Healthy Lifestyle Starts with a Walk at MacRitchie

I used to run a lot.

I was not a runner in the school team or anything but I loved to run. I was rather active and healthy back in secondary school and JC days.

I would always remember that fateful day during 1st 3 month JC days when I ran more than 20 rounds around the track trying out for the different CCAs... all in a day. And I continued to run to try out for more CCAs over the week. I think I ran more than 50 rounds that week.

I wonder how my body took it back then.

And then everything spiralled downwards when I started working.

There was once a few years ago when I was running my second round around the track of my neighbourhood sports complex. I was already feeling dead beat and started to jog instead of run. The next moment, an old man with a full head of shiny grey hair dashed past me and became the size of a mere peanut in just seconds.

I knew I was too tired to continue and pride took over the instance I saw "Silver Peanut" across the track to my left. I slowly jogged my way to the fitness corner and started doing sit ups before Silver Peanut dashed past me the second time.

The whole time I was pretending to do doing sit ups, Silver Peanut ran 4 more rounds.

Either Silver Peanut was awesome or I was awful.

The only exercise I engage in nowadays would be walking -- from my desk to the loo, to the different departments, to lunch venues and during daily commutes.

Like a bolt from the blue, I decided to embark on a healthier lifestyle from now onwards. If I could neither run nor jog that much any more, I figured I could still walk.

We usually love to sleep in till afternoon on Saturdays to replenish all the lost sleep over the work week (4-6 hour sleep per day). Two Saturdays ago, we both happened to rouse up at 8am and I decided to drag the hubby out for a walk at MacRitchie Reservoir Park.




It was the first time taking the boardwalk route. Despite the humidity, it was really lovely walking by the reservoir under the cool shade of trees.

Yeah, I should not be wearing fashionable Puma sneakers for a walk at Mac Ritchie but one sole of my Asics sports shoes had come off since the last walk a year ago, leaving me with the excuse not to exercise for that same period of time.




So comfortable was that part of the trail that the hubby morphed into a social media junkie and was thumbing away at his phone posting photos on Facebook and replying to comments.




I love it when nature is accommodated into refurnished spaces like how this horizontal tree is incorporated into the boardwalk space instead of being chopped down.

Btw, the sign cautions people of the low height. Evil kh uploaded this photo on Facebook and started tagging his short friends saying that they would not hit their heads on this tree. -_-|||




My triceps are loose and flabby. Kh asserts that when I wave, the flabs of my chicken wing arms would flap into my face. -_-||| So I declared I should tone my arms by lifting the water bottle in this manner while walking. I only succeeded a set of 10 coz I looked stupid and would stop whenever there were people in sight.




I was really intrigued by the water plants dancing a little water dance with the ebb and flow of the waves.




I don't know much about water plants but I do know that these remind me of the burial ground in the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In my mind's eye when I read the part on the underwater cemetery, this just the sort of picture I painted.

Of course you need to imagine that you are a tiny little human being to see what I mean.




You know you have watched too many cartoons when you spotted this and whispered to the husband, "I suspect there is somebody hiding under the water. Look at the breathing tube."




There were lots to marvel at along the boardwalk like monkeys...




... and a little tree that has sprouted starkly in the water without a care in the world that it is out of place.




This part of the reservoir converges into some "water trap". Look at the taller grass further in the picture. You would sink into the water if you walked there. Beautiful but deadly.




This signboard lied. We seemed to walk forever and did not reach the Tree Top Walk. We set a more realistic goal of reaching the Jelutong Tower. Neither did we reach there. I blamed the scorching sun.




Let's do the limbo rock! How low can you go?




I never liked the gravelled forest trail back during cross-country days and I detest it still. The gravel path is to prevent mudslides during rainy days but my knees started to ache like a grandmama's during rainy days as my feet slid across gravel after gravel.




After we emerged from the forest trail, the golf course scene greeted us. I was so thankful to be walking on dirt path instead of sliding over gravels.




However, the scorching sun was a huge turn off.




Our water had run out and the water body of the golf course was like an oasis to me.




Remember the sign post from before? At the next signboard with a simplified map, the hubby deduced that we had to walk about 2 hours in total to the Jelutong Tower and back to the shade of the forest trail and suggested we head back since I was almost dying of thirst.




Even though Singapore is a tropical country without the 4 seasons, the blooming of flowers seem to coincide with the seasons in the northern hemisphere. Certain trees would see bursts of blooms during the month of March.




Little fallen yellows.




This is another stretch of deadly trap. Under all the greens is huge water body.




Back into the forest path, I heard sounds of crackling leaves only to see a monitor lizard. How this predator crept noisily through the dead leaves and be able to catch its prey is beyond me.




By the time we caught a glimpse of civilization far ahead, my fingers had gone really numb. It was the first time in my life I experienced numbness and I concluded that I've not exercised for so long that I had become really weak. The only thought I had done to keep myself going was 1, 2, 3 100 Plus, 1, 2, 3, 100 Plus. I was almost seeing white from dehydration and craved for nothing but 100 Plus.




I wondered if monkeys used this as a swing.




Have pity on the monkeys. Do not feed them. What a funny way to warn people not to feed the monkeys.




Monkeys monkeys everywhere.




This was my favourite sight of all -- The cafe in the distance!




The nostalgic zig zag bridge. We would usually do warm ups before crossing the zig zag bridge to the start point of the cross-country race back in school.




SUPER EXHAUSTED!




After the walk, we indulged ourselves with 100 Plus served in a glass with straw and shared a Red Bull Float. Drinks always feel a lot more refreshing when drunk from a straw.




Ending off this post with a picture of us and our dead beat expressions. We walked for about 8km and we didn't even reach our destination. Sad case.

After this episode, I feel strongly for the need to exercise on a more regular basis to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

How about you? Do you lead a healthy lifestyle? What are some exercises that you incorporate in your daily life?