Pulau Ubin - An Island Escapade / 3D Coffee

It's the Golden Jubilee Weekend. Lots of places are free. I guess there will be maddening crowds everywhere. But perhaps that is part of the fun? Already, the office is starting to thin out. Some have taken the opportunity to travel over the long weekend.

One place you may want to consider without actually leaving the country is a short excursion to an island escapade. And no, I'm not talking about Sentosa Island. An inexpensive bumboat ride from Changi Point will bring one to Pulau Ubin, just a stone throw away. It's just $2.50 per person, one way. Ok, got to throw the stone very hard to get there. The only bummer was having to wait for a sizable group before the boatman would depart. It's a pretty random experience. But no regrets. we were greeted by this wonderful view upon landing at Pulau Ubin. Doesn't look like Singapore isn't it? But it is.

Kind of reminded me of Tanah Lot in Bali. Pretty tranquil and peaceful. It was a weekday when I went. So there was minimal crowd on the island.

There are some "taxi" services available at the pier and the drivers would be happy to bring you to Chek Jawa. Look for the vans.

My wife and I went trekking to the eastern side of the island. It's quite a long walk. But we were pretty happy for the exercise.

Coconut trees are in abundance, as were durian trees that were also in season. We hunted around, hoping for a lucky catch. But guess it wasn't our day.




The lotus pond was quite a sight. It's quite a common scene that can be found at some of the mainland parks these days. But this pond is BIG. I presume it's wild.







We reached Chek Jawa, and had a pleasant walk along the boardwalk. Fortunately, the weather was cloudy and wasn't too hot that day.

A couple of herons were sunbathing along the mud flats. An iguana was trying its luck for a birdy lunch. It wasn't successful though. Guess it went hungry.






Staring harder, we realised there were lots of strange looking crabs on the mud flats. They have only one big arm - tok-kong. One-arm robbers scurrying around. They are really tiny!

There seems to be only one public toilet available at this end of the island, and it's located at this house which doubles up as a museum.

The tap water is not for drinking though. So if you're looking to top up your water bottle, you're out of luck. There is a soft drink dispenser machine at the back of the house.

At this point, we struck jackpot as we came across something that we had hoped to see. Wild boar! There was a family of wild boar which came roaming around at the junction leading to this museum and the Chek Jawa mudflats.

They seemed pretty used to the presence of human. But to be on the safe side, we kept our distance.

So how about it? An overseas trip without leaving the country. Pack a meal from Changi Hawker Centre and enjoy a picnic on Pulau Ubin. Or go cycling if you prefer.

p/s: Along the row of shop houses at Changi Point, you may want to give this coffee place a go - Choc Full of Beans. It's located at the corner, near the bus interchange, facing the main road. The iced gourmet coffee comes beautified with these cute 3D foam characters. So cute, couldn't bear to drink. A good chill after a sweaty morning. Enjoy!

Happy SG50!