Pulau Ubin!!!!

This planned trip was supposed to involve more people other than 3 of us but we didnt know who would be interested and what. Reckonded that majority of our YFers are not too keen on walks, decided to call those who responded to my email about the Walk on 7 mar instead. Who were they?


Joseph (something on & couldnt make it)
Hannah (same reason as her bro)
Vern (didnt think he could survive)
Timothy (we knew he had school thingy & so didnt ask him)

Abel
Shing
Hwee
myself

In the end, only the last 4 confirmed going and meeting time was set at 6.30am yesterday at Clementi MRT.

5am

woke up after having about 3 hours of sleep. Send out pre-typed smses to them as a wake up call. Only Shing responded to me immediately which was rather extraordinary!!! Poor boy, he didnt sleep at all coz Jamesy & Lem were at his place cooking apple crumble the whole long night (and they are still there and sleeping). And so, he responded with a cheeky reply saying my sms produced so tiny a sound that would not have woken him up if he was sleeping. Alright....i got the point :) I needed to prepare and so asked him to call Hwee to call Abel. Received sms that Hwee didnt pick up all his calls. Oh boy.... fast alseep? Hmmm...gave him Hwee's home no to try (no choice) and he did. What was Ah hwee doing? Bathing!!! LOL!

6.10am

was walking to the bus stop to catch my feeder bus and received Hwee's sms about Abel not coming after all. WHY? Hmmm, will find out when we meet. Anyhow, looked like it was down to 3 musketeers as before :o)

6.35am

Met Shing & Hwee & took the long train ride. Seemed like Abel was so excited about this outing that he couldnt fall asleep till 3am, resulting in oversleeping.....haahahahaha..... What an irony coz he missed the very thing he so longed for.... nevermind Abel, next time k?

Abel sms me to apologise and Shing decided to reply him, signing off with a chin greeting. Good thing Abel was smart enough to pick up it wasnt me :)

7.45am or so

Reached Tampines MRT. Was feeling very hungry already but we yearned so much to eat at Changi Village hawker centre and so we "tahan" our stomachs. I had already popped a gastric pill while on my feeder bus ride to Clementi. At the bus interchange, Hwee did an impromptu thingy.....he wanted to rest his foot on the metal railing and so he put the right foot down onto it... only to hear a loud banging sound as the railing (also a small gate to open) pushed backwards so so strongly by his force that it hit another railing. The interchange was already crowded and rather noisy but everything stood still & came to a halt when this happened... as in those around us. Super Super embarassing!!! And 3 of us were shocked....Shing & myself didnt know why Hwee did it and hwee didnt know it would turn out this way. Thot i saw him kicking it and so i asked why.....of which he replied that he wasnt even kicking, just placing his foot. Hmmm... blame the gate for its malfunction lock!!!

8.30am

Bus 29 finally reached Changi Village. There we devoured chinese breakfast.... bee hoon with ngor hiang, otah, beancurd, etc. Each had a plate and a drink. Thereafter we walked to a nearby coffeeshop to purchase 2 big pao for our lunch. Shing didnt want coz he would like to reserve his stomach space for his buffet dinner at Crystal Jade.

Went to the Changi Ferry Terminal and there were about 5 people waiting for the bumboat (private operators). It was to cost $2.50 per person per trip. And it would only move when there are 12 passengers. We waited for about 3mins (not too long) before few others came in and we set off.

10min ride was all it took and looking at the pitiful state of Singapore sea waters....really puts off any mood to swim or whatsoever. Haha... perhaps this is why people only go for fishing trip instead!

8.45am

Spotted an octupus at the ubin jetty (low tide). It was hwee who discovered it. But by the time i took out my camera to click it for permanent memory, it was nowhere to be seen.... sigh.... Instead i had 2 willing "posers"

Then we spotted some hermit crabs (i think) ....

9.30am onwards

We began our walk, after obtaining a tourist info cum map from the INFO KIOSK. Visited the toilet before we set off. Headed east as Chek Jawa is located there and so we took the sensory trail.

Spotted a HUGE spider on its web and most probably sleeping......

Lovely place to be a small girl once more....

....but i didnt go in as my objective was to go to Chek Jawa and somehow conquer Ubin in one day on foot.

More crazy shots about Shing and his favourite colour

Then hwee discovered a horseshoe crab on the ground, kind of being buried a little by the sand. I was amazed he knew the name coz i have zero knowledge of the names of creatures (certain ones) and for most plants... hahaha.... Here is a pic i gotten from internet of how it would look like... almost like a sting ray right?

