Afternoon at the Kranji Marshes...

Last Friday, I joined a company outing. Some colleagues organised a nature walk at Kranji Marshes.

It was a good place for nature walk beginners, I suppose.

For those who want something more rustic, the nearby Sungei Buloh reserve is a good place to visit as well.

I did enjoy the walk and I did enjoy testing the macro shot capabilities of the iPhone.

It took me a huge amount of silence and stealth in taking the photos of the insects. Haha!

Erm, I'm quite happy with the photos. Hehe!

Hiking Sunday again...

With the PSI level going below 100, that allowed us to go on an easy, morning nature walk yesterday. Yay!

I got to admit. I've been missing the nature walks. I've also been missing my outdoor runs at the park connector.

Thankfully, the air quality yesterday wasn't bad. Mr. Lim and I met up with kiddies Ted, Jackie and Shane for a quick walk.

As is our usual tradition, we met at Bishan for a nice breakkie. Afterwards, Mr. Lim drove us to Lower Peirce Reservoir. He and I have been there a few times. The kiddies have not. It was a short and very relaxed walk. Lower Pierce is one of the easiest trails, I guess. Along the way, Mr. Lim was picking up rubbish with a pair of tongs and dumping it in the trash bag that he brought. The short walk we had resulted in him filling up his plastic bag. Ugh, it's saddening that there are people who have no regard for the nature park where they run, trek, or relax.

Since it was quite early for lunch, we still managed to go to another reservoir. This time, it was more for just to check out the place and to chitchat. From Lower Peirce, we drove to Upper Seletar Reservoir. It's my first time to visit the place. The best thing about it is there's a lighthouse tower where one can go up and have a 360 panoramic view.

The five of us stayed at the tower for a good 30 minutes just relaxing and talking about all sorts of stuff. Close to noontime, it was suggested that we go to a yong tau fu place. I had an image of yong tau fu in my head but it turned out that the place we went to was a special kind. The dish is called Ampang Yong Tau Fu, named after the historic town in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

I actually liked it but I still ordered chicken rice with roast pork (which I shared with Mr. Lim) Hehe!

It was a good Sunday morning! I'm happy to be able to go hiking again.

Sunday was just as busy...

Sunday was no different from Saturday. Haha! It was just as long and as tiring but also fun!

I woke up at 7 so I can meet Mr. Lim at 830PM at our usual breakkie place for our nature walks.

By 9, we headed to our destination for the day - the old Bukit Brown Cemetery. Though I've been to Bukit Brown a few times, I was too unsure about our plan as it was just me and Mr. Lim. In our previous walks, we have always been part of a huge group. That was less scary since I would be running away with a big group in case zombies started to rise from the graves. I've been watching too much of The Walking Dead. Haha!

The theme of our walk for the morning was "Let's get lost." That's exactly what happened. At some points, we had to turn back because we reached a dead end. But for the most part, it was enjoyable because we've reached areas that we've never been to before. We also took a rugged path that led us out of the Bukit Brown grounds to the area where the National Equestrian Center and Mediacorp were. That was interesting.

We finished our walk by 1130. Thankfully, it wasn't a very hot day. From Bukit Brown, Mr. Lim drove all the way to the northeast part of the island for lunch at a biryani place we've been to a few times.

Afterwards, he dropped me off at Ang Mo Kio because I wanted to go to the gym to shower and feel human again. Haha!

In the afternoon, I was initially planning to check an education fair at Suntec. Instead, I ended up at my favourite level at the National Library. While waiting for Mass, I just spent a few hours relaxing at the library going through some of the books I want to have in my book collection.

The last agenda for the day was dinner with Mon and Richie. It was Mon's birthday last Saturday. He doesn't really do anything for his birthday. Hehe! Since I haven't seen them in awhile, I decided to ask Richie if they were up for dinner. We decided to eat at the Asian Kitchen at City Link Mall because Richie was raving about the roast pork and the fried rice. Our excuse for the (sinful) meal was Mon's birthday. Haha!

It is always nice the pair since they're the friends I've known for the longest time. Richie and I met in 2002, if I'm not mistaken. I met Mon a few years later. On my first visit to Singapore, I stayed with Richie and Mon.

Rarely do I go out or stay out late on a Sunday night. That is because I want to spend the last few hours of the weekend prepping for Monday and just relaxing in the comfort of my room. However, there are nights when I could make an exception. Last night was one of those nights. Hehe!

It was an activity-packed weekend, wasn't it?!

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!

Back at MacRitchie for the TreeTop Walk...

When I said that I want to be back at MacRitchie for another walk, I didn't think it would be as soon as the last weekend. Haha!

