Dairy Farm Nature Park

This is the second in our series of trails which should have been called Western Adventure Park Connector Network Walking Trail but due to reasons I will explain later, we only did part of the trail.

First off, the taxi couldn't find Segar LRT station which should have been the initial starting point but we did find Zhenghua Park so we decided to start there instead. According to my brother the mountain cycling enthusiast, there are several popular bike trails there.

After a short walk, we arrived at Dairy Farm Nature Park

I have to admit I've never heard of Wallace Education Centre

Once a cow shed for Dairy Farm, now totally refurbished &

turned into a centre for promoting environmental research.

We spent quite a bit of time poking around, looking at the students' projects & reading the materials. All rather fascinating.

What a great space !

I was tempted to take some of the other trails to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

but decided to stick to our plan & made a mental note to check those out another time

The Singapore Quarry is a bit of a trek but worth making the detour

I hadn't expected to see water in a quarry

But then again, it has been inactive since the 70s

From there, we were supposed to take the Hillview Park Connector to Bukit Batok Nature Park but we never made it. The Hillview area requires walking along the road past residential cndos & it wasn't very interesting. By then, we were tired & just needed an excuse to grab a cab home & hopped into the pool.

We might go to Bukit Batok Nature Park another time. Stay tuned.

Cirque Eloize ID

We just watched this brilliant show & I can't wait to recommend it to you.

I'm reluctant to call Cirque Eloize ID a circus performance cos it is unlike any I've seen. Like Cirque du Soleil there are no animals & both are based in Canada. But that is kind of where the similarity ends. This is a highly charged show with an urban setting. No glamorous costumes, the performers are in street clothes. Where Cirque du Soleil has haunting music, this here is rock, electronica & hip hop.

You get the usual contortionist, juggler, aerial acrobat, balancing chairs but done in a new & exciting way mixed with skates, stunt bicycles, skipping ropes & break dancing.

For me, the highlight has to be the finale trampoline act. The performance is done against a wall that is constantly changing with the video projection making it absolutely amazing. Catch the show while it is still in town, you won't regret it.

Southern Ridges

Would you think this is Singapore ?

Inspired by my BFF who goes walking every chance she gets, my current fav pastime is to explore the various trails. All you have to do is to go to the National Parks website & browse here. There are good descriptions of the trail, what to watch out for, how to get there & detailed maps. Most of the trails are well marked anyway so you don't worry about getting lost. If you don't feel too confident, by all means download the maps & carry it along.

The first trail we did was the Southern Ridges. It has been one that I've been meaning to go for a long time so I was really excited when we finally did so much so I pressed on even tho it was drizzling.

Old & very tattered cable car on display

You can start from either Canopy Walk (Kent Ridge Park) or the Marang Trail (VivoCity). It takes about 2-3 hours depending on how often you stop & trust me, there are many distractions along the way so take your time & enjoy the walk. We did it from Kent Ridge Park. It was a little nostalgic for me cos I have not been back in the vicinity of NUS since I graduated & boy, has that area changed ! (well I did graduate a long while back).....

The Canopy Walk

A very pleasant way to start

Up close & personal with the friendly monkeys

Do not feed them

If you'd not been there, I'd suggest spending some time walking around the Park

There's a spice garden, butterfly enclosure, weird & exotic plants....

and many playgrounds.

Be prepared to tear the kids away

Sculpture @ Hort Park

Ceramic tiles @ Visitor Center Hort Park

Alexandra Arch near the entrance of Hort Park

We like the Forest Walk

It's an elevated walkway around Telok Blangah Hills

You can see the forest below & I also mean to show you what not to do

Even if the walk is easy, slippers are not appropriate footwear

It was a lot of fun

Next highlight - the gorgeous Henderson Wave

It's a photographer's dream

I want to go there one evening to take pictures of the bridge at night

Next stop, Mount Faber

It has been ages ahem, pak tor days since I have been up Mount Faber so imagine my surprise when I discovered The Jewel Box with swanky restaurants & bars right next to the Cable Car Station. We had drinks at the Emerald Lodge, before you reach The Jewel Box

From there, the Marang Trail which would lead you to the finishing point, right at the entrance of Harbourfront MRT station. If you like, you could always hop over to VivoCity for a meal or refreshments.

It's an interesting & diverse trail. Lots of photo opportunities. Level of difficulty - none. Highly recommended.

Dali in Spain

Our recent brush with Dali gave me the perfect excuse to blog about our trip last summer to the Dali Museum in his home town Figueres. It was on the drive home from Barcelona & I could not pass on the opportunity to visit.

The surrealistic building embodies what Dali is all about - whimsical, funny & unpredictable.

The courtyard

& what do the statues remind you of ?

The dome within the museum

Can we tell what is this a painting of ?

Now can you ?

Funnily enough, with the naked eye, from afar you couldn't make out the image but when I took the picture with the camera, the image stood out very clearly

HIs fascination with drawers