5 Oct 2018 – Sungei Api Api & Pasir Ris Beach

Walked along Sungei Api Api to Pasir Ris Beach and back. The weather was perfect. Aside from fumes from people’s barbecues and the occasional smoker, the air quality was good. There was a soothing, gentle breeze blowing from the east. I could smell the trees and shrubs quite well.

Along the beach I came across some Malay fishermen digging for bait. Found out those were lugworms. They function a lot like earthworms, except in a marine environment. They’re perfectly harmless to humans and are a very important part of the ecosystem, helping to break down organic matter (including detritus), aerate the sand, and provide food for other creatures.

Duration: ~1 hr 30 min

24 Sep 2018 – Chestnut Nature Park

Hiked pretty much the entire park with Cindy. We could hear the loud blare of traffic at some parts as it’s right next to the BKE. Saw some wild boars and at least 20 squirrels. The highlight of the trip for me was spotting a beautiful gold spider (~8mm long) that glittered in the sunlight. The mosquitoes were ferocious and unabating, biting my arms even as I walked! The only place we could escape them was right at the top of the observation tower. Chestnut connects to Zhenghua Nature Park, which we also walked a bit of but didn’t find that interesting. After I get my bike fixed, I’ll come back to Chestnut and try the mountain bike trail.
Duration: ~2 hr 15 min 

19 Sep 2018 – Gardens By The Bay & Marina Barrage

It started to drizzle when Cindy and I arrived at Gardens By The Bay (Tanjong Rhu side). To make things worse, I slipped and my right shoe gave way – the straps came off the sides. I decided to seek help from the security guards at the Gardens. They were really helpful and gave me some tape which I used to bind the top part of my shoe to my foot so it wouldn’t slip off. It actually worked really well and I had no problems walking at all!

But by the time we reached the bridge to cross over to Marina Barrage, a full-blown thunderstorm had developed, and the speakers on the bridge were sounding the lightning alert. We had no choice but to continue walking because there was no shelter nearby! I was soooooo afraid of getting struck because we were on top of open water with no other tall structures around!

Luckily we made it to Marina Barrage without dying. We had to wait there for an hour with nothing to do before we could finally walk back. And yes, when I got home I threw the pair of shoes away.

Duration: ~1 hr

17 Sep 2018 – Fort Canning Park

Cindy and I thought we’d spend longer here but Fort Canning Park was just not a good place to take a nature walk. The size of the park is misleading – it’s fairly big, but most of it is open space, with too few trees. The actual walking paths simply circle the park to the top and are very short. Also, despite the relative lack of vegetation, there were tons of mosquitoes – I got bitten 5 times despite hardly ever being stationary. We finished our day’s failed hike with dinner @ City Hall. I probably gained more calories than burnt.
Duration: ~1 hr

11 Sep 2018 – Windsor Nature Park

Hiked Windsor Nature Park and part of the Treetop Walk with Cindy. I almost died trying to climb the slope leading to the suspension bridge (which was closed when we got there! ARGH! All that effort for nothing! Grrrr…), attesting to how majorly unfit I am! Nearing the end of our walk, I caught a cute changeable lizard (an invasive species here in Singapore by the way) off a branch. Cindy took some photos of the cute little fella and then I released it back where I’d caught it from.
Duration: ~2 hr

3 Sep 2018 – East Coast Park (Fort Road)

Walked from East Coast Park (Parkway underpass) to the end of Fort Road (just before Tanjong Rhu) with my sis-in-law and hubby. The pace was pretty fast and I struggled to keep up. There weren’t enough surrounding trees and the air was really polluted (with diesel fumes from generators and other machinery) at certain parts of the path due to massive construction going on, and because we passed a traffic intersection at one point. Probably won’t do this walk ever again due to the poor air quality experienced, and the sparseness of trees.
Duration: ~2 hr

28 Aug 2018 – Lower Peirce Reservoir

Walked from Ang Mo Kio-Bishan Park to Lower Peirce Reservoir and back with Cindy. Saw what we thought was a water snake at first, because it was swimming in the reservoir near the bank. But on our way back we saw it emerge from the water and cross the footpath, heading towards the forested area. I managed to take 2 photos of it before it disappeared into the trees. Looks like a python from the skin pattern.
Duration: ~1 hr 30 min