MacRitchie Trails Part 2 - MacRitchie Reservoir

MacRitchie Trails Map  (Photo courtesy: National Parksl

When people mentioned MacRitchie, the MacRitchie Reservoir would pop right into my mind. As for our first walk in the area (read about it here), I thought my bestie would bring me to the Reservoir. But if you have a look at the map above, the reservoir is located at the southeast part of the area, which isn't near with TreeTop Bridge. You have to walk for another few kilometer in order to see it. That's why we came back again at another week :)

MacRitchie Trails Part 2 :)

Same place, same time. We met at Bishan bus interchange and took bus no 52 or 410W (about 10 stops) and alighted at Blk 454. We walked to the Venus car park in about 10 minutes from the stop.

My besties and I :)

So we were ready to go! ^^ This time, we walked towards southeast part of the park, to see the MacRitchie Reservoir :)

Natural beauty - MacRitchie Trails :)

Here, we walked through pristine forest. The trees protected us from the sun. Many people came here to jog. So make sure to keep left when walking or jogging there as the hiking trails weren't that wide.

Sun rays among the trees :

As the sun went up, we could catch their rays among the trees like the photo shown above. There were birds and other animal sound along our way, added the beauty of the nature that had already been beautiful! :) I walked myself down the road path, engulfed myself in the quietness, just live there at the present moment.

Finally! MacRitchie Reservoir! :)

After some time, we finally reached the Reservoir. There was park where people could do some exercise.

MacRitchie Reservoir - Singapore

Here, people could rent the kayak too! It's as serene as the forest. Again, beware of the monkeys. There were many walking freely :)

Workout details (Photo courtesy: PY)

Surprisingly we only walked that much and time taken was only 1 hour and 20 minutes. I expected longer route though ^^ Anyway, we are going to take another route and I'll cover it next time! ;) Wish you all have a great life out there! Spend your precious time wisely and most importantly, be happy! Have a great week ahead! :)

MacRitchie Trails Part 1 - TreeTop Walk

Morning walk had been one of activities that my besties and I preferred having lately once every weekend. We chose morning as I couldn't bask in too much sunlight and with the lately hot weather, it'd been better to avoid staying outdoor too much in the afternoon.

Lets walk! ^^

We usually walked to the national parks that we had been and/ or had never been before. One of them was MacRitchie. I'd heard about it from other friends many times before and finally I had a chance to browse the place myself :)

TreeTop Walk (Venus entrance)

One of my besties went before so she was our guide there. We met up at Bishan bus interchange and took bus number 52 or 410W and went down at Blk 454 (about 10 stops from Bishan bus interchange). We had to walk and cross the road to reach the car park  (Venus entrance). And that's where our journey begun.

MacRitchie Trails Map (Photo courtesy: National Parks)

If you see the map above, the place was quite huge. Instead of browsing the place in one day, we separated our trails into few different days. This time, our journey would be to go to the TreeTop (north part with the bridge picture on it). Fyi, TreeTop Bridge was a 250-metre suspension bridge that connects the two highest points in MacRitchie and the Jelutong Tower, a 7-deck observation tower. 

TreeTop Walk operating hours are as per follow:

- Tuesday to Friday: 9am -5pm
- Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays: 8.30am – 5pm

*Closed on Mondays, except on Public Holidays

MacRitchie Trails

We walked through the natural environment with small water stream with small and some bigger fishes, surrounded by big and small trees (some even bearing fruits), natural sound of the birds, insects, and be careful with the monkeys. They had very sharp eyes especially towards food inside the transparent plastic bag. My friend's son's Ribena (packed drink) was snatched away when they just entered the TreeTop Bridge and she was shocked with the sudden and fast attack.

TreeTop Bridge

It was a great walk lah! There was place to rest before or after going to TreeTop Bridge - Terentang Hut (toilet and water cooler). There was ascending road towards the direction and descending when returning back. And we had to walk back to Venus gate when returning back home.

Walking chart  (Photo courtesy: PY)

I loved the fresh air there and the natural touch of the place which I thought not many were available in Singapore. And through this route, we walked 7.21 km for 2 hours plus. I'd definitely come back for more. Loving it! :)

Mistakes

I am wise quote (Source: Google.com)

Who has never made mistakes before??? Anyone???

