Exploring Dover and Clementi Forest
Here's something a little more local. I explored the Dover and Clementi forests with a chapalang[1] group comprising mostly retirees, but also young'uns like my girlfriend and some others. We found the event on Peatix and decided to join.
I have memories of exploring forests in Singapore with my dad and uncle. There used to be one near my place where the newly developed town Tengah now stands, having had all the forest flattened.
All I remember was us foraging for durians, and one falling directly on my dad, leaving a red mark on his back... I believe it's up there as one of the worst fruits you want falling on you from height.
Anyway, the same fate might soon happen to the remaining forests as much of them may give way to further development of the country.
Whatever I explored on this day were the remnants of a larger sprawl of forest that had already partially given way to new housing. Dover more so than Clementi, but both might soon go, only a matter of time.
Anyway, have a read!
Dover Forest
We started at Buona Vista MRT and headed to Ulu Pandan Park Connector to enter the Dover forest. Following along the canal, we headed into the forest on the left side of the park connector,
The main sign that you're "in" Dover forest, if not the fact that you're surrounded by trees, is the "A" tree — so called because it's shaped like the letter A.
I honestly don't recall if it's the tree in the next photo or the one after. The first one had already fallen over. Both kind of fit the bill. Here's what it should look like, anyway.
Clementi Forest
Local slang: mixed, hodgepodge ↩︎