Related Stories: “My Trail Running Dream Crashed, Burned, Spitted-On at Meyux/Lyra/Nap’s TRAIL >>”
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My top 5 things must-to-do whenever I have the chance to be in Singapore:
1. Ride all sorts of Public Transportation. If you can figure out 04L to 62C, no reason why you’d get lost in their public transport system. Just make Google maps or city Mapper / nextride / whereto.sg apps your bestfriend.
2. Hawker centers. They’re “carenderia” on steroids for me. I’m for the thrill of getting the right food, and being understood by the “auntie” or “uncle,” and of course affordable foods. My personal favorite hawker centre is the one in Changi; I also like the one in Chinatown but it can be really crowded so any where will do. =)
3. Be an Auntie of SG (#titasofSG) at People’s Park Centre – This is crochet-related though. But if you want to learning knitting in SG, you can visit Golden Dragon Store. For running gears, I think Velocity is the place. But just buy your stuff here in Cebu to contribute to our economy; unless the stuff you want to buy is not available here in Cebu. =)
4. Coffee – If you’re feeling crazy rich Asian, you can surf to your heart’s out on their 3rd-wave coffee scene. If erbof, kopi c of uncles in kopi tiams or hawker stations is a cultural experience. My personal favorite is Tiong Hoe; the traditional coffee roaster for kopi tiams and 3rd wave coffee are like standing side by side in an HDB, both are owned by same family.
5. MACRITCHIE TRAIL. For that much-needed #bloggerpose in a 1st-world maintained trail park… MacRitchie Trail is my definition of “inday-inday” trail, and is definitely my kind of trail; not the near-death experience kind of trail my friends of Cebu Trail Runners considered trails (This is another long story but to get the gist of what I mean, you can check my old post “My Trail Running Dream Crashed, Burned, Spitted-On at Meyux/Lyra/Nap’s TRAIL >>”. =)
SG is not a love at first touchdown kind of thing; not that SG likes me back too or cares if I like it or not. =) But after a few times of coming to SG, I came to appreciate its culture which tends to be on the Type A / OC (obsessive-compulsive) side kind of personality. Coming from a very wildly “democratic” country, entering this country can sometimes feel like entering into export processing zone areas (imagine getting inside MEPZA) where there are signages of Do’s and Don’ts on every corner. You can either think of them as very strict people or they’re just simply extra caring and concern so they properly put signages.
And, their trail park / reservoir is not an exception.
They definitely have no shortage for sign boards.
But the last time I got to be there, it gave me such beautiful colors early in the morning we had our MacRitchie dose; it’s so pretty that I can just let it get it away with it’s being OC or too “wholesome.” I felt like it’s trying hard to charm me because really, the trails back home in my beloved Consolacion is wilder despite that “development” is taking over it now. It’s this one part that yes, we got this better, back at home! =)
Anyway, MacRitchie Trail is a pretty fast route. I think the longest loop / route is 15KM. If you want to get a longer mileage in trails, you can extend your run to Bukit Timah though it’s a mix of concrete and running through the backyard of residential houses.
There’s a part where SICC (Singapore Island Country Club) shares trails.
There are a lot of other things to do in MacRitchie Trail. The TreeTop Walk is probably the most popular.
And, a MacRitchie Trail run is not complete without getting a grub at Mushroom Cafe. Food is blahhh here, but well, it just became our tradition to end the trail run with Nasi Lemak. =)
To get to MacRitchie Trail, open your google maps, and enter MacRitchie Trail. Google maps will give you what train or bus to take. =) But we usually take the entrance on the Lornie Road side. There are other entries to the reservoir / trail, which I do not know so do let me know if you know other ways.
Enjoyed reading this Ate Rose.