Our Parks: Bukit Batok Nature Park
Category: life, homeSingaporean are blessed with numerous beautiful nature park that are dotted around our Island. These are either Primary / Secondary forest with walking paths built so that all can enjoy nature easily & safely.
While walking thru these parks in our tropical climate makes one sweat, I’m certain all these walking & sweating are perfect antitode to illness caused by lack of physical activity & too much exposure to airconditioning (especially those who are with desk-bound job). Besides, the green surrounding are good cure to tired eyes due to long hours working / playing on computer monitor.
Hence, I always make an effort to do walking in one of these nature parks weekly, encouraging sweating. And occassionally, enjoying new sights & interesting stuffs as well as numerous photographic opportunities along the way.
These are some shots I took while having a short walk (by my standard means about 1~ 2 hour leisure walk) at Bukit Batok Nature Park. I hope it may spur some interests in our Nature Parks. 
Park Map. indicating where exactly you are in.
One of the several entrances to the Bukit Batok Park
Peaceful gentle winding walk amongst lush greeneries
I think most would have thought tropical places do not have figs, as they usually relate them to edible temperate climate figs such as those found in Mediterranean regions. But no, the tropics do have their own species figs, plenty of them!. Figs are important as they provides food to animals. While there may be 1 or 2 which are eaten by people, but they are not as tasty as temperate figs.
These, by my poor guess, is probably Ficus vasculosa.
Opening up this small figs reveals tiny flowers. Belonging to special group of plant under genus of Ficus, they produced flowers which are hidden inside the fig fruits. Hence we don’t see flowers on these plant, only fig fruits and hence the Chinese called them ‘wu gua guo’ meaning flowerless fruits. Figgies certainly do things quite differently.
Aonther interesting aspects is that there are tiny fig wasp that uses them as “nest” for reproducing themselves. And helping to pollinate the fig flowers while they are at it.
Nature is certainly fascinating. If have furthur interest our local tropical figs, you could get a copy of “A guide to the fabulous Figs in Singapore”. These easy reading guide was ompletely written by mixed group of plant enthusiasts should be available for $5.25 at all good bookshops.
A family outing in the park.
The beautifully strange Bat Lilies
Be intrigued by some more strange looking stuffs, Plant Galls. From what I googled, these looks like Hedgehog Gall. These abnormal galls are the works of insects and in each gall, a new insect will hatch. Normally (From what I read) they don’t caused any harm to the tree though it do looks pretty yucky to me. Come to think of it, the round, spiney & colored galls looks like a dessert called “Onde Onde” hehehe …
(Left) Heliconia “Sexy Pink”, (Right) Young Frond of a Fern
Well, there are certainly much more then what’s shown here. But I rather leave it to the reader to investigate furthur (if they wishes) for now.
Cheers!
“Singaporean are blessed with numerous beautiful nature park”
Just pray hard Singapore Gov wont redev the park for other use!
Comment by sunflower — August 30, 2006 @ 10:21 am
nice pictures
Comment by spinnee — August 30, 2006 @ 1:34 pm
antitode? or antidote?
Comment by shuyii — August 30, 2006 @ 5:10 pm
i love ur plants pic so much, esp the vivid aubergined coloured bat lilies! wow! i havent seen them anywhere yet!
the hedgehog galls look like tiny furry cuddle-bles!
reading about them and finding out they are bugs creeps me out!
Comment by shuyii — August 30, 2006 @ 5:14 pm
@sunflower, hmmm … there are difference between nature park & garden. nature park are part of our nature reserve forest while garden, as it says, its a sculptured park.
also i think ?URA” has green blueplan on areas which are to be preserved. i think they have regular planning sessions which are attended by several naturalists groups (botany, birds etc)
so the last protest i know was against building golf course at kranji. hmm another seems to be portion of portstown road but this seems to be resolved peacefully.
so did anyone create green-green ribbon for the nature case, juz like brown-brown ribbon for some personal brown matter? hehehehe … oops!
@spinnee, thanks!
@shuyii, hehehehe … next time pls email be secretly ok *kidding* ahh … perils of writing during late night/early morning. think are a few more mistakes but too tired to correct by then. yeah, i quite surprised on finding the bat lilies as well. glad you like them and better be fast with yr bali posts, i’m getting impatient
kekekeke …
Comment by slurp! — August 30, 2006 @ 11:49 pm
you can start the green green ribbon!
Comment by sunflower — August 31, 2006 @ 1:54 am
Nice park but think I prefer Bukit Timah Hill more.
Comment by oldbeng — August 31, 2006 @ 11:11 am
Slurp, thank for your info on interesting parks to visit. I’m going to check this place out.
Comment by pfong — August 31, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
@sunflower, ha … i’m too busy with that, i rather do it with action then words
@oldbeng, thanks for dropping by. imho, it would be better that you open-up, think out of the box. stop restricting them to “this good, that better” thinknig. each have something different to offer if you carefully look at it with a keen eye & open mind
@pfong, you’re most welcome.
Comment by slurp! — September 1, 2006 @ 1:34 am
Are you living around the west? Come Bt Batok never come and pay me tribute.. my area leh.. I am acting like gangster liao :p
Comment by Jaschocolate — September 2, 2006 @ 9:29 am
@jas wahhh … beri friendly gangster in Bt Batok. should i bring pig head & blood, some joss stick, paper money, red red candles to make my offerings kekekekeeke..
Comment by slurp! — September 4, 2006 @ 8:36 am
Hi Slurp!,
Lovely pictures of figs. However, I don’t think it is vasculosa, whose figs have stalks almost as long as the fig diameter. Does the plant have aerial roots? If so, it may be a Johore fig, kerkhovenii. Can you give the location roughly? Thanks.
Comment by Yap Von Bing — June 9, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
Von Bing,
Thanks for dropping by.
no aerial rots, so can’t be johor fig? it’s between WWII memorial entrance to the first lookout point.
I can’t seen to ID using the Figs handbook,. maybe i drop by Normanton park, there seems to have there as well with (hopefully) proper ID. let me know if you find out anything
Comment by slurp! — June 9, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
Hi slurp!, I have not been there yet. My guess is it’s a ficus grossularioides, the white-leafed fig.
Comment by Von Bing — July 31, 2007 @ 10:30 pm
~Von Bing: oh, thanks!
Comment by slurp! — August 7, 2007 @ 9:16 am