Bukit Timah

My parents' condo is located next to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. When I visit, I often walk over to conquer Singapore's highest summit - all 163 meters of it! The nature reserve itself doesn't have any entries in Atlas Obscura. There are, however, at least five abandoned granite quarries in the vicinity, and one of them - Little Guilin - has an entry. Back in the day (I am guessing 1970s), some earnest but overenthusiastic person thought the abandoned quarry with its lake resembled a miniaturized version of the famous karst landscape of Guilin in China, and so the site was named as such. Of course, somebody should have told this person that granite looks very different from limestone. Nevertheless, the name stuck.

I have visited Little Guilin in the past. This trip, I drove past the site while running an errand for my parents, but I didn't stop there. I did, however, visit a couple of the other old quarries. Rainwater has filled in four of the five quarries, making scenic little lakes that are a haven for birdlife. Some misguided people have released ornamental fish and reptiles into the lakes, so it isn't unusual to see koi and little terrapins swimming around. I also have a bit of a running gag with Jeff when I visit the quarries - a few years back, there was a bad scifi movie called Snakehead Terror. The snakehead fish are actually from Southeast Asia. I will look out for the fish in the lake, snap a photo of them, and send them to Jeff with silly captions. While on one of my jaunts in the area, I saw evidence of a recent landslide, and I smiled inwardly thinking of my Geomorphology professor who was obsessed with landslides. One can also spot monkeys, monitor lizards, and red jungle fowl. I do enjoy my walks to these little known beauty spots.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/little-guilin

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