MacRitchie Reservoir 麦里芝蓄水池

This is the oldest reservoir in Singapore.

The plan of building the reservoir started way back in 1823, when a British resident, John Crawfurd set aside $1,000 to execute the plan. But no news.

Then our famous Mr Tan Kim Seng tried to revive the plan with $13,000 but with poor project management, the budget became insufficient and it stopped work since. Mr Tan died and the reservoir was not complete.

The construction then dragged and dragged until 1877 when it was finally completed.

But how does the name MacRitchie come by?

Finally in 1891, one guy called James MacRitchie, a municipal engineer, oversaw a $32,000 expansion of the reservoir and that's how the reservoir was named in 1922. (according to Wikipedia)

Not bad right? Just oversee a project and it will be named after you!

But behind all the history of building this reservoir and to be independent by supplying fresh water to Singapore residents, this reservoir has a lot more to offer.

 Running trail

  Directions

Stairs for non trek-able shoes

 Boardwalk

 Peace

 Rest

Oxygen (fresh one)

 Serenity

And a little mischief

These kids ran up to me and snatched my bag of hard boiled eggs...my breakfast was gone and I loved it.

If you are a hardcore trekker and wish to trek the whole MacRitchie, you may want to give yourself at least 5 hours time. You won't get lost with all the directions given and you will still get the mud on your shoes. Super thrilling. There was once I did it with my dad, under hot sun and pouring rain within 5 hours. We swore that we will never do it again...hahaa..BUT we still love the whole painful process, especially when we made it up to the HSBC treetop walk where we walked on a suspension bridge and be on the canopy of the forest. If you are lucky, you may even get to see owls.

 

So if you want to relief your mind with some fresh air and serenity, do visit MacRitchie Reservoir. It's free and it's definitely a place for soul-searching. Kudos to all the people who made this place come true.

P.S. Do remember to bring your own food and drink. The humble coffee shop is no longer there anymore. I really miss eating his mee siam and hot milo.

River Safari

Finally, I've waited long enough for the soft opening of River Safari, Asia's first and only river theme wildlife park..it is just next to the Singapore Zoo, very convenient. Just take Mrt to Ang Mo Kio station, go to bus interchange to take bus 138 and it will send you to the doorstep in comfort.

I feel like I'm growing with the zoo, just that she is growing better and I'm growing older..haha..I fell in love with the zoo when I was 4 since the day my dad brought me to ride a white horse that was 3 times my height..now kids ride pony instead of horse in the zoo, and the last time I saw my white horse was 5-6 years ago in Children's World before they renovated..my white horse was sooo old and weak then, felt sad to part with him soon..why do I had to study so long to get to work and then could afford to go to zoo more often to see him?sigh...

Anyway, I'm glad that Singapore Zoo has delivered her new baby, River Safari. Although it was a soft launch and a lot of exhibits will not be ready, I went on the very first day it opened, 3rd of April 2013. I tried my best to reach there by 9am opening time but I overslept :p I read that River Safari gave 5 of those visitors who waited for the gate to open a River Safari membership..I was half hour late for it..so disappointed..I think I deserve the membership because I'm a true fan of Singapore Zoo! I visit the zoo at least 3 times a year! I can tour the zoo without a map at all!

River Safari consists of animals that live in and along the following rivers:

• Mississippi River
• Congo River
• River Nile
• Ganges River
• Murray River
• Mekong River
• Yangtze River

I was sooo excited to see the famous Mekong River where they have many legendary huge catfish! I always watch Jeremy Wade's River Monster in Animal Planet, he caught all giants of the rivers like tigerfish, alligator gar, catfish, piranha, sting ray....

So here we go! To the River Safari!

"Your journey starts here"

 There are fishes on the floor!

There are fishes on the ceiling!

Colourful map. Sad to say, the boat ride is not ready until later this year, which means most exhibitions on the top right are not opened :(

Alligator snapping turtle, my favourite fierce turtle..look like prehistorical creature..

Mississippi Paddlefish..it opens its mouth wide to suck up all the food like whale shark.

Ferocious tiger fish..this is like a baby, you should see the one Jeremy Wade caught..

Big right?! 

Alligator gar

Mekong fish tank! Nice and big, full of catfish!

Cute cute alligator..smiling face

Pandastic! I'm here again! But the cashier told me Jia Jia is abit stressed out and shy so she will not behave normally..

Who so fluffy playing behind the tree?

Red pandas! So cute!!!!!!!!!

They keep chasing each other around the woods..you see the tail, so fluffy I can die!!

Naughty face

Jia Jia sleeping..I hope she's ok..

