Our Life in Singapore: MacRitchie Reservoir

I hate running. I've run two half marathons, but by no means do I classify myself as a runner. To be a runner, I imagine you have to like it...which I don't. After the last Houston Marathon, I told myself I wouldn't participate in a single race of any type ever again. Yet somehow, I'm signed up to run a 10K in December. Oh how I hate you, peer pressure (well, actually its husband pressure in this case)! Anyway, while I'm content to run along the river by our apartment, my friend Crystal (who unlike me, loves to run) has been dying to introduce me to MacRitchie Reservoir - a runner's paradise! While we didn't actually run on the day we went (I simply agreed to check it out), even I have to admit that the trails looked really enticing. They were nearly begging me to go home, grab my running shoes and come back! I, of course, did not give in to the trails...but it was tempting. So as we were checking out the trails, I heard a little noise from above and looked up to see a monkey in the tree!! Then that darn monkey jumped over to another tree flying just mere inches above our heads (or so it seemed) and we screamed and ran, ha! Once we recovered from the trauma of the flying monkey, we stopped and noticed monkeys everywhere - at least 10 - just hanging out in the trees and drinking from the lake. Monkeys! On the running trail! You don't see that in Houston. You can go right up next to them and they won't move or flinch. In fact, I've heard they're actually pesky little things that will hiss at you if come too close. Yikes! They're certainly fun to look at, but I think I'll keep my distance as I go on my daily run through the reservoir (Ha! Me? Daily run? I don't think so...).

This huge map of MacRitchie is painted on the wall. It shows you all the different trails you can run depending on the distance you want to go.