Sunset @ Lower Peirce Reservoir

"Lower Peirce Reservoir - 贝雅士蓄水池下段" is one of the oldest reservoirs in Singapore. It is located near the MacRitchie Reservoir and the Upper Peirce Reservoir which is some where near Upper Thomson Road.

The Lower Peirce Reservoir is Singapore's second oldest reservoir. It was built by impounding the upper reaches of the Kallang River and comissioned in 1912. The forest that lines its banks is considered a mature secondary rainforest and evenly until today you still can find numerous rubber trees and oil palms scatter around the park.

The park not only provides a peace and relax environment for stressed-out individuals, the dense forests surrounding the reservoir also serve as an important refuge for many rare animal and plant species finding shelter. During weekends or public holiday, the park will be filled with family bring kids or love one to set up picnics and to enjoy the scenery or enjoying the trails through the rainforest to have exciting encounters with Singapore's amazing wildlife. From what we have saw and heard from friends, most of the people like to come to this place to catch little shrimps, crabs or fish which is another way of family bonding time with the kids.

If you choose to visit the park or stay around evening time, you might able to catch up with the beautiful sunset that you might not have a chance to see often during your daily working life. Sometime life will be more meaningful if you can spare some time, stop your pace and lift up your head and enjoy this beautiful sunset that is created by God.

If you are staying around Upper Thomson Road, I am sure you have visited this place and enjoy the natural goodness far long before us. But if you have not come to know this place before, maybe you can arrange for one of the weekend and give it a visit and enjoy your breakfast or evening sunset along the coaster or the green patches. I am sure that will be a most wonderful day for you......

Exploring Bottle Tree Park

Prawning has became one of the hottest past-time hobbies for most Singaporean from young to old. No matter which age group you belong to, this is indeed a fun, patience testing, friends and family get together type of activities. Last weekend, we visited Bottle Tree Park which is a walking distance from MRT and bus-stop.

We have being to the Bottle Tree Park a few times which is about 5 -8 minutes walk away from the Khatib MRT Station(NS 14) station. This is a concept village where there are different kinds of sports, recreational facilities, conference rooms, eateries as well as old-times nature.


After about two years since it's grand opening in 2006. This park has being doing well and they have in-corporate a new Japanese restaurant called "Botoru Ki" which serves many varieties of reasonable price-range Japaneses Bento set meals.

They also have this little "Vegetable Farm" near the entrance of the Park where they cater for Schools Educational Tour. These are what I have discovered while discovering around the park. Neat rows of seedlings and vegetable are being planted at different stage for school tour and they even have this little cafe that looks like those western farm-style cafe that sells they own-grown vegetable, homemade snacks and beverages.

Behind the vegetable patch, there is a narrow path-way that consists of different cages that which you can see Chicken, Rabbit, Goose, Quail and etc. This is indeed a great discovery where young kids can take a look on the Kampong life-style as well as the local farm animals.

In this park, almost every members of the family can be occupied with certain activities that they like. They can choose from Long Kang” (drain) Fishing, Prawning, Paintball, Swan Paddling, Outdoor Courts (for playing balls)Remote-Control Car Racing and etc.

Prawning is a great activity where families and friends can have great time together. The anticipation of prawn biting, the patience of waiting, the excitement of hooking up a prawn and the reward of a great feast of fresh prawn. All these are wonderful moments will be last in the memories.

This is our victory of the day..... after waiting patience for about 3 hours at the pond, we managed to grab some decent amount of Fresh Prawn to whip up this wonderful Baked Prawn With Lemon & Cheese. If you are interested with the recipe, you can hope over to my recipe blog HERE to read more about it.

Dairy Farm Nature Park

Recently there is a new hiking area called Dairy Farm Nature Park which is opened next to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. This new discovery make it easier for older walkers and young children to pause and check out the nature beauty, butterflies, birds and plants.

Unlike the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which has many uphill trails along the way, Dairy Farm Nature Park has flatter trails which is more relax and enjoyable for hikers. There are two carparks within the park where Carpark B near Bukit Timah Express way, has the nearer access (about 15 minutes walk) to the Wallace Education Center.

Along the walk to the Wallace Education Center, you can enjoy the beauty of the nature by looking at these beautiful flowers, plants and trees. Kids will sure to enjoy the walk as they will find many interesting insects such as butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, beetles and etc.

