dirt. What an old school way to wash our hands!
With that, our field trip to Bollywood Veggies had come to an end. We thanked everyone on the farm especially our tour guide, Uncle Steve, for his time and hospitality before biding goodbye. We look forward to visiting the farm again in the near future.
Niwa Schoolhouse 