This month end, in one of the days of the month-end closing, I found out that I'd made a careless mistake when posting the invoice. The posting was done just a week before, when the work volume was unusually high, as everyone would submit their invoices, in order to close their deals and generate as much revenue as they could.

Fyi, I currently work at MNC (multinational company) where I handle posting invoices from many different countries. So, it was purely accidental mistake when I found out, after receiving email from the other region's manager, that I posted the invoice using the wrong currency (I posted it in US dollar instead of Thailand Baht). So imagine the difference it made in the price between these two currencies.

I was feeling very bad as I didn't do my job well. And I had this feeling that everyone would doubt and underestimate my capability, thinking that I was not capable enough in doing my work, in which it was very important to be detailed, accurate, and correct in regards with money related matter. Sigh...

We were born not to be perfect (Source: Google.com)

Well, I'm not a perfectionist. However, I always try my best to do my job well and ensure that I do my work right and as accurate as possible. So this one mistake had brought me into a very low mood that day. I confessed it to someone I was very closed with and he tried his best to console me saying that, "Everybody will make mistake. Don't count your mistake. Count your efforts. You are doing your best and your efforts would definitely outnumber your mistakes. So, be happy ok? "

Every mistake is a progress quote (Source: Google.com)

Hmm.... his words soothed me a little bit. He was right. I'd tried my best. And who in the world never made any mistakes? No one blamed me anyway. My boss didn't scold me. She just checked with me if I made a mistake when posting it. What I did next was to rectify the mistake and make it right, then apologise to the region's manager for the mistake that I'd done. She was replying me, "It's OK." She even added the 'smile' emoticon behind it.

Mistakes are always forgivable quote (Source: Google.com)

Later on in the evening when I was checking my work, suddenly I found unusual currency posting in one of the invoices too. All the previous invoices were posted in Euro, but the last one was posted in US dollar. After checking it, I found out that the invoice was posted by my boss. So I went over to her office and checked with her if the invoice that she posted was given in which currency. And true enough. After checking it, it turned out that she too posted it in wrong currency. It was supposed to be posted in Euro. So, what she did next was to rectify the problem and post it correctly.

It is how we correct them that defines us quote (Source: Google.com)

I immediately felt much better right after that, because if someone who was more capable than me would even make the same mistake, then why I took it so hard? I felt even much much better when the next day I received email from my boss to do a task that I'd never done before. I asked the other colleague who also received the same email. When he opened, he told me that this email was not for me, but it's for someone who had the similar name with me :P

Hahaha.... Even after working here for almost 3 months, my boss could send the email to the wrong name. So what it was when I sent the wrong message to her instead of my colleague just days after I started working there? Read about the incident here :D

Learn from mistake and move on quote  (Source: Google.com)

In the end I realize that all of us makes mistake once in a while in our life. Well, we may feel bad about it. However, don't let it drag our mood so low as people know that mistake is unavoidable and nobody is perfect in doing their thing. It is forgivable anyway as what you should do next is to acknowledge your mistake and rectify the problem. That's more important than just grieving about it for days, weeks, even months, and later on you end up making a regrettable decision (such as to quit your job) as you feel that you are not capable enough.

Making mistake is a part of life quote (Source: Google.com)

Like what my friend said, your efforts would definitely outnumber your mistakes. So, cheer up! Learn from the mistake and move on! Jia you! ;)

Appreciate life itself

"Why people must work?" - This question was raised by my ex-colleague this morning and yes, many people like him and me would also raise the same question, especially those who live here, in the world's most expensive country.

I replied, not giving him answers though, "Great question! I also think that. Why don't we strike Toto then rest for the rest of our lives?"

"Yalo... rest and play," he added.

"Rest and travel," I corrected according to my wish :P

Hmm.... it's dilemma isn't it?

Those who are working wish not to work and those who are jobless, wish to get employed. And since we know that emptiness is form, and form is emptiness, so why we still have to drag ourselves down to our working place every single morning and face any kind of challenges everyday?

At the end, most suitable answer will be - for money. If we can survive without money, I don't think people will drag themselves to work, won't they? There are only few percentage of people would work because they love to work, because they love their job, or because they love challenges and it's never enough to face challenges in their lives.

