From the Sunny Island: Bukit Timah Nature Hike

Headed down to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve today for a spontaneous healthy hike which I have not done in ages! The last time I visited the Bukit Timah Hill was about 10+ years back? Gosh, I'm aging too fast!

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is easily accessible by car (I guess). But being the average Singaporean who doesn't own a car, I took public transport which was a decent way to reach there as well!

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Opening Hours: 6am to 7pm

Accessible by bus no. 67, 75, 170, 173, 184, 852, 961.

Eguide Book: Download HERE!

Bukit Timah Hill was said to be infested by Tigers in the 19th Century and also, a quarry for granite up to 20th Century. I did not know natural resources exist in Singapore! However, it was exhausted till then. Also, during the World War 2, it was also a battle field for the final stage of the Japanese occupation, which led to the surrender of the British Troops.

There are 4 paths dedicated to Trekkers. Marked Red, Blue, Green and Yellow (ranked easy to most challenging), and also a track specifically for mountain bikers! You will be able to see more details here!

It was a bright and sunny day!

The trees were really tall and it sort of hidden us from direct sunlight. And being in a rainforest gave us the humidity needed to feel not that warm on this sunny island!

Really huge ants spotted there.

Caves which appears under huge tree trunks! I wonder was it related to the battle during the world war.

This was the steep path steps to the summit!

I was told by a friend that in the past, we used to be able to see views from the summit, but we can't anymore after the trees grew taller! :(

We were not supposed to bring food in case monkeys comes snatching from the humans!

Since we were not able to catch any views from the summit, my friend brought us throughout a path to the left of where the summit path starts (along the blue path), and we were able to see a little of the Quarry from top!

This twisted trunk was at the entrance of the Green path, but we missed it somehow when entering. Luckily we caught it on our way back!

After returning from the hill, we headed to the Quarry. I never knew such pretty sight (though small) would be found in Singapore!

A morning's walk through the rainforest was indeed tiring, but fun and relaxing. It's also a great photoshoot opportunity! If you guys have extra time on weekends, you should definitely try it, although it'll be much more crowded than if you go on a weekday!

From the Sunny Island: Staycation at Days Hotel (Balestier)

It was a spontaneous decision to have a Staycation 1 month back. We chose Days Hotel @ Balestier as we have heard about this hotel some time back, and it seem like a good idea to stay there as it's new (opened in Dec 2012), affordable, and close to the Balestier Heritage Site!

Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan Park

1 Jalan Rajah Road

Singapore 329133

Phone: (65) 6808 6868

Fax: (65) 6808 6999

Hotel Email: reservations@ramada-dayshotelssingapore.com

You can choose to travel there by foot or bus if you travel by the MRT to Novena Station.

My choice was by foot and I took Exit A in Novena Station. Once you exit from the station, turn left and walk towards and along Mt. Elizabeth to get to Balestier Road. It takes around 10-15min by foot.

For other travelling information, you can refer to HERE for directions. And I just got to know that they also provide complimentary shuttle bus services from Novena Station! 

As we are early, the receptionist was helpfully trying to get a ready room for us to check in. However, it will not be ready until after 15-30 min. So the Fiance and I headed for a cup of coffee at the cafe he saw just outside the hotel.

Since it has named itself "the best coffee in the world", it's definitely a must-try for coffee addicts like us!

Nothing fanciful really, but it does feel like overseas since we had never came across this cafe before in Singapore!

After the coffee fix, we headed back and the room was ready! 

We were greeted by a really clean and decent room.

There's also the Apple dock which you can use to listen to music from your iPod/iPhone/iPad (i suppose it can fit too?). But I guess nowadays most people have shifted focus from Apple products. You can use it for charging non-Apple products too, as it consists of 2 USB ports.

The room has a pretty good City View too. Not that much of a city, but it's nice enough for a room in Singapore which cost less than S$200!

Must-try bar in the hotel - Starker.

They have their own in-house beers available. We were very amazed by their service.

Our glasses were changed halfway through to another freezing cold glass so that your beer will be kept perpetually cold! This is the first time I came across a bar which offers this service!

I guess the ambiance will be a lot better if we were to visit later in the night. 

The quiet and peaceful surrounding, topped with old shop-houses which you can't really find in the Cities of Singapore, and also really good local food (bak kut teh, chicken rice) nearby makes us miss the place until now. We were even considering to extend 1 more night while we were there! Just love trips which are spontaneous, and do not have to spend that much! We are definitely looking forward to more of this explorations in this little Sunny Island!

