WIld Singapore

Over the last few weeks, we've visited two of Singapore's natural offerings... Bukit Timah and Pulau Ubin. Since much of Singapore is well developed, it was nice to spend some time closer to nature.









Bukit Timah is a nature preserve in the center of the island and it contains the highest point on Singapore. We hiked from the visitor center to Bukit Timah Summit. Singapore is pretty flat and the summit is only 545 feet above sea level. But that was fine with us as it was a hot / humid day. Both boys did great on the hike and we saw some cool insects, butterflies, a terrapin, and MONKEYS!

The monkey troupe was hanging out at the summit. The females and babies were playing and grazing. The males were tussling and fishing for treats in the trash can. There were signs around asking us not to feed the monkeys and to put all trash in the bins. Apparently the monkeys didn't think putting something in the trash can meant it was off limits... and there wasn't much to stop them from opening up the trash cans and getting out what ever they wanted. Apparently the Singapore Parks service should investigate critter free trash cans such as those that can be found in Yosemite.

We saw a sign telling us about the snakes that can be found on Singapore... most of which are common in Bukit Timah. We did not see any snakes - sorry Sarah and Bob :-)




Pulau Ubin is a secondary island that you have to ride on a boat to get to. All the power there is via generator and there are very few cars. The island kampong (Malay for village) is the last in Singapore and has about 100 residents. This is suppose to give you an idea of what Singapore was like in the 1960's.

Last Tuesday was a holiday and Corina, the daughter of Tim from Soft Star, was coming into town for work. She took the red-eye from New Zealand to Singapore and go in early in the morning. We meet up with her around 11am and hit the MRT for the long train ride out to the the ferry point. We were surprised to find a pretty nice beach on this north-east corner of Singapore. The boys tried to talk us into some surf and sand time, but the promise of a boat ride got them over it.

Once on Pulau Ubin, we rented some bikes and made a circle of the island. Kahlil was a little rusty and it took a few tries before he had his petal-legs back. But he found them and was amazing. Langston got the best deal on the trip... a comfy seat on the back of my bike. The positive part of that situation was that I got an especially good workout.

We rode over to the Chek Jawa wetlands and got to see some cool ecosystems - mud and sand flats, mangroves, and coastal forests. We also visited House #1, a Tudor cottage that was built in the 1930's and it believed to have the only working fireplace in Singapore. It is now a visitor center. While walking around the wetlands we also saw a wild pig and her piglets! It was awesome.

It was again a sticky day. There were threatening thunder clouds, but they did not open up. It was nice that we didn't get rained on, but we were all pretty hot and sweaty and could have used a bit of a wash off.

While I had thought we would have Corina back to her hotel nice and early so she could catch up on sleep lost from her flight the night before, that was not to be. After the boat ride back to Singapore we had dinner at a local restraunt and introduced her to BBQ stingray. By the time dinner was over, and we FINALLY caught a cab, it was well into the evening by the time Corina got home. At least she had a good night sleep after an active day.