Explored a little island called Pulau Ubin

It was a beautiful public holiday and we were lazing at home with no plan and agenda. I was preparing breakfast for everyone and hb was surfing the Internet on his mobile phone. It was an impromptu idea from hb that maybe we could check out the little island. We were spontaneous enough to go along with the plan and quickly packed all the things we felt will be useful to use during the trip.

Tips on what to bring for a day trip to an island:

- Umbrella / Poncho

- Hat / Cap

- Small electronic fan / Paper fan

- Small towel (to wipe away all your perspiration)

- Camera (Optional)

- Tissue papers and wet tissues (in case of toilet emergency)

- Water and food (I know there might be shops/restaurants on the island but what if the food is not to our liking? What if the food is very expensive? You never know...all these are for "just in case" situation)

- Some basic First Aid kit (just in case of any minor injury)

- Money (for the boat ride, food, drinks and for emergency cases)

- Insect repellent (which we forgotten to bring along)

- Sunblock lotion

The crowd was building up at when we reached Changi Point Ferry Terminal, but we were lucky enough without having to wait for 10 hours to take a bumboat ride there *laughed*.

The trip cost $2.50 per person for one way. Try