A perfect day

We had a perfect day. It began with breakfast at the Kopitiam in Katong where CH ate roti prata while I had fried carrot cake.

We drove to Telok Blangah Hill so that we could see the sights along the Southern Ridges, an area steeped in history and is home to some of nature's greatest gifts of flora and fauna. The walk began at the shady park.

We walked in the direction of Mount Faber and arrived at the Henderson Waves, an unique bridge built to connect the two hills of Mount Faber and Telok Blangah.

The bridge has a unique wave-form made up of seven undulating curved steel "ribs" that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved "ribs" form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within and also to accommodate large number of people during public events. I like the timber decking.

The Mt Faber hilltop offers a panoramic views of the city, harbour and the Southern Islands. Here, you can see the tree canopy in the foreground and the CBD in the distance. The buildings in between are residential apartments.

We walked back to Telok Blangah Hill park again and continued our journey in the other direction. The vegetation in the park is very diverse. I like the coconut groves very much.

Then we entered the forest walk, an elevated walkway that meanders through some 50 metres of secondary forest and connects to Alexandra Arch. The raised walkway with heights ranging from 3 to 18 metres brushes the canopy of trees and offers a bird’s eye view of the forest.

From the elevated platform, I looked down and saw a small stream flanked by large elephant ear plants.

When we arrived at the beautifully manicured gardens of HortPark, the weather was becoming very hot and humid. We were very tired.

CH jumped on the first opportunity to relax when he saw the garden swing.

We walked through the gardens and found a bench under the shady tree to settle down for a well deserved rest. We had been walking for several hours!

I brought out the birthday cake (without candles!).

I brought too much food. We didn't pop the bottle of champagne or make any sandwich.

From the park, we could see some beautiful black and white bungalows (my dream house) in the distance.

I love the mosaic mural on the wall in the foyer.

We decided to walk back to the car before the sun got any fiercer. We spotted a bird house high up on a tree. We didn't encounter any interesting animals like monkeys or squirrels throughout the walk. We spotted a vine snake and lots of birds.

Then we got home and soaked in the pool before heading out for dinner.

We went back to Santa Fe, the Tex-Mex restaurant that was too full to admit us last Friday. The buffalo wings were delicious!

The BBQ pork ribs were so tender, the meat literally fell off the bones. The best part of the dish is the tangy BBQ sauce. It's fruity and sweet, the best I've ever had. Oh, and the fries were heavenly. They stayed crispy throughout dinner. I ate every single one of them!

We felt the fajita (beef) lacked the oomph. I can't really pinpoint what was wrong with it but I suspect the dish lacks seasoning and the dough is too thick.

By the time our chocolate dessert arrived, we were stuffed. The chocolate ice cream tastes very ordinary like the ones sold by the ice cream trucks down the road. Thank goodness the chewy pieces of brownies saved the day.

Still, we had a wonderful day. I give it a perfect 10!