And so we didnt know if the one we saw was alive or dead. We needed to find out coz it would be interesting to watch a live one move! I steady and ready myself with my camera and set to video mode. And this was what happened....

I screamed because i thot it would hurt the poor crab. So So So cruel of Shing to drop a stone onto it. Why didnt he use a stick to poke a little? Then he told me very gently and patiently that the shell was 10-20 times thicker than our own skin and so clearly the little stone wouldnt hurt it at all. Sigh... yah, but still, dropping a stone onto it was not what i wanted to do :( FYI, this scream here was way louder than the one i faced with the pest at home!!!

Then we spotted COOKIE MONSTER!!!! He looked great from far but erh....rather ugly when we went near it. Made of foam and the weather did no good but harm to it. But still, we decided to take a shot. As no one was around to help us, Shing's long arm came in handy!!

Soon we reached a hut and thot of taking a little rest, as in drink water and stuff. But we couldnt stay longer than 1 min coz it was super infested with mosquitoes. In fact, these pests were so rampant in Ubin that Shing & Hwee got bitten despite their earlier protests. While in the bumboat or perhaps bus 29 ride, they proclaimed to have skin thicker than anyone could imagine and the mozzies would not be able to penetrate through. LOLS!!! They did alright and Hwee's left arm was full of bites. So were Shing's arms & legs. My back shoulder had one, perhaps i didnt apply the repellent uniformly. I love repellent!!! Even with all the bites, they insisted not to apply anything to prevent more bites.... ok... suit me fine... i saved all, every drop of it for my own consumption....heez!

Reached Chek Jawa (the ecosystem in Ubin) and drizzle started. Decided not to hide under the INFO KIOSK over there but at the watch tower. Found it and a whopping 21m high!!! I erh, with all the experience in thrill rides, eg space shots in Genting, theme parks in Korea & Japan, failed to climb to the uppermost deck. About 2/3 up, i began to feel quizzy and frightened. Why? I began to wonder. It couldnt be happening. The reasons i could think of were 2:

a) hungry or lack of something inside....hahaa
b) there were gaps in between each step and so one literally come face to face with the surrounding place and that kind of made me feel i wasnt protected and about to fall.


Whatever the reason, it hindered me from conquering. I told them to go ahead with me but Shing didnt give up. He persuaded me to move up 3 flights and i stopped before the last 2 that leads to the circular deck. There were kids, little kids and family climbing and the mother or grandmother called out to the kids not to be afraid. Guess they were not coz they happily walked past me and got on to the top!!! Hurray for them and boo boo for me :o(

Felt a little hungry and decided to take out the Tow Kae Noi (tempura seeweed) packet to eat as snack. Laid out Shing's army mat at the staircase landing and soon, we were enjoying the beautiful scenery. At first we sat at the wrong facing, looking into the leaves of trees. Then we turned around to face the sea! Haha.... so stupid of us.

Took out my trusty hp and opened the pdf file that i downloaded in the morning. It was the YF songbook, the revised one! Bluetoothed to shing and we started singing some songs. It began to pour... really really pour.... lightning with thunder too. Hmmm.... hwee's check with weather forecast the night before was that rain would start at 2pm. It was barely 12noon now. Oh boy, we just sat there and talked and i was thinking it was really a perfect weather to take a short nap. But I was afraid Shing & Hwee would sleep on and hard to wake them up later. Anyhow, they didnt want to sleep either and so we discarded the thought. The rain didnt look like it would be stopping anytime soon and since our objective was to conquer Ubin, we don the raincoat and set off. I grabbed 3 colours the night before from my drawer. Happened that both Shing & I were able to put on our favourite colours but not hwee...i didnt have a purple one for him :()

Aha.. little red riding hood!

The rain never really stopped. Even if it did, it was a mere 2-3mins period and the downpour began soon after. Decided to get out of Chek Jawa and go to the western end, the most beautiful quarry out of all the quarries located in Ubin. Its name???? Ketam Quarry.

While on the way back to jetty (needed to go back that area to move on to the western side), met a caucasian couple taking a pic of a banana tree. It was raining and i asked Shing to help them take a photo together (coz i thot this would be what they desired... just like us who had no one to help us). Shing asked the man

"Can i help you take a photo together?" (something to that effect)

No reaction from them... for about 5 secs. We heard the man spoke something to the lady (probably french...guess Carol would have understood and sharon too). I nudged at Shing and said they probably didnt hear us nor understood and let us move on. As we turned to go, the man said

"Yes, please take a photo for us"

Hmmm....he was asking her and waiting for her reply before he said Yes or No to us...haha... They looked so sweet together... not very elderly but about 60 odd in age.

