i have lived in singapore for 12 years but have not set foot on a great deal of nature parks here. i should be, and in fact i am, kinda ashamed to admit that. i spent many weekends just having fun and indulging in good stuff and conveniences and evidently that had not been helpful for me to stay fit. but lately i have found a renewed desire to focus my time on wellness and working out and i'm really, really trying to seeing it through this time. fingers crossed!
so this afternoon i went for a hike at bukit timah nature reserve. this visit comes as my first attempt to practice for the yogyakarta trip, and to break-in the new hiking shoes. a big factor as to why i chose this hiking trail for today is because it was more convenient to get here than the others. i live in punggol, which is at the north-east side, and bukit timah is practically to the west, but it only required just one train transfer. it was a good hour from punggol MRT to beauty world station, and about 15 minutes of walking from the station to get to the visitor center (i got slightly lost, otherwise it would have been just 10 minutes).
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| visitor centre |
there were a few walking trails available. blue and red were marked easy, green as moderate, and yellow as hard - and extends all the way to dairy farm nature park. i chose green because according to some reviews/blogs i read, there is more immersion to fauna and flora in this trail. the others are mostly paved, but the green south view trail gives one sort of a jungle-walk experience.
it was around 4:15 when i started from the visitor center, and based on what i read, the trail takes about 2 hours to summit and back. afraid that it would get dark by the time i'm done, i tried to take a faster pace. but 10 minutes on, people started to overtake me. damn, i really need to get better at this.
nevertheless, it was quite an enjoyable walk. there were a lot of stairs, which promised a good exercise. the lush greens made a great shelter from the scorching heat, and was a relief since i haven't put on a lot of sunblock. it meant i will not be turning into a panda today.
this path is also called cave path, because there were indeed a cave here. two, in fact, but both are never open for exploration. stories have it that these caves were made by the japanese during the war, and the caves were used to store ammo and other supplies. but as my source is unconfirmed, don't take my word for it :)
i wasn't much of a kepo so i didn't really even go near the gate blocking the cave entrance. i figured if it wasn't open to public, there must be a good reason for it. see, i'm such an obedient resident :D
i was expecting the trail to go on for a bit longer, so i was surprised when suddenly i arrived at the simpang hut. from here, there is an option to take the paved road to the summit for half kilometer, or a steep shortcut through the stairs. i hate staircases, so i took the flight. in no time, et voila, i'm at the summit!
at the summit, hikers were taking photos of the resident monkeys. they were playing with a plastic bag. either they stole that from someone and mistook it to contain food, or someone actually tried to feed the monkeys. perhaps there weren't enough of the "we will fine you" signs.
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| it's a fine city |
it was only 4:45 at this time, so the whole trail only took half an hour. surely i could do a bit more. i remembered that when i was on the trail, there was a detour called taban loop. i intended to go back to the same cave path and find this loop, but i took a wrong turn (ha ha) and ended up taking the red trail going down to the exit. it was in fact a good accident, because this path is very steep. hiking up must have been tough, but going down was no easy feat either. there were signs saying that running down is not allowed, and i can imagine that because it was so steep it will be hard to brake. i had to walk down in a somewhat squatting position and squeeze my thighs so i wouldn't roll over. that was a good exercise.
the road took me back to the visitor center, so i had to walk the cave path again for a few minutes to get to the taban loop. it was a short loop, but a bit more difficult than the cave path. it was fantastic.
by the way, i found two very interesting types of trees in this nature reserve. one has curly branches, and the other one had some that were tangled like ropes.
after i'm done, i rested near the visitor center for a while. then i saw a sign that hindhede nature park was only 160m away! i knew that the place is close by, but i didn't think it was that close. i decided to head there since it was only around 5:30.
just immediately after the entrance to hindhede nature park, i saw a couple of photographers. i heard that indeed the place is frequented by them because of the interesting bird species that can be regularly sighted here. i quietly approached so as not to disturb them. the man asked me if i saw it, and i asked what the animal actually is. apparently it was a colugo - a flying lemur.
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| malayan colugo |
this park has a very gentle trail as it is meant more to be a family-oriented walk. it has a few playgrounds, some picnic tables, and a workout area. the highlight here though is the look-out point.
the look-out point is in fact a view to the hindhede quarry. it was part of the 3 granite quarry sites in singapore, and it ceased operations in late 80's. the place was long then rehabilitated and now is being enjoyed by nature lovers. for those wondering, hindhede was apparently named after a danish engineer who operated the quarry back in the day.
there was a family viewing it at the same time as me, and they brought some white bread to feed the fishes and the turtles. i couldn't take a clear photo of them, they were in a frenzy. the white bread has attracted a bunch of monkeys to come by, so the family left before the animals could get their hands on them.
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| turtles and fishes fighting for bread |
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| spidermonkey |
it was starting to get dark so after a bit of rest, change of clothes and hydration, i headed back towards the MRT. it was time to hunt for dinner. i think i might have been too tired and hungry, because i ordered a plate of steamed chicken, salted egg pork ribs and a big bottle of tiger. damn, all those calories.
i also heard about this very old bakery around the corner. apparently this place has been in business since 1954! it is very popular for its mini muffins. obviously, there were none left by the time i got there. i bought kuih bahulu (mini sponge cake) instead.
i arrived home to lovro eating cake, but he immediately opened the kuih bahulu. he had a blast attending a birthday party, and i had a great hike. all in all, a great saturday.
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