Weeding Sessions with NParks
On the 3rd and 10th of October, which were two cloudy Saturdays, we had to get up early to be at the MacRitchie reservoir for our weeding sessions with NParks. This was our pre-trip preparation to let us gain a little experience so as to be more prepared for the actual tree-planting activities during the trip.
Despite the sombre skies on both days, we were very happy and excited when we could move away from those books and lecture notes which surrounded us during the weekdays. Walking along the path from the bus station to the forest, we could feel the breath of the nature when suddenly 3 to 4 monkeys appeared, looking at us with a bit of curiosity. And we wondered what the monkeys could do to us when we were warned by the park guide not to leave things unattended because of monkeys. As soon as we reached the forest edge, the park guide showed us how to recognise the rubber tree and the proper way to weed the tree.
The instructions were very clear and it seemed easy, but the truth was not. As our first attempt, the tree was pulled out without the root. Hence, we kept on searching for the remaining root and it appeared to be a big root which made us believe that the tree had been pulled out without root many times before. Without any hesitation, we tried our best to pull out the root and I must say that it was not easy. Finally we had to end the session when a heavy and endless rain came.
The next Saturday, we had to search for batman plant - an alien plant for the Singapore reservoir. This time, the plant was much easier for us to pull out but another thing for us to be concerned about was the animals hovering around. Before we started to weed the batman tree, the park guide had reminded us to do a site check for snake or centipede, scorpion, etc… on the ground as well as on those branches above. And yes, we found one green snake which was very hard to distinguish from the tree, just right above our heads.
Without any fear, we all went inside the forest to find the batman plants. Our achievement for that day was a big garbage bag full of batman plants.
Like the previous session, this session also had to end when a rain came. We all got wet as drowned rats and moved to another place for a group meeting with 8 people in 1 car. Such a wonderful time I had with my dearest friends!
(Written by: Truc)
