Whenever I see these beautiful red saga seeds, I will always think of an adventurous and unexpected exploration.
Fizah, Jhon and I have always been avid fans of trekking/trailing but the spots that we always go are MacRichie Reservoir or Southern Ridges Park. So we decided to venture to other parks and we chose the
Western Park Connector.
The journey to the beginning to the route was already an interesting journey because you see, this is the first time any of us heading there. It was also a first for Jhon to take an LRT. He was a timid but excited boy that day.
The start of the trailing was rather exciting for us because it was a completely new route with different sceneries. We can’t what was in store for us. The "dirt" photo on the right is actually a race track for RC cars under the expressway bridge!
First encounter was a good one. We found a playground. Without skipping a beat, the inner child of me burst out to play. At first it was just me, climbing and when I needed help to climb back down, I got scared like a kitty cat and there was when Jhon came to my rescue. He got hooked and completed the “course” with me.
After what seems to be a never ending ZhengGhua route, we came to a forked road. Instead of turning left, we went straight and thus the beginning of a confusing and lost road ahead.
We kept going straight. No doubt our gut feelings were telling us that we were going to the wrong way but perhaps fascinated with the view, we ignored them. This is also the place I managed to sprain my right ankle. Luckily, it was not serious and managed to walk normally; I just can’t put all my weight on it.
We trudged on until we came upon a road with a road sign stating McRitchie Reservoir further ahead. WHAAT?? Thank God for smart phones, we used the map to know where we were. Do you know that if you are surrounded with greenery, all you see in the map is this?
So we traced back our steps and decided to turn right (instead of retrace until the spot we made the wrong turn) and that was when we realized that we have entered
Bukit Timah (Singapore’s highest hill). Not only that, we managed to choose the most difficult route UP the hill and DOWN hill.
I sprained the same ankle again but on the other side and we were EXHAUSTED. One thing, we were not mentally ready to climb a steep hill and we were running out of water. WHY IS THERE IS NO WATER AT THE TOP OF THE HILL??! Jhon was so cranky and disappointed that he zoomed down leaving us behind for a good 20minutes. We didn’t even think of taking pictures although reaching the peak via a difficult route was an accomplishment.
After much agony going down the steep steps with nothing but rocks, we eventually made it to the other exit. We drank 6+ cans of H-TWO-O and rested as much as we can. At the resting spot, I saw the map and do you know what the route we walked??
We walked according to the red arrows when we should be walking according to the yellow arrows!!!
After that entire ordeal, we even considered to continue our initial trekking route!
After reenergizing and filling up our bottles, we continued with our walk and as soon as we reached the entrance towards the dairy farm, I saw beautiful red beads on the ground.
It was saga seeds! I absolutely love them because they look gorgeous and I have been ranting about them to Jhon. Naturally, I picked them up and I saw more and picked up more and more and more!!
Jhon was reluctant at first until he helped and he too went crazy even as I said enough and we should move on. It didn’t help that Fizah spotted even more still dangling from their trees. Poor Fizah wanted to pick some for herself but she has difficulty bending over because of her back. Don’t worry, I gave half of the saga seeds to her.
After spending probably 1+ hour picking and throwing sticks at trees so that the seeds will fall, we decided to postpone our Western trail and head back to the resting spot. Jhon washed up with a fresh spray of deodorant and a shirt and we sat around with our shoes taken off.
You would think we would go home right after that but nope. We headed to Bukit Panjang Plaza for a Swenson’s lunch and walked around at Daiso. We also conveniently managed to find bottles for the red saga seeds.
Now our memories are neatly placed in a bottle (1 for Fizah and 1 for me) and forever hold that story how we got semi-lost and ended up climbing Singapore’s highest hill.
THE END
