A rumble through the hills

Are there hills left in Singapore?
Red Hill is now flat... the story is that the entire hill is now all in Marina South!

Surprisingly despite our rapid urbanisation, there are still pockets of wild and hillside walks in urban Singapore

Walk from hill to hill in Singapore : http://www.nparks.gov.sg/southernridges.html
The above National Parks website link provides ways of getting to each trail of the Link way. Here is a Map of all the trails.

The trails link up to a total of about 9km and will take about 3-5 hours to complete from one end to the other. The trails are a series of connections will provide a seamless link between the various hills in the the Southern Ridges from Alexandra Road (and West Coast park) to the waterfront at Bukit Chermin (Vivo City) or the other way around.

It can also be taken in stages since the terrain is hilly (for Singapore) so leisurely walks can be undertaken on the various portions. The Henderson Waves portion and the Alexandra Arch portions seem to stand out in terms of nice walks affording good views and vantage points along the way.

Please note that the routes are not totally interlinked, such routes are an attempt to link various segmented and nucleated parks, often not seamlessly- you will still have to cross major roads, bridges, highways, etc to get from one park to another.

However, the Park Connector system is definitely a major step in the right direction.

Bukit Brown - a little piece of land that nature has reclaimed

For those that love nature and are not Squeamish about visiting peaceful places where people rest their bodies after they pass on, the Bukit Brown cemetery is a haven in Singapore.
Bukit Brown is an old abandoned Chinese cemetery off Sime Road and Kheam Hock Road. I feel that it is one of the best kept secrets in Singapore.

As it is an old cemetery, nature has reclaimed much of the place with trees and bushes providing a very lush green canopy and foliage.

I have been there many times; walking, jogging, cycling, running with my dog (he loves the place!). Many of the times I visit Bukit Brown, I have seen birds like kingfishers, monitor lizards, squirrels etc. Bird watching lovers, bring your guide book and a good camera as there are amazing residents in the trees and flying around here.


Besides the animals look out for : Sikh Guards: Standing forever at attention guarding someone obviously prominent in Singapore's past. They are royal protectors who were once entrusted with business premises, they are now standing guard over valuable property in the afterlife ..

Treetops Walk

Tired of the city life in Singapore?

Well, this little set of articles has always aimed at providing things to do besides the obvious shopping (an actually physically and mentally tiring activity) in Singapore.

An unsual place for Singapore is the HSBC TreeTop Walk at Macritchie Reservoir!! http://www.nparks.gov.sg/nature_central_treetops.asp

You will get to walk among the upper branches of trees in the nature reserve and watch wildlife at their level e.g. birds, monkeys, squirrels etc... Amazing Biodiversity

Bring along water good shoes etc.
Click here for a list of possible items to bring.

From the NParks website: "The TreeTop Walk is accessible from MacRitchie Reservoir Park via MacRitchie Nature Trail (indicated as Route 3 on map) or from


Venus Drive, off Upper Thomson Road.

The distance to the entrance of the TreeTop Walk is approximately 4.5 km (1.5 - 2 hour walk) from the reservoir park and 2.5 km (45 mins - 1 hr walk) from the carpark at Venus Drive. Therefore, a round trip including the TreeTop Walk is about 7 to 10 km (3-5 hours depending on your walking pace)."

Climb Up A Rock

Rock climbing

Rock climbing is becoming a more popular in flat Singapore.

With more rock gyms created, there are more people picking up the sport. There are a also a few climbing events/competitions are held in Singapore through out the year.

Via Ferrata
Singapore's newest facility

Some of the places where rock gyms can be found: -

Climb Asia Climbing Centre

117 Rangoon road, Singapore 218395
http://www.climb-asia.com/

Climb Adventure (Pacific) Pte Ltd
http://www.climbadventure.com/

Safra Adventure Club
Safra Yishun 60 Yishun Ave 4 Singapore 769027

http://www3.safra.sg/clubhouse_ys.aspx?pageid=257

Outdoor: There is also technical rock climbing at Dairy Farm Quarry.

