Little Guilin (Bukit Batok Town Park) @ Bukit Gombak; Singapore

I was in the west side of Singapore and decided to explore one of the parks I've heard of, "Little Guilin".

Little Guilin (as called and known by locals; also known as Bukit Batok Town Park), because of the resemblance it has to the rock formations in Guilin, China. Little Guilin used to be a granite quarry (1 of 25 in Singapore).

The Map of the Park

The park is now a serene place, far from the noisy quarrying activities in the 1970s. A few metres away is the Bukit Gombak MRT Station and the Bukit Gombak Stadium. The park is basically in the proximity of a residential area, but still I would say it is a nice "escape" from the hustle and bustle of the city if you are in the west.

*The rock masses in the park are known as Gombak Norite.

*Bukit Batok means "Coughing Hills", which came from the sounds that were produced during the quarrying days.

The 42-hectare park and was once supposed to be a road, but due to its beauty, it became the park that it is today. The quarry became the park's lake and is home to turtles that you will see bobbing their heads in the water as they take a swim.

Fishing in the lake is a no no, by the way.

It's hard to imagine how this place used to be a granite quarry and homed not to turtles and other animals but to machines. Would be nice if you could go hike and/or climb the granite rock hill though, but either way it's a nice place to just sit, relax and look out for turtles swimming as the rest of the world keeps on going.

*it's only a 5 minute walk from Bukit Gombak MRT Station!