It is a very conducive climate for some flora and fauna exploration. Let us do some outdoor activity, get some vitamin D, and enjoy the breathtaking views in the famous Hort Park and the Southern Ridges.

The Southern Ridges comprise a 9-km chain of green, open spaces spanning the rolling hills of Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah hill Park and Kent Ridge Park before ending at West Coast Park.

I’m your tour guide for this event and also inexperience one. Before anything else, be sure you have dressed comfortably and brought enough refreshments and sweets to serve as energy booster. Because we will have a tour around Hort Park, take the, Floral Walk and Forest Walk to reach Telok Blangah Park and finally Mount Faber Park. It might probably take about 3hrs or more depending on our rest periods. If you are ready, then let us start the trail.


Hort Park (the gardening hub) - the first one-stop gardening hub in Southeast Asia that brings together gardening-related, recreational, educational, research and retail activities under one big canopy in a park setting. It houses more than 20 theme gardens, designed to inspire unique gardening ideas. Among the few themes are floral walk, Car Park Garden, Water Garden, Home Garden, Terrarium Arcade, Vertical Walls, Rooftop Garden, Orchid Corner, Silver Garden, Herb & Spice Garden, Seed Garden, Fruits & Vegetables Garden and more.


Alexandra Arch – spans the Alexandra Road like a giant open white leaf, connecting Hort Park via Floral Walk. On the other side is Gilman Village, a former British military camp in the early 20  ^th century which is now home to an eclectic mix of restaurants, pubs and art galleries. At night this arch glows with different colors, be sure to catch it at night from 7pm-12am. Safety lights are on 7pm-7am daily


Forest Walk – It offers a bird’s eye view of the forest. It is a steps-free elevated walkway that connects Telok Blangah Hill Park to Alexandra Arch, approximately 3km. Don’t be surprised when you encounter monkeys in their natural habitat. Lighting hours from 7pm-12am & 5am-7am daily.



Telok Blangah Hill Park – At the end of the forest walk is a hill park where there are picnic and fitness ground. At the top of this park is Terrace Garden, it is made up of semi-circular terraces that offers 360-degree view of Singapore. It connects to Henderson Waves. Henderson Waves is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore at 36 meters above Henderson Road. The bridge has a unique wave-form made of 7 undulating curved-steel “ribs” that alternately rise over and under its deck.


Mount Faber Park – the Faber walk is approximately 1km from Henderson Waves. The slopes are covered by dense rain forest and are home to many interesting lants and fauna. It is where Singapore’s iconic hilltop is “The Jewel Box”, it offers 5 restaurants with stunning views of the harbour and city skyline, it is also a cable car station to Sentosa. The highest point in this park is the Faber Point, it is approximately 106 meters. Visitors come here and catch a beautiful view of the city at this multiple decked plaza. Telescopes are installed at strategic locations to view the Singapore’s horizon. At the end of this park is Marina Deck, is a popular place for visitors to come and admire the panoramic views from over Keppel Harbour and Singapore City before heading off to catch the cable car down to Vivo City and Sentosa Island. Lastly is taking Marang Trail, it is a shaded rocky footpath from Harbourfront Mrt at Marang Road to “The Jewel Box”, it is not lighted at night.

Cacao has been found to be higher in antioxidant flavanols than either red wine or green tea and most antioxidant fruits and berries.

Antioxidants are phenolic substances in our food which have a protective effect on our bodies. They protect out DNA by scavenging the free radicals that cause damage. Free radicals are the by-products of oxygen use by our cells. Antioxidants remove the free radicals and prevent and repair the damage done by them

The protective effects of antioxidants encompass:

Ever wonder how to make chocolate out of cacao? It's really simple! Here's how.

Ingredients:

1/2 Kilo dried cacao beans
1/4 Kilo sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Procedure:


1. Roasting
Roast the beans. You may do this using a pan or better (and faster) if you can use an oven.The roasting process should be stopped when the beans are "cracking", but before they start to burn.









2. Winnowing
Remove the husk from the roasted beans. Using your hands, crack the cacao bean and then get rid of the husk.









3. Grinding
Grind the winnowed beans along with the sugar. A refiner is recommended but if it is not available, a meat or coffee grinder will do. If you don't have these machines you may go to a local market to do the grinding for you. This will produce a semi-liquid form of the chocolate. Mix the vanilla to the chocolate, if you decide to use any flavoring.










4. Molding
Now it's time to mold the chocolate. Pour the chocolate into molds or in a large rectangular container where you can later cut the chocolate into bars.







There you have it!

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