A walk through the lungs and kidneys of Singapore

We arrived in Singapore last evening after a pleasant flight, during which we both watched The Great Gatsby and a couple of other films. Last night we just wandered down to a local food hall and shared a couple of delicious fish and chicken bento boxes. This morning after an early breakfast, a couple of MRT train rides and a fifteen minute walk, we arrived at the Macritchie Reservoir, densely forested parkland that is part of Singapore’s expansive nature reserve and contains one of four reservoirs that provide Singapore’s drinking water. This reservoir was constructed in 1867 and is named in honour of its designer and builder, James Macritchie. It is a lovely spot, covering many hectares and providing a home for all manner of wildlife, including long-tailed macaques (which are very cute but apparently a real menace, especially if you are carrying anything that remotely resembles food), tortoises, monitor lizards and iguanas. We walked for a few kilometres along the boardwalk around the reservoir and part of the way we chatted to a local businessman who was out for his daily constitutional. An interesting man – he manufactures clothing for Target in Australia, including prosthetic bras for breast cancer victims (he also donates the bras to poorer countries). He has two daughters studying at Melbourne University – law and accountancy. We had lunch there as the rain started to fall fairly heavily so we abandoned our plans for a trip to Sentosa Island, walked back through the rain to the MRT station then caught the two trains back to our hotel. Tonight we’re going for a ride on the Singapore Flyer (the local answer to the London Eye) and will then have dinner at one of the nearby food stalls. Tomorrow morning we check out then we fly out after midnight for Casablanca, via Milan and Barcelona. Should be a long couple of days.