Hahaha... I'm not trying to demotivate you by saying all this guys! It's just somehow that kind of thought will pop up in our brain, especially when we are too tired and facing too much challenges in life.

Every day I always find reasons on why I should go on and I can easily find hundreds reasons to keep going, even to feel very much grateful that I have one. Although it's not really the kind of ideal job, it's still acceptable. And don't just look at the job itself. There are many other more things that I should be grateful with.

Appreciate life quote (Photo background: river life and sunset in Hoi An, central Vietnam)

For example: start my day early so I can have a daily dose of sunrise from my bus window while sitting down comfortably, instead of standing up and fighting for a space inside the over crowded MRT, shorter working hour so I can reach home early and get more time to do things I love doing (including sleep), spend traveling time on bus reading my books and writing my morning journal and sometimes typing my blog post like this, with air-con blowing comfortably ;)

And the most motivating factor is when the payslip email notification popping up from my monitor. It means it's paying day again and a sum of money will be transferred into my bank account ^^

Well, you'll know the rest of the story... hahaha... Anyway, in any moment you feel tired, fed up, angry, take some time to cool down. You can also vent your frustration out just to release and not to create trouble. After a while, find reasons why you should be grateful with all you have and you'll get back on your feet again almost immediately!

So, I wish everyone out there a great day and week ahead! Remember, life is not always a bed of roses. Thorns help you to appreciate the flowers. And hardship helps one to appreciate the beauty of life. Remember to take good care of your health too and aware on what enters into your mouth. Eat daily dose of fruits and vegetables and drink more water. Have a great life ahead! :)

Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form.

It was a hot Thursday evening. The sky was still bright as the sun was not setting down yet. I took my slippers and went down through elevator, walked aimlessly towards the nearby area.

"I need to destress," whispered me.

"From what?" The sound asked me from nowhere.

"From everything," answered me unwillingly to explain further.

"Such as?" It asked me again.

"Oh, come on! Gimme a break won't you? Why should I tell you everything?" I got annoyed.

"For your own good." It replied.

"What kind of goodness it will bring me? What I need is just time and space to cool myself down. And yet, here in the process, you keep pestering me with your incessant questions!" told me loud from inside my head. "Go away, will you?" pleaded me.

"I'm sorry. I can't. 'Cos I'm part of you and you're part of me. We are inseparable you see?" said the other side who was claiming to be part of me.

I ignored it and kept walking down, still aimlessly in neighbourhood area.

"Tell me. What's bothering you?" The sound wasn't giving up.

I ignored it once again.

"You know, in life, form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Form is no other than emptiness and emptiness is no other than form. The same is true with feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness." It kept talking.

"You copied it from somewhere. I heard it before," responded me.

"True. I copied it from somewhere. You read it before. You even realized it before. And now you remember it again, don't you?" It replied me bluntly.

"I do remember," I said.

"So, throw whatever things that are bugging you right now. Instead, let it go," advised the sound.

"I know what you mean. And I will let it go. I just need some time to cool down and let all this feeling go. I know you love and care about me, a lot. Me too. So, just let me have some peace moment for a while, will you? Don't you worry! I won't resort to anything stupid. Remember what I told you just now? I love and care a lot about you, about myself. So, trust me in this, understand?"

No reply was being received.

"Hallo? Hallo? Understand? Do you understand?" I turned my body to the back, left and right. But there wasn't any reply received.

Phewwww..... Finally it stopped bugging me.

Hey, what's that?

I saw a colorful piano with colorful wall at the background lying down beautifully.

"Play me. I'm yours." It was written on top.

"Play me. I'm yours."

I couldn't stop myself admiring it and immediately took a seat on the piano seat and my both hands started clinking down playing the old cheery song that I learned from my school mate during my college time.

It was continued with more and more cheery play that I used to learn during my childhood time.

"Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Form is no other than emptiness and emptiness is no other than form. The same is true with feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness..." 

The words came into my mind as I played the songs and suddenly I felt so light even wanted to fly......

P.S. This post was inspired by the beautiful and colorful piano that was put outside one shopping mall in Little India and it allowed public to play it to brighten up the days of the passerby. And the wise words were taken from Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra or Bo Ri Bo Luo Mi Duo Xin Jing - my favorite mantra at all times :)