Trek to Tree Top

Last Saturday, ISACA Singapore Chapter had organized a Tree Top event for the members and I decided to participate to have a flavor and make new friends

We reached venus Car Drive around 8:30 AM and filled the Registration Forms. ISACA Caps along with water Bottles were provided  and were divided in to 6 teams of 5 members each.

We slowly started walking as a group around 9 AM, in to the silent and serene part of nature where one could experience stillness.  It was a 7KM walk amidst nature/ fantastic scenic view and  above all an excellent morning workout.  The Team members from ISACA included expats from Thailand, Malaysia, India and many more countries including native Singaporeans.  It was good to talk and understand more about the hobbies/culture and lifestyles of people from different countries.  On the runway, we also saw amateur photographers who carried sophisticated cameras that could easily weigh around 10kgs. On enquiry, we found that they come every weekend to spend the morning to catch a glimpse of frogs and some rare insects. Looking at that , I felt that these guys are living life and making it rich by doing what they really loved.

Sign boards/ Milestone posts were positioned at regular intervals to measure progress and understand the time required to complete the trip.  The event also had a competion to arrive at the best Photos shot up using iPhone/Android phones during our trek. Win from our team was pretty focussed in taking click after click at some of rare sights and made sure that we had a head start to win it big :)  Ravi shared insights about how the ecosystem of Singapore worked and also provided suggestions on other natural spots to venture.
Overall the discipline and approach to give health a top priority was evident among native Singaporeans and also with people who have stationed here for years.

After about 1.5 hours, we arrived at the Tree Top with some breath taking views and fascinating scenic landscape. The team rushed to take photos of everyone and also those important tourist attraction. Sounds of Cricket was clearly heard from underneath. We then walked over the long narrow Tree Top section and started moving ahead.  We then reached slowly and steadily to our end destination.

We resumed back to our starting place within 11:30 AM and were feeling really hungry. Seema and Andrew discussed about the Job Market and perspectives around Banking for ITSM professionals.Once all were ready, Car pooling was done to take us to the Western Bar to have our Lunch. Being a Vegetarian was a challenge as the buffet did not have choices for Vegetarian. However, the organizers made sure that they had ordered a special pasta/vegetarian dish for couple of us and to be honest, it was prepared very well.

As we completed our lunch, it was time to reveal the photos that took the winning place. All of the photos shot from the teams using iPhone/Android phones were submitted to Shirley.  Dave then displayed his Photos taken during the trip on a Slide Show mode on the screen available within the restaurant. With all photos looking good, organizers decided to go for Voting System and guess what?  Team 2 and Team 5 ended in a tie. The Organizers then called both the teams in front, reran the photos once again with the members and finally picked Team 2 as winners. We claimed as 1st Runners. - This is dedicated to Win who made that happen. Overall it was a splendid and remarkable experience attending this trek and hats of Dave who  managed this whole effort seamlessly. We look forward to more such events from ISACA

Singapore - Quick Review

I have been to Singapore earlier on a tourist visa for 3 days where we did visit the places of interest and flew back.

This time, I got an oppportunity to come on an Employment Pass for 3 months and this post is about my quick review of what this place is all about...

The City ranks very high among Citizens/Expats and Mobile crowd for 2 distict reasons. 1. Cleanliness 2. Security/Low Crime rate

This is particulary true and have observed females going about without inhibitions alone past midnight.

The Public transport is outstanding considering the tie up with MRT(Train) and SMRT buses.

People are quite cordial and helpful and everyone speaks English. But you cannot get away with "la" at the end... Ok la... :)

Rentals are pretty exorbitant and the residentship is of two types. HDB (Housing Development Board -Govt apartments) and Condos (Privately owned)

There are rooms let out for shared purpose. i.e)If you have a Master Bed Room and 2 Single Rooms , they share the Single Rooms separately and also Master Bed Room and make the agreement done

House Agents/Brokers get a month of rental as deposit and tenure is either 1 year or more. The More the tenure, better the bargaining potential. 1-2 months advance as deposit and pay in advance while occupying the posession.

China Town and Little India have domination of the respective Countries. Lot of Indian Restaurants and particularly south indian cusines are well in demand.

Work wise, people are hardworking and they are quite reserved. They (Native Singaporeans) do not socialize much with other members from foreign countries.

Weather is little humid with showers intermittently varying between 28- 32 degree Celsius all through the year.

There are lot of artificial monuments/sight seeings and less number of natural spots.. Hope to post more as I spend some time @ the Asian Hub in the days to come.