SnowBall Fight!

Weird but certainly different in sunny tropical Singapore is mucking around in snow!
In Singapore this has been made possible by Snow City

At Snow City, in Jurong,
you can ski, snowboard or snow tube your way down a snow-covered slope.

Have a huge snowball fight like in colder climates.

Or just walk about, touch and play with 'real snow' created with the help of specially-designed snow guns.

Spin your browser to http://www.snowcity.com.sg/

to find out more.

Outdoor Gear- cycling, hiking, watever

For Cycling or any outdoor activity, it is good to be prepared so here's a little checklist that may be helpful:

- Have your meal before coming
- Hydrate during the day
- Have a good rest before the event

ATTIRE
- Light coloured T-shirt/ jersey
- Comfortable shorts/ cycling tights
- Sport shoes/ cycling shoes

BIKE GEAR
- Sunnies/glasses...
- Helmet
- Gloves (recommended)- Gelseat : :-)

Bike is equipped with a back blinker light
- Tyres are well-inflated
- Brakes are working
- Gears are working

What Else To Bring
- water bottles/camel bag etc.... bring enough, more is best as water can always unload etc
- small bag to put your stuff
- personal documents
- some cash
- small towel
- Change of clothes
- medication (if any)
- Special energy foods (if needed)
- Last but most importantly..... your sense of fun and humor!

Help the Environment- transport

Lower your transport carbon footprint

The Earth is in serious need of repair and everyone can help.
Besides the other environmental issues of industry.
One way of personally helping the environment is to be smart about your daily transport.
The following not only assists the environment but will also assist your pocket.

Here are some ways of getting around besides burning the petrol in your car:

Use
- Public Transport as much as possible; this overall efficiency of the system reduces overall strain on the environment.

- Cycle to work : not only are you helping the environment but you are giving yourself a little workout! Both the environment and your body benefits!!!!
Read my other post and the associated links for tips on Riding to work.

Now you can even bring your foldable bicycle onto public transport.

- Walk to work : Like cycling to work, walking or running to work also benefits the Earth and your body.


If you do have to burn some gas to get around,

here are some tips on burning less:
- Control your throttle
using excessive throttle to accelerate really pumps a lot of fuel to be burnt off or worse not even burnt out the exhaust pipe! This control and change of style can save a lot of fuel and naturally $$$ nop matter what you drive or ride!

-Car Pool

Share your car with as many people as possible, spreading the load and thereby consuming less as a whole

-Scooter or motorcycle to work
Two wheelers burn a lot less fuel and are many times more efficient than 4 wheelers. They take-up less space and don't have to push as much air and weight around. Unless you fill up your car with 3 other passengers every time, there is unnecessary wastage! Most cars have only one passenger moving along on the way to work.

-Cars
-Smaller Cars
Drive a smaller car!
Try not to drive MPVs, SUVs, Sports Cars!
Big Cars all really do the same thing as the smaller more fuel efficient car in the city, they are heavier, less streamlined and have bigger engines that need more fuel to run.

-Hybrids
Try switching to a Hybrid car. It might seem expensive to purchase initially but the cost savings in terms of lower fuel running costs are amazing.

Excess weight
Not talking about your weight.... though the lighter you are, the less needs to be pushed around ;-)

Most cars have a lot of items being carried around all the time that is not immediately needed: Golf bags, books, Overnight clothes (? hmmmm), Roof racks, bike racks etc.
All this adds to the weight that your vehicle has to burn fuel to push around.
The racks : are additional wind resistance to the car, breaking the original car's design for wind streamlining.

Cycle to Work

Cycling to work is a great way of transport that
not only promotes your health
but also promotes the environment!

iwant2bike2work is a non-profit organization with one aim – to get more people to ride their bikes to work in the morning and home in the evening. We want to make cycling sustainable in urban Asia: to provide accessibility, promote a rewarding way of staying healthy and enhance cyclists’ safety on our roads.

