macritchie reservoir

have done my walks around the macritchie reservoir over the weekends and there were a few things i noted that i felt were not right...

• people throwing rubbish on the forest floor. i saw tissue paper, mosquito repellent patch covers, plastic bags, food containers, etc. thankfully there were no many, although every piece of rubbish is a piece too many.

• parents pulling out canisters of mosquito repellant and spraying their kids all over so much so that the whole forest trail smelled of the insect repellent for tens of meters after they walk.

• people pasting mosquito repellent patches all over their body and didn't pick them up after the patches drop as they walked.

• people talking loudly, like as though they were in the market. and the people guilty of this are aunties, foreigners (prcs [there're just loads of them!], french, americans, etc).

• people walking with their radio at full blast. and i have heard english, chinese, tamil, etc songs as i walked. 

• parents walking their toddlers on strollers and carrying babies in their arms! wtf! all things being equal, i think there should be some basic safety considerations for the kids.

• people walking in the forest with umbrellas! 'nuf said. doh!

• people feeding wild lives, especially macaques! these macaques feed off the forest trees and fruits and play and important role in dispersing the seeds. by feeding them, they get spoilt and will learn to rely on humans for food. long term damage to the forest ecosystem!

• and many more...

the following are what i thought one should do while walking through the forest...

• appreciate the coolness of the internal micro-environment. frequently, one can actually experience a cold gust of breeze. it's very refreshing!

• enjoy the sounds of nature. you get sounds of birds, cicadas, crickets, all sorts of insects or for the matter, just trees swaying in the breeze. it's really therapeutic.

• being at peace with nature. to simply savour what nature provides - the coolness, the heat, the rain etc.

• savour the occasional encounters with wild animals, insects and what have yous... macaques, butterflies, birds, monitor lizards, etc.

• and while you are at it, enjoy the occasional nice lean bods that run pass you...