Goodbye Blogger

As Blogger doesn't have a theme which can represent my blog, and 3rd party templates are so hard to integrate, I have decided to move on to Wordpress platform.

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see you soon :)

Tuesday 31 December 2013

From the Sunny Island: Bukit Timah Nature Hike

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Climb

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!

Bukit Timah Hill


Bukit Timah Hill
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!

Bukit Timah Hill

Bukit Timah Hill
Really huge ants spotted there.


Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

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

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

This was the steep path steps to the summit!

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

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! :(

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

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!

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

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!

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

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

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve 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!

Thursday 5 December 2013

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!

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!