Building a House of Sticks (Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?)

Another $0 toy that lasts for days!

1. Pick a sheltered location, under a big tree, with roots on two sides to support the house structure.

2. Set up the house skeleton structure by driving five sticks into the soil (two sets of parallel upside-down "v" sticks with a long stick joining them on top)

3. Bind the connecting parts with long flexible vines, leaves or aerial roots.

4. Collect lots of long sticks to build the walls.

5. Collect large leaves or palms to decorate the walls and provide some shade.

6. Take turns to hide inside or be the big bad wolf!

7. Come back the next day and continue playing! (The house is still standing after two weeks, despite the windy weather!)

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Pierce Reservoir

If we haven't already fulfilled our outdoor/nature quota for the day, The Place to go would be Lower Pierce Reservoir to watch the sunset.

It's not a far walk from the main road or car park to the grass and water. We like Lower Pierce Reservoir because it has a cosy, kampong feel.  Most of the people there are regulars who go at the same time every evening, so after a while, you'll start to recognise some of them and smile at them!

Children will usually be hopping on the rocks, peering at small creatures hidden among the rocks, or rolling on the grass.

There are always some men fishing with rods or catching bait using little underwater cage traps, and they are almost always happy to show the kids what they are doing and admire the prawns and fish that they have caught.

Dog owners are more than happy to let our children pat their dogs and play 'fetch' with them. Our little boy has no qualms about approaching a dog twice his size and asking the owner, "May I pat you your dog?" Our little girl sometimes gets rashes after playing with dogs (especially the slobbery ones!) and we discovered that Apple Cider Vinegar REALLY helps to stop the allergic reaction within minutes! But I digress.

If you're lucky, you'll get to see the two resident White-bellied Sea Eagles flying back to their nests before the sun sets. And also the occasional kingfisher. 

The kids are quite happy to invent their own games, throwing pebbles into the water or going fishing using any sticks they find, so it can turn out to be a romantic evening for the parents to cuddle up and watch the sunset together. 


Official Website:
National Parks Board


Getting There:

By Bus
163, 167, 169, 855, 980

By Car
Lower Peirce Reservoir Park is located off Upper Thomson Road, near the junction with Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.

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How do snails do it?

How do snails do it? 

Very. very. slowly.

Sometimes, I'm amazed by the little things that children observe but adults miss. The little ones are constantly pointing out the squirrels, garden lizards, frogs, insect nests, and critters that are all around us in the neighbourhood. We spotted this amorous duo making love under the pale moonlight near our apartment. We watched them for a good 10 minutes, but they barely changed position!

We often go for slow nature walks together (covering 200m in 30 minutes!) and we take our time to drink in every detail and see who can point out the most number of exciting things! I think it does help the little ones to get into the habit of taking in details and being observant, a skill that would come in handy when they enter the world of comprehensions and cloze passages.

Beauty and wonder is all around us, if we would only take the time to slow down and look. How many beautiful sights do we miss while hurrying to our next appointment, or worse, walking with our eyes glued to some mobile device? 

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Venus Drive: Outdoor Haven at 12 noon... or when it's Hazy!

2 stops from Thomson Plaza

This is where we hang out whenever:

1. The dreaded HAZE is back and we want to be outdoors. The air there is MUCH FRESHER than any indoor place you can name... We have the thick canopy of trees to thank!
2. It's 12 noon and the sun is scorching but we want a cool, shady nature walk, NOW!
3. We have less than an hour to spare and we want a relaxing oasis in the middle of the day. Unlike MacRitchie Reservoir Park or Pierce Reservoir, the rainforest is 10 second walk from the carpark, and a few minutes away from the bus stop, so the little ones won't be tired out before we even get to the rainforest.
4. We want to get up close and personal with squirrels, monkeys, dragonflies, pondskaters, monitor lizards, a little stream, unusual trees and plants, without having a boardwalk to separate us from them, or high visitor traffic to scare animals away.

This trail actually leads to the HSBC Tree Top Walk, but we haven't managed to make it that far with the two little ones yet. It's 2.5 km (a 45 mins - 1 hr walk for adults) from the carpark at Venus Drive. But it's worth going in for a short stroll and turning back before the little ones get tired. 

Official Website:

National Parks Board

Opening Hours 

Venus Drive Rainforest Trail

All the time!

Tree Top Trail

Tue to Fri: 9am-5pm, 

Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 8.30am-5pm.

Getting There:

Park at Venus Drive carpark. It's just further up from Sin Ming Ave, and near Singapore Island Country Club.

Buses: 132, 163, 165, 166, 167, 52, 980. 

Alight along Upper Thomson Road, opposite Flame Tree Park Condo.

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"Give that Skink a beer. No, give that Skink a Tiger."

He sat, motionless, staring at the can of beer. Should I? Or shouldn't I? Frozen in the same position for 15 minutes, the Common Sun Skink mulled over this difficult decision. 

As we sat down for a rest at the MacRitchie Reservoir boardwalk along the Prunus-Petai Trail, we joined the skink in its reverie, enjoying the stillness of the forest, punctuated by the shouts of canoeists having their training.

It was the second skink we saw in a week, but unlike the previous one that disappeared into the bushes when we appeared, this one gave us ample time to admire his sleek shiny body.

Also known as the Many-lined Sun Skink, it can be identified by the five or seven dark lines on its ventral surface parallel to its body line. Older, larger specimens are commonly found lacking the thick tail.  

Skinks are characterised by their smooth, scaled skins, and small legs. Mainly terrestrial and diurnal, they are to be found basking in the sun along forest tracks or on tree trunks.
Source: EcologyAsia

Many of our nature walks end up being litter-picking walks. From empty drink cans, snack wrappers and plastic bags, one wonders why anyone who took the trouble to walk several kilometres through a beautiful rainforest would then desecrate it with litter.

Another time, we came across bits of a torn styrofoam cup strewn all over the forest. We puzzled over which insane person might do such a thing and realized it was probably a monkey that was trying to lick up the last few drops of someone's Kopi-C.

Years ago, when we were scuba diving at Phi Phi island, Thailand, we sat on the dive boat, all excited and ready to jump into the water. Our American dive master finished up his beer and cigarette and tossed them into the sea - the very sea we were about to jump into. So much for pristine waters!

If you do enjoy nature, please help to pick up the rubbish you see along the way. It's all about loving Mother Earth and your fellow human beings, who will then get to enjoy a more beautiful nature walk.

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A Monitor Lizard Went Swiming One Day

This is why I love the outdoors. The second swimming monitor lizard in a month!

This monitor lizard was more than a metre long, and was cooling off in the Botanic Gardens pond at about 3pm in the afternoon. The monitor lizard ignored the koi and had a leisurely swim around the pool a few times before making its way up the rocks and disappearing into the bushes.

We saw another monitor lizard in the water at MacRitchie reservoir at 12 noon, a few weeks back. It was foraging for food near the reservoir bank during low tide.

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