Adventures in Singapore, part 3

Hiking at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

I got up pretty early this morning (ok, like 7 am) because the plan is to go hiking with Ja and some friends at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Due to the unfortunate weather in Singapore, that means going before the sun has had a chance to really come out and burn us all. You do not want to be hiking mid-day in this country. 

I was staying at a hostel called Rucksack Inn (at Lavender Street), though I shelled out a little more so I could get put in the all-female room. There's no lift, and the stairs are a bit narrow, so you don't want to come here if you've got a lot of luggage, but breakfast is included and its mainly just toast and jams, but they also have oranges. It's about a 5 minute walk from here to Bendemeer station, which is on the blue MRT line. 

The reserve is pretty far out, so it took around 30-40 minutes or so from Bendemeer station to get there, to the Hillview station (also on the blue line), where you can enter the reserve. 

I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to hiking, because so far I go up mountains and such, with gorgeous views at the top and so forth. If you're looking for that here, you're not going to find it. There were a lot of trees and greenery and the path is paved/stone stairs mainly, so it's more like a hilly park with a lot of walking uphill than an actual mountain hike. This is a hill hike. 

I'm personally not that into hiking just to 'hike' (walk uphill around nature that looks like a park, pretty much, though there was one area with a lake sort of bit), but it was good to just talk while actually doing something, so points for that.

If you want to go do something with your friends and get a little exercise in while being able to have plenty of time and ability to chat, this works. It was sort of like spending hours around a table talking, except with the food, table, or sitting.

That means it's also great for getting to know/meet new people, which is pretty much what this was. Ja wanted me to meet her friends, and it's a nice activity to do while still actually having nothing to do but talk. 

Plus, it wasn't too hot today. One of them was the really fit type like Ja, and they did the racing up stairs to the Rocky theme music sort of thing, but the other one was more like me, not into exercising at all, so we hung around and just videoed when they got like that.

We hiked for around 3 hours, and the main point of interest was the Hindhede Quarry where we saw some wildlife: fish and a komodo lizard and so forth. If visiting the reserve, this is where you should head. 

The Hindhede Quarry, which mainly seems to be a very pretty lake

Then we came back to have lunch at this cute little area nearby where food was cheap and interesting. Noticeably, there aren't food places in the park/reserve area that I saw, though there are bathrooms and you can buy water/drinks from the vending machine near there. It was a good experience, and nice to be able to meet up with others.

Exploring Kampong Glam and Bugis, the Turkish and Arabian sections of Singapore

The other two had other things to do, but Ja and I separated to head back to our places for a change of clothes and a shower after the hike, and then met up again to explore Singapore. It should be mentioned that Singapore is incredibly diverse culturally and religiously, so they have the Chinatown area, the Muslim area, Little India, and so forth.

We went to the Turkish part, first to the Masjid Sultan. It's a mosque, and you'll need to take off your shoes and, for girls, put on this piece of clothing like a really long coat/dress.

It's not very big and you can't actually go in to the main area where they pray, but you can see into it because it's open air. That means if you come on time, you can get to see everyone praying and how the ceremony goes and all that, but we didn't come on time. There's also a little museum-like section that tells you about being Muslim and the ceremonies and such. 

The times for prayer are listed on top here, and that green dress the woman to the left is wearing is what they give you to put on. No going in beyond those gates unless you're actually praying though

Then we walked on to Haji Lane and Arab street and the area around it, which has loads of absolutely fantastic restaurants and cafes, if you're hungry. After that is Bugis street, where you can do shopping for clothes.

Exploring Singapore's religious diversity

If you go a bit further in this area, you can see the Hindu Sri Krishnan Temple or the Buddhist Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple.

They are both right next to each other, which is a perfect example of religious tolerance and Singapore's diversity. Continue on for another five minutes of walking and you'll hit the Catholic St Joseph's Church on Victoria Street, and get to see some gothic-style architecture.

If you've seen the Sultan mosque (Masjid Sultan) I mentioned, that means you've seen four different places of worship in one day, all within walking distance of each other. 

The mosque as seen from a distance, walking on the way to Arab street

Afterwards, we walked back to the mall by Bugis for a bit of food (this mall is great for that, the ground floor has loads) and the connection to the underground train, to head back home.

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