The Hunt for Elusive Mt. Faber

After spending half of Thursday watching CNN and processing the terrorist attacks as they unfolded in Mumbai, I decided to explore the tech savvy, eternally muggy, efficient nanny state that is Singapore. The lonely planet guide suggested a visit to Mt. Faber (elevation: 117m) for great views of downtown, the city port, and Indonesian islands to the south. I didn't want to shell out the 10 Singapore dollars a taxi ride would've cost, so I decided to try out Singapore's highly praised mass transit system. There are clean efficient buses on every street corner that also connect to an awesome subway system known as the MRT. Taking the MRT seemed to be an excellent decision, until I got off at Redhill station, that was just a little too far away from Mt. Faber. I later found out that Harbor Front station would've put me right at the foot of this neat little park and could've saved me nearly 2 hours of walking 4.5 unnecessary miles in humid 90 degree weather!

At least I got to know the City a little better! So word to the wise, do not skimp on local transit maps or more detailed city maps, also if you have an iphone on you, do not hesitate to use it to plot your location (you can do point to point directions in Singapore).

When I finally did find Mt. Faber, I was pleasantly surprised to see the small hill was largely unspoiled tropical forest. I was also surprised to see that you can drive straight to the top. Somewhat reminiscent of Mt. Diablo (but way smaller). At the top there were great vistas of the city and also a bar/restaurant, some Singapore history depicted in fresco form and a touristy restaurant and cable car facility known as the "jewel box". The cable car takes you a mile or so across to Sentosa island, which is a resort/theme park weekend destination for Singaporeans and their families.

Afterwards I took the MRT to the uber-trendy, uber-hip Clarke Quay (pronounced "key"). The Singapore River runs thru this swank village of upscale shopping, dining, and clubbing. high concentrations of expats and tourists here. Lantern laden boats take patrons out for dinner and drinks on the river. It's very reminiscent of Santana Row (minus the river that runs thru it). More on Clarke Quay later.