A few days before Sunday, Mr. Lim messaged me about going back to MacRitchie. This time though, we would be doing the treetop walk.

I tried to get out of it by reminding him that the last walk was almost 13 kilometres and that didn't even include the treetop walk yet.

Mr. Lim replied by saying that there was a shortcut to the treetop walk.

Why didn't I think of that? Haha! I forgot that at one point, we actually reached the road leading to the Singapore Island Country Club. So, surely there was a shortcut to the treetop walk.

I wanted PG Boy to go along with us since we didn't get to spend much time that weekend.

After telling him that the walk will only be for about an hour and a half, that there is a shortcut to the treetop walk, that it won't be too hot as the path is shaded with trees, and most important of all, that we will meet Mr. Lim at 9:45AM, PG Boy agreed to go.

Mr. Lim picked us up from Potong Pasir and then we made our way to MacRitchie.

Our walk this time was much shorter.

The HSBC TreeTop Walk itself is about 250 metres in length. It is quite an adventure crossing the narrow free-standing suspension bridge.

Though a short walk, what I love about it is that it gives a fantastic bird's eye view of the surrounding forest and a wonderful panoramic view of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

Definitely worth a visit.

Do check out this blog to get an idea of the trail/path we took last Sunday.

Back at Macritchie...

The plan was do the TreeTop Walk since I haven't done it before. We made it to the starting point of the TreeTop Walk, but we didn't get to do the walk. :-S

The walk itself was a very good one though. We covered a little over 12 kilometres.

The highlight was seeing a bale of terrapins (so that's the collective term for turtles!) and seeing one giant soft-shell turtle. It was really awesome because this giant reptile swimming towards a group of terrapins. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a clear shot of it because my phone batt was already down to 20%.

I'm really glad that we went back to MacRitchie. It definitely is one of my favourite nature parks in the island.

Singapore still surprises...

I had two pleasant "surprises" today.

The first one was a church in the heart of Serangoon Gardens. Though there's a church that is just a few steps away from PG Boy's place, I decided I have to go to a different church today. For the past few Sundays, I have been unable to receive Communion because I haven't been able to go to Confession. In all the churches I've been to around the island, the church near PG Boy's place is the first church I've been to whereby the priest does not give Confession 15 minutes before the Mass.

So today, I woke up early (which is not really difficult for me. Lol!) to go to the Church of St. Francis Xavier at Chartwell Drive. I was planning to take the bus to get there. However, I chose to take a cab when I realised that I might miss confession since it was already 8:15 when I left the house.

I'm glad that I decided to go to St. Francis Xavier's church. The church itself is beautiful. It's not too big. Neither is it too small. Personally, I prefer smaller churches because I feel the atmosphere is more intimate. The service itself was good. The priest gave a good homily, which didn't bore people. There was a beautiful, beautiful Nativity Scene setup which reminded me of the one at Lourdes Church QC (where I served as an altar boy for six plus years! Haha!).

After Mass, Mr. Lim picked me up from church since he lived nearby. Unfortunately, I didn't see his message that he was also free to attend the Mass. Otherwise, I would have told him to hurry up and join me for church.

Anyway, we headed first to the "central" of Serangoon Gardens to buy my black cherry. Mr. Lim was the one who's been getting me my multivits and supplements. At least, now I know where he gets it. If you haven't been to Serangoon Gardens, you'll probably ask if you're still in Singapore if you go there. PG Boy describes the place as a very Aussie neighbourhood. I would describe it as similar to any of the nice gated villages in Manila sans the gate. No towering HDB flats around here. It's mostly (if not purely) landed houses.

After I got my bottles of black cherry, we drove to Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park for a leisurely walk. I thought we wouldn't be going for a walk since I previously told him I was going to Mass. The other thing is that I'm not dressed for a park walk. Lol!

Luckily, the sun was not out today and the Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park does not require trekking clothes. I didn't look out of place in my church clothes. Haha!

It's my first time to that park and I thought it was very beautiful. How lucky are the people living in the area to have easy access to such a lovely park.

We came across Grub, a brunch place I've been meaning to try. Unfortunately, Mr. Lim told me there was no need to bring money nor our wallets. Ergo, no money, no brunch.

Our park walk concluded with lunch together with one of his friends. We went to one of the bak kut teh paces along Balestier. I tapau'd food for PG Boy and then Mr. Lim dropped me off at PG Boy's place. Nice Sunday.

A description of Singapore so often heard is that it's a very small island. True, I suppose. Though I've been living here for close to three years now, one thing I really love is that there are still several occasions when I am pleasantly surprised by "new discoveries" around the little red dot.

Church of St Francis Xavier
3A Chartwell Drive, Singapore 558758

Bihan-Ang Mo Kio Park
Along Bishan Road and Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

A walk in the park... a former cemetery park... Hehe...

