the island is only accessible via a short ferry ride from changi ferry point. not far from this disembarkation spot is the changi village hawker center. jasmine and i agreed to meet here for breakfast and she introduced me to wing kee chicken chop hor fun. i'm not a big fan of hor fun as i find the slimy gravy to be a bit weird. the thought of eating hor fun for breakfast seems even more so. however, if there's anything i've learned in life, that is i should never argue with jasmine when it comes to food. and damn, was that so right. that hor fun was legit!
i was so sure i took a photo of that meal, because it was so great, but i can't seem to find it. so here's what it looks like (photo credit as per watermark).
the gravy was actually thick, and the noodles were hidden underneath that stack of chicken chop. mix well, drown in green chili and vinegar (my personal preference to dial down the heavy sauce) and voila - you get breakfast of champions. for today, at least.
after that noodlegasm we headed for boarding. a ferry ride is $3, and no tickets were required - we had to pay to the uncle when we hop on. no tickets and no receipts? this is so not like singapore, you guys! the old boat can hold 2 crews and 12 passengers. it was a busy weekend, so it was no problem getting 12 souls onboard. we left in no time.
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| captain ah gong |
once we arrived we walked past a bunch of bicycle rental shops and cold drink stalls. there were a few seafood restaurants as well, which were probably tourist-priced. it was scorching hot that morning, no wonder some people were waiting for a taxi service. the taxis in this island are all big vans that can transport a whole clan.
the first pleasant thing we encountered as we started walking was an area with lots of butterflies. well, guess what, it's called butterfly hill :D
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| spot the butterfly! |
our first destination was puaka hill. the way up was just a short, steep hike. under 10 minutes and we've reached the peak. it provides a nice platform to see the quarry.
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| view of pekan quarry from the peak |
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| self-imposed |
i tried to investigate a giant rock opposite this view, and jasmine promptly called out my name in high pitch. i didn't understand at first what's wrong, but if someone calls you out that way, you already know there's trouble. thanks to my excellent reflexes i quickly ran away from the rock. apparently there was a gang of 'fizzy insects' flying around. we don't know whether those were sand flies and if they were harmful, but i definitely didn't wanna find out! this is probably the reason why a few guys we encountered went insect-spray crazy! a few times while we walked we passed by small groups of guys and every time, whiffs of citronella filled the air. i wouldn't be surprised if they used that as a deodorant.
when we were on our way to this nugget hill, we passed by the popular ah ma drinks stall but ah ma (grandma) was not there. we ran into her when we just started walking, moving about in her scooter (motorcycle, not the skateboard with handles that millennials are crazy about). when we left puaka hill and were on our way to chek jawa wetlands, she was finally there. we wanted to contribute to her monthly income, so i got myself coca cola (my unhealthy beverage of choice when i'm parched during walks) and jasmine bought some jambu. (again, no photos. i should really be more vigilant in taking food photos, for the sake of this blog). ah ma said she got those from her backyard. consequently we learned that jambu is also called malay apple, whose flowers are hot pink and very beautiful, especially when they are scattered and gathered under the tree as they fall off. we decided to call this our local sakura experience.
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| courtesy of dnull.com |
we encountered some other interesting plants and wildlife too. this flower looks like a furry christmas decor. google images failed again, but i found out what it is via nparks flora and fauna web. i searched for 'red flower' and it was the first result. good job, nparks folks!
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| acalypha hispida AKA cat's tail |
there was an area called ubin fruit orchard. we saw a few young trees like rambutan, longan and lychee but they were not fruit-bearing yet. the only trees bearing fruits were the jackfruit and bananas. so here's a banana tree with a bunch of tiny bananas and a heart. it's funny that i grew up seeing such things on a daily basis, and didn't really pay mind to it, but after living in the city state for so long, occasional encounters like these are suddenly photograph-worthy. hmm.
we also came across a millipede made of pans. it's making its way up the roof!
and last but not the least, the family of wild boars that were too friendly! they were obviously used to interacting with humans, they didn't seem to care about people taking photographs. they weren't even scared of the motorcycles and vans zipping through.
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| boar-ing! |
as we reached chek jawa wetlands the signs toward the boardwalk showed two routes available - the coastal loop and the mangrove loop. we took the coastal loop first. but first, an artsy-fartsy photograph courtesy of jasmine.
at this point it was around noon, and the sun was livid! it was also high tide this time of the year, so we missed out on the interesting sandbar where sea creatures could be spotted. seems early december is a good time to visit for that.
the mangrove loop was less intense, as the trees were quite tall and provided some shelter. the occasional breeze was more than welcomed.
we came across jejawi tower which is a seven-story tower with spiral staircase for viewing the forest canopy and pretty birds. i really wanted to see a hornbill but we didn't get lucky that day. as pulau ubin is quite close to changi airport, we saw metal birds instead.
there is a visitor centre (also known as house no. 1) which is like a small museum showcasing the sea creatures and animals found in the area.
we walked the area for a total of 4 hours. there were definitely more to see in the island, like ketam quarry and jalan nordin and mamam. i think that if you're interested to see everything, you should start early in the morning and plan to stay until late afternoon. by the time we finished it was past 1 and it was simply too hot for alfresco dining for lunch, so we headed back to changi village immediately.
verdict: definitely a must-see in singapore. although the topography is not that much different from the other nature reserves in the mainland, i think the ride on those old school sampan boats to get there gave an extra charm to this island.
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