Memories of Macritchie... forget them...

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So last year Macritchie underwent major reconstructive surgery. I didn't go to it because i spent much of my youth in Macritchie, running the cross country routes. I even managed to get lost in it once. I also lost my cat there once too. SO far i have not managed to misplace my children there. Anyway, Macritchie is as close to a rainforest as you can get in Singapore (the Indonesians can stop sniggering here) and i just thought, they ruined Sentosa, and now they have screwed up Macritchie too. Excellent. Well i decided to bit the bullet yesterday and have a look. Let's take the kids, let's feed some fish. Here are the results...


There is now a multistorey carpark and a MASSIVE area for schools to gather
In the good old days, you would have to sit in the carpark, make drivers extremely nervous and wash your feet near some standpipes. Now there are these facilities, including a multistory carpark that you have to pay for!!!, thirty showers per gender (there are still only two in Singapore, but that might change), an outdoor showering place, a canteen that is actually open, an interperatation centre, several wooden paths and a lookout tower. To be fair the paths and lookout tower are now a few years old.
That's the multistorey carpark in the background. It is four storeys high.
I can't say if it is an improvement because my memories of Macritchie are being one of the places in Singapore you could safely go to during a week day, even in the evenings and be one of the ten people there. Nope, forget that.


Landscaping and fountains play
Really,  it's too painful. Lanscaping, can we all agree that less is more? Can we not keep things simple? Fountains? In a reservoir? Can someone cut the budget somewhere? There were some really good improvements. You can now walk on the dam across the reservoir itself. That is really cool. Previously you had to go the long way round to reach the otherside, now you just cut across this expanse of water. That was really nice.


Monkeys!!!


Humans!

More humans
I grant that Macritchie used to be this bunged when there was an entire school doing its cross country run. But part of the fun of the run was that it was also not comfortable. It was as close to the outback as you got in Singapore. There were no canteens, or luxury showers, or landscaping. After the run you sat in the hot sun until your teacher forgot about you, or until you got your prize. Or not. Then you went home stinking. Now that is what i'm talking about.


Here Siglap Sec learns about water



Jelutong Tower! Now i know what it means...!!! Jelutong, i mean.



The reservoir... and the jungle

Feeding the fish

Here fishy fishy

Now we will go for a walk in the jungle, on some wooden paths

It still is very beautiful. I love Macritchie... nothing will diminish the smell of sweet mud and the coolness of the green trees. We also saw a white-bellied sea eagle!!!

We also have SOME large trees...

The boys enjoy a bit of down time after the walk. It really isn't easy being my kid.

Canoing lanes and at the far end, the SICC golf course.

Then we went to Toa Payoh to get contact lenses... and here are some funky staircases, clearly inspired by the old colonial designs of hosues we have knocked down. Love them!

The Children's Section in Toa Payoh library.
Oisin went in and went, what, this is the Children's Section!!! It's massive....



This is my country!

This is my ice cream!

no one touch it....

I thought they looked straight out of Brazil....

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