The Mystery of Jungle Cars at Bukit Brown Cemetery

Bukit Brown is a wonderful 1940s and earlier wildly junglefied cemetery with elaborate overgrown graves, and is one of our favourite hiking spots. So we were surprised to learn that there are decaying cars off-piste in this jungle! As you can see, they're in excellent condition!

Now when I say off-piste, I mean it took us two tries to find them up and down hills, through vines, and nowhere near roads. It's lots of mysterious, so we've done some sleuthing!This first beauty is an early-mid 70s Peugeot 504, as determined by the lights, bumper, and dashboard.

Here is a similar car in happier times.

We didn't expect to find much inside.

However there were (standard, undated) bowling pins in the trunk, so that adds a touch more mystery. 

The second car is trying to blend in, but it has aftermarket red racing stripes, which may be a clue.

A bit harder to get good dashboard pictures.

This logo sent Barry down an erroneous Plymouth rathole.

But luckily we found the real logo

This car is a Toyopet (Toyota) Corona Mark II Sedan, ~72-76, probably the 2000GL. Barry even found the brochure.

Front match.

So it's called a Corona, it's from the 70s, it has a logo that looks like a virus, and it was abandoned in a graveyard with graves from the 40s, where there haven't been roads since the 70s. Some creepy.

Here is the butt match. The Corona became the Cressida in North America and the Crown, which is still used as taxis, in SE Asia. Corona, Corolla, and Camry, are all descendants of the word Crown.

To our further surprise, there were actually 4 graveyard jungle cars, including another Corona Mark II,  the station wagon ~1971.

This one offered an easier mystery, but was worse for wear.

We have no idea what 4 cars were doing in a cemetery which has been closed for graves since the 40s, and where roads ceased to exist in the 70s. Were they junked then, or later? Were they an offering for the ancestors, or some kind of accident? This, we couldn't solve.

The dashboard confirmed this is a ~1971 Toyopet Corona Mark II wagon!

The fourth and final car was a lovely mint green.

There wasn't much left, but the dash was distinct enough that Barry could narrow this down to conclude it's a Fiat, probably 600, circa 1963!

Look how pretty! A very fine car to abandon amongst the graves.

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Catography and other Poor Animal Pics

Both cats that we rescued nearly a year ago are still thriving in their new homes. Above is Harvey, whose fur is so much thicker now that you can see his tabby stripes.

Did you say fur? Moose's fur is 7cm long now! Since we got to cat-sit both of them lately, I tried my hand at catography.

??

It's not an easy skill, because most of the time they're doing silly things like this. Moose likes a touch of houseplant, and Harvey prefers mug water.

Cats love boxes, and humans think that's cute, so there's a win.

It's hard to get them to look at you, but when they do, you can get this kind of masterpiece!

Although looking up is also cute.

Most pictures show cattitude. Especially if adornment is involved.

I also poorly photographed some unexpected wildlife. This is the White-throated Kingfisher, which we hadn't seen before.

And another uncommon one, the White-headed Munia, which is only 11cm tall!

We've seen the changeable lizard before, but I hadn't noticed her toe extension!

Finally, this is the first snake I've actually seen in Singapore - a Green Tree Snake. I was keeping my distance, since most snakes here are venomous, but this little lady was friendly.

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