Rustic beauty and simplicity

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Singapore with Indah, my forever-travel-buddy. It was basically a 3-day short trip and decided in a quite last minute. Not that it was for an urgent or emergency purpose, but more like spontaneous decision that turned to be something fun. We thought we needed to have a break from everything and enjoy ourselves in a different ambience.

Why Singapore? We said, why not? We both realized that we have never been really going around this country. Our previous visits to Singapore were mostly business-related with constant route between airport, hotel, office and restaurant or a transit before a long-haul flight. This time we can't afford the time to be away from work for weeks like we mostly did in the past - going to other continents, hopping from one country to another, getting our complete travel gears on, visas, detail plans, etc. This time we wanted to be simple, short, relax, fun, but still in backpacking style, our style :)

So what's to enjoy in such a short visit? Good question. We didn't make ambitious plan, nor worked on the detail itinerary, but still we wanted to go to places that were not mainstream. So here I share with you two places that became the highlight of our trip.

The Southern Ridges

The Southern Ridges is part of Singapore parks and nature reserves that offers visitors to go on hike along the 10-km greenery and serenity. It connects Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, HortPark, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Nature Reserve. If you are a walking enthusiasts, this is surely a heaven-on-earth for you. But if you are not, don't even try :)


The journey started off with a very interesting experience: we got lost! And nobody on the street knew about this place! :-) The GPS was not really helpful and the map we have downloaded didn't really provide clear guidance. After walking for around 5 km (in a broad sunny day) and getting kicked out by security officer (hahaha, so funny to remember this), we finally got to the entry point at Normanton park. This place has several (probably hidden) entry points.

Stepping into this place was like entering a never-ending beautiful panoramic view of the city, harbor, forests, and southern islands. We got so lucky as the weather was not really hot, even if it was, you probably wouldn't feel it, as you walked between trees and shadowed by the trees' big branches. There were not many tourists, mostly the local people who had jogging in their proper outfit - luckily ours were quite ok.

Other than the view, the park was also a lovely place for bird watchers or families looking for a different outing activities. It had several greenery parks, wooden benches to sit back and relax, gazebo for a mini picnic, and the uphill and downhill jogging/walking trails. For us, we simply enjoyed the walks and sat on benches sharing stories of our life. No rushing, no photo-pressure, just us, sharing stories and laughter.

The walking trail - I didn't have the nerve to look down, just walk straight

The highlights of this place that you shouldn't miss is the Forest Walk and Canopy Walk, wooden bridges cutting through a distinct type of secondary forest. And also the Henderson Waves, that is considered as the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore, standing 36 meters above the road and connecting Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park. The design is very interesting, yet the view of high rise buildings stands side by side with green hilly parts. Interesting!

The walking trails

Canopy walk

To get to this place, we took MRT and got off at Kent Ridges station, turned left as we come out of the station, walked through the first street, Science Park Drive, then walked along the street until we found Normanton Park condominium complex. Few meters before the condo gate, we walked down the stairs with confident - yes, be confident as it didn't have any signage but that was the right path. Shortly, we encountered a big park and pond, and simply followed the signage to into the deeper forest.


The journey ended at Harbor Front station and the big Vivo City shopping mall welcomed us as if it knew exactly how starving we were. Finally a bowl of laksa and meat ball soup closed the day graciously.


Small tips: please wear your comfortable shoes (sport shoes) and outfit (t-shirts short pants, etc), drinks (thou there are several vending machines at several spots), umbrella (in case it's raining) and camera. To finish complete route, it may take 4-5 hours, depend on your speed. I strongly suggest to take your time, do not rush and enjoy. After all, that was the whole point of taking a day off :)


Pulau Ubin


Having enough walking and fatigue from the first day, we went to Pulau Ubin on the second day for pedaling through the rustic roads surrounded by overgrown rubber plantation and coconut palm trees (yeah, like this one didn't make your legs even more suffering).




Pulau Ubin shaped like a boomerang

Again we got lost! We took the wrong bus, hahaha... The good thing is we then have stories to remember *rolling eyes*.


To to go to Pulau Ubin, first we got off Tanah Merah MRT station, took bus no. 2 to the final point: Changi Village Terminal (around 20-30 mins). Go to the next building, the ferry terminal for crossing the strait by boat. The bumboat will only depart when 12 people were on board, just like angkot :) We paid $3 each for one trip, payable just before you got on board. The trip took around 15-20 mins.

You have to wait for 12 people to depart



Bumboat will take you to Pulau Ubin for $3 and 20 minutes

As soon as we entered the island, we rented a bike for $7.5 each - could be less if you're good at bargaining. Check the bike condition as it would be disaster if you find problem in the middle of the island.

A bike with basket would be helpful for your bag or drinking bottle

In the first few meters, the road was flat and really steady, surrounded by big shady trees. I liked it so much, pedaling through a forest. However, there were times when we have to walk our bike, got worn and sweat. The trail was rather hilly, rigorous and certainly not suitable for those with faint hearted. There were parts of the forest that made me felt chilled as it was sooo quite. We hardly saw anyone and the sound of rubber fruits falling from the trees had often made shocking noise. So spooky, but we believed it was safe.


Just don't forget to bring a bottle of drinking water with you. A mosquito repellent could be helpful too. 


After approximately 40 minutes pedaling, we got to Chek Jawa, which was basically a cape and the name of its 100-hectare wetlands located on the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin. As we're no expert on biodiversity science and had no interest to learn further about such, we simply focused on enjoying the surrounding, without giving deeper attention to the well-known rich ecosystem in this area, the type of marine lives, variety of birds, unique lobster type, etc.


Soon after we parked our bike, we continued to follow the path to 1km-long boardwalk into the mangrove areas and along the coast. When walking on the board along the coasts, we didn't have the nerve to look down, it was all sea. We just walked straight and enjoyed the view. We felt like walking on a water, a sea. Make sure you have your sunblock properly applied, sunglasses, and a cap.


Oh, there was also a 30-meter tower, from which you could see a view from the top, but we were too lazy to climb, so we skipped it :-)

Walking on water on a bright sunny day

A shady boardwalk

Be careful with tidal

Walking through the 1km-long boardwalk into the mangrove areas

If you're visiting in the late afternoon, you might need to pay attention on the tidal schedule. Some areas could be restricted.


On our way back to jetty terminal, we passed a mesmerizing aqua-colored lake and went through another shady path. At times, we raced and enjoyed the breeze, and sometimes we just slowed down (catching some air, haha). The path was easy with clear signage at several spots, but in case you need a map, you can download it for free here

A mesmerizing aqua-colored lake

On the third or last day, we decided to just cool down, walk around the city, do a little shopping before going back to airport for an evening flight back home. It was indeed a short break worth taking and we should probably do this more often and head to different places. Life's good! :)