Once upon a Ubin...

As you might already know, I always enjoy a good day off, slacking out in the sun, away from the bustling work place, back into the arms of the good O mother nature. I took a day off the calandar.. just for the knack of it really.. Or should I say, I really needed some action out there once again.

So.. It all began on a not too bright Tuesday morning. Sky was slightly overcasted.. but nothing is gonna deter the sleepy head from waking up late and brushing her teeth while she pees. Thats "Multi-tasking" in short.

And I finally made my way down to Changi Ferry Terminal. Not too long after that, I boarded the little boat and headed for my destination... Pulau Ubin! I had a pretty annoying boat ride which I totally didn't enjoy. Though it was only a 10 mins ride, I was almost driven crazy by a bunch of chatter bugs... I almost gave up the idea of heading to the island thinking that their mindless chatter might sink the whole Kampong. They really made full use of the 10 mins to "cam-whore" and giving silly comments about Pulau Ubin. Anyway, apart from the awful boat ride, everything about my little trip were great.

And so we are, arrived at Ubin.
This is a little part of the mangrove area of little Ubin.

As you walk alittle further into the village, you will get to see the Island's Information Centre and presumably the only Post box on the whole island..

It wouldn't take a Dog's nose to smell some lovely food from a distant across the road.. In fact, its just too hard to miss it all.. There is this Malay stall smacked right at the enterance to the village. Further down the road you will actually find a few Bike stalls renting out cheap bikes for the day. Well, don't bother to argue, you get what you pay for. Anyway, a decently good bike would cost you about $10 for a whole day of ride. All you will need to provide is the money and your particulars, no need for Identity Cards as collateral.

Personally, I always get my bike from Aunty Misco, whom I always address as "Lao ban niang". Aunty Misco's shop is the first one from the jetty, so again, its really not quite possible to miss it all, and what happens is, most of the time, Aunty Misco would be the one who will always greet you with a super big wide smile when you walk pass her shop. And for folks like me who likes to bring along lots of barang barang on your trip over to Ubin, Aunty Misco will throw in an extra basket for you.. Don't you just love to have a shopping basket hooked to your bike? It's just so cool to have one there!

To begin the journey, there's a few landmarks that will catch your eye ALL THE TIME.

The old stage for those traditional Teochew Operas and..
the entrance to the Toa Bek Gong Temple.

A couple of steps down the route, you will get to see the nice entrance to a private house by the road... pls pls, don't trespass.. I don't want to be sued for putting up photos of it.

Nothing much in particular about this house, just that I thought it looks kind of nice in such a setting, hence the shot. Maybe I'll try to make friends with the owner, then I will write more about it for my next trip back there.

And for those of you who loves our TV serials like "The 8 Immortals" etc etc.. You might recall the scene whereby the characters flew over water surfaces.. most of our TV serials are filmed over at Xiao Gui Ling, but if you need a nicer and more natural background, do consider Ubin for the next drama serial.

One of the many Quarries over at Ubin. The Pekan Quarry.

Heading further West along Jalan Jelutong, you will be greeted by slightly denser vegetations and alittle surprise by the side.

A deserted blue little house which used to sell drinks. This little blue house caught my attention with its really unique signboard which reads..

"Welcoming Cold Water to Ubin"
And that is what I call the beauty of Singlish. It doesn't really have to be politically nor grammatically right as long as your people understand its real meaning.

This is also where I met the Punggol Uncle.

Punggol Uncle really isn't known as "Punggol Uncle". Just that Punggol Uncle was alittle shy when I asked how I can address him as.. to him, Singaporeans just greet every guy with little or no hair as "Uncle", and lady with wrinkles or grey hair as "Aunty". How I decided on "Punggol Uncle" is because he resides in Punggol back in our main Island. Punggol Uncle has been a Ubin-er for almost half a century. His old house is actually a dilapidated house along Jalan Jelutong, but since many years back, he decided to move to the main Island with his family. He was back today just to check out his old village and its surroundings and just to catch up with neighbours from the past.

Leaving behind Punggol Uncle to reminisce the past.. I went on and I came across a little dam.. which I almost fell into. Its not a weird thing that I always get myself into troubles like this. Due to the fact that I'm also so careless, I'm really accident prone. Sigh~~

Alright, maybe its not all my fault. Someone left the gate unlocked. And the Danger sign was obviously not brightly colored enough to catch my attention.

