bukit panjang to upper peirce reservoir

today, i finally accomplished what i had wanted to do for sometime - go on a hike from chestnut avenue to upper peirce reservoir. actually, i started the hike from my home at bukit panjang. the building in the above picture can be seen from the dam at upper peirce reservoir. a former student of mine, who had gone with us on the trek to the shinto shrine deep in the macritchie reservoir, offered to show us the route but some how we never got around to doing it. there was another occasion when keith initiated an attempt to use the same route to get to lower peirce reservoir but at the last minute because of inclement weather, it had to be called off.

at the chestnut avenue waterworks, i asked the person manning the gate if there was a track leading to the upper peirce reservoir. apparently, he has not gone on any hike around that area, and his answer: ''it is very wide". i also approached a mountain biker waiting for his buddies but he could not help me either because he was unfamiliar with that area. he told me that he would be using track 15; must have been referring to some mountain biking route. since i was already there, i had no choice but to 'plunge in'.

at the initial stage, there were many fallen trees across the track. they must have fallen like dominos. sawn off tree branches were used to cover the soggy track. the paths were quite well marked except for a few spots where you had to detour because of the fallen trees. as usual, i did not meet any walker during the entire hike but i did meet the cyclist whom i had approached earlier for help.

certain sections of the track hug the edge of the water. the water level was quite high; if it should rain a bit more, i think the track will be obliterated by the rising water. that is one of the reasons why some trekkers can get lost in our water catchment areas; the rising water covers the track and forces them to move away from the marked (well-used) track.

i did not see any 'sign of civilisation' until i came to the dam. all the way, it was the forest and no sign of human or human activities except for some plastic water bottles, wrappers and some markers left behind by earlier hikers. it was at the dam that i came to realise that the upper peirce reservoir is the nearest reservoir to bukit panjang because i could see the blocks of flats that i had walked past earlier.

why are dogs not allowed?

have you ever wondered why dogs are not allowed in our nature reserves. you can take your dog to the park, to the beach, to the botanic gardens and to many other public places but not to the nature reserves.

some of the reasons could be:

dogs may directly kill wildlife. although most of the times they cannot catch the squirrels or the birds, sometimes they do succeed. even if they do not succeed in killing the wildlife, they may injure the wildlife enough to cause their subsequent death.

dogs can trample the vegetation.

dogs can transmit a number of pathogens to wildlife. these pathogens may be found in the poos of the dogs.

by the way, dogs are also not allowed in the water of our reservoirs.

if you read one the information boards at the wallace education centre at dairy farm nature reserve, you will have an idea why they forbid dogs in the reserve: "animals brought into the nature reserves threaten native forest species. the last banded-leaf monkey at bukit timah forest reserve was mauled to death by dogs..... "

from dairy farm to bukit timah

i wonder if the original objective of opening the dairy farm nature park has been met. the dairy farm nature park was developed with the idea of relieving the congestion at bukit timah nature reserve. over the years the popularity of the oldest reserve in singapore had meant that if you went after 6 a.m., especially on a weekend, you would not be able to find a parking space in the car-park. it appears to me that the situation has not changed much even with the addition of the wallace trail and a well-marked link to bukit timah nature reserve from the dairy farm nature park.




even before dairy farm nature park was opened, there was already connectivity between the two areas. i used to meet a few seasoned walkers moving from dairy farm to the summit of bukit timah and vice versa. today, in spite of the signboard indicating the path to the summit, the number of people taking to this trail has not increased very much.



most people who visit the dairy farm nature reserve tend to explore or use the easy trail - the wallace trail. the trek to the summit of bukit timah is definitely more challenging. it involves climbing steps carved out by constant trampling, steps provided by the roots of trees and some giant steps constructed from concrete slabs. a reasonably fit person should be able to reach the summit of bukit timah from the dairy farm nature park within 20 minutes.



to get to the summit of bukit timah, you have to first follow the trail to the dairy farm loop. here, you have the option of going either left or right. both directions will eventually lead you to the 'main road' on bukit timah. if you make a right, you will come to the north view path and if you turn left, you will reach the rengas path. the north view path merges with the rengas path at some point.

most visitors to the two nature areas still treat them as separate entities. they generally do not move from one to the other. if they go to the bukit timah nature reserve, they seldom end up at the dairy farm nature park and vice versa.

birdwing butterfly

i was near the bukit timah nature reserve when i spied this large butterfly. normally, i do not bother about butterflies but this was an exceptionally large butterfly. i first noticed it among the lantana flowers, then it flitted on to other flowers in the vicinity. after i had photographed it, i lost it - could not find it any more.

birdwings inhabit rainforests and adults are usually glimpsed along the forest periphery. they feed upon—and are important long-range pollinators of—nectar-bearing flowers of the forest canopy, as well as terrestrial flowers, such as lantana. they are strong flyers and seek sunlit spots in which to bask.

the 'crocodiles' of sungei buloh wetland reserve

if you think you have been to the sungei buloh wetland reserve and you have not come across a single malaysian monitor lizard, you have probably been to the wrong place. you may not see the birds that you are there to see or you may not see the otters but you will definitely see one of these water lizards. sometimes i wonder if the sightings of 'crocodiles' in the reserve could be a mistake. from a distance, a huge monitor lizard can be mistaken for a baby crocodile.

you will see these creatures everywhere: along the trail, on the boardwalk, by the bank of the river, in the pond, on the grass, in the swamp, swimming in the river or swimming in the pond. i have even seen one up on a tree, having a nap. at one time i counted up to eight monitor lizards in the same pond.

most monitor lizards, even the very big ones, will shy away from human beings. they can move quite fast, both on land and in water. they are quite graceful swimmers; they keep their limbs close to their body and seem to propel themselves by swinging their powerful tail from side to side. these lizards can also stay submerged in water for quite some time, up to half an hour.

my friend has seen foreign workers setting up traps by the sides of a canal in the bendemeer area to catch these monitor lizards. they would place a loop at the round openings on the sides of the canal and when the creature crawled out, they would be caught as the loop closed onto it. according to him, many were caught in this way. the meat of the monitor lizard can be eaten and one large lizard can provide quite a lot of meat.

i have not tasted the meat of the monitor lizard but i have been told it is delicious and that it tastes like chicken meat.

the chinese call it 'the four-legged snake'. indeed, the monitor lizard, with its forked tongue, does look like a snake. it flicks its tongue to scent for its prey.

a not so common sign

following chun see's blog on a sign city, here is a sign quiz.

sighted this sign in one of our nature reserves. but it is not one of those common ones. thought it looks like the chinese character 'chong', as in 'hong chong'.

where - which nature reserve - can you find this sign?

to which group of users is it directed/targeted?

everyone is eligible to participate; no age limit.