Random Wednesday post...

It's a short week. That means it's a busy week. Haha!

On top of my work work, I also have to finish writing my museum paper. My groupmates and I agreed to upload all our papers by Monday for peer review. Thankfully, we have an upcoming four-day break so I can work on that paper.

However, I also have quite a number of activities this weekend. Friday and Saturday afternoon til evening are dedicated for the museum. There are a few activities I signed up to attend/help up with. I-van is also still in town for work. It's been a busy week for him as well. We will only get to meet up this Saturday morning - for a run and breakfast.

I've been busy with a few things that I don't have the time to head down to Lavender to pick up the magnets Bernice left for me at the hotel where she stayed at. Yikes!

Tomorrow is the deadline I gave myself to head down to the hotel to get the stuff.

Speaking of Bernice, we managed to hike at Bukit Timah during that recent trip of hers. Congrats are in order as she is my first overseas-based friend who voluntarily joined me for a hike. Haha! Yay! I wonder if I would also get a chance to go visit her at Dili and then we can go for a morning walk over there.

Hello again, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve...

Just when I thought our nature walk today wasn't going to push through, I received a message from Mr. Lim that he was about to leave his house.

Thankfully, our destination this morning was at my side of the island. That gave me just enough time to shower and travel to Beauty World Plaza (seriously, that's the name!) where Mr. Lim and I agreed to meet.

After enjoying my $3.30 only(!!!) breakkie of nasi lemak, Mr. Lim and I started our walk to our nature park for today.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve will always be my favourite nature reserve in the island. (Well, that one and Sungei Buloh... and Pulau Ubin. LOL!)

Three years ago, I joined my friend Francis in a walk at Bukit Timah. Mr. Lim joined us and that would be the start of a good friendship.

I found our walk today so damn easy leh! Haha! Compared to the first time I climbed Bukit Timah (and it's not even high at all), today was definitely not tiring.

After an hour of walking, I was surprised to see that we already reached the summit. So fast! Haha!

There were quite a lot of people who went on a nature walk this morning. I thought it was really great to see families, friends, buddies waking up early to be surrounded by Mother Nature.

Seriously, my favourite part of the island is not the Orchard area. Neither is it the CBD. My favourite would always be the "green" side of the island.

When the artist Chen Wen Hsi moved to Singapore from China, he recreated that love for nature and the environment which he had when he was still living in China. So he always painted egrets, herons and gibbons (in fact, he even owned a few as pets!).

I guess it's similar to me. I always say that the beauty of the Philippines is outside of Manila. I was born, raised and I have lived in Manila all my life before working overseas but I don't feel any attachment to the place (except maybe for my university). What I have always loved about the Philippines is the countryside. I am always happiest when I am away from the city and I am in the provinces. Seriously, I think I'm a city boy with the heart of a promdi. Hehe!

Sure, I love Makati. I love certain parts of Manila. I agree that it was once such a beautiful city. But my heart will always belong to the rural areas. Hehe!

That's why I really love the nature parks of Singapore. It's somewhat a reminder of the countryside.

From Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, we walked over to the nearby hawker centre where I had another awesome lunch and dessert for just $5!!! Insanely cheap. Really good.

Afterwards we parted ways as I have to go get some rest for a long evening ahead (RKGreg's party) while Mr. Lim has his own dinner to attend.

Great start of the short weekend!

Solo morning hike...

Though Saturday was day 2 of a long holiday and even if I could have stayed in bed for an hour or two more of zzz time, I got out of bed at 630AM and prepped to go on a hike.

Earlier during the week, I already decided I'm going to visit the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve again come the weekend with or without company.

Pg Boy's sibs were in town, and I had to play invisible man. LOL! My usual hiking buddy Melvin, on the other hand, had made plans as well. Hence, I was left on my own to keep myself busy.

Anyway, I was out of the house by 7AM. I wanted to get to the reserve quite early so that it won't be too hot. One train ride and a somewhat lengthy bus ride later, I reached my destination.

When I reached the familiar starting point of the nature reserve, I really thought it was a beautiful morning for a hike. The sun was shining, but it wasn't that hot. You could feel a cool breeze every so often. There were several other people who chose to wake up as well on a beautiful Saturday to go hiking.

After a little warmup, I started with the "climb." Once I began the climb, I quickly remembered how steep the first part of the hill was. It could be quite a challenge for some. I, myself, found myself taking deep breaths as I made my way up. Haha!

It gets better afterwards. Once I surpassed the steepest part, what follows is a somewhat easier climb to reach the highest natural point of Singapore.

At the summit, there's a hut where one could rest, drink a lot of water, or maybe even have a snack, before the descent.

On my first visit to the nature reserve with Melvin and Francis, we went to one of the quarries. Unfortuantely, this time, I couldn't find my way to the quarry. Kinda sucks because I was really looking forward to seeing it again. Oh well, next time.

I finished my hike around nine plus.

It was a short hike, but it was certainly an enjoyable one. I'm planning to go back again one of these days to try out the other paths.

Woot.

Green SG: A Visit to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve...

Francis, one of my first local friends here in Singapore, invited me to go hiking at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve several weeks ago.

The guy is one fitness enthusiast. I met him via the dragonboat rowing. He runs. He goes to the gym. He swims. He goes hiking.

One time over dinner, we talked about hiking and he told me he'd let me know that next time he goes hiking.

Two weeks before he was to leave for London for graduate school, he told me about his plan to go hiking at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve during the weekend. New kid on the block I still am, I was more than game to join him. His friend, Melvin, who is also a nature-enthusiast, joined us. Really glad to have met Melvin as well because he has been showing me the "green" side of Singapore. (Will write about another nature walk soon.)

Some trivia.

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is about 12 kilometers away from the Central Business District. It retains one of the largest primary rainforest that used to cover the entire island. The Bukit Timah Hill is Singapore's highest elevation at approximately 163 meters.

Bukit means hill in the Malay language. Timah means tin, although from what I read no tin deposits are found in the area.

When we arrived at the nature reserve, we were welcome by several macaque monkeys freely roaming around. Some were just sitting by the road leading to the Visitor Center. Some were watching over the parked cars of nature-lovers visiting the reserve.

The reserve was obviously a fave spot among nature-lovers and health enthusiasts. There are a number of hiking routes that one can take. I'm not sure which one we took. Haha!

It was a good morning activity. After a good several minutes of walking, we reached the Bukit Timah summit. We started our descent after a short rest and the compulsory photo op (haha!) and made our way to one of the quarries. It's rather strange being in the middle of all the greens. One would think SG is all about skyscrapers, malls. Perhaps the next time a friend from abroad comes over for a holiday, I'd take them here instead of the usual tourist attractions. Hehe!

It was really an awesome day! Got to go hiking. Was able to visit a new place. Learned a little bit more about the SG culture.

How to get to Bukit Timah:
- By bus:
Bus numbers 67, 75, 170, 171, 173, 184, 852, 961.
Take bus to Upper Bukit Timah Road, alight opposite the Bukit Timah Shopping Center and Beauty World Center. From there it's approx. ten minutes walk along Hindhede Drive to the Visitor Center.
- By taxi/car:
Via Hindhede Drive; parking facilities at the Visitor Center are limited.