The Insignificance and Vulnerability of Simplicity

Tuesday, August 30

In the wee hours..

Peace. Reflections. Symmetry.
The source of power

Photobucket

*****

Labels: mommy, nature, neighbourhood

irony @

12:00 PM

Wednesday, September 8

The 4 hour hike

(Warning: A huge spam of photos ahead)

Quite some time back,

Came across the TreeTop Walk on the net that got me so hyped and excited..

And I was dying to check it out.

We would not have to fork out a single cent..

Only petrol I supposed =p

To get to the TreeTop Walk,

We would have to hike a little to get through those forested area..

Since it was a part of National Parks..

We checked out the maps and trails to get there..

There were a few routes that we could take to get to the bridge.

Took the shortest orange trail (7km) from Venus Drive carpark..

We had to walk a distance of approximately 2.5 km before we can reach the TreeTop Walk.

Which amounted to 1 hour 15 minutes of uneven terrain walk.

SO equipped with not very appropriate shoes..

We ventured into the wet woods.

Surprisingly

This was a very common place for morning walks and runs.

Hikers were armed with towels and cross training sneakers..

Tourists with the hiking stick..

Sweaty Caucasians ran past us..

Kids were given a refreshing touch of nature away from static computers.

The touch of urbanization in the greenery was evident though.

Our cameras started to roll.

Hiking was like a memory that was suddenly dug out and reignited back to full bloom.

I remembered how much I still love nature..

I remembered those Primary 6 hikes into the Mandai wilderness

I remembered the snow hike at Hokkaido-Noboribetsu.

A feeling of overwhelming nostalgia..

If there is anything that is worthy of good cameras..

Nature will be it.

No matter how messy the trees are

Nor how dispersed the clouds are

Nor how rocky the roads are..

There is always a dimension that tells a story.

And then we got silly..

As we approached the TreeTop walkway..

Saw this huge pack of monkeys that made us halt..

I thought they would jump onto us..

Snatch our belongings and stuff..

But guess as long as we don't feed them, they won't turn aggressive.

And the baby one was extremely active..

After an hour plus of walking up and down the slopes..

We finally came to this..

Launched on 5th November 2004

The walkway is a free-standing suspension bridge spanning Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang, the two highest points in MacRitchie.

The total length of the walkway is about 250m and its height from the forest floor varies, with the highest point at 25m.

The bridge took us 10 minutes =)

Took a break at the benches a short distance away from the end of the bridge..

And we got silly again.

Thereafter

We would have to walk another 2 hours to return to our starting point.

The foliage function for the Canon is awesome..

We walked for another hour or so..

Decided to take a break before we continued the remaining journey back to the entrance..

Took out the Cheezels whose advert was beckoning to us every time we went to catch a movie.

Then as dear was opening the packet of biscuits..

He gave me a startle..

So what did he see..?

I turned around.. =x

HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE A MONKEY SMILING AT YOU..?!

There were no trees around that area..

So where did the monkey come from?

Albeit tired..

The journey back was a pleasantly sensual one =)

Had a good laugh at this..

We just made a visit to Lilliput and Blefuscu hurhurhur..

I will want to do this again..

After all those sun and sweat..

Together with the feeling that something we set out to do has been accomplished..

THESE TASTED DAMN GOOD..

*****

Labels: dear, fun, nature, photo logs

irony @

10:46 PM

Sunday, September 5

The Gem in the neighbourhood

Within the blink of the eye..

We have lived here for 23 years..

When I was about fourteen, Don eleven, Ming nine, the youngest one five..

Daddy and mommy used to bring us to the reservoir every Sunday evening without fail..

They would scrimp and save to buy us decent bicycles..

Some were hand-me-downs..

So four bicycles in tow, somehow or another two of us would take turns to walk.

We loved the outing.

Sometimes my cousins would join us..

Sometimes the brothers fought among themselves over silly things..

Sometimes daddy would be in a foul mood..

Sometimes we would ride recklessly and fall and bleed..

Then chided furiously..

But most of the time

We enjoyed the breeze, enjoyed the water, and enjoyed nature.

And learned from the falls =)

Carrying four bicycles up four storeys was not a joke..

But that was never a problem for us..

Dinner always tasted so much better after some sun and some activities.

That was daddy and mommy’s way of family togetherness.

So about fifteen years later..

They revamped the whole area..

Lower Seletar Reservoir

Colors filled the night..

Perfect symmetry

The air was so still..

Charlotte's working hard at it..

Ingenious designer of its web..

The closer the threads are woven together..

The lower the chance of a prey's escape.

Yishun has come a long way..

Taking a stroll after dinner..

Soothing calm water..

Just like a balm to the heart..

The view from the bridge that was stretched to the middle of the reservoir..

*****

Labels: family, nature, neighbourhood, photo logs

irony @

4:10 PM

Wednesday, July 28

A sunny liberation day..

Mommy suggested going over to Changi Beach earlier to get some vitamin D..

Being someone who absorbs sunlight like a sponge,

I was somewhat quite hesitant.

It was a love hate relationship with the sun.

I love being in the sun, on the beach, on the mountains, close to nature..

There's no where I'd rather be..

I dont mind having a nice brown tan..

But the UV rays always turn me charcoal (not brown) within a couple of minutes..

Since I grow muscles and tan easily I should have been a guy duh -.-

All the dim witted worries were cast away the minute I saw the high tided waves..

Like a balm to wounded minds..

Staring out at the limitless horizon was calmly reassuring..

The sky was exceptionally blue that day..

I was so gleeful when I saw those swings..

The feeling of being on a pendulum..

Shaking away the woes..

Swinging off the low moods..

Mommy joined me =)

There were many dogs at the beach that day..

One of them was this long fur chihuahua..

5 months old..

Cute to the max..

My hands could cover half of its body..

Caught this candid shot of mommy..

Heee..

She was happy..

So was I =)

*****

The waves that day were dangerously choppy..

*****

Labels: beach, family, liberation, mommy, musings, nature, photo logs

irony @

11:06 AM

Thursday, January 14

Doggy was dued for grooming on Sunday..

Thought we would try something out of the blue on Saturday before she becomes botak..

She has been the most domesticated dog ever..

We thought a little walk will do her good.

It was an overdue intention but mostly ended up in procrastination.

Somehow we always change our minds at the eleventh minute.

Our plan went through this time.

And this was what I saw when I opened the car boot to dump the laptop.

LOL

The curious and excited little one..

It was a definite plus point to be able to bring your dog along to have breakfast in a lush green nature.

Not many eating places allow that.

If you already guessed it..

Breakfast was good, darn good.

The western set was an absolute value for money.

We chilled for a while, enjoying sips of coffee, tea and juice..

And then off we went into the greens.

Her excitement was evident.

As we put her on the ground, she scurried off..

With her leash on, she was actually pulling us behind her..

She pee and she poop..

Then pee again lol..

Leaving signs of herself everywhere..

The master and his fur ball..

But her stamina depleted very quickly.

And before we knew it,

She was taking in horribly big gulps of air..

Body was jerking and her tongue stuck out more..

Guessed she was really stressed out =x

Enjoyed the day very much 'xcept we had to cut the day short..

Perhaps the next time round CG and Chloe can join us =p

*****

Labels: dear, dining, doggy, nature, photo logs

irony @

5:20 PM