On the sunny Sunday morning of 12th February 2006, I met up with 10 participants at King Albert Park to begin our trek. Despite the title above, this 3-hour plus trek is actually 2 separate treks combined into one outing. The first part consist of trekking along a disused railway track along Clementi Road, just after Ngee Ann Polytechnic, emerging at Clementi, Ulu Pandan area. The second part involves using a uni-directional stormdrain network to route back to Bukit Timah area.

I knew about this trek through the Singapore Adventurers’ Club. I joined them when they conducted their Longkang Choo Choo trek back in July 2005. That was how I managed to snap a picture of the snakehead fish which I used for TeamSpreo.com’s Chinese New Year greeting.

Through a training session for my upcoming Gunung Ledang or Mount Ophir trek from 18th - 19th February 2006, I got to know Kenny Choy. He brought his girlfriend and family members along for the trek, 8 of them in all. Su Peng has joined me on many other treks and it is always nice to meet up with him and chat about photography, life, and almost any topic under the sun. And my “sister-in-law” Le Anne, ran from all the way from her home in Holland Village to join us for this early morning trek! :P

We started the trek around 9:30AM and before long, we reach the canal, our first landmark. We were rewarded with out first sighting of giant fauna, it was a 1.5m long monitor lizard that was probably alarmed by us. It jumped into the canal and started swimming away. You will need to walk on the right-hand-side of this canal and when you reach the end point, you have to try to find the trail head to the disused railway track. It was obscured by fallen logs and it took some fording for the folks.

The trail is overgrown and rather unused. In the early part of the trail, you will find plenty of wild pepper. Deeper into the trail, you will encounter lots more fallen vegetation and thorny plants. Some parts are rather muddy and when you reach the tunnel, there is just no way to avoid getting your shoes caked with the brown stuff. The end of the trek is signaled by reaching the railway bridge. When we reached, a group of rappelling enthusiasts were setting up their gear. One of them is none other than Johnny, whom I met when I attended BATC 2005.

At this juncture, I must say that I was impressed with Kenny’s family members for the trek through the unfriendly terrain. They took everything in their stride and never gave me the impression that it was tough going at all. In fact, they were enjoying every moment and it was rather obvious for they constantly exchanged notes about their observations, be it a strange looking plant, or a strange looking insect.

After taking a photograph on the bridge, we proceeded to the second part of our trek. We got down from the bridge and made our way to the stormdrain located just after the Police KINS Training Camp Unit, along Ulu Pandan Road. As this is a stormdrain, it is not advisable to trek in it during wet seasons. Water levels will be high and the water flow will be too dangerously swift. At some parts, the water level reached my knee level, or around 50cm.

Water is the source of life and it was a joy to see my participants reveling in the clean, cool, and clear waters. We were all eager to wash off the mud that was dried up by now. There are a lot variety of freshwater fishes to be found along this stretch. I managed to get a picture of an elusive catfish before it swam swiftly away. They like to hide in the water plants located on the “banks”. This network of drain is connected by a series of tunnels where the water levels get deep. But they also provide much welcome respite from the glaring sun.

If you walk slowly and quietly, you will also spot a lot of water birds. We chanced upon 1 egret and 1 sandpiper. The best part must have been the sighting of a large bird of prey when we reached Bukit Timah area. I managed to get some pictures but with the puny 3x zoom on my Canon IXUS 700, it was never going to be sharp. Still, it thrilled my participants as we “stalked” the bird and when it finally flew away into the azure sky, it signaled an eventful conclusion to our splendid trek.

Yeah, it was really enjoyable to be able to share my love of nature with a new group of friends and I certainly hope to see them again soon. And since I posted this article on the most tender of dates... Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all!

Allen Tan
Team Spreo