This month marked the beginning of my most active social phase while in Singapore. It started off with me browsing Meetup.com for some interesting groups and activities, and before I knew it, signed myself up for a trekking expedition at MacRitchie Park.

I guess I’ve been itching for some outdoor hike for awhile now, having seen nothing but a concrete jungle for the last few months. It was also a public holiday (Labour Day) and thus one of the very rare Saturdays when I didn’t have to show up at the office. MacRitchie is one of the three main water catchments / reservoirs located in Singapore, and is also one of the more accessible nature parks in the area.

Managed to hitch a ride with one of the hiking regulars – Tina, who was super sweet to offer pickup and transportation from Redhill MRT Chatted up with Nicole who was already waiting there when I arrived (a Shanghainese who speaks English with a French accent), and met Kate and Rico who was carpooling with us.

Parked the car, enjoyed a view of the lake while we waited for the rest to arrive..

All 26 of the main gang (I don't know all their names )

The journey begins..

Clockwise from bottom left : Lehman, Siva, FoOie, Rajnish, Jason, Aoi, Hai-du, Rico, Wilson, Tina, Ardash, Nicole, Irene, MiniAdele, Kate, MeiMei and 2 more whose names I don't know

As we traveled on, the large group started splintering as some went on their own while some headed home..

The Treetop Walk!

Our first destination – the long suspension bridge aka the MacRitchie TreeTop Walk.

Me on the suspension bridge..

Lemme see.. it’s tall, straight and steady. Nothing spectacular, but then I’ve always loved these kinda things .

Another group photo at the Ranger Station

The Jelutong Tower

Our next location of interest – the Jelutong Tower. Climb all the way up for a view of the treetops.

View from atop the tower. That's the MacRitchie reservoir in the distance.

We actually took the opportunity to rest up here which was quite a silly thing to do considering the searing sun was beating down directly on us. But we needed the gratification. We’ve been walking for about 2 hours now, and the view was pretty impressive. At this point, most of the group has had enough, and decided to head for the exit. A bunch of us though, hungry to push ourselves a little bit more, decided to try and make our way over to the Bukit Timah reserve.

Made a wrong turn, and turning back..

Except we didn’t quite know the way..

Now this is what I call an adventure!

I was kinda hoping for more of this actually. A hike isn’t quite a hike unless you have to use your hands too..

Siva about to sacrifice MiniAdele while me and Ardash conduct the necessary rituals..

Full respect to MiniAdele who was having major difficulties with the trail, but forced herself along with us (nearly passing out or puking a few times). Unfortunately, we missed the offroad track to Bkt Timah, and ended up instead on Rifle Range Rd – an actual tarred road for vehicles that leads back down to Bkt Timah town center.

There was a lorry passing through that offered to fetch the exhausted MiniAdele down to a shopping complex while Aoi followed. The rest of us began our long boring walk down. It was about 3-4kms, and we saw monkeys along the way while passing by a commercial shooting range (which I’ve gotta try one of these days).

That by the way, is a REAL train track. We had to cross it in order to get back to civilization..

Our Final Destination! Al-Ameen restaurant for a late lunch and lots of cold drinks

Finally met up with MiniAdele and Aoi, and had our refreshments. We clocked an overall of 6 hours on the road! Although the jungle wasn’t quite a real wilderness (I could access 3G and my GPS, there was no dangerous wildlife, and you can’t really get lost), I was still pretty damn satisfied .. Went home and nursed my aching legs. Thanks to Rajnish for organizing this – my very first Meetup.com experience!