MsI and I had a Mommy-Daughter Date. She loves the cable cars so we headed to the cable car station and then for a nature walk just the 2 of us.

We were the only people in the Cable Car station on either side of the line and had a car all to ourselves. Children under 6 are not required to wear masks in Singapore now, as we have almost no community cases, so I slipped of MsI's mask occasionally to get a few pictures of her on our outing. MsI is quite insistent that a mask is required and I'm not going to tell her otherwise yet, but I did tell her she is okay with it off when there is no one else around.

It had been quite a while since we had a cable car ride and she was a bit wide-eyed when the car began to swing freely. She held on pretty tight then, but then she got comfortable and wanted to know where the dolphins were. We always look for the dolphin tanks that the cable cars go directly over.

The first thing MsI did on Sentosa Island was to follow a large male peacock. He let us get within a few meters of him. After that she pointed out "the orange flowers in the tree." They weren't flowers, but actually leaves changing colour. These weren't true autumn leaves. In Singapore the leaves turn orange and red, and fall off the trees when there isn't enough water. We noticed this last September and October too.

At the Nature Centre MsE tried out all the nature call buttons. We were the only ones there too. They gave us a free nature walk booklet, but it was too old for MsI. I'll save it for the big girls.

After the Nature Centre we layered on our sunscreen and our bug spray and headed off down the nature trail, which started off as a smooth tree top walk. We heard the call of a large bird, but couldn't see it in the trees. We had a little snack of dried mango. When I asked MsI what to do if a monkey came, she showed me she would hide her snack behind her back. I told her to throw it to the monkey instead or else the monkey would come and get it. She ate her piece quickly and didn't ask for any more. We didn't see any monkeys.

The trail then lowered and became hard packed and sandy. MsI was confused by the lack of concrete and kept stopping to touch the sandy trail. We ended up in a few muddy spots, but overall we did fine with the stroller. Although I had MsI walk most of the way.

MsE had forgotten how to walk over rough ground - too much city living. We are always on smooth paths here; even the playground is a smooth solid rubber surface. MsI tripped over rocks and raised tree roots in the trail for at least 5 minutes, scowling at the trail when she did, until she got the hang of it. She did know how to stick to a trail better than her sisters did at 3 years old though. She also came quickly back if I told her she was too far ahead. As we walked MsI spotted a "lizard" and "2 spider webs," and we decided to very gently touch the trees covered in spikes.

Our walk looked like we were in the middle of the jungle, but reassuringly we could occasionally hear a car drive past just outside of view. This trail is actually the first nature trail Jonathan and I walked in Singapore. MsI and I only encountered one other person on the trail. It occurred to me that I would probably feel a little wary encountering a stranger completely alone in the woods anywhere else in the world, but I didn't here in Singapore.

Eventually MsI and I came to a fork in the trail and had to choose between a much shorter trail of mostly stairs or heading a lot farther out on the flat trail. I picked the shorter and it let us out near the Beach just as it began to rain.  

We took a Grab back home (I ordered to come with a carseat). That's the first time I've ever tried taking a car off Sentosa. We got home a lot faster than we would have with 2 cable car rides and a 10 minute walk. MsI was thrilled to be in a car and sat so still looking out the window. And I was thrilled that a car ride was so easy; it's quite the production when it's installing 3 carseats and then 3 kids into them, rather than 1.