As we moved on, Shing told me and he "sweared" by it that mozzies dont come out in the rain. Logic? The size of a rain drop would knock down the mozzie! Haha....yah...and so feeling hungry, we stopped for lunch break at a hut. Mozzies were everywhere!!! What mozzies not come out in rain..... guess they knew how to take shelter too!!!!! Hwee & I swallowed the PAO at our fastest possible time and we moved on. Got bitten a few on my feet and leg and i put on more lotion. Sigh.. the rain water has washed all the repellent away.....argh... We kept our raincoats regardless of the type of downpour, coz it turned out to be a real good defender against mozzies.... covering part of my legs, tho i must say it was extremely short for Shing....heehee

Passed the ubin town and visited the toilet. It was pouring cats and dogs. A lot of cyclists were on their bikes without a raincoat. They were totally drenched but extremely happy and delighted. You dont really get to be that wet in mainland Singapore :) Also passed the Ubin Chalets which looked totally deserted coz no stayers. Still remembered long time ago our family checked in together with Henry Tang's family and it was a bustling place then.


We noticed a sign along the way ....

Wondering what it was, we wanted to visit it to read the story. Here is the shrine

There was a chinese sign posted at the shrine telling visitors to

"Keep the place clean and dry. Remove footwear before entering"

We were soaking wet and so no go. Spotted newspapers cuttings pasted on the wall and that must be the story. Haiyo.... nevermind, internet would have and so i cut and paste here:

This Taoist shrine on Pulau Ubin is dedicated to a German girl who died during the First World War while fleeing the British troops pursuing her family. Her father was apparently the administrator of a coffee plantation on the island. Villagers found and buried her body, and whoever passed the grave offered the deceased his or her sympathy. In time, the dead girl was honored as a deity and the island dwellers built a small temple at her burial plot.

How superstitious can people be?????!!!!!????? Honoured as deity?????? Hmmm......


2pm
We almost reached the Ketam Quarry. There was another map sign put up and we studied it. It was the map of the whole quarry.... actually the biker's map but it was good enough for us coz we would be walking on it. Thinking that we were at an entrance E, decided to walk round the nearest and shortest route to view the quarry.

Soon, we came to another map (which was exactly the same as the first) and a sign that gave direction to some other area within this quarry. Looking at the name on the sign post, it was not an area we anticipated and so we thot we had guessed wrongly the spot we were on earlier. Not entrance E but where else? The map didnt have all the details. It was really a lousy lousy map. Wondered who drew it... National Parks? SIGH.....we didnt know which route to take and so 3 of us each took a path and explored for about 50-100m. It was an open land, we could see each other and so it was safe. I took the one that led to a hut and i needed to check the name of this hut coz it would tell me where i was from the map. And so i was right. The map was totally helpless and lots of info missing plus being inaccurate. It didnt even have words like "YOU ARE HERE"!!!!! So vital yet the Nparks people forgot to put that in. We spotted some cyclists were lost too coz they came from where we walked. But we soon lost sight of them coz they were more mobile than us and would have found their way out.

It was close to 3pm and feeling rather lost and no mood to walk further to explore, we wanted to walk back so we could get on the ferry before 5pm. Perhaps if we had rented a bike, could have gone deeper in. Nah.... i tell myself i will come back again and this is for sure. I want to conquer even the forested area... paths not plotted on the map. It would be exciting. But one thing scare me tho.... WILDBOAR.

Shing & hwee told me there are wildboars roaming around in Ubin but they didnt get to see the creatures when they came for OBS years back. Throughtout our walk, this particular specie was the focus of our conversation. How they so wished for creature to appear get a close up look. I dont like the idea coz i remember watching a movie where the wildboar was really huge and ate people up. I didnt read about Ubin's wildboars before i came and so i listened to them. Told them they could go to the zoo and they said real life close up are different from those in zoos and behind enclosure. Really? How different? More scary i think... coz WILD!!!

Our conversation soon went on to "how to deal with the creature" if it charges at you. This one lacks no inspiration nor imagination. Shing & hwee said they would run away and get me to run too. Told them i probably couldnt run as fast, be left behind and eaten up first. And so it became quite clear that the whole scenario would end with me sacrificing myself so 2 of them could escape. LOLZ! I aint gonna do that! Our imagination went wild and i said the usual scene in movies will be the victim falling down during the "pursue" and the creature charges forward. What to do next??? i uttered

"give a kung fu kick"

"punch the head"

"fix eyes on the creature and wait for the moment to strike when it comes near"

Not bad huh? All the kungfu moves & images floated in my mind and it was really funny as we imagined ourselves in that situation. Then Vern's name came in. Couldnt remember why hwee suddenly ask me

"aa, can you carry Vern?"

