Last Day in Singapore

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Because I had been very efficient in doing all the things I wanted to do, I had managed to do all of my must-visit places in Singapore in five days, mainly because I had no problem at all doing the four WRS zoos in two days rather than three. This meant I had one more day (today) since my flight out is tomorrow. There was one more place on my list that I thought I would probably drop because it's quite far away and seemed a bit weird to get to on the bus, but I thought I might as well try: Sungei Buloh Wetlands. Seemingly, the bus only runs to the wetlands from the MRT on a Sunday which is today so that's good.



It was quite a long way around on the MRT, basically right across to the other side of the country all the way from near the Southern end of the North-South line to the Northern end. The MRT is very easy and efficient of course though. Also being a Sunday, I was able to get a seat first thing in the morning, typically at this time the trains have been very full.



The bys didn't quite go the way the internet said it would, but it did stop at the wetlands reserve which is convenient. It only stops there on a Sunday and on other days I think it's quite a walk.



I'm very pleased that I made it to Sungei Buloh though, because it's a really nice reserve. There are lots of boardwalks and paths and things along the coast with quite a few really hides too overlooking the tidal pools and the mangroves and there were some interesting animals about. The site is known as a stopover point for migrating waders and I had thought it would be too early for them but there were a few about (5 species, especially Mongolian/Lesser Sand Plover). I suppose it is almost the end of August right now and I would expect wader numbers to be reducing in Poland by this point. There were lots of Sea-eagles (two species - both White-bellied and Grey-headed!) Common Flamebacks too, and on the mud flat I saw something that I had never seen before, a wild horseshoe crab. I'm not sure if they're actually rare or I've just not noticed them, probably the latter, but it was cool to see. Plenty of fiddler crabs and mudskippers and such too of course.



Also of interest at Sungei Buloh are the Saltwater Crocodiles which are fairly common with some big ones too. These became especially visible at low tide which happened around 11. Other highlights included lots of cool fish - plenty of croc food, one croc sat up on the bank with a very large fish in its mouth - and on the avian front were large numbers of Milky and Painted Storks that showed up once the tide was low, quite a few kingfishers, and a triller. It would be really good to visit again in the winter from about late October because I think there will be really large numbers of waders on the mud flats. On the mammal front were Long-tailed Macaques and although otters occur, I didn't see any. Unfortunately, there were also three feral dogs terrorising the wildlife on the mudflats. Hopefully they are removed soon.



It's also worth pointing out that Sungei Buloh is directly across the strait from the city of Johor in Malaysia and it's really very close! You could very easily swim across, except for the massive saltwater crocs of course. The big watchtower in particular provided great views over Johor as well as the mudflats and mangroves. From there, the Malaysian side certainly looked much more Singaporean than where I was, with lots of big skyscrapers.



There were a fair few people about, it is a Sunday after all, but it wasn't crowded. Quite a few birders too, and a rather interesting coincidence was that I bumped into a herper/wildlife person who I met at Bukit Timah yesterday when he was photographing the Colugo and baby and I pointed out the viper to him that he was very pleased about. Apparently in addition to the many crocodiles, Sungai Buloh can often be good for snakes as well.



I really enjoyed Sungai Buloh and in happy that I managed to fit it in. I had anticipated spending a couple of hours there, but in fact only left at 2:30. I had intended to spend most of the day wandering around the city centre being like a normal tourist, but spending most of the day at the wetlands was better of course.



There was, however, one obscenely touristy thing that I wanted to see in Singapore and I'm not sure why I had any interest at all in it, but after the long MRT journey back into town (the MRT always feels longer than the bus because there's nothing to look at underground) I went to have a brief look at Merlion Park.



This visit mainly served as evidence for my claim that touristy sites are boring. The Merlion is a Singaporean symbol created by someone at some time for some purpose, I don't really know or care, and it's a mermaid crossed with a lion. Supposedly to commemorate the symbol, but I think mainly to provide something for people with selfie sticks to look away from (because that's what people who take selfies do of course: look in the opposite direction of the thing), two Merlin sculpture things that spit out water were made and put in a 'park'. This 'park' of course consists entirely of concrete.



Merlion Park is right by the main financial area with lots of massive skyscrapers with the logos of banks on top that are presumably filled with wankers. Bankers. I mean bankers. That was a typo. I would assume the nearby hotels attract a similar clientele. The best thing about the park was a stall just outside the train station selling delicious trays of all sorts freshly cut fruit. I like fruit. A lot. I bought two sharing platters with absolutely no intention of sharing with anyone.



I ate my fruit looking at a massive concrete Merlion as spewed water, being reminded of a rather dull poem about Singapore that's on the GCSE Literature syllabus (I love poems, but I hate to break it to you - writing a poem solely using a thesaurus to pick out colourful language produces a dull poem).



The Merlion held my interest for almost exactly the length of time required to eat two sharing platters of fruit and then I left the park filled with all the selfie-stick-holding bankers to spend the rest of the day at the Botanic Gardens. You may recall that I visited here on the evening of my first day, and it's the only place that I'd been to in Singapore where I felt I could do with a bit longer.



You may recall that last time I came here, I was too late in the day to visit the National Orchid Garden which had closed. Since I do particularly like orchids and the garden claims to be the largest collection of tropical orchids in the world, it was of course my top priority and I went straight there.



Although there wasn't as impressive of a mass of sheer numbers and colours of orchids as the Orchid Extravaganza display at the Gardens By The Bay Flower Dome, I much preferred the display at the National Orchid Garden. Of course as a year round display, they can't have such a mass of colour in a small space, but the plants themselves were all much bigger and healthier looking and there were still enough orchids all over the place to make it obviously an orchid garden. There were also far more interesting and unusual varieties of orchids in terms of weird shapes and patterns which is my favourite thing when it comes to orchids anyway. It's S$5 to get into the garden, but it's a fairly big area with lots of orchids and I easily spent two hours there. I think it's about the most impressive permanent display of orchids that would possible.

However, the highly of the Singapore National Orchid Gardens for me was not an orchid. In fact, it wasn't even a plant. As I was walking down a path, I looked ahead and saw stood in the middle of the path... A Red-legged Crake! This is a really cool looking bird that I knew was relatively more easily seen in Singapore and I knew could be seen in the Botanic gardens, but I didn't see it last time and there one was! (I saw another one at dusk as I was leaving so I think they're quite common). The orchid highlight though was the VIP Orchid display with particularly weird looking orchids that were all names after various heads of state. I really like to the prince of Liechtenstein and the president of Iceland ones and there was a Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel too. These orchids are all hybrid orchids produced at the gardens which produces a lot of new varieties.



Once I had finished with the orchid garden, I wandered the rest of the gardens some more before heading back the accommodation. Today was my last day in Singapore and I fly out tomorrow. Six days was just enough time for me to see everything that was on my list for Singapore and while it would be nice to spend longer here and relax, it's not very economical to use Singapore for that purpose.



Tomorrow, I fly to... A country that I believe I have not mentioned in this blog at all so far which was added as a last minute addition to the trip for a 15 day visit. Any guesses? (Unless of course I did mention it in passing but have forgotten, in which case ignore this).



New birds:



Pacific Golden Plover

Milky Stork

Mongolian (Lesser Sand) Plover

Painted Stork

Common Redshank

Red-legged Crake

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