10 minutes later, I was ready, dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt with a water bottle slung over my shoulder. “Let’s go!” Bobby and Kate said enthusiastically. Having been deprived of my beauty sleep, I wasn’t really keen. “Ok, I’m coming! I shouted to them.” We got into the car and my father drove to the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC). We began our walk at a sign showing the direction. I glanced at it: Route D – 5.7km. “What! 5.7km?! You’ve got to be kidding!” I turned around. They had already begun the walk and were way in front of me. “Hey! Wait up!” I immediately dashed up to them, not wanting to get separated.

As we ventured deeper into the forest, the trail became tougher, the slops were steeper. It was then I started to look around. I felt surrounded by nature. It was so serene. Then, Kate shouted: “Look! It’s a Lizard!” I dashed to the spot. It was indeed a lizard, although it was way bigger than the normal house lizards that we commonly saw. “I know what it is,” my father said. “This is not an ordinary lizard. It is a small Komodo dragon. I have heard they are endangered animals.” “Let’s go,” My mum said eager to get away from the ugly lizard. We trudged on. Soon, we arrived at the Treetop walk – a giant free-standing suspension bridge spanning Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang, the two highest points in Mac Ritchie. I was so excited.

I gingerly stepped on the bridge, half expecting it to collapse. It stood firmly. I was more relaxed after that. I was amazed at the beauty of nature at this vantage point. We all stopped and took pictures. After crossing the bridge, we saw that the route was filled with wooden stairs. “Finally, an easy walk,” My mother said. She was wrong. Indeed, the stairs proved even harder to climb; by the time we finished to whole walk, our legs were all burning with pain. Then we turned back to SICC, using a shortcut. We were there in less than 10 minutes. Apparently everybody did not want to walk the whole distance again. After a shower there, we went home.

I have learnt many things from this activity. I now feel humbled by nature, a tiny fish in the big ocean. I realise that we Singaporeans are extremely lucky to be living in Singapore, a green city. Not many countries have these kinds of facilities for free. Lastly, I have learnt to appreciate time with my family, as it is not often that we do an activity together as a family, as everybody is always so busy everyday. I also feel ashamed about my attitude at the start of the day – my annoyance at being woken up early and my negative attitude when I saw the distance of the walk. So, from now on, I’m will appreciate nature and treasure family time even more. Maybe I’ll also try to get used to waking up early even on weekends!......Ok, I'll think about it. Until then, I'll stick to waking up late on weekends! Ha-ha!