Exploring Southern Ridges in Singapore 2020

I'm embarking on exercises now to shake off excess weight. Hopefully I can shed off 12 kg by the end of this year by exercising and reducing food intake. 😊

This Tuesday, my buddy and I decided to spend the day hiking at the Southern Ridges in Singapore. We started the journey from the Harbourfront MRT station, climbed various stairs on the steep Marang trail, explored Mount Faber Park then to Telok Blangah park via the Forest walk in the midst of secondary forest with rich biodiversity and finally to Labrador Park MRT. It took us about 3 hours plus to complete the trail and we walked about 16000 to 18000 steps. I can't really remember the number of steps. But if I were to include the Chinatown Ann Siang Hill trail to home, it was about 24000 steps for the day.

We had early dinner at the ARC (Alexandra Retail Centre) before heading to Labrador Park MRT and later to Chinatown. 

I love the scenic walk and I do hope if I have another half, he also enjoy exploring nature like I do. 

Remember to wear a hat and apply sunblock to protect yourself from the scorching hot sun in Singapore. Good to apply insect repellent on your shirt too. 

To read my earlier blog post of Hiking at Mount Faber and Henderson Waves in 2014, click here,

You can download the walking guide here from the National Parks.

We arrived at the Henderson wave at about 12.40 pm. It was literally empty on Tuesday afternoon.

You can download the walking guide here from the National Parks.

Walking up the steep Marang trail.

Finally up to to the Mount Faber park.

The bright orange cluster of flowers are still here.

View from the Mount Faber park

We love the 1.3 km Forest walk in the lush secondary forest.

Simpor air flower

Simpoh air is a shrubby tree which grows in secondary forest. Its leaves were traditionally used by hawkers to wrap local dishes such as rojak and tempeh. The flowers of the Simpoh Air starts to open at about 3am and come into full bloom an hour before sunrise. Its fruit split open at about 3 am.

View from the Mount Faber

View from the Faber Walk.

Glad that the weather was good for hiking this Tuesday. Lovely cloud.

The seats at the Henderson waves are condoned off.

I love this forest walk where you are in the midst of secondary forest and you can look at the flowers and trees around you. 

Social distancing reminders

Alexandra Arch

Lovely Magazines for Me

This month, I spent quite a sum of money on magazines. Next month,I will tighten my purse and not spend so much. I love magazines with interesting stories and beautiful drawing. 

I like the cover page of Breathe and make time for yourself. We need self-care after spending so much time at work. 

Quaint Ann Siang Hill in Singapore Chinatown

After hiking at the Southern Ridges, my buddy and I continued to explore Chinatown. We don't go to Chinatown frequently thus we were kinda 'lost' in the street. However in the process of walking to another MRT downtown, we saw the quaint beautiful Ann Siang Hill.

 

We saw many beautiful traditional shophouses which are mostly home to multitude of pubs and restaurants in the quiet enclave but more boisterous in the evening. 

There are also many beautiful street art at Ann Siang Hill where it used to be the Cantonese Chinese burial grounds. The old colourful shophouses used to be home to several Chinese clans and associations. To find out more, click this brochure prepared by the National Parks here .

To explore other DIY Walk in Singapore, visit the National Parks website here.

Street artl of Chinese zodiacs. I'm born in the year of rooster. Sometimes I can be very blunt and sarcastic. 

I wonder why the rooster is behind the year of pig. It should be the year of dog.

At about 5pm plus, many cars arrived to the pubs for a night of party. 

I love this shop house design and colour combination. Feel like I'm in the 40s era.

History of Ann Siang Hill.

I like this beautiful spiral staircase which is made of sturdy wood.

Lovely bright yellow flowers.

You can download the brochure from the National Parks here.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

Last Saturday I finally went to Buddha Tooth Temple Relic at Singapore Chinatown . I went there for a Dharma talk. After the Dharma talk, I went to explore Buddha tooth relic which was a hotly debated topic regarding the authenticity of the tooth relic about 12 years ago. Singaporeans and local residents had donated more than 43 million dollars and 273 kg of gold to build the temple and the gold stupa for the tooth relic. Besides the tooth relic, I also went to explore the roof garden and other Buddha's relics at level 3 that look like beautiful crystals. 

Beautiful Buddhist relics also known as Sarira that look like pearl or crystal-like beads are commonly found in the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. From Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum website here "Sariras, the Sanskrit name for relics, refers to the remains of a body part usually after cremation. In Buddhist context, sariras refers to the crystallization of solid remains of especially Buddha Sakyamuni after His cremation. Henceforth, relics are also broadly defined to include solid remains of other Buddhist practitioners, regardless of Sangha and secular disciples. The emergence of relics signifies that the spiritual energy of Buddha or the spiritual practitioner during their lifetime is constant and serene, untainted by nature’s forces yet elevated due to persevering religious practices. Hence, this energy is converted to physical forms to what we known as relics. Relics are the essence of wisdom, the fruit of spiritual labour, which are free of lust, greed and wrath."

Recently, my colleague shared with me his Buddhist friend who practised meditation was found to have sariras when his relatives collected his cremated ashes. 