After so many weeks, maybe even months, I was finally able to go on a nature walk again.

Before I left for the short trip to Manila, I told my usual nature walk/hiking buddy Mr. Lim that it's time for us to go on a nature walk again. I can't remember the last time we went on one and I am really starting to miss being surrounded by trees and greenery.

Mr. Lim and I agreed to go for one when I return from Manila. We invited some people to go with us. He also invited five friends of his.

On the mvorning of our walk, it was just me and him. Haha! Why am I not surprised? We're the only two people among our friends crazy enough to wake up at 7AM on a weekend, I suppose. Hehe!

Our desination over the weekend was one I've never been to before - Bidadari Park.

Bidadari Park is located very near to Potong Pasir MRT. What makes it unique is that it used to be one of Singapore's largest and oldest cemeteries.

Yep, you read that right! It used to be a cemetery.

But just like what's happening to Bukit Brown Cemetery at the moment, Bidadari was cleared of graves during the second half of the twentieth century to create spaces for the living.

When it opened in 1908, the cemetery served as a multi-religious burial ground. Burial sites for Christans, Muslims, Hindus were found in the cemetery.

Some of the "superstars" who were laid to rest here were Dr. Lim Boon Keng (yes, of Boon Keng MRT station) and Song Ong Siang. Both are Peranakans who served the colonial Singapore community for many years.

I think the marker for Dr. Lim Boon Keng is still around. I also read that the iron gates, which was the entrance to the cemetery, is also still around. Too bad we didn't get to see those.

Mr. Lim and I, however, did see a number of very interesting birds and animals. We saw three of the white squirrels that live in one of the wooded areas. Over at the area where the Muslim cemetery used to be, we saw Brahminy kites (some eagle or hawk specie) and... a number of cuckatoos!!!

After the cemetery closed in 1973 and the graves were exhumed, the area naturally turned into a habitat for birds and animals. Bird watchers would go to the park because migratory birds could be seen. The cemetery also became a sort of recreational area for residents who live nearby. Mr. Lim and I saw a few people jogging and cycling. There was a man who was flying a radio-controlled plane. There were two men who carried huge cameras with them taking photos of the surroundings.

As for me, I just enjoyed in the midst of all the greens. It was really relaxing not hearing any human or vehicle noise, but just the sound of wind and the "noise" made by the cuckatoos. Haha!

I'm glad I got to go to Bidadari. I intend to return to look for the wrought iron gates and the marker of Dr. Lim Boon Keng. I have to do that soon because in a few years, the area might be replaced by HDB flats. Boo! Yeah, that's right. The site is slated to be redeveloped into a housing estate.

I really hope that the area that still has a a lot of trees would be kept and just developed into a park.

Just before I end this post, Bidadari comes from the Sanskirt word "widyadari." It means nymph or fairy. The cemetery was named after the wife of a maharaja whose istana (palace) stood in the area.

A day with the fishies and other sea creatures...

Spent the day with Melvin and Miru at the Marine Life Park in Resorts World Sentosa.

It's supposed to be the world's largest oceanarium, which is home to more than 100,000 marine life and over 800 species of marine animals.

We only got to visit the S.E.A. Aquarium, which is the world's largest aquarium. Uhm, except for the huge crowd (it's a Sunday and tomorrow is the eve of a public holiday! Haha!), it was still an enjoyable day.

We arrived at the park a little after 10AM thinking that there wouldn't be that many people yet. We were wrong.

What I thought would be just a two to three-hour activity turned out to be an almost daylong activity. Haha!

It was okay though. Great seeing all the magnificent sea creatures.

Nature walk at Lower and Upper Peirce Reservoir...

The venue for the recent nature walk were two reservoirs that I haven't visited yet - Upper and Lower Peirce Reservoirs.

With nothing on my calendar for a Saturday morning, I said agreed to do the walk with usual nature walk/hiking buddy Melvin aka KK aka Mr. Lim. :P I asked three other people if they would be interested to go. Only said yes. Melvin invited a bunch of people as well. Only one said yes.

Come Saturday morning, there was just me and Mr. Lim having a breakkie of prata and kopi at the Kim San Leng food centre near Bishan MRT. Haha! My friend didn't wake up on time. Melvin's friend was the same.

I jokingly told him, "You and I are the only two crazy people who would wake up at 7AM on a weekend to go nature hiking." The other guy who we're both sure to wake up as early as us is Francis, who unfortunately is now in UK.

Anyway, after finishing breakkie, we made our way to Lower Peirce.

