Take a Walk on the Wild Side

As most of you know, I'm very limited in what kinds of exercise I can do... thank you very much dysfuntional knee and most recently, shoulder.  Bascially I can walk or use an elliptical machine - BORING!  Until now.  This country is made for walking!  Lace up your sneaks and put on your best moisture-wicking fabric and hit the sidewalk!  Important tip - go early.  By now I do not have to remind you of the heat. 

You can walk ANYWHERE in Singapore.  There are sidewalks on all streets, even the busiest ones.  I usually go one of two ways:  to the Botanic Gardens or toward Holland Village.  The Botanic Gardens are a mere ten-minute walk from my apartment, with pure jungle on my left the entire walk (busy road to the right).  In fact, the Sultan of Malaysia had a palace on that land, that was just left to deteriorate. Oh I wish, how I wish, I could get back there to check it out, but instead I resort to pictures found on the internet.  If you have a minute, it's completely fascinating.

So let's take a quick look at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  It's a 183-acre government-owned park, about 1.6 miles from end to end.  It is open from 5am until midnight every day and has no admission charge (except to the National Orchid Garden located within the gardens).  It also has rainforest trails, making it only one of two cities (with Rio de Janeiro) to house a tropical rainforest in the city limits.  I have not entered the rainforest trails because I am a baby and am afraid of snakes.  Big, big, baby.  I wouldn't consider a ground floor apartment because of possible snake issues.  It's bad.

Also, the two people Jason has asked about snakes have admitted they've had encounters.  So at least I kind of have a reason. 

So this is what you will see early in the morning at the gardens - Tai Chi.  Tai Chi is a form of martial arts consisting of slow movements that are purported to help bring about a state of mental calm and clarity. It must work, or a whole lot of people have been completely brainwashed.   I'm going to resist the urge to make fun of the Tai Chi'ers, but cannot help but make fun of the people who do some form of asian line dancing sometimes.  Now that's funny stuff.

Total side note:  this is totally stereotyping, but in a good way.  Asian people are funny.  They generally have a really great sense of humor, and I love it.  They are always taking the touristy photos where they appear to be holding up a statue or pretend the water from the fountain is coming out of their mouth etc.  Today I watched a group of girls try (over and over) to get a picture of themselves jumping in the air at the same time.  When in social settings, there is generally a lot of laughter at the table.  I know, I know, I'm talking about an entire race of people so I must be really obtuse.  But if you can get the overall message here, thank you.  If anyone gets mad at me for calling people fun and thin, so be it.

Back to the walk.  The gardens are beautiful and I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  It is so comforting to know that in a big city, I'm so close to this tranquil setting.  We took the kids last week and they really enjoyed feeding the fish and turtles, and swinging on the vines.  I'm sure Sophia will force me into the rainforest next time.  Look out snakes, here I come!!

Additional photos of the Botanic Gardens:

 

Turn right out of my apartment complex and I've got a 10-minute walk to Holland Village, our small town within the city that we frequent almost daily.  I'm attaching some pictures from my walk on surrounding roads just to give you a glimpse of area scenery.  You will notice the construction - it is a constant in this country.  Buildings are on average usually no older than ten years old.  Once they reach that "old age", they are torn down and new ones are put up in their place.  The brutal humidity just wreaks havoc on everything here (at times my mood included), and mold is a problem.  Our building is a *very* rare 30 years old, and going strong! 

This walk is not quite as scenic, well... that is once you grow accustomed to palm trees on your daily route!  I walk by several bus stops, a wet market/hawker center (food court and farmer's market), and eventually wind my way into town to get a cup of coffee (at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or the Starbucks, it's really not that different than the US). 

Word of caution, WAIT for the green man when crossing the street.  Oh my goodness, I got sick of waiting and almost forgot the direction of the traffic (they drive on the opposite side of the road).  Lesson learned and won't do that again.

Here are a couple of pictures on my route.  I walk on the main road, then turn off on side streets, just for variety.

One annoying thing....people here are generally very friendly...but they don't seem to move to the side when passing you on the sidewalk.  It's frustrating, I always move over, even when I'm forced into the grass!  I can't understand it, but I guess I will just have to be more assertive!

Lastly, about a week ago, I took my walk at night (big plus is the relative safety of Singapore, you can walk around at any time) and was strolling by the nearest hospital, when I spotted a pretty good-sized wild animal bounding into the bushes.  I estimate it was about 40 pounds, black or dark brown and had a long and thick tail.  Because it was running away from me I couldn't see it's face, and I have no idea what it was.  Hope you had a good experience at the hospital, mystery jungle animal!

So there you have it, my morning routine.  Which of course always ends with a shower.  Which is pointless....I will need another in two hours.

Next time - our first trip to Sentosa Island!