Singapore's TidbiTs

Bukit Batok Nature Park is known as the Guilin of Singapore, Little Guilin or Xiao Guilin as it is called by locals here, it resembles the much bigger Guilin Mountains in China. Well, perhaps a little, though it is just a part of it. Bukit Batok Nature Park is a respite for those living in the western part of Singapore. It is not to the extreme west like Jurong Lake Gardens but is actually quite close to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the east and there is a 1.8 km (1.1 miles) park connector network walking path linking between the two as they are both part of the 36km coast-to-coast trail. Some may combine Bukit Timah with Bukit Batok. Bukit Batok literally means 'coughing hill'. 'Bukit' is 'hill' and 'batok' is cough. Jurong Lake Gardens is the start point or the ending point of the coast-to-coast trail, depending on if you start from it or from Coney Island . The distance between Jurong Lake Gardens to Bukit Batok Nature Park is 7.3km (4.5 miles...

Fort Canning Hill is one of Singapore’s most historic landmarks. It was originally a cone-shaped mound that stood at a height of 48 metres above sea level. It was very likely that in the 14th century, the royal palace of ancient Malay rulers stood on the summit of this once “Forbidden Hill”. The memory of this was still alive that when the British arrived in 1819, the Malays refused to climb the hill, known as Bukit Larangan in Malay, saying that it was forbidden without the permission of the ancient rulers. In Southeast Asian cultures, hills and mountains were associated with supernatural and divine powers. Major General William Farquhar, the first resident and commandant of Singapore ascended the hill with the Malaccan Malays in 1819, since the locals were unwilling to climb, and atop the hill he fired a salute and erected a pole from which the Union Jack was flown. The hill was renamed Government Hill. One of the largest ruins discovered by the British was a keramat, or shrine, whic...

With options almost negligible to travel overseas for holidays during the pandemic, there is no stopping us from travelling or holidaying domestically, well, minus the airplane. Using the Singapore Rediscover voucher to offset some of a staycation cost, a holiday in an airport mall may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But then Changi Airport and Jewel is unlike any other airport or shopping mall. One can get apprehensive staying in an international airport, albeit landside area, coming into contact with travellers, but the airport terminals were closed. Plus, it was during a heightened alert where dining-in was not allowed and so we thought it was going to be kind of dull. We were wrong! So, let’s start with the check-in into Yotelair. It was a breeze. After filling-up a simple health declaration form, we were given our room keycard. The cabin room is kind of small, but has almost everything that you may need, but then staying indoors in a hotel room for the whole stay was not the idea i...

Anyone who has visited Coney Island before, will certainly have been awestruck by the tall and lush casuarina trees, probably the largest clusters of casuarina trees in one place one has seen in Singapore. There are casuarina trees almost everywhere on the island. Also known as the Common Rhu, there are casuarina trees elsewhere in Singapore too like at the Big Sisters Island , but not in the same scale as at Coney Island Park. Located off the northeastern coast of Singapore, between Pulau Ubin to its northeast and the mainland to its southwest, Coney Island is the starting or the ending point of the 36km (22 miles) coast to coast trail, depending on if you start from there or from Jurong Lake Gardens . Connected to Punggol Point and Punggol Promenade by a bridge on the west entrance, the 87-hectare Coney Island fronts the new Punggol Town and provides respite to the residents there. Actually, there are several parks around Punggol area including the Punggol Waterway Park and Sengkang...

Mention MacRitchie Reservoir to anyone here, two things usually come to mind. The scenic tree-top walk and the long-tailed macaques who are the long-time residents of the forest. Named after municipal engineer James MacRitchie, MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore’s oldest reservoir, and an important source of the city’s water supply. The reservoir, within the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, has also been transformed into a venue for recreation which is part of Public Utilities Board’s Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programmes to bring community closer to water. Do you know that the Central Catchment Nature Reserve was first established as a nature reserve under the directorship of the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1990? You can stroll along the submerged boardwalk, take in the scenic views from the bandstands, chill on the benches among the huge park, enjoying the bright looking flowers amongst them. Rows of bright orange flower trees of Kock's Bauhinia (Bauhinia kockinia) an...

On 15 February 1942, Singapore came under a new master, Japan. The city was named Syonan-To meaning the Light of the South. Life on the island changed dramatically. Many people feared Japanese brutality and suffered from a lack of food and other supplies. Changi gained prominence during World War II when the Japanese used Changi Prison, originally built by the British in 1936, as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. Thousands of Allied soldiers were detained under harsh conditions and interred POW. Changi Museum and Chapel is a small and free museum (free for the local residents, small fee applies for foreign visitors) in the eastern corner of Singapore that depicts the darkest days in Singapore history when Singapore fell on 15th February 1942, and this museum is a tribute to those who fought for Singapore. Inside the museum are remnants of Changi goal, photos, letters and personal artefacts of the POWs, and highlight the imprisonment, suffering and life of the POWs and how human spirit triu...