Tree tops and stingray

Hello again. I write on my last night in Singapore on a very full stomach. I tired stingray for dinner! But more on that later.

This morning I met my friend Kathy at the bus station near Little India to go to the MacRitchie Reservoir. We both read that it was a nice place to go for a walk. When we arrived, we found out there was a walk to the Tree Tops, and we decided to tackle the 11 km long walk/hike. The walk started at the reservoir and went through the trees to the area of the tree top bridge and back along the reservoir. A km or two into the hike, a tree had fallen in the path. Someone was there trying to remove it and we were able to maneuver through the branches to get to the other side. It was amazing how lush the area was, it felt like being in a jungle. We were surrounded by tall trees which made a nice canopy and kept us shaded from the sun. A weird lizard/snake like creature crossed our trail and there were also some monkeys in the trees but those were easier to hear than see.

We kept walking and walking and finally reached the ranger station near the tree tops. It was quite the hike, and it turned out we still needed to walk up a hill and stairs to get to the bridge. Fortunately I'm not afraid of heights (Kathy is) because most of the bridge is suspended in the air. The are sturdy railings and netting on the sides, but its still basically in mid-air. The sun was out and the views were stunning: trees, trees and more trees, most of which were below us and we could even see the reservoir in the distance. As we walked off the bridge, we found that there was a path of stairs waiting for us. A number of soldiers hiked by with their guns on what seemed to be a type of training. We kept to ourselves. When we finally reached the road, the sign said we had 5.1 km to go. The path along the reservoir hugged the golf course before veering off into the muddy forest. A sign told us we had 1.9 km left, but when we got further on it said 3 km. At this point we were both hot and thirsty since had been going for 3.5 hours. Eventually we made it back to the main entrance and our first stop was for a blue Gatorade-like drink. After finally cooling off, we went back to Little India and had a quick walk around a hawker but decided not to eat anything. at 3:30pm I said goodbye to my new friend Kathy and headed back to my hostel to relax.

Somehow the afternoon passed (I took a nap, wrote some emails, looked up stuff in Indonesia) and I walked to the National Museum of Singapore for a look around before meeting Alwyn at Newton station for dinner. The museum examines life in Singapore today based on topics like fashion, food and photography. My time was limited, but I got a good look around. When I got off the bus at Newton, I realised that I was a bit unsure about the location of the Newton Hawker Centre. I looked at a confusing map and ended up calling Alwyn to meet me. When I asked him what was for dinner, he said the only dish we had to order was stingray. I'm sure most of you can imagine my reaction, but the dish was surprisingly tasty. It is very soft and had delicious, somewhat spicy sauce. We also got "medium" sized prawns (which were huge), prawn noodles and a couple of fruit drinks. The food was amazing, but there was way too much and by the end I couldn't eat another bite. Alwyn and his colleague were also stuffed and we walked out of there very slowly. A great experience at a real hawker center.

Like every night, it is now getting late and I need to wake up tomorrow to catch my flight to Yogyakarta. Plans are not set yet, but hopefully everything will work out ok. Wish me luck!