"huh? me? you must be kidding"

"i can and so can Shing. And you also can coz you are wonder woman!"

"WHAT??? Ok, i cant carry him and see... i am not wonder woman!"

"what if you can carry Vern and the creature charge at you?"

"i will throw Vern onto the wildboar and kill it!"........OH MAN.... this one came straight out fast and whoa.... i so evil one??? hahaha..... It was really funny. I added further while they laughed out loud

"Vern's weight will crush the boar. The boar's body will shield Vern from the fall injury and so Vern is kind of like my weapon to kill the boar. In fact, Vern can use some kungfu moves too when he land!" (Sorry Vern, if you are reading this, i didnt mean to use you as a joke :o))


Oh boy, it was a silly conversation alright but it sure didnt take away my fear of sighting one. While walking back, hwee heard a sound. Then he told Shing about it. Shing heard it. BUT I DIDNT!! Was it fear that prevented me from hearing or facing up to the fact? I dont know. They even kept very quiet and asked me to hear. I couldnt at the first time but heard it the second time. Straightway i said it was a bird. But 2 of them said NO WAY! it was low and so erh... maybe wildboar. We walked on and i was on the left side while hwee in the middle and shing the other side. I didnt hear a thing until i thot there was something approaching me on the left.

I SCREAMED AND GRABBED HWEE's ARM TIGHT!

Hwee turned to look and he was a little taken back....by my scream and the fast moving thing. HAHAHA... it was a SILENT speed crazy cyclist. i honestly thot it was a wildboar that grazed by... after all, Hwee said wildboards run very fast. Oh man.....i was behaving really silly but who cares....screaming releases your fear and gives you energy. Hahaa......

We had a good laugh and sang some songs. I was pleasantly surprised Hwee remembered the lyrics tho he didnt want to sing coz he doesnt like to sing. Only Shing & I sang, erh... some songs to his own rhythm.


3.45pm
reached ubin town. Visited toilet. Washed legs and hands. Ordered the icy cold COCONUT juice!!! Yeah!! It's cost? Same price as our bumboat ticket each!!! WHOA! nevermind, beggars cant be choosers and it tasted AWESOME! I had a cut on my last left toe due to the teva sandals that i hardly wear. Tried to put on plasters, only to drop them while walking to the bumboat.


4.20pm
waited at the jetty for our turn. There were few groups of people. One group went off as we stepped in, leaving 2 groups of 7 people each. One was the aunties and uncles and the other group of young adults (who arrived first). The bumboat operator said take the young adults group plus us, still short of 2 persons. Shing was rather quick here. He spotted a group of 3 boys walking towards the jetty and so he asked if uncle could take 13 people. No objection and so Shing needed to ask 3 boys if they mind coming along to squeeze.

The group of aunties asked if the bumboat operator could take them first coz they were more senior. Operator posed a question to the young adults group and oh my, these people were clearly not happy to go later or wait for next bumboat. They could just say NO and then get on the bumboat. They didnt but looked at one another for someone to answer the operator. The latter couldnt wait for response and he went ahead to get the aunties group up, us and the 3 boys. Here is out last pic taken... by one of the 3 boys :)

And so, we left Ubin behind and headed home. Decided to take bus 67 from Tampines interchange instead of MRT coz a bus ride could sleep better and be seated more comfortably than in MRT. And what a ride indeed.... for Shing, it was rocking to and fro and bonding time with hwee....as he squeezed and pinned hwee to the window. Poor hwee, had to fall asleep with shing's pressing onto him. ME? I was appreciating the scenery coz i hardly travel from the east to the west in this manner. Guess what i spotted along the way?

Shing's favourite character!!!!! And a restaurant to her name! Hwee woke up at that instance and i tapped his shoulder to look out. We both laughed. I didnt have time to take a pic and so have to settle for internet pic :o) Shing would have screamed for joy if he was awake then!

What a day!!! I loved it tho we had to walk in the rain. Wanted to take out raincoat to get wet but decided against because i was feeling cold. Perhaps years earlier, i would have been able to do so.

Looking forward to next walk....this Friday... actually more like a recce trip for the team building activitiy in June. Location? Secret for now and will be revealed in due time.

Thank God for fellow brethren who accompanied me in this walk..,. should i say we accompanied each other :) Haha....Ubin.....you will be seeing me again....God willing.

Angela, if you are reading this, when can you and BK go for a walk? Not Ubin but somewhere else...haha.....