Orienteering @ The River Trail, 27thJul2019

Written by Farren Lee, Sixer & Scribe

On 27th July, we cub scouts went for a journey to Fort Canning Park for a fun time using an app descriptly titled BalikSG. We arrived at Hotel Fort Canning and slowly made our way to Fort Canning Centre. From there, we were separated into 2 groups who went on different ways.

 

My group went to Farquar Garden first. Due to the extremely horrible way this app works, some of us were confused on how to scan the codes and how to read them.

 

Navigating around Fort Canning was difficult at first but after fiddling around with the map and even using Compass on our phone, the rest of the trip went on smoothly. A few hundred metres up a hill was Artisan Garden, which had nice views looking down to the garden. It also contained broken pieces of Porcelain and Ceramics.  We rested and took more photos before heading off to our next location.

 

The next location was a long walk away but 15 minutes later, we made our way to Sang Nila Utama Garden which was situated by a cliff. It tells the story of Utama's hometown. There was plenty of foliage and seats for us to cool down before continuing on our trip.

 

A small hike up the hill pass a few trees and pass some tall and spectacular cliffs was Forbidden Hill which is the main hill in Fort Canning Park. At 87m above sea level, the Forbidden Hill featured amazing and beautiful artefacts of Fort Canning.

 

 

After a short break at Forbidden Hill, we went down a small hill to Raffles Garden where we met the other group for a moment. The garden featured nice foliage and a lot of facts about trees and shrubs.

 

We got ourselves up for the longest walk in the whole hike. Pancur Larangan, which was situated at the new frontier area of Fort Canning, was under the 'Fort Redevelopment Plan' by the Government. The project was to enhance facilities and pathways along the new Fort Canning MRT station. New water features, playgrounds, carparks, escalators and sitting areas were constructed. One of the new areas was Pancur Larangan. After a 1.5km walk later and we arrived to see the code. We had completed the trail. " Hooray!" We shouted.

 

We made our way up the escalators and had our much-needed picnic at Farquar Garden. A memorable hike to commemorate an honourable celebration. Happy Birthday Singapore !!! 🇸🇬🇸🇬

 

Pro Tip #1 - Anyone that wants to try it out yourself. Be Prepared. BalikSG is an absolute battery killer.

Pro Tip #2 - Make sure you go to the park with a park map.

Pro Tip #3 - Never Trust BalikSG