Hall-Reppens in Singapore: Exploring Fort Canning Park

Princess Pond.

"Strangler Fig" roots growing down from a host tree. The fig roots will eventually kill the host.

I spent last week exploring Fort Canning Park, the hidden gem in my backyard. First, I perused my new book about the park, to get to know a little history, and see the layout. The park is quite large, similar to Grant Park in Chicago. But rather than going along the lakefront, it along the goes along the Singapore Riverfront.

On my first day of exploration, I headed to the entrance closest to our apartment. At the time that Singapore was first settled, Malay royalty used to live at the top of the hill. At that time, it was known as "Forbidden Park" because only royalty could use it. There was a natural spring there, where the princesses would come to bathe - another reason to keep those lowly peasants out! When I reached the park, I headed up 4 1/2 flights of stairs. I checked the layout of the park, and headed for the "Princess Pond". It's kind of overgrown now, but I can imagine princesses bathing in it long ago! Unfortunately, it was a hot, humid afternoon, and I found out that the path along the lower part of the park was closed, because they are doing major construction on the reservoir in the park. The only way to get to the other side of the park was to go up about another 9 flights of stairs to get to the higher pathway. As I was already dripping, I decided to head to Liang Court to do some errands, and check on the arrival date for our bed.

On my second day of exploration, I took a bus to the other side of the park. On this side, you can see the British influence of the park. When the English ruled Singapore, the governor's mansion was at the top of the hill. Later, as there were threats of invasion, a fort was built at the top of the hill. It was named after Viscount Charles Canning, the first Viceroy of India. When the fort was built, and the cannons were put in place, it was discovered that neighboring Pearl's Hill was 4 meters higher than Fort Canning, and when they shot the cannons, they went right into the hill. Pearl's Hill had to be shaved off to the right height!

That day, I got to see a scaled down version of the spice garden that Stamford Raffles planted. I also got to see an earlier archeological excavation. I found the picnic area, and a wine bar, called "Flutes at the Fort". Rich and I are going to have to check that place out. I also looked into the Philatelic Museum. It had an exhibit on rare "Star Wars" stamps. But, because it costs $6, and Rich is the philatelist of the family, I decided to wait 'til I could go with him.

In the middle of that area, there is an open air theatre. The fence around it was all closed off, and I could here sound checks going on. I know that the Singapore Repertory Theatre is going to present "Othello" as its "Shakespeare in the Park" selection next month, so I thought they might be preparing for that. However, when I awoke the next day, and looked at the newspaper, I saw that Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt, and Jimmy Cliff were going to appear there that night. The concert started at 6:30, and that is pretty early for Rich to get home on a weekday. Still, it was Paul Simon! I've loved him since my mom bought the album "Bridge over Troubled Water" in 1969! Also, he hasn't been to Singapore in 20 years, and he only does 30 concerts a year now. And it was a 5-minute bus ride! The story said that tickets started at $70. That was doable. But when I looked into tickets, the high priced tickets were gone, as well as the $70 lawn seats. The only thing left was General Admission for $165. There was no way I could justify that to Rich! Still, I am so mad at myself!! If I had gone into the park from the front, I would have seen the box office. The night that I was at the park, Robert Plant and the Tedeschi Truck Band were there, as part of the Timbre Rock & Roots Festival. I am not a big Robert Plant or Led Zeppelin fan, (Travesty, I know!), but I am a big Susan Tedeschi fan. I am so bummed that I missed those performances. Gotta get onto the Fort Canning website, so I don't blow any future events!!