Singapore, Bukit Timah

In late February, I headed for the equator. More specifically, 1 deg. north of the equator, to Singapore.

Now that it's almost late April, I'm finally writing about it.

Singapore is HOT! Really HOT! The HOTTEST place I've ever been. So, I moved really slowly, even more so than during a typical vacation. One day I didn't put on enough sunscreen and had sunburned shoulders within 20 minutes. I took lots of naps and showers and drank lots of iced coffee.

I alternated days of seeing nature with seeing the city and taking advantage of what it had to offer (stores selling clothes and shoes in my size!).

One of the things I liked best was the Bukit Timah Nature Preserve, which is home to wild monkeys. I spent about an hour walking there late one morning and was, of course, really hot and sweaty by the time I finished. Thankfully, the forest (or is it jungle?) is so dense that I was shielded from the sun. I liked the twisty tree limbs and long hanging vines, and the way the sun came though is thin rays to illuminate little patches of green.

It was really hard to get a good photo of the monkey because they were never still. But it was really fun to watch them play. There were several families with very young monkeys and they played with one another the way puppies and kittens do--all rolling on top of each other and chasing each other. I took this video, but don't know how to adjust the angle to view it normally. I'll have to ask one of my students for help.