Pulau Ubin is an offshore island, located in the northeast of mainland Singapore. Pulau is the Malay word for "island", and Pulau Ubin translates to "Granite Island" in English. It is the second largest offshore island, and the last "kampung" (village) in Singapore. It gives a laid-back and rustic feeling, and hence it is a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life. Last Friday, my friends and I decided to explore the whole island on bicycles.
We arrived on Ubin by bumboats at around 10 am. It was a short 5/10 mins ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal. As we were not feeling that adventurous, we rented bicycles at the Town centre, instead of exploring the island on foot. There are small restaurants selling seafood, many bicycle rental shops and some provision shops at the Town centre. Since my friends and I all brought lunch, we decided to make our way to the first stop: Chek Jawa.
Small wooden house (?) by the sea.
Taken with iPhone 5, edited on VSCO Cam.
Cycling through the lush tropical rainforest
Taken with iPhone 5, edited on VSCO Cam.
Snake-something weed. I forgot its name oops.
Canon 650D, 50mm f1.8, no edit.
Chek Jawa is a wetland where 6 different ecosystems can be found. However, we went at the wrong time. The tide was too high for us to see the sea creatures on the sandy ground. And oh I should say that the route to Chek Jawa was sooooo tough. It was full of rocky paths and upslopes. I could say that I spent at least half of the time pushing the bike hehe /inserts sheepish expression. At Chek Jawa Visitor Information Kiosk, we were greeted by some unusual "hosts".
Wild boar! I was so excited to see it because I have never seen one in real life!
She's coming out!!! I shall assume that it's a she :)
There's a whole family of them!!
Photos above are taken with Canon 650D and 50mm f1.8, no edit.
There are two trails at Chek Jawa, mangrove boardwalk and coastal boardwalk. There is a viewing tower at the mangrove boardwalk, and the view from the top was quite cool. We continued our journey to coastal boardwalk. The boardwalk was built along the coastline of Chek Jawa. It was nearing noon and the sun was blazing. The lighting was really harsh hence the badly taken photos :( We had lunch sitting under a shelter by the boardwalk, with the view of the sea and the sound of the waves crashing in. And not forgetting the gentle breeze blowing at us. Although the lunch might be simple, but it was definitely fun.
The special roots of the mangrove trees, adapted to the surrounding mud.
Can you spot the crabs? Some of them are quite well-hidden but their brightly coloured pincers gave it away!
Photos above are taken with Canon 650D and 50mm f1.8.
The coastal boardwalk.
Taken with iPhone 5.
A house built in the 1930s by the seaside was converted to the Visitor Centre. And it also has a private jetty (no longer in use) connected to it! Imagine living it that house!
When we left Chek Jawa, we saw the family of wild boars again! The younger boars were sleeping I think, and the adult boars were gently touching them with their snouts. It's a pity that I didn't see any baby wild boars, as the Internet says the baby wild boars have stripes on their back and they look like Bambi the deer!
We saw many abandoned quarries while cycling. Granite quarrying was carried out frequently in the 1960s, however the use of these quarries have been discontinued now. Due to the minerals and probably the ions, the "quarry lakes" are blue-ish green. It's potentially a good photo shoot location, if the weather was more cooling D:
Panorama shot!
We cycled around for a while more, before coming to sigh that said "No entry except authorised vehicles". (I suppose we had reached Outward Bounds Singapore, which we can't go in. I remembered the path which we cycled on was the exact same path that I trekked on with a super heavy camping bag back in May this year hehe.) We decided to head back to the Town centre, then to the Sensory Trail.
On the Sensory Trail, there were many many plants with different scents, interesting uses and some of the plants that are found in dishes. My favourite plant in the small garden is still citronella, which is found in most mosquito repellent. I just think that the smell is really interesting! Its appearance is also similar to that of lemon grass.
Bokehhhh.
Fishy Plant!
Sometimes I just really love the sky before the storm...
Bumboats!
The view of the sea from the bumboat :)
So after spending around 8 hours on the island, we finally went back to mainland Singapore. Although it was hot and humid that day, and I got a couple of mosquito bites on my ankles and my hands (the only parts that weren't covered!!! Ubin mosquitoes are so vicious), it was really fun to cycle in the light drizzle! And it feels good to be away from the city life, even though it was for less than a day. As quoted from my friend, "C'était un jour inoubliable."
- Elsa
P.S. I'll try to update this blog more often! And I'm not sure is there's any error in this. I'm too lazy to check through :P
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