The Local Countryside

I can't say I particularly enjoy walking down Orchard Road to City Hall. While it is a great walk for people watching and spotting marketing gimmicks (which usually involve PVC and/or short skirts), it gets pretty dreary once you keep going at it. So it is really nice to find somewhere less crowded and with less exhaust fumes.

Figs on a tree

A while ago the girlfriend and I took a ride on the Kranji Express to the Lim Chu Kang countryside, took a walk at Sungei Buloh, crossed paths with a 2-metre long monitor lizard and had some snacks at Poison Ivy. It simply left me pining for more of the area.

The Local Countryside - Hay Dairies Goat Farm

It was a weekday when my parents and I visited the area, so we were a little disappointed when we found out that Green Circle wasn't ready for business. We then moved off to Hay Dairies Goat Farm for a look-see and some goat's milk. We had missed the milking session, so we had to settle for the meet-the-goats session.

A hungry goat expecting to be fed.

Pregnant nanny goats

You can see some of their bellies move from the kicking kids inside. Fascinating.

The "stud" sniffing a nanny goats... Nuff said...

So a bit of reality check here: the goats don't really frolic in the vast grass patches as you see in the Flash animation on the web site. (If you sense I'm a little peeved by this, it is only because you got to watch The Meatrix)

So after the meet-the-goats session, we bought a few bottles of fresh goat's milk, chocolate and original flavours.
Advice: I prefer the original flavour to the chocolate one. So skip the chocolate, because it doesn't really taste fantastic. But of course, it is a matter of personal preference. Try at your own risk.

The Dragonfruit Farm

We then adjourned to the dragonfruit farm just next door. For the uninitiated, dragonfruit, or pitaya grows from a family of cacti that looks just the picture above. They come in 3 varieties, red skin with white flesh, red skin with red flesh and yellow skin and white flesh. The farm only sells the first two varieties along with other products that are derived from the fruit, like fruit enzymes and canned dragonfruit juice (either red or white).

Flower of the Dragonfruit plant

My parents and I definitely didn't just want to settle with buying the dragonfruits, so we toured the plantation.

Dragonfruit

Flower of the Dragonfruit plant

Flower of the Dragonfruit plant

Flower of the Dragonfruit plant

A cute little thing

Of course, it is my duty to inform readers that there are thorns, and should proceed with a level of caution. Especially when you see plants growing so close together...

Be careful of thorns

Besides the main function of growing dragonfruits, the farm also has some sidelines for variety, probably catered to pique the visitors' interest.

Aquatic plants

Wine gourds

Just before leaving, we chanced upon a koi pond. So I stepped closer to the edge and the next thing I knew, the kois swarmed towards me and surfaced as if in a feeding frenzy.

Koi

It turns out that the kois were constantly fed by visitors and apparently they expected feed the moment someone steps near the edge of the pond! Damn smart lor!

Think I will plan another trip to the local countryside soon. :)