This weekend was a pretty tame one. Friday night I had a nice run followed by a dip in the pool, which at 7:30pm was all mine as no one else was around. Floating on my back, I kept staring up at the dark sky thinking how odd it is that it is night here and morning back home.
Saturday morning I woke up to chat with mom. It was a tough day for me as a few stresses I’m dealing with finally seemed to get the best of me. Though I am not afraid to admit that, yes, as a 24 year old I can get homesick, I have been more surprised that this was the first time I really broke down. Sometimes it’s easier to not miss things back home so much when you know there is no possibility that you can get there. Back when I was living in Indy, the times I missed Niles or my friends or my family, it was more frustrating because they were in the same time zone and I knew only a 2 hour flight separated us. But being here there kind of is not point in dwelling on missing home for too long because you honestly can’t do much about it. Thankfully mom knew what to say to calm me down and get my head straight again. Of course it’s also a bit easier knowing that I’ll be headed back for a brief work trip in just a few weeks.
The rest of Saturday I couldn’t help but soak up some good sunshine by the pool. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky which meant that there weren’t many people out by the pool (I still don’t get these people). It was nice going for dips in the pool to cool me down then sitting and reading.
Later in the afternoon, Ethan and I headed to Expo, an MRT stop just a couple stops away (with one train change). Ethan found this little gem when Tracey and her dad were visiting last week. We have been wishing there were more cool bars to hang out at closer to where we live and this place did the trick! It’s nice to not have to always take a 30+ minute train ride to go somewhere to just relax and hear live music and I plan to hit this spot up a few more times while we’re here. We enjoyed happy hour priced drinks and truffle fries at a place called Table Manners. However when Ethan came last week with Tracey and her dad they ate at MOA Brewing Company New Zealand Bar and Grill and gave it great reviews! These bars/restaurants are all next to each other making it easy to take a look at each then decide where to stop. We enjoyed sitting outside under the gazebo at Table Manners and for a Saturdaylate afternoon it wasn’t packed at all. (Plus with happy hour prices between $6-10 it can’t be beat).
So finally Sunday, the big adventure of our weekend. We were up and out around 10am to head to the MacRitchie Reservoir located pretty much right dab in the middle of Singapore. Unfortunately there isn’t an MRT stop that drops you right at the entrance of the park so we had to figure out how to take a bus there. I haven’t taken the bus system here before as it’s a bit confusing to me and Ethan has taken it once before but with the help of his co-workers. So we got off the MRT at Marymount and starting aimlessly walking around while trying to figure out how to get to the park. Thankfully a group of 3 Singaporean college students came over and asked if we needed help. I think in my head what gave it away, my white skin, confused look on my face, and blank stare at the map? They kindly invited us to walk over to the park with them which ended up being a 2km walk from the station. We chatted a little bit with them and found out they were psychology students and had just finished final exams which meant they had a 3 month vacation to enjoy. It was nice to have someone help us out and to meet someone new.
View of the reservoir
Once we reached the park we parted ways with the Singaporeans and started the long walk to the Treetop Walk. Now let me first mention that Ethan and I were trying to get to the entrance that would be closer to the Treetop walk (only 2.6km) but our new friends lead us to the entrance that was 4.5-5km from the Treetop walk. Well, more exercise for us! So we started on our way, already starting to sweat in the intense humidity of the day. We first walked past the reservoir which made me wish for Uncle Norm and Aunt Joan’s pond back in VT to jump into the cool water. Then we started on the path through the “woods” or jungle in my eyes. Welcoming us on the path were a bunch of wild monkeys! Sounds fun until they are all staring at you and growling. I tried my best to stay calm and walk past as if I’m completely used to this sort of thing.
Can you see the monkeys on the trail ahead?
We finally reached the Treetop walk which was a huge suspension bridge wide enough to fit one person so you couldn’t turn around once you started. The bridge gave you amazing views out over beautiful, green treetops (hence the reason for the name). Even though we were about 100ft of the ground, I felt relatively calm and relaxed walking across the long bridge…ok until a little more than halfway through it started making weird noises and I got nervous. But I made it across safely and sweaty!
Ethan on the Treetop Walk
We're just glistening in the sunshine, no its not 5 gallons of sweat!
Long way down to the bottom
After walking up and then down about 500 steps, then making the 2.5km walk back to the place we initially wanted to enter the park, we decided to actually take the bus back to the MRT. All in all it was a simple ride. We took the 410 bus and it dropped us right at the Marymount MRT stop and we headed back home. The whole hike took us about 2.5 hours and the travel to get there and back took probably close to 2 hours in total too. By the time we got back to our MRT stop we were absolutely wiped out! Walking all that way in humidity that makes you lose more water than you could possibly take in is so taxing on your body! Ethan and I both agreed that had we done the same hike back home at this time of year we would have been a little tired but with cool weather it wouldn't have been nearly as bad.
And that’s my latest adventure!
Have a great start to your week and a special shout-out to my friends Sam and Ryan on their engagement this past weekend!
Great Adventure! I just spoke to Aunt Joan tonight, and she said to thank you for the card. She is so impressed that you thought of her even though you are half way around the world. It made her day! Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteSo glad she got it! How could I forget any of my great family and friends back home??
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