Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Yesterday I woke up and thought, yes, today is the day I visit Bukit Timah. I thought it exactly that way.
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is just across the road from our condo – in fact, you can see it from my bedroom window – and it houses the highest natural point in Singapore at a whopping 163 m. The reserve is pretty huge (for something in Singapore) and is right in the centre of the island. I was so happy to end up living near it because I remember seeing a map of Singapore way back in February and going “*forceful point* THERE is where I want to live. Right there by that nature reserve.” It’s the only remaining (relatively) untouched bit of Singapore and is inhabited by animals like monkeys, flying lemurs, serpent eagles, snakes, tarantulas, etc. It is a jungle. I live across from a jungle and had never stepped foot in it.
East out of my south-facing window. Yonder there be flying lemurs.
Interesting side-note: the visitor’s centre has a bit of information about what sorts of animals lived in Singapore before it became a teeming metropolis of condos. Such animals include pangolins (which may still be around,) flying foxes, and TIGERS. Mmhm. Real tigers.
In the golden days, Bukit Timah was also inhabited by pith-helmeted children. Oh, and flying foxes, yes. I love the expression on this kid's face; he has strong doubts that this is a good idea.
It was threatening rain all day and I briefly considered calling it another mall day but the prospect of taking pictures of bugs and clean, tree-filtered air were strong enablers in Alice’s absence. Rachel decided to come along too, and soon we were traipsing off into the Nature Reserve armed with cameras, umbrellas, and a continuous stream of bad accents. It was such a relief to be suddenly surrounded by trees and green and leaves as opposed to the usual streets, cars, buses, city fumes, busy people.
Trees look pareidolic to me sometimes.
The air was really lovely. Just like in Korea, the “hikers” were dressed up. People with hiking boots and hiking sticks and specially designed technologically advanced fabrics; but the paths are largely cement-paved or equipped with cement stairs. It wasn’t a hike so much as an uphill walk followed by a downhill walk. We wore sandals. No problem. I wouldn’t recommend climbing to the summit in sandals (and we didn’t) but everything else is piece of cake. Beautiful, green, nice-smelling nature cake.
The forest is curtained everywhere with vines and creepers.
Plants
We saw interesting plants a-plenty including strange rainforest flowers and many large, very tropical-looking trees.
Roomie Rachel and a nice big tree. Just what the doctor ordered for a B.C. girl.
A tiny wild orchid about 1 cm long.
A mystery berried stem. How festive!
A very soft button of moss on a felled tree.
More flowers.
More berries.
Fungus
A sinister smokestack-looking fungus.
Like a lunar eclipse.
A tiny, slimy tree fungus.
Insects
An anthill nestled between some tree roots. The ants hid from me, but I appreciated the way their home looks.
Possibly a type of "true bug". We caught him methodically scraping the green off this leaf. He was so absorbed in his work he payed no attention to me or my camera.
This little Argiope spider (1cm) and its pretty zig-zag web were photographed by Rachel. I tried, but in order to get a decent macro shot with my camera, you have to get preeeeeeetty close and I … am afraid of spiders. To be honest, I’m probably on the phobic side of afraid, actually. Jumping spiders aren’t so bad but one jumped on me yesterday when I was watching it watch ants, and I screamed. I felt like such a wuss.
Argiope genus spiders are often much larger and brightly coloured than this little guy.
A pretty beat-up Chocolate Pansy. (It took me forEVER to identify it!)
An ant feast
Another ant feast.
A very shiny black beetle.
After our little hike, we discovered a row of plants at the visitor’s centre that were extremely popular with the insects, particularly with crickets. We didn’t realize the plants were teeming with crickets until we followed the sound of one particularly loud cricket sound and found it, to my eternal surprise, just sitting on the tip of a leaf, singing its little heart out. I was really excited because I had never actually seen a cricket sing.
Slowly we discovered dozens more just chilling. They’re very pretty, yellow with silvery wings, and very gracile; not at all like the fat, squat, black crickets I’m used to seeing here.
Just enjoying the sun.
"That thur's a curket!"