Just alittle distant up Jalan Endut Senin, you will come across a little signboard like this..

This place is off the normal maps you get from the information kiosk, so not many travelers would want to enter this path. This path is much rockier than your normal mud and sand track so do expect a little more bumpier ride. However if you are like me, carrying some big barang here and there, I didn't want to risk having my camera falling on the rocks, I decided to come off my bike and walk my way in.

So this is where the rocky path will lead to.. to a very very old Ubin Temple.
According to its keeper, this temple is "The Ubin Temple". But I guess I will be their old guest for the day. It seems really secluded somewhat, and yes, I didn't come across any single soul who were heading for this temple on the day of my trip. The "Exclusive-ness" of this temple has also forbidden me to take any shots within the temple itself. Guess this shot would sort of sum up the whole temple itself.

Right infront of the temple is a little lake which I later found out is a lake whereby visitors come and "Fang Sheng", which means little aqautic animals are being set free from captivity. Interesting, I was warned of not to venture further into the path as it will lead me to a private property heavily guarded by watch dogs which bite. So yup, I'm gonna keep myself safe for the time being.

As much as I would love to travel further West, the weather didn't look too promising to allow my journey. It was just within minutes, the sky became dark. Hence, I decided to make a run for the main village back at the jetty area.
Here's a shot taken while I was riding.. I love the blurred effect somewhat. Anyway, my bike broke down not too long after this.. I sort of screwed up the gears while I was changing it.

Here's a shot of a stranger whom I caught peeing in the woods. Heehee.. That should teach him a lesson NOT to pee when other strangers are around.

Here's another random shot of a banana tree along my way back. That's hell alot of Bananas.

It started drizzling when I got back to the village. When I returned the bike to Aunty Misco complaining about the broke down. She was kind enough to offer me a replacement at no cost. I didn't really want to continue my cycling journey as I wanted to hang around the village. So during my conversation with Aunty Misco, I realised they have got Kampong durians in Ubin. No Sane Durian Lovers should miss this out seriously... With recommendations from Aunty Misco, I dropped by a nearby provision shop to ask for durians.. and I'm so glad I did.

The durian was so tasty compared to the ones you get in Singapore.

The meat was so tasty that it was almost overwhelming! Can durian get any tastier than this.. That I wouldn't know. But the sure thing is.. this is really the best one can ever ask for. Kampong Durians boast a "Chemical Free" selling point. And because its free from the Chemicals, its taste is so much better and stronger than what we get in Singapore. According to Aunty Misco, eating Kampong durians will not cause sore troats etc.. the only thing about Kampong Durians.. it still make you fat because its high in Calories, just like any other durians. And that's a sad but true fact about it. Its not anything too expensive as well. It only cost $5 for a kilo.

Just like any other James Bond movie, its never complete without a babelicious female lead with Mr Bond. Similarly, how will my trip be a complete one without a handsome one in the story?

And here's my Mr Cute for the day. Zhang Zheng, the little Jr of the provision shop. In the background is his little sister. Little Zhang Zheng is really adorable. He actually didnt want to talk to me in the beginning. I only managed to break the ice when I draw out my camera and started shooting him in action. Bet you didn't know that camera is actually one of the best tools to break the ice with kids.

My day trip didn't end off after I parted with Zhang Zheng. After I got back to the main Island, I decided to travel down to Opera Estate to find some really good pies @ Big Ben's Place.

You bet I can really stomach 2 of these yummlicious thing in 1 shot.

My all time favourite would be their Beef and Cheese Pie.. and for those of you who loves the taste of mutton.. then Lamb Stew would be worth getting a go at. Best eaten while they are HOT! Anyway, if you are choosing the pies, usually they would place their TOP selling pies together on the bottom row in their display counter. They include Beef and Cheese pie, Chicken and Mushroom pie etc etc..

As night falls, its time to call off the day with a little celebration for Cynthia. So we headed for Delifrance for a simple yet nice dinner..

The Grill Combo!

And the Seafood Baked Rice..

Dinner was then followed by a really funny movie.. "The House Bunny". Man, that is a really silly movie that really tickled me throughout. As all good thing comes to an end, we decided to slack off the night at Macs Cafe with my Ice Chocolate..

It was such a long day of Fun, Food and Adventure.. what more can I ask for? Hmm.. maybe make it 2 days? Haaahaa.