Exploring Japan: My First Skiing Experience

There is always a first time for everything!

Shiga Kogen (志賀高原) lies in the highlands of Nagano Prefecture. Nagano was also the site for the 1998 winter Olympic games! I'm guessing this is very much a touristy area, and so there are frequent trains to Nagano from Tokyo!

This place marks the very first skiing experience in my life! I was really excited, yet worried about it initially.

To get there, we took the Shinkansen (under the JP rail pass) from Tokyo to Nagano and the journey took about 100 min. From Nagano Station, we took the Shiga Kogen shuttle bus to Sun Valley stop, which took around 1 hour and cost JPY1,900.

From: http://shigakogen.blogspot.sg/search/label/bus%20timetable

This was the best timetable I could get online before my trip. I think the timing is still quite accurate as of our trip in December 2012. Depending on which area of the mountain you stay, you can note the timing and make your way to the bus stop just before it arrives. We stayed at Sun Valley area, and for your information, there's a really cute monkey part at Kambayashi Onsen station! But more of that in another post. :)

Ski Trails at Shiga Kogen.

From the map above, you can actually see that there are many different ski trails on Shiga Highlands. And different courses caters to people with different levels of challenges.

You can also download individual maps HERE!

Our lodge is located at Sun Valley area. We stayed at a cosy little family-owned lodge called Villa Alphen. It is run by Captain Nobuo and his family. Everyone is so friendly there! And they love to share their experiences and stories of all those people they met. The wife cooks real good food as well!

You can see how steep the trail is at Sun Valley!

Mini fireplace in their cafe!

Was trying to check in earlier but their room isn't ready yet. So they invited us to have a rest at the cafe while waiting!

Sorry for the tired look. Was tired with all the travelling! 

We had to head to the monkey park real soon before the night fall, so we placed our luggages there and rushed for the next bus! The Captain helped us check and confirmed the timing, and we headed straight to the bus stop worried that we might miss the bus! I think we had to wait for a while if we missed it!

We only got to check in when we return from the monkey park! It was quite an experience there and we almost thought we couldn't make it back! But more of that in later post!

We managed to check in to the room after our return and to our surprise, the room was really big. And our beds were prepared in our room.

Dinner was served shortly after. Since it's still considered early for the ski season, there's only us with one other couple in the villa.

Shabu Shabu for dinner! Looks very delicious doesn't it? 

Decorations at the dining hall!

The other couple was requesting to book ski lessons with the Captain and they asked if we would like to join in. The lesson will be cheaper if the 2 of us joined in. So the 3 of us signed up for the lesson the next day! I don't really remember how much it cost, but I remember it being really expensive together with the rentals. Anyways, you can find the rental price tags HERE and the ski lessons HERE! 

After dinner, we headed for the in house onsen bath! It really feels as though it's private as there were no other people there except yourself! 

Since we stay in Sun Valley, which is not the one popular with night life packed with restaurants and pubs, we headed back to the cafe to spend the remaining night hours there before bed. I believe if you love nightlifes, Ichirose would be a better place to stay in!

It was really cold and so we sat next to the fireplace! The Captain was kind enough to take a photo for us as we thought the fireplace was really cool and beautiful! It was a pretty cosy place to chill at.

We woke up to this beautiful sight outside our window! It was pretty late when we checked into the room last night and we didn't really noticed what was outside! 

Headed for breakfast, and getting ready for the ski lesson! I was really nervous at that time! 

Really sweet apples!

 

Captain, preparing & carefully measuring our ski equipment!

As Sun Valley is considered an expert ski field, the instructor brought us to another bus station for the lessons after practicing for a while.

Maruike Station

Alot less steep than Sun Valley above! I believe we were practicing around location #6! :)

Team mates!

With our instructor!

Overall, it was a really fun experience! Especially when you manage to slide down the slope by yourself! Just don't be afraid to fall, and I'm sure you will make it! The lesson we took was pretty short and we had to stop just when we were getting hold of the ski techniques! I want to try again if I have the chance to, and plan a longer timing in the ski resorts in future! 

Had a quick lunch at the resort (not included in the stay package) as we were waiting for the bus timing anyway! I really do miss this place!! I hope I have the chance to come back soon again!