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My outdoor interests are jogging, fishing and nature walk/watch.  Jogging is a good form of exercise that could be done anytime and anywhere requiring only a good pair of running shoes.  It helps to relieve pressure or stress, be it from work or studies.  Most of all, it keeps your body fit and healthy and your appetite improves.

I used to hike a lot in the western and northern part of Singapore and Pulau Ubin when I was a member of The Boys' Brigade, First Singapore Company.  The most memorable part about these expedition hikes must be the sunset seen from different parts of Singapore (we usually reach the campsite when its about to get dark).  This one was seen from Kranji Park.  It slowly retires towards its "twin" and casts an elongated shadow behind me.

I could not forget my first nature walk at Pasir Ris park.  I never thought I can find so many species of faunas in the park.  The Pasir Ris Park is divided into three parts by two rivers; Sungei Api Api and Sungei Tampinese.  It has bird sanctuaries, beaches, a campsite, water sport centre, a huge kid's playground, a mangrove swamp park and observations kiosk and towers when I first visited the park in 1993.  It even has restaurants and beach pubs now.

The weather was fair and it was about 8 am.  The tides were just residing and it was a good opportunity to do some fishing.  Baits used were fresh squids and marine worms.  Marine worms could be obtained from the beach itself by sprinkling some bread soaked water.  You need to have sharp eyes and fast reflexes as the worms will only surface for a second or two! This trick was taught by an tanned uncle when he saw us having trouble catching the worms by digging.  Here are my sketches of some fishes that can be caught there:

If you are lucky, you may even spot the white breasted/throated kingfisher.  This one was spotted on a pole of a fence for the bird sanctuary at the west end.  Be cautious not to get near the bird as it is unsociable, and it will quickly fly away if you get too close.  Its calls are harsh, screaming and in laughing notes.  Diet comprises mainly fish but sometime includes insect and lizard.  So it is not dependent on water as most believe it to be and it frequents trees.  However, this particular kingfisher likes to build its nest as a hole in a bank.

The bird sanctuary, which comprises grassland and a short stream with some mangroves trees, at the west end of the park is usually visited by few people.  When you enter the sanctuary, you will be overwhelmed by the sound of crickets caused by the crickets' hind legs rubbing against each other.  You will also be greeted by the popping sounds of sulphur gas given off by protruding roots of mangrove trees.  This is an ideal home for many species of birds.  Common birds such as the mynahs, sparrows, pigeons and crowbirds could be found.  However there was one special bird that you had to look at the ground in order to spot it.  It is the water cock/hen (male/female).  The male will have a red horn (pictured above) above its beak while the female sports no red horn.  I spotted one bathing in a pool of water.  When the water cock realized it is being watched, it froze for a while and ran back to the bushes.  Its calls are harsh, loud croaking sounds.  If feeds on herbage, insects, water life and weeds.  The nest will be a pad among thick grass usually near water.  Eggs will be pale ground spotted and blotched.

After visiting the sanctuary, I went to the mangrove swamp park.  It was a long walk to the park from the west end having to cross the bridge at Sungei Api Api in between.  In the mangrove swamp park, there are about a dozen of information boards on the faunas and plants in that area.  Here are some of the common faunas you can find.

The mudskipper is very unsociable and moves very fast in the water.  It crawls around the mud of tropical swamps and can breathe in air and in water but it constantly need to renew water supply to its gills chamber by returning to the pools left by the tide.  I was fortunate to spot the dog-faced snake.  It frequents the pools of the swamp because most of its food can only be found in the water.

The blue claws and red arms caught my eyes at the swamp.  Although it was very small, its colours made it visible.  These were only some of the faunas I have seen.  There are many more and I have not touch on the plants and vegetations.

My most recent (2001) visit to the mangrove swamp park was not that fruitful as it was brief, noon time and the tide was low.  The mangrove swamp was polluted with cans and water bottles (most probably by visitors to the park!).  I could not even spot the common mud skipper when it was in abundance back in '93.  Hopefully, I am wrong and I plan to go back for a full day field trip and fishing.

My Trip to Sungei Buloh Nature Park in Singapore

This is my first trip to Sungei Buloh.  The weather was fine and not too hot as it was still morning.  There were plenty of mudskippers found along the main river of Sungei Buloh.  We were greeted by a reptile sunbathing in the open gravel path.  It is a monitor lizard.  What amazes us is its boldness to stay on even though we are very near it.  I remembered, during my hiking trips and NS days, the monitor lizards in areas like Lim Chu Kang/Live Firing Area are more shy.  They will tend to zip into the bushes as soon as they spot humans.

"Who's that?" says the Stork-billed Kingfisher.  It realises that it has been stalked only after I took a photoshot.  I noticed that the bird is wet, probably due to fishing dives for food in the rivers.  It is cleaning itself and making use of the morning sunlight to dry its feathers.

A delightful view of many herons can also be spotted in the park. They comprises the Grey Herons and the Purple Herons.  I noted that they like to face the same direction much like a school of neo tetras fishes in my aquarium tank.

This is one of my underwater shot during my snorkelling trip at Corals Island in Malaysia.  Not bad for a waterproof disposable camera that can be bought from any photo shop!

Last Updated 22 August 2001