Friday, November 20, 2009

Faber Point & the Henderson Waves Bridge

On Sunday afternoon we ventured out to Mt. Faber to check out Faber Point, the Henderson Waves Bridge and the Forest Walk. We've been meaning to see these three things for quite awhile now and we're so glad we finally took the time to do it! The afternoon was perfect for a day outside...it was hot (but really, when is it not hot in Singapore?!) and the sun was shining. Not so bad considering we're in rainy season now and it storms nearly every single day. We took a shuttle over to Mt. Faber and walked our way toward Faber Point which is a great place to get a 360, panoramic view of the city. From there, we continued on to the Henderson Waves Bridge. Now normally, I don't find bridges to be all that exciting, but honestly, the HWB is really cool! The HWB was built only 5 years ago and is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. The bridge has this really cool wave design that sort of scoops over and under the actual bridge itself. It's hard to describe so I'll let the pictures explain everything :) It's a great place to take time out of your walk and relax for a picnic or a snack! Once we left the bridge, we walked on to the Forest Walk - an elevated, metal bridge that winds all through the forest and allows you to be eye level with the tree tops - which also means you stand a good chance of seeing monkeys and birds! Though I must admit...we spotted neither (or perhaps we weren't looking hard enough!). By the end of the walk, we were tired and ready to go home and nap...a great way to end a wonderful day :)


A view from Faber Point


There's a Merlion at the top of Mt. Faber which obviously makes the walk totally worth it ;)


Matt led the way to the bridge :)


Yes! Our first glimpse of the bridge, not much further to go now...


Made it!











Isn't that bridge cool? Next we moved on to the forest walk...




... and because we are not mature at all, we both got a good laugh out of this sign for its words and illustrations.


As we strolled along, we came across a little area to exercise and found we couldn't resist the urge. After all, everything looked so intense and we figured we could use a hard work out ;)




Looks difficult, huh? ;)


This is the start of the forest walk - it went on forever!


Monday, November 9, 2009

An afternoon in Malaysia: no rules go-karting!

A couple of weekends ago we met up with Bryce and Crystal, hopped in their car and headed to the nearby border town of Johor Baharu (JB), Malaysia. There aren't too many reasons to actually go to JB, but among the few are a large shopping mall where you can get clothes/accessories for cheaper than you would in Singapore, a TGI Fridays (this reason will soon be lost as there is a Fridays being built in Singapore right now), to stock up on your supply of gum and finally, the reason we went...go karts! Now you can drive go-karts in Singapore, but in Malaysia there are NO rules. No seat belts. Helmets are optional. You can go as fast as you want and crash if necessary. When it comes to go-karts, I'm more of a spectator than a driver so I sat on the sidelines and watched Matt, Bryce (and Crystal for one round) cut loose in high speed! Matt had such a good time he's already itching to go back! :)


Matt, excited that he'll finally get to "drive" for the first time in 5 months! :)


Nothing too fancy about this place...




Matt is ready to race!


Bryce is ready too!


Crystal, ready with a smile :)


They're off!


Race #1 is done and the drivers are in good shape


Ready  for race #2!


This guy was very concerned with everyone's safety...can't you tell?!


Go Matt!!!


Bryce speeds around the corner


Oops, Matt and Bryce had a bit of a crash!


All fixed up and ready for their final run!


What a FUN day for them! :)