• Providing accessibility


• Various routes to get to your office


• A place to store your bike


• A place to shower and dress before going into the office


• Promoting a rewarding way of watching your health and the environment


• Enable a healthy lifestyle


• Bring down the barriers to becoming more active


• Creating a fun way to get to and from work


• Striving for optimal safety


• Make motorists more mindful of sharing the road with cyclists


• Show cyclists how they can best participate in city traffic


• Spur government action to improve safety measures for cyclists
  

So what to do when you are hot and sweaty and your office has no bath and space for your bike:

The Bike Boutique

is one possible place in the city that offers bike "housing".
They will look after your bike during the day and has fantastic shower facilities so that you can look like a million dollars after your ride to work.

Besides the Bike Boutique, many gyms are willing to "house" your bike during the day if you are a member.

Map of Gyms In Singapore

Cable Ski

http://www.ski360degree.com/

Get on the water without much logistical arrangements.

You can ski, wakeboard practically anytime!

Even after work at night till 10pm!

This Cable ski park is built in the East Coast of Singapore and was formerly reclaimed land and a swimming lagoon. Cables overhead pull skiers and wakeboarders around the lagoon.

Why wait for the weekend and the gang to finally get together for some fun on the water....
just do it!

The North Western day ride

The North Western day ride
For those interested in riding with very unusual unique experiences in Urban Singapore:

http://www.kranjicountryside.com/template/farmpreneurs.html
There are a whole lot of farms in this area, not really what people expect from urban Singapore. These are however not the huge farms that we see overseas but specialised focused enterprises.

The plan will be to do the visit leisurely on bicycles going from farm to farm....
Yes this can be done hiking and driving.....

Note there is a big loop for the road
Groups can vote for which farms you wanna see - as these farms are really unique to Singapore



To get there, travel towards Kranji Way, head toward the Kranji Dam where you will have a view of the reservoir and of Johor across the Straits.

A good parking and
Meeting point:
http://www.sbwr.org.sg/images/map.gif
Kranji Reservoir Car Park

From here it is only 2km to

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve,

Singapore's wetlands are preserved here and migratory birds come here to rest on their long travels north and south when the weather changes. It there can be said that Singapore is also a transit/hotel stop for the birds as well as Changi airport is for the human travelers. Take a walk along the paths and hide in the many viewing platforms where you can chance upon both local and migratory birds, monitor lizards, possible crocodiles if lucky...

After the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, a possible different experience is travel about 5.5km west to visit Hay Dairies Pte Ltd , a Goat Farm

as well as the Jurong Frog Farm is the only frog breeder in Singapore.

After visiting the above, one would have worked up a little appetite, so pop by the Poison Ivy Bistro where the cafe provides local feasts in an organic farm environment.
very nice home style cooking ;-)
http://www.bollywoodveggies.com/bistro.html

To bring these items along

City Hike

Hike up Fort Canning

One of the many ways of getting away from the desk and work is a gym workout in the city. How about doing it outdoors instead. Most people think of Fort Canning as a place for marriage or music festivals.

Duration: 7pm- 10 pm
Start UOB, walk along Boat Quay, Clarke Quay cross over via Bridge next to the Reverse Bungy, up the Fort Canning park slope to the top.

Interesting facts
Fort Canning Park was created in 1859 as an arms store, barracks and hospital and had the beginnings as a Botanical Garden.

Look out for the following on your leisurely hike:

There was an old Spring where the original Singapore settlement drew water from (it dried up ages ago!), old Christian graves, underground bunkers used during World War II
The Spice Garden, a small replica of the original 19-hectare tract Raffles established in 1822 as the first experimental and botanical garden in Singapore.

Here's a list of other attractions in the park.

To bring along some of these items