Friday, February 25, 2005

Treetop Walk

Gavin spent the night at my place as we decided to do the HSBC Treetop Walk the next day. It’s a bridge in the Central Nature Reserve suspended 60 feet above the ground and supposed to take you to treetop level of the secondary forest. It took 2 hours at a leisurely pace and I couldn’t complain about the weather, the view from the bridge, and the lack of mosquitos. (which is ironic cos I’m being maraudered at home and safe in the jungle?) Well, there is an explanation for that…

What I could complain about was the fact that for the 2.4 Km trail leading towards and away from the bridge, half of it was on tarmac and the other half of it was on an elevated walkway made of planks – complete with hand rails!) Is this Singapore’s understanding of nature? A cosy walk in the park? WTF? This would probably explain the lack of insects! They probably fog the place regularly.

The view from the bridge was good, but not amazing. There were none of the animals the papers reported that we could see in the trees. There were supposed to be birds, snakes et cetera. Sure, granted this was not a zoo and animals are not guaranteed, but nonetheless, it was quite a disappointment.

The experience was further marred by the fact that the school trip of CHIJ girls that came 10 minutes after us was composed of 60 girls who had no appreciation of being there. They were screaming and because of the fear of the gentle yawing of the suspension bridge and heights, they literally ran across the 250m long bridge in seconds, adding to the yawing and resulting in more screaming… sigh… seriously, there is something wrong with our education system. Why bother taking them there in the first place? Oh, and since they ran on ahead of us, I was picking up litter after them as I was walking out. Disrespectful @#$@!

But in the end, it was good to spend some time with my buddy, walking in the “jungle”, and reminiscing about the days when we were in the Scouts and were made to walk these tracks…

I’m going to sleep well tonight. Oh, look at the pretty pictures!

No comments: