We left Singapore proper for a few hours! As silly as this sounds, for me, this was a huge mental lift. As it is increasingly looking like there will be no change in travel restrictions in the near future, I will take any little break I can get. So to exit 2020, we hopped a bum boat to Pulau Ubin.
Boarding our boat
Unhappy campers
There were probably a dozen bum boats zipping back and forth.
Our boat uncle at work!
Goodbye Singapore!
Thursday morning we took a grab to Changi Village Ferry terminal. We queued up in the very short line to head over to Pulau Ubin. The bum boat drivers are pure old school Singapore. They speak mostly Chinese (Hokkien? teochow? mandarin?) with a little singlish mixed in. The quickly hustle you onto your bum boat and off to Pulau Ubin we went!
Pulau Ubin is a group of islands in the Johor Strait between Singapore and Malaysia. It is a part of Singapore. originally, it was a group of 5 islands that have been connected over the years by bunds used for prawn farming. Historically the island has been used for fishing, farming and granite mining which has left behind some very pretty quarry lakes. Today the island is purposefully rustic, having one of the last remaining kampong villages. It is also home to chek Jawa wetlands area which is a beautiful wetland reserve. The island is traversed predominately by bicycle and has mountain biking trails for those interested (and that bring their own bike, I can’t imagine properly mountain biking on the rental bikes). A third of the island is not accessible by the public and is used for outward bound and police training. There are also 2 camping areas on the islands. Despite our love of camping at home, we are unanimous on agreeing that camping in the tropics is a bad idea.
The bum boat lets you off in the village of Pulau Ubin. There the streets are lined with bicycle rentals. We’re pretty sure it’s all just one big rental, but it’s impossible to tell. We rented our bikes either from number 25 or 28. Unsure. The bike uncle grunts out prices to you and you attempt to check if your bike has all it’s working parts. Ryan’s first bike had a flat back tire and no working breaks. I told the uncle my bike was a bit small and the back break was sluggish. His response was to raise my seat and tell me to make sure to always use both breaks. Ok. Outfitted with our bikes, we cycled off to chek Jawa wetlands
Wild boar
As close as we could get to the visitor center. Monkeys 2, Morris’ 0
We found our own jetty
Walking along the boardwalk
The top of the viewing tower
Hello Malaysia….
A quarry
We cycled about 3km to the start of the wetlands. The ride was half paved road, half gravel/dirt path. the topography was hilly. We quickly discovered Avery’s preferred cycling is on flat, paved road. She spent a lot of time walking her bike up and down hills and complaining it was “too bumpy”. It’s hard to be the littlest. We parked our bikes and walked into the wetlands. There were monkeys staked out everywhere. First stop was the visitors center which is in a pretty old Tudor cottage that was once a vacation home. Unfortunately there was a troop of male monkeys also at the visitor center. Generally, if you ignore them, they ignore you, but these fellows were pretty tough. We tried our best to go around them to get through the building to go out on the jetty, but after they chased us and hissed, we gave up. A few others made it around them, but a group of young guys also gave up so we didn’t feel quite as bad. We then walked the bulk of the boardwalk and through the mangroves. It was high tide when we were there, so not as much critter viewing as we would like, but as I told the kids, we will just have to go back 😉. After that we cycled back by a quarry to the village for lunch.
The restaurant from the water
A view of the “cruise to nowhere” from the restaurant
The uncle opening coconuts with his machete.
For lunch we ate at Seasons Live Seafood. There are only 2 places to eat on the island so options are limited. What to say about this place? Quite possibly the worst customer service ever. And that’s saying a lot as customer service in Singapore is pretty non existent. But my fresh coconut was good and the food did fill our bellies. Avery used the squat toilet here twice which was also humorous. As Liam said, “mom, next time we come, let’s pack some sandwiches”.
Very cool strangler fig tree
After lunch we biked off to the other side of the island. Our butts were a bit sore and we were pretty sweaty so this was a short trip. Ella was under the impression that if she rode as fast as possible to the furthest point, it would be over sooner. She might have been right. The other side of the island was quiet, with some temples, bridges over the waterways connecting the islands. We did not stop to walk up pukka hill or check out Ubin living. I guess we will have to come back…
Goodbye Pulau Ubin
A reward beer (or 3…) at little island brewery
And some nachos
Our little reindeer.
Unexpected art. Liam noted that it was out front of a restaurant that served chicken and duck…
Tired and sweaty, we returned our rental bikes, we were shuffled onto a bum boat and returned to Singapore proper. One of our favorite breweries just happens to be next to the ferry terminal, so of course we needed to stop for some beers and snacks.
While the day was hot and sweaty, filled with crabby kids and humorous exchanges in singlish, the overall assessment was it was a great adventure. We may do it again and go on a kayaking tour. We’ll see if we have the motivation for that trip… Happy New Year, here’s to a 2021 full of adventure.
Nutmeggers in Singapore 