Monkey Business

My grandma used to take me to MacRitchie Reservoir pretty often when I was a kid, and I have fond (albeit a bit vague now) memories of picnicking and running around the area.

Funnily enough, my most vivid memory of MacRitchie is the very painful 10km run that the school made us endure through the wooded greens more than 10 years ago. Surely I was scarred :) 

So it was with much anticipation that my family decided to troop back to the old reservoir for a Sunday mid-morning walk and picnic. 

Much has changed, yet much has remained the same. 

For starters, there is a triple-storey parking lot operating on the ERP system that now stands on what used to be a simple flat open-air carpark that functioned on old-school punch coupons.

Development spares nothing, not even nature parks. Then again, the whole concept of "park" was created because of development. Hmm.

Renovation is also ongoing at one end of the reservoir, although to make way for what I have no idea.

That being said, the rest of the reservoir remained much the same as I foggily recalled it to be -- calm, tranquil and serene.

We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather - clear, blue skies with just the right amount of clouds to provide that perfect picture opportunity.

In fact, there was a 25km marathon taking place and we happened to walk right into the last leg of it, and past the finish line!

MacRitchie is notorious for its brazen monekys that run amok through its protected soil and these monkeys decided to take a walk on a Sunday morning as well, basking in the human attention they received.  Some of these monkeys are more daring than humans -- stare them in the eye and they'll stop in their tracks to stare right back at you.

Careful where you leave your food too....we heard a man mimick a tiger roar to chase away the monkeys descending upon his picnic lunch. Pretty hilarious actually, but it worked!

For the first time in my life, I saw baby monkeys, not more than a few months old, walk around on their own, with their mothers watching sharply close by lest any alien being come too close for comfort.

The monkeys also bring new meaning to the term "piggy-back". Check out how they carry their young. Almost like an anti-gravity gymnastic act!

Caught a mother-child pair, where the mother was acutely aware of the human paparazzi surrounding its nursing child, and kept shifing its back towards us to shield the little chimp.

Parental instincts remain the same, regardless of what creature you are, eh? :)

Along the way, I also found this little signboard, hidden somewhat behind foliage. Bet many Singaporeans don't know this little snippet of history.

As the noon-day sun gradually began to creep up upon us, we found our way into a fairly new covered rest area that had a cafe called Mushroom. Perfect for our lunch time break since we were hot and sweaty after the walkabout.

The cafe is very simple, serving modest local fare under colonial style ceiling fans, but surely a welcome reprieve for the many hikers/ runners/ families that thronged its counter.

Pity though that the view from the cafe was blocked by a powergrid substation and a little hilly bump forming the dam of the reservoir.

We ordered the mee siam, laska and nasi lemak (all $3.90), as well as some fried snacks ($1.20 each) to try.

Nasi Lemak.
To give credit to the cafe, the egg yolk was perfectly intact when served,
but my grandma made a dent in it before I had a chance to take a photo!

 

From left: Fried chicken wing and chicken curry puff



The nasi lemak came generously served with a fried chicken wing, fish cake, ikan bilis (anchovies) and a sunshine egg with excellent chilli on the side. However, the rice was not as sufficiently fragrant as coconut rice in nasi lemak should be. Nonetheless, good value for money.

Nasi lemak literally translated from the Malay language means "Rice fat". Little wonder since the whole plate is topped with sinful sides!

The mee siam and laksa (no photos unfortunately since my ravenous family descended upon the dishes like starving vultures) were both pretty good too, served with several pieces of peeled prawns each.

But I think our unanimous favourite was the fried chicken wing -- crispy on the outside, succulent on the inside and just the right amount of taste. Mmmm...finger lickin' good!

We spent a good part of an hour seeking shelter at Mushroom, enjoying the lazy midday warm breeze and flipping through the Sunday papers. Perfect way to wind down a weekend.

I'm going to go hunt for more lazy weekend hangouts for my Sundays. Will share them soon!