Venerable Chao Khun Keng explained that mind is like a laser beam. Due to the purity of the mind, for some of the monks, their hair can turn to relics. Pure mind that doesn't have greed, hatred and delusion. The monks, when they meditate, they focus on the body. They use the mindfulness to scan the body. Due to the purity of the mind, the body can turn to relics. Due to the pure mind, the mind that does not have greed, hatred and delusion, it has the pure energy to channel into the body and clean up the body, it can also use pure energy to cure the sickness. In a way, meditation can enhance your health.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum 
Nearest MRT: Chinatown MRT
First posted on 5 June 2019

 Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is located in Chinatown. It is about 10 minutes walk from Chinatown MRT station.

At the main hall, the future Buddha,  Buddha Maitreya is seated between two Bodhisattvas

 Monks and lay Buddhist practitioners chanting at the main hall in the morning.

 At Level 3, you can explore the museum where you can find out more about the Buddha and his other relics in the relic chamber. No photography is allowed in the Relic Chamber and Buddha Tooth Relic museum.

At the roof garden. 

Sariras, relics

Chao Khun Keng explaining about relics 1:29.  The monks, when they meditate, they focus on the body.  The mind is like a laser beam They use the mindfulness to scan the body. Due to the purity of the mind, the body can turn to relics. Due to the pure mind, the mind that does not have greed, hatred and delusion, it has the pure energy to channel into the body and clean up the body, it can also use pure energy to cure the sickness. In a way, meditation can also enhance your health.

Street Arts in Singapore Chinatown

After hiking at Mount Faber yesterday, my buddy and I planned to visit the Buddha's Tooth Museum at Chinatown. Alas it was closed so we decided to explore Chinatown. We were 'lost' in the street but saw many beautiful street arts scattered in Chinatown street, once an enclave for Chinese migrants. We were delighted to explore the beautiful Chinatown which is really vibrant at night as people gather at the myriads pubs in the colourful and traditional shophouses. Maybe we be back again to also look at the mural near the new Shake Shack restaurant in Chinatown. 

This street art is located in Ann Siang Street.

You can find this street art near the Buddha's Tooth museum in Chinatown.

In dedication to my young cousin born in the year of Pig.

Interesting light art outside a fusion restaurant at Ann Siang Street.

Street Art behind Thian Hock Keng temple. This mural depicts the grand procession to welcome the Deity.

Brought a Mike for Singing!

Since the circuit-breaker or partial lockdown in Singapore, I have not been to the karaoke/ktv to sing with my friends and cousins.

 

I decided to buy a microphone to sing at home instead of waiting for the karaoke to open.

I saw some affordable microphone at Tampines1 mall at level 2. After trying various mikes on display, I decided to buy one mike which costs about $39.00. I'm quite happy with the purchase after trying it at home today. Maybe I can try to sing and post online when I'm free.

By the way, my buddy can sing really really well. You can click here to listen. 

This mike is not bad. Its quite fun singing at home.

Vegetarian Choices at Cedele

I just signed up for one-year membership at Cedele. I paid $25.00 for the membership and I received $30.00 e-vouchers and a cup of coffee or tea. I think its a pretty good deal! Since I love their lemon lust cake, I can also enjoy 5% rebate for future purchase. I really like Cedele as they use fresh and quality ingredients. I recently tried their super green pasta with kale, zucchini, shaved Gana Padano cheese, pine nuts, poached egg with coriander pesto. This super green pasta which is suitable for vegetarian is now one of my favourite pasta! Frankly speaking, I don't like coriander but I kinda like the coriander pesto here. 

As usual, their cakes are awesome especially the orh nee and lemon lust.

The female staff ( I think its the manager) who served us last Saturday provided good service. She took the trouble by settling my payment in two transactions so that I could use the e-vouchers and also enjoy 15% discount for four slices of cakes. Thanks for the trouble!

The service staff especially the female are more flexible. If you don't want meat for your salad, you could request them to change to other alternative. I think if you are strict vegetarian, it may not be suitable for you as most of their dishes include meat and the vegetarian pasta might be mixed with meat if they use the same pan for cooking. 

Cedele at Raffles City Shopping Mall
Nearest MRTs: Cityhall MRT /Esplanade MRT 

The super green pasta is really awesome but not cheap at $18.00.My favourite dish here.

The popular burnt cheesecake. We ordered it to try this trending cake in Singapore.

Love the orh nee cake! Think its only available for limited period for their 23rd anniversary celebration.

Sharing cakes with my cousins to celebrate one of my cousins belated birthday.

The carrot cake here is delicious with walnuts! I love walnuts!

Raspberry cheesecake

Time to Buy a New Laptop?

My current MacBook Air has battery issue now. When the power is about 80%, it will just turn off by itself. Now I need to charge it whenever I use the laptop. I brought this MacBook Air in 2017 and it has been working well until recently. 

I'm now wondering if I should switch to Asus Zen laptop as MacBook Air is not compatible with my Android phone. I can't transfer my photos to MacBook Air from my Samsung Note 10plus phone. It also can't download Autodesk Inventor software which I like to use. There are disadvantages in using windows operating system as its quite susceptible to computer virus. Maybe I need to buy good anti-virus software. 

I'm hoping there is computer fair soon so I can purchase a new laptop. 

Just for Laugh

If you want to have a good laugh, do watch the funny stand-up comedy by Kumar, a popular Singaporean comedian. This video is hilarious!😆