Kai Kai as usual, not shy and loves to poise..the National Geographic channel will show the breeding project of Kai Kai and Jia Jia this Sunday at 9pm called "Panda's Wild Move"! Do catch if you are free.

One thing I love about the zoo is they never forget to let visitors to enjoy the scenery while walking around the place or when taking a rest..

Cute cute squirrel monkey..they used to be outside of Fragile Forest in the zoo. Love their yellow socks

Then there is another air-con place with tanks again! So exciting! What are there this time?!

Cute otter! I remember there is one called Pedro which used to be the mascot of zoo for awhile..

So this is the tank full of Dugong (Manetee) in Amazon flooded forest. There are actually also Piranha tank, electric eel etc but I hate to take pictures of fast swimmers in dark tank..

Finally, it's the end of the River Safari so far..not many things, I didn't get to see Beavers, Jaguar, Anteater, Tapir etc..I will come back again when they have "hard opening" :) I'm still loyal to the zoo one...please give me free membership leh....

Ok, it was sooooo warm and humid, I can't help but to spend a bit to drink in their River Safari Tea House just at the entrance/exit. What would be the theme of the tea house?

Chinese theme! 

When I entered, the place was playing chinese orchestra music from Wong Fei Hong's movie..so cute.

I ordered ice kopi at $4.80..super big cup and sweet...ohhhh..love it..

And we tried their Hainanese Curry Chicken at $11.90. Great taste too, we finished the gravy until the last drop...

Overall for this soft opening, I enjoyed the less crowded atmosphere, although there are school children visiting at the same time which was super noisy and annoying, they should be educated to love animals and protect the nature. I hope they did learn something there. 

Just a suggestion, I hope River Safari can put more fans to cool down visitors and maybe more sitting areas and vending machines. It's getting really warm..

Can't wait for River Safari to open officially! Keep up the good work!

Check out their beautiful website at http://riversafari.com.sg/

I previously also blogged about Singapore Zoo with Panda, in case you have missed it.

Yours faithful fan who hope to get a free zoo/night safari/river safari membership.

xoxo

Gardens by the Bay (滨海湾花园)

I had been to Gardens by the Bay once with ex-company but I didn't enjoy the trip because it was raining cats and dogs, I couldn't wait to go home. I know I will come back again when I can really enjoy myself. Last month I visited again with my adventurous dad.

Gardens by the Bay opened in 2012, built on reclaimed land. It also appeared in Mega Structure documentary in National Geographic! So proud..it was really a mega plan by extraordinary experts.

There are 3 parts that you can jalan..the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest (admission fee applies but locals have discounts!) and Supertrees. Flower lovers, you will love Flower Dome. There are many beautiful flowers and plants categorized by different parts of the world, most importantly, there is air-con! You can bring a book and sit there all day...people who are allergic to pollen, I think you will faint right at the entrance..hahaha...because there are really aloooot of flowers! Even me, who is not a flower person, became sooo busy taking pictures of each uncommon flower. Let my pictures do all the talking...

 Entrance of flower dome. You can see how the different flowers bloom..

 The famous obscene cactus..hehe

 This is a kind of cactus too!

 梅花

 Cottony plant that we buy during lunar new year.

 Drooping flowers

Nice right?!...now let's see the Cloud Forest. It is actually a man made waterfall with plants planted vertically. Once you walked into the entrance, a majestic breeze just blew my mind away...get ready to be a little bit wet..little bit only la..if your camera is not water resistant, try not to use it under the waterfall.

 Basically you are recommended to go to level 7 first and enjoy your way down.. different level has different theme. Get ready to be educated...

Do you know that the design of the 2 domes enables collection of rain water? The rain water will be used to water the plants in Gardens by the Bay! How thoughtful! Remember everyone, reduce, reuse and recycle. You will delay the side effects of global warming.

After exploring the 2 wonderful domes, you can also consider viewing the garden from top view by purchasing a $5 ticket and go up to one of the supertrees. If you are fearful of height, you can forget about this idea..

 

 Got one smart Caucasian lied under the shadow of supertree, reading a book..

After all the walking, my dad and I sat at the 2nd floor of the lobby between the 2 domes, enjoying the wind and view of marina sea..made me feel lazy and didn't want to leave the place. We appreciate the effort and brainworks to make this place come true. My dad really loves this place, I guess he will pester me to bring him here again when he comes back home again in a few months time.

How to go home from here? You can walk to Bayfront Mrt station or you can cross the overhead bridge to Marina Bay Sands and get a cab..very convenient! If you still haven't been to Gardens by the Bay, do give it a chance to impress you. I heard the night view of the supertrees is amazing too! Reminded me of Avator movie..

Next....Bangkok Jam at Wheelock Place! Staytuned!

xoxo