With the help of some kind souls who have estimatedly drawn out the paths to Syonan Jinja on a map and posted it online, I managed to complete my mission yday. For my own remembrance's sake, I decided to produce one myself, marking out the painstaking route i took yday.
As seen on the map, MacRitchie Reservoir is surrounded by v thick untouched rainforest, which serve as the water catchment area for the reservoir. The northern banks of the reservoir is almost entirely inaccessible, densely covered by trees and undergrowths. On the other hand, the southern banks comprise of boardwalks and walk-ways where many ppl can easily access to. As the bridge linking from the southern bank to the northern bank (where the shrine once stood) was blown off, we have to bash through the heart of the rainforest from the north of the reservoir.
From MacRitchie Fitness Park, we started off easily using the existing trail (frequent by joggers and strollers). It took us less than an hr before we hit the point where we decided to bash deep into the forested ground (see below).
Following a very faint trail, we digged southward into the rainforest. The path became narrower, occasionally blocked off by some fallen trees. However, the path was still manageable, considering all 3 of us hav been through the SAF trainings. Bashing isnt anything new thing to us. Within an hr, we hit the waters, followed the bank earnestly and finally hit the shrine! On arrival to the shrine, I felt an immediate chill gushing down my spine. It may be just pyschological effects, but i ever read tat the shrine ruins was infested by countless of spirits from WWII - souls of POWs who were tortured and died during construction of the shrine or souls of jap soldiers who still loyally guard their holy shrine till today.
After exploring the shrine for less than an hr, we proceeded on to search for the spot where the bridge once stood. We figured out a cemented platform by the water edge to be the starting pt of the bridge. We then decided to leave the place and return to the civilian world. We tried to take a short cut to the gold link, but in vain. We were only separated from the opposite bank by less than 10metres, while most other places were covered by swamps. We have no choice, but to bash back into the forests to hit the Sime Track.
There was no obvious or easily visible path for us to take this time. We did see some plastic bags tied onto the trees as markings done by previous explorers, but they kinda 'disappeared' halfway, and we have to 'open up' our own new path. Fortunately with the help of a map and compass, we tried our best to hit the desired direction. We crossed a few streams, stepped on muddy paths and even back-tracked a few times. Just as we were delighted to find our path back, our happiness was shortlived as we soon found ourselves hitting a dead end, comprising of a huge and tall pile of branches, leaves and fallen trunks ahead of us. Our path has been blocked! Damm...
My fren (who was a scout by vocation in the army) figured out that the dead falls must be a recent one, judging from the colour of the leaves which were still green and fresh. The falling of the huge tree must have triggered a 'chain collision', causing the surrounding trees to fall as well. I tried my luck by making a detour by the left of the fall, but got myself stuck in branches, scratched by sharp torns and twigs. My fren tried to open a path on the right, and phew, we succeeded!!! But v soon, we hit another pile of fallen trunks :( and we repeated the process.
After a struggle of abt 2hrs, we finally made our way out of the jungle trail. I ve read from online tat ppl took as long as 4-5hrs, so we were considered v lucky. All 3 of us were reminded of our army no.4 (the green army uniform), which was made of very tough yet comfortable material. If only we were in our no.4 and army boots, the bashing wud be many times easier. We would also be more daring and bold to bash through the woods, without fear of getting our limbs scratched (just like what i am having now).
Last evening, I SMSed my colleague to thank him for fufilling my wish. I hav always wanted to visit the shrine ruin, ever since i learnt abt it from the documentary shown on tv 10 yrs ago. I dun wish to sound like an adventurer (its jus a singapore rainforest anyway!), but its definitely an experience for me - bashing in t-shirt, bermudas and running shoes. Some have suggested tat i visit more challenging jungles overseas, but i m not exactly interested. I guess the appeal comes from the fact a lost shrine, untouched for 60 years, buried deep in the tropical rainforest, actually exists in the heart of the concrete jungle called Singapore.
Disclaimer: The maps i used above were modified from an original source which i retreived from online. If i have infringed your copyrights, pls notify me so that i will remove them.
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