Location: Pulau Ubin

On 22 June 03, my friend CS and I set off for Pulau Ubin with great zeal. The ferry boat ride took about 10 minutes, and I enjoyed standing in the open to feel the breeze and wave. I spoke to one of the passengers, an Indonesian gentleman, who told me he just had a baby girl. By tradition, they would either bury the placenta or dispose it in the sea. I was glad to share his experience for the latter, watching him dump a little urn into the waves. What an interesting start for a great day of adventure...

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A map of adventure land --- Pulau Ubin

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bum boats at the changi jetty---makes me want to be a sailor...again go faster! it's exhilarating to ride the waves! you feel the vastness of the world with just the sky and sea in view... approaching ubin...

Once we reached the island, we rented a bike ($8) each and sped off in the general direction of Chek Jawa, on the east side of the island. The bikes were excellent, with front-back suspension and durable frame. CS was a good guide for most of the trip, as he visits Ubin quite often.

chek jawa??? fisherman

Chek Jawa, supposedly brimming with marine life, appeared as a simple marsh to me. We rode on.

Doing a loop and charging on, I kept a look out for familiar landmarks that would lead us to the magnificent "7 storey high summit". Passing the famous "why you so like that" drink stall, my anxiety rose as I knew we were near... then I stopped CS. The summit! I could feel it in my bones!

1st level quarry, an initial victory hahaha, I am the master of this land! The tranquil view is worth all the travelling, cycling, sweating, bashing through bushes...

We trekked through a small path and saw the quarry in full view [level 1](above). Yes! A simple search found us a path further up to a higher point [level 2](below).

this way to a 4 second plunge... the second level, 2 to go...

When I thought the next point would be the summit [level 3], I was glad to be wrong. There was yet another steeper path leading further up [level 4]. Yippie!!! In all there are 4 levels of flat ground. They probably all look the same to you. That's understandable, for if mere photos could replace the experience, our trip would be futile.

it's thrilling to peer over the cliff and admire the jagged rocks the earphone on CS is part of his body if i lift my head high, the wind might blow me over and send me to my death...just exaggerating we noted it took about 4-5 sec for a stone to reach the pool. I guessed that's like 40-50 metres high? although the other side seemed very far from here, we later realised the ride was very short! blue like a gem, you have to be there to appreciate the sight...

One should be contented. We descended and rode out with contentment. At the exit, a girl asked us whether that was the way to the quarry. I was very reluctant to disclose the truth, for that was supposed to be off-limit and I must admit there was danger involved...but we said yes 'cos we were honest folks and went our way with CS warning her:"Very far..." (not really though).

Opposite the chalet, there was another broken part of the fence (people were patient enough to fence up entire quarries) where one could reach the pool (see below). Apparently someone had fun with a blue raft.

a little raft, the only floating man-made structure in the quarry pool... the pool beckons us for a dip CS is either a peace-lover or an aspiring tailor/barber/edward-scissorshand

We charged on in under the sun for the northern coast. Passing by a Thai temple we saw an interesting bridge to a wobbly jetty. Of course we had to climb it.

maybe the next time we visit, this jetty would be dismantled the structure is shaky and we were risking our lives doing this for our viewers... i let CS go up first so that I'd know it'll be safe for me to go next... welcome to my kelong!!!

I remembered the last time I was here, the jetty was still in use by anglers. I reckoned it would be the last time I see this structure on Ubin. Goodbye wobbly bridge.

If I sneeze, the bridge will collapse under my feet... time to go! my hands are stiff 'cos i'm focusing on keeping my weight down... we're on the road again...

We rode on along the coast and entered the quarry through another loop hole. This was the spot where swimmers like CS can swim with the thrill of getting their legs entangled by underwater plants. But there was a group of 6 chinese tourists who joined us, so we were shy to swim in case they'd follow our recklessness. Truly, one could see the water was dangerously deep, yet clear and magically blue.

to my right is the photographer on dry land, to my left is a cool plunge into unknown depth, and loch ness monster. law-abiding citizens like us would never swim in the quarry pool... the temple has friendly monks, nice cross-breed dogs, cool drinks and much-needed shade...

Fighting the urge to swim, we left quickly to cool off at the Thai temple. The Thai monks looked fierce but they returned a smile very readily. It was hot so drinking 100-plus in the temple with nice dogs to pat was a real treat. Our long rest brought us to our senses and we realised we had covered most of the famous sights in Ubin before 3pm. We rode on to explore OBS land, a long long ride that's almost lonely except for the boars which CS sighted (even with his shades on?!). After two dead ends on two different paths, we gave up on OBS.

no entry through OBS gate 1 no entry to OBS gate 2... they must be hiding WMD inside.

We stopped at the chalet on our way back. It was a nice place with great facilities. There, the sales-rep Mr Stomper (that's his real name!), for some reason we will never know, gave us an incredibly long lecture on the athletics history of Singapore. We listened patiently at first. But soon, we were dying of heat and boredom, yet we could not find any gap between his sentences for a polite break away! It was not until an interested customer appeared for some time that Mr Stomper reluctantly tore his attention away from us. We made good our escape. With due respect, Mr Stomper is a nice friendly man whom I would avoid on a sunny expedition.

a clean view of the dirty beach. I felt guilty when tourists were there with me. farewell shot with our trusty steeds... we survived Mr Stomper!!! A last look at Ubin before going back on another wet and wild bumboat ride!

We went back to town and had coconuts. Then it was a short ride through a run down spice garden and a heavily-littered beach (above), before we called it a day. All in all, it was an excellent trip!

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