Lower and Upper Pierce Reservoir: water droplet soaked greenery

Singapore temperature does not change as dramatically as Cape Town, in fact it does not change at all. However, it does take a turn from being Sunny to cloudy in no time. There is no fixed time for a rain spell, but when it comes, it comes in heavy doses over a relatively short time and provides an opportunity for a perfect outing.

This Sunday, our initial choice was to shield from harsh rays of the sun. However, as we saw swelling of rain clouds by noontime, we changed our plan to go outdoors. We hit towards a place that we had seen earlier while driving past the Yishun MRT. The entrance to the park is behind a main road and so is not easy to locate. This place is called “Bottle Tree Park”. We saw families and kids catching fish and prawns. We were hoping to ride paddle boats but seeing them tied, we decided to take a detour around and headed towards Upper Thomson road to see lakes of Singapore.

We did reach at Lower Pierce reservoir but only after combination of efforts and luck. In the process, we touched Singapore Island Country Club, by lanes of some compact housing units whose driveway are named after exotic flowers of Gardenia, Jasmine, Marigold etc. When we reached this place, the air was still crisp and fresh after the afternoon drizzle. Not many people were around but it did have few cars parked. A monkey stared at us with a hope to get something. Akshta was too busy with her umbrella to observe anything around. Drenched benches and slides made it difficult to sit and enjoy. We did take a stroll to feel the presence of vast lake and the greenery. We decided to go along the road. As we passed the place, we saw a board of Upper Pierce Reservoir,

Seeing signboard that warned about closing the door by 630pm and if we are late by then we could pick up the car next day morning, we rushed in. Here monkeys were in large number but another board admonished visitors of not throwing them food crumbs. This place was more crowded than Lower Pierce. A perfect idyllic place for a family picnic. A long stretch of road separated vast from sloping lush green field that led to another reservoir. Now the names of ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ made sense. Interactive Virtual Reality Tour of Singapore does give a good panoramic view of this place. With no noise, no distraction from any modernity one can be with nature and peace. A ‘PUB’ sign was more pronounced but it had nothing to do with watering hole. In fact, this place has no eatery joint so it is better to carry food and water. PUB stands for ‘Public Utility Board’ of Singapore that is responsible for storage, maintenance and distribution of water in Singapore. I remembered Vihar Lake – a place for my first picnic from Andheri when families flocked in buses on weekend. There used to be a slide housed in smiling concrete baby face. These days, I hear more of Powai Lake.

After Botanical garden, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, it was the turn of the reservoirs to be discovered. Now we await another spell of rains on weekend to discover a walk from along the MacRitchie Reservoir Park.