Woke up at 5.50am on 13/5/05 that day cos dear hippo wanna go early so as to avoid the afternoon sun. Reached Mac Ritchie at ard 7.45am and promptly started our walk (thanks for the instructions Appy and Mag). We were very excited at first.. taking pictures, singing, and eagerly observing the beautiful nature around us.
The first section of the trail consists of walking through sloping jungle path stretching approx 3km. Though walking briskly, it feels like we were taking forever to cover 1km…and boy…. the whole trail is at least 10km!!!
After the jungle path and onto concrete road, the sign shows 2.7km more. We quickly headed forward and along the way, we saw monkeys and monitor lizards.. we huffed and we puffed. We flipped and we flapped our hands to fend of mosquitoes buzzing around.. finally, saw a meandering upward slope. THIS MUST BE IT!! The stretch was quite horrible. We tried all ways to make walking up easier. I tried walking backwards and hippo actually tried walking sideways!!! Wahaha… by this time, our hair was disheveled and faces oily as kwali. Finally, I saw a steel suspension bridge at 9.10am. We had great fun on the bridge taking photos and stupid videos. After we had enuff, we headed towards the ending point, unaware of the suffering awaiting.
We walked down steps and finally reached the forested areas. We thought we should be reaching the ending point soon. But alas! Either we took the wrong route or that the 2nd half of the walk is just so unexciting. We followed the sign “Mac Ritchie reservoir park 5.1km” and we walked and walked and walked…for a major part of the journey back, we walked at the edge of SICC’s golf course. The toughest part was that there is no shade and the sun was draining off our energy!! There were also no signs showing how long more is it to the ending point. I feel that we were lost… So we started contemplating ways to go back.
1) Swim back (but we’re scared of crocs)
2) Pretend to get hit by the golf ball and call for an ambulance (but we’re right at the edge and the possibility of a ball hitting us is very mian qiang)
3) Run toward a golfer shouting “HEY DAD, we’re back” (but we might get sent to IMH or be charged for trespassing – Hippo’s idea)
4) Kill a monitor lizard, pry open its jaws and pretend that it clamped our legs then call for an ambulance (but we’re too scared to go near that reptile – my idea)
5) Continue walking….
Finally after weighing the pros and cons, we decided that we should just 5) continue walking back…there were some moments we feel like giving up but bo bian!! There’s no one we can call for help!! Furthermore, we were looking forward for the ice-cream treat after the walk and thus, we kuai kuai walk lor…
At about 10:45 am, we reached the forested path. The thick canopy provides a much awaited shade for both of us. There were also signs along the stretch and we knew we were only 3 km away from the ending point. We pulled up our socks and continued dragging our feet. FINALLY AT 11:30am, WE WERE OUT!!!! YIPPEE YA YA YIPPEE YIPEE YA….!!!
We ended our torturous walk. Though tired, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction.
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