The Peirce Reservoir is one of the oldest reservoirs in the island. It used to be called the Kallang River Reservoir, and was commissioned in 1912. The reservoir was renamed in 1922 after Robert Peirce who was the Municipal Engineer from 1901 ro 1916.

In the late sixties, the increase in demand of water led to the construction of the Upper Peirce Reservoir. Work began in 1972. Three years later, the reservoir was completed.

Lower Peirce may be reached via the Old Upper Thomson Road. Upper Peirce, however, is difficult to reach by commuting. The only way to reach is by cab or by car.

Between the two, I like Upper Peirce more because of the panoramic scene it offers. On one side, you will have a view of the lower reservoir and a bit of the city skyline (?). On the other side, you have a view of the reservoir and you can faintly see the highest natural point in SIngapore - the Bukit Timah Hill.

Lower Peirce, on the other hand, provides a bit more of adventure. There is a boardwalk throughout the forested area where one can see various species of plants and animals. If you're lucky enough, you may even see some wild boars which are known to inhabit the area. (We saw only one and it was huge! It quickly ran away into a more forested area though.)

This walk was definitely easy. No scratches and bruises involved. Hehe! The boardwalk definitely made navigating Lower Peirce so easy. Meanwhile, Upper Peirce did not involve much walking because Melvin drove. Hehe. I think though it would be a good place to go for a (very) short bike trip. Very short because it’ll just be from the main road up until the reservoir. ;P

As with all other nature walks/hiking trips, we would always end it with a good meal. This time, we headed to Longhouse at 183 Upper Thomson Road.

The place is a hawker center which offers several yum traditional dishes such as chicken rice, duck rice, rojak, popiah, prawn mee, hokkien mee, and so on.

Melvin and I both had chicken rice. I ordered popiah as well, while he got raw fish salad.

Well-spent Saturday morning.

Cycling adventure at Ubin...

Pulau Ubin is an island at the North Eastern side of Singapore.

The name Pulau Ubin literally translates to Tile Island. According to nature walk/hiking buddy Melvin, there were several granite quarrying sites in the island. The granite was then transported to the main island for the buildings. Today, the quarries are filled with fresh water and now add to the panoramic scene of the island.

It is one of the last few areas in the country that is yet to be modernized. No towering housing units, no Prada or Vuitton, no foreign talent (sorry I had to make that joke! Hehe!). Instead, you will see wooden houses, lush green surroundings, wild animals roaming around freely. This is how Singapore was before it became the very modern city most people know it to be now. To me, it reminded me of the several trips I had to the countryside back in the Philippines. The simple houses, the relaxed environment, the freedom from city traffic and chaos - it was a nice place to be at on a Sunday morning.

Melvin, his friends David and Patrick, and I boarded one of the bumboats at the Changi Point Ferry Terminal around 9AM. After a very short 15-minute boat ride, we reached the Pulau Ubin jetty. Once you get off the bumboat and make your way out of the jetty, it feels like being transported back in time when Singapore had a "kampung" (village) way of living.

We rented a bike at the main village and began our day of exploring. I haven't been on a bike for several years so I had a very shaky start. Hehe! There is an island taxi one can rent, but there is really no fun in that, is there?

The first stretch of the cycling route was on concrete road, which somehow made it easy. After a while, the guys made a turn somewhere and we entered into rugged trail. This proved to be much, much more challenging. Hehe!

The reward for surviving was reaching the Chek Jawa Wetlands. Here, several different ecosystems may be observed. You have a portion covered with plants and trees. Further walking and you will reach a mangrove forested area. A little more walking and you will be led out into a view of the sea where you can see the main Singapore island. Hehe!

One will also find an authentic pre-war Tudor style home built in the 1930s. From the marker, the house is said to be built in the 1930s b then Chief Surveyor Langdon Williams as a holiday home. It now houses the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre.

By the time we were back at the Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, it was already noontime and the four of us were tired and starving. We started to make our way back. The trail going down was a bit more challenging and more steep. I know because I crashed. Haha! There was a warning about the slope being kind of steep. Still, I lost control of the bike and the next thing I know, I was going down very fast and I knew that I was already going to crash.

Thankfully, it was just some cuts and bruises on the knee, calves and arms and nothing major.

On the way back, we passed by one of the old quarries which now looks like some kind of lake. Hehe!

We were back at the main village past 12, and Melvin led the way to one of the restaus for a much-needed lunch. The guys took care of ordering - squid, clams, sweet potato leaves, and one more "exotic" dish. Hehe!

It was definitely a good Sunday morning activity.

By the way, if you're in SG and you like nature or if you just want to experience how Singapore was back in the 1960s, then you should go and make that trip to Pulau Ubin already.

According to Melvin, the government has plans to develop the island already. He even mentioned that there will be an MRT going to the island.