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...

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...

Singapore is not all concrete blocks and skyscrapers. You will be surprised there are nature reserves and parks all over the island, and one of the preserved nature areas is an island called Pulau Ubin or granite island. Singapore is actually made up of a total of 64 islands, though some islands have been combined so the number is lesser now. Do you know that the word pulau means island in Malay? And the word ubin means stones or specifically the Jubin tiles that used to come from the many stone quarries on the island. Pulau Ubin is a laid-back diamond shaped rustic looking island located at the eastern corner of Singapore. The island, about 1,000 hectares or ten times the size of Gardens by the Bay, is the only preserved kampung island left intact in urbanised Singapore. Previously Pulau Ubin supplied granite for major construction works in Singapore including the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branch and the Raffles Lighthouse. The last active granite quarry on the island, Aik Hwa...

Most who head to Pasir Ris will invariably think of Wild Wild Wet, a water theme park, and Downtown East or E-Hub. Very close to Wild Wild Wet and Downtown East and hiding in the eastern corner of Singapore is the mangrove forest and swamps, home to mudskippers, the amphibious fish that can live both in water and land (you really have to look hard as they blend very well with the environment and has the colour of brownish mud) and otters! Pasir Ris mangroves forest are part of the larger Pasir Ris Park. Other marine creatures that you may spot are crabs and they are several different species of crabs including the brownish tree-climbing resident crab called Eppy. Its full name is Episesarma singaporense or Singapore Vinegar Crab, a native crab. As you walk along the boardwalks you may see mountains of crabs' 'condominiums'. Another crab which is commonly found living among mangroves is the small porcelain fiddler crab. Male fiddler crab has one claw larger than the other th...

Where can you find some wildlife apart from the zoo in urban Singapore? Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is located at the quiet remote corner of northwestern part of Singapore. Buloh is a Malay word for bamboo. And Sungei means river. Therefore, Sungei Buloh means Bamboo River. Simply because it is located along Buloh River. Maybe there are many bamboos which grow in the area previously. You certainly can see some bamboos there. The rich mangroves at Sungei Buloh were once used as a spawning location and nursery by prawn and fish farmers. Sungei Buloh Nature Park was designated a Nature Park in 1989 and the wetland reserve was officially opened in 1993 by former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. It was a protected forest reserve in 1890, though after 1973, during the industrialisation of Singapore, the mangroves around Kranji were cleared to make way for prawn, fish and horticultural farms and light industries. But since 2002, the 202 hectares of rich biodiversity of wetlands of mangrove swa...