Outside the Education center, you will find interesting road sign and interesting creatures. We did spot some lizard and monkeys on that day. There is also a Wallace Trail near the Education Center which is about 1Km. This trail cuts through secondary forest and you will find fruit trees such as Durian and Rambutan also you might able to spot some bracket fungi and beetles.

Wallace Education Centre is a former milking shed that has been restored into an information centre that traces the history of the area. They also have interactive information kiosk that has pictures of the biodiversity found in the area.

About 3 minutes away away from the Education Center, you will see a one-storey abandoned old fashioned English garden house which is believed to have been built in the 1920s. Outside the house, you will find a small garden planted with ixora, lantanas and hibiscus which makes it a very popular photo shot area.

After back to Carpark B from the Wallace Education Center, we move on to Carpark A where we start another 30 minutes walk to the Singapore Quarry Trail. As you can see, along the walk we discovered a lot of interesting view, flowers and Rey also spot some Banana Trees.

At the entrance of the Singapore Quarry, there are a lot of Orchid flower planted on the left side of the gate which add extra beauty to the area. This former quarry has been transformed into a wetland where they is a viewing deck with a sheltered area.

Releasing of fish or other animals into the wetland is prohibited as it will disrupt the eco-system. We are also not allow to capture any insects such as butterflies or dragonflies or bird. This place is indeed full of nature peace and you can see that it's such a beautiful place to indulge in. So do try to squeeze out some of your time from your busy schedule and take a walk along these trail to enjoy the beauty of the Nature Park.

Marina Barrage

Marina Barrage is a dam in Singapore that built across the Marina Channel between the reclaimed lands of Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008. This S$226 million project turns Marina Bay and Kallang Basin into a new downtown freshwater Marina Reservoir. It also provides water supply, flood control and a new lifestyle of attraction.

There is a green roof top which doubles up as a recreational space, open to public access. You will be able to see a lot of visitors flying kites or having picnic on that area too. Other than recreation area, it is also serves as an insulation to lower the temperature of the building. The pump house which located at the ground floor contains seven pumps are used to flush water out of the reservoir during stormy weather at high tide. But the interior of the pump house is closed to members of the public.

This is the Marina Bridge which containing the press gates that form the barrier of the Marina Barrage. Besides separating the seawater from freshwater, it also acts as a tidal barrier to keep out high tides. The 5m tall steel gates can be lowered during heavy rains so that water from the reservoir can be released into the sea.

Other than the outdoor activities, they also have "The Sustainable Singapore Gallery (SSG)" which is an information and sensory extravaganza showcasing Singapore’s efforts towards environmental sustainability.

From 3 August 2009, SBS 400 will be added to the shuttle service between Marina Bay MRT Station and Marina Barrage. Please refer to the chat list of the schedule here. If you are free, do drop by either in the morning or late evening to enjoy the beautiful scenic from another side the city.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore Botanic Gardens at its present site was founded in 1859 by an Agri-Horticultural Society. Planned as a leisure garden and ornamental park, the Society organised flower shows and horticultural fetes. And over the years, the Gardens is steering on a long term upgrading programme to provide better public facilities and amenities. New attractions, such as the Ginger Garden, Evolution Garden, Coolhouse and the Children's Garden are being added to keep the Gardens relevant as a leading destination.

Upon arriving at the main entrance of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, we managed to chance upon this growing room where they showcase the process of the growing seedlings and also a month exhibition called 'Two Minds, One Theory' which starting from 01st August 2009 - 31st August 2009. (for more details, click here) .

Look at these lovely flowers, even though the weather is kind of gloomy but they still bloom well at sight. It really makes you feel great when looking at them.

This gazebo is a Victorian cast-iron garden shelter. It was built in the 1850s and stood for many years in the grounds of Old Admiralty House in Grange Road. In 1969 it was dismantled and re-erected in the Gardens at the entrance to the Rain Forest. We didn't go anywhere further into the Garden except till the Swan Lake Gazebo where Rey can feed the fishes and turtles in the pond as well as spend sometime admiring the Swans in the lake.

P/s: The information shown here is just roughly about 1/4 or less of the park attractions, for more information, please refer to the park website here.