A Story from Singapore by Alexander Brunner
In our latest blog post, Alexander Brunner recalls an amusing experience at a nature reserve during his year abroad in Singapore!
National University of Singapore
As my alarm clock hit 10 am, and the sweat droplets glided off my face, it was time for the Breakfast of Champions. No, I am not referring to Frosted Flakes and whole milk; on today’s menu was an assortment of veggies and meats from Mala Hot Pot.
My friend Kai joined me for breakfast. As I slurped down the last of my bok choy and chili, I realized that Kai was engrossed with a video on his phone. I tapped Kai on the shoulder to see what he was looking at. He turned his phone to show me a majestic world of green trees with monkeys swinging from branch to branch!
Could this be the lush forests around the volcanos of Bali, or the rolling hills of Chiang Mai, I asked Kai. He turned to me with a dumbfounded look on his face; and in the nicest of ways said: ‘Bro… this is Singapore’.
The walk from Kai’s table to the doors of the cafeteria felt like entering the double sided wooden wardrobe from that famous 2005 movie. You know the one, with the boy seeking out lions and witches in the snow after stumbling upon a magical wardrobe. Instead, my doors opened up to a world of humidity; and my objective was to find Singapore’s monkeys.
I have a complicated history with monkeys. When I was 5 years old, my family took a trip to the Rock of Gibraltar, a massive, simply put, rock located off the coast of Spain. Upon entering the rock, I saw what was like a post-apocalyptic world; the rock’s monkeys had overtaken the former Spanish, and later British inhabitants that lived inside. Over the few hours I spent surmounting the rocks summit, I started quite the fuss with the monkey’s living inside. Long story short, once I reached the top, the monkeys took my ballcap and threw it in the sea. I have not been to the Rock of Gibraltar since.
As I rode the bus towards Singapore’s Bukit Timah Nature reserve, I was motivated to take the chlorine out of my inter-animal conversation and make amends with the monkeys. The hike itself was not bad, the trees were ever so green, and I saw rare Singapore wildlife such as the scrambling orange plantain squirrel. After a few zig zags up a final hill, I reached the tree walk. This was considered the most beautiful part of the Bukit Timah hike, and also where Kai said the monkeys were.
A few steps into the tree walk, I suddenly felt the electricity in the air as a monkey swung by my head. One to my left, one to my right; it was thrilling to see so many monkeys hanging out in the sun. Upon leaving the tree walk, one of the monkeys even reached out its hand to me with a cashew nut in its palm. Eventually, the monkeys decided it was time to head back home from the bridge, and it was my time to go back to my dorm at Prince Georges Park.
The next morning, Kai looked at me and gave me a nod to come sit with him. I tried to explain the monkey’s peculiar action, but he would not believe it. Regardless of whether I would ever get Kai on board with my story, through my midday adventure, I made peace with my past, found new thrills, and was so excited for what was to come next in my Singapore story.