HSBC Tree Top Walk @ 9:07 PM

Monday, March 30, 2009

I woke up today with bodyaches all over and red mosquitoe-bite marks on my thigh. Reason - The aftermath of my unforgettable hike to the HSBC Tree Top Walk yesterday.

Description:
The HSBC TreeTop Walk (HSBC TTW) is the highlight of several long hiking routes in MacRitchie that brings you through different stages of mature secondary forest. The first of its kind in Singapore and in the region, this free-standing suspension bridge connects the two highest points (Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang) in MacRitchie and offers a bird's eye view of the community of plants and animals that live in the forest canopy. The total length of the walkway is about 250m and its height from the forest floor varies, with the highest point at 25m.

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Recommended by Felicia, i have never knew such a place / bridge existed in Singapore. I was thrilled by the height of the suspension bridge and intrigued by the scenery that one could view from it. Hence, me and Darling set out for the adventure hike yesterday.

Unfortunately, it was drizzling when we reached MacRitchie. But we were adamant to carry on with our plan and parked the car at Venus Drive, which was 2.5km away from the Tree top walk. The whole round trip is about 7 - 10km but since we did not manage to complete it, our entire route yesterday only covered about 5km.

Having not done enough research and underestimating the nature of the route, Darling asked me to wear anything that's comfortable will do. He chose to wear sandals himself and luckily for me, i wore a pair of cheap shoes from BKK which im ready to part with.

Initially, the canopy of the trees was enough to shelter us from the rain drops. But halfway through, the rain got heavier and we had to use the umbrella. Finally, as the condition got worse, we found it difficut to carry on and Darling decided to stop the hike as it was dangerous to walk under the trees with thunder and lightning.

We managed to sneak into the country club beside the trail route where we seek shelter for the next 2hrs. By the time we carried on with the hike, it was already 5..20pm which was past the closing time of the tree top walk.

Not wanting to give up halfway and stubbornly thinking that we should at least go to the bridge and take some photos, we continued the rest of the last kilometer. After climbing a very steep slope, panting like mad, we finally arrived at the opening of the bridge - only to find it blocked by a hut which has been locked by the park rangers after closing time! I couldn't even see the other end of the bridge or at least have a peek of the scenary below it. Damn pissed off ok! Knn lor.. all my energy and sweat to come all the way in the end i didnt get to see anything... @#$%!

The only encounter that made the trip a little more worthwhile was sighting this cute monkey sitting on ground along in our path. Looking more closely, we realized that there were so many monkeys playing on the tree directly outside the rangers station!



I almost wanted to cry when Darling said we had to walk through the overgrown grasses and wet shrubs as our way out was blocked by the fallen branches. Dragged by him, i screamed and jumped my way through. Can you imagine how disgusting it is? Im totally terrified of insects and kept worrying that a hidden snake might bite me!



Just when i thought it's the end of my misery, we were greeted by a long meandering flooded trail. Ha. Great. There was no other way out and no room to be afraid of getting dirty. Taking a deep breath, i waded through the muddy water till we got out.

This picture best illustrates the last part of my journey. It was indeed my closest ever encounter with Mother nature. But despite the scary experience, i would still want to go back again next time to complete the whole 7km! But this time, i'll make sure i protect myself with insect repellent, proper cross training shoes and most importantly, choose a fine sunny day! =P

Labels: Nature

Marriage and Babies @ 10:40 PM

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Darling has got to work late today so i got plenty of time to spend by myself. Having no one to fetch me from work, i had to rush to finish my work on time so i could catch our company transport to leave the ulu working place im in.

Luckily i had Nel for company today. She was once my best shopping khakiz but now, with her current physical state, it's hard to have her with me on one of those shopping marathon again. Over dinner, we chatted on the topic that is currently hot favourite in my age group circle - pregnancy.

It is hard cold fact that friends of my age are mostly happily married and moving on to the next stage of their life by now. But me? Other than the occasional reminders from my bio-clock that i should be following suit, im perfectly happy with being single, But, unavailable of course. I enjoy spending 二人世界with Darling, leading a carefree life doing things we enjoy like travelling as often as we can, diving at different islands / countries and explore other activities that we may pick up together.

One by one, i witness my best friends getting married and giving birth. It always touches me to see them walking down the red aisle, hand in hand with the love of their life. The blissful look they exude and tears of joy they shed, makes me long for the day when i could experience it for myself with the one i finally entrust my happiness with.

But watching them through the process of giving birth to the parenting stage on other hand, have caused an adverse effect on me. The amount of sacrifices they have to make in the process of pregnancy like poor complexion, weight gain, mood swings, morning sickness, and the greater responsibilities that followed after giving birth makes it seem all too much for me to take.

5yrs ago, I used to think i like kids and even hoped to be a young mommy. But 5 yrs later, i know i actually meant i like playing with other people's babies and toddlers but im definitely not ready to be a Mum yet! Luckily i already have 2 precious godsons - Draven and Elson for me to shower my love on and learn how difficult parenting can be. It is also through them that i realized im still not ready because each time they cry for too long, it makes me feel so helpless and vexed that i wanna run away from them.! I really admire how Angeline can juggle them both at the same time....

Enough thoughts for today.. off to catch my slp and be ready for a long day at work tomorrow.

Collage of Valentines' Day pics:

Labels: love.babies

Taiwan Trip - Dec 08 @ 12:07 PM

Sunday, March 22, 2009

It's been a long time since my first blog.. this time i've been exploring how to make nice collages out of my photo collection and my first masterpiece was for the most recent trip to Taipei in dec last yr!!

It was a 6D5N trip Christmas trip with 2 other couple friends and the time spent there simply passed in a whizz...

Day 1

We took an afternoon flight on Eva Air and by the time we reach there, the sky was already dark though it was only 6plus in the evening! Well, it was winter season that's why the sun set early and it was really cold at night when the sudden gushes of wind blew.

After settling down on our rooms, we planned to walk out for dinner and contemplated on what to wear for that evening not knowing how cold it could get at night. My stubborn bf thought he could bear the 'air-con' temperature and wore only a pair of shorts and sandals instead of jeans and shoes as we walked from our hotel to the renowned 西门町. In the end, he suffered numb toes and shivered each time the cold wind blew against us.. haha.

Day 4 - Hello Kitty Cafe

Before we set on the trip, i kept bugging darling that i have to go to the Hello Kitty cafe while we are there. True to his words, he brought me to this cutest ever cafe! The sight of the big pink Hello Kitty sign was enough to make me all excited like a little gal..(Hello kitty used to be my fav character till Marie cat came along) and i was totally mesmorized by the arrays of neatly arranged delicately-made kitty cupcakes on display. How could anyone bear to eat such a cute piece of artwork? I imagined if the cupcake was truely placed before me, would i have the heart to pierce through the cute kitty face looking up at me? Anyway, i did not have a chance to know the answer because we had to be on the waiting list and wait approx 1hr in order to get in. Much as i'd like to wait, the others doesn't seem as keen. So in the end, we only took pictures outside and i left reluctantly... (i'll go back to the cafe the next time i visit Taipei and make sure i get in there, i swear.)



Day 5

Not wanting to waste our last night, we shopped till almost 2am when the shops at Shilin closed before dragging our tired feet and heavy loots back to the hotel to pack. The car would be waiting at the hotel by 4am to send us to the airport.. that means we had only aboout 2 hrs to pack and shower, with no time to rest. Tired.

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Wow.. it took me 6 hrs just to get this post done with pictures and all. My darling is sleeping beside me now, torturing me with his snore symphony.. keke.. I guess it's his way of telling me i've neglected him and he's bored.


Off to disturb him now and hope i'll have time to do my long due Valentines' day post soon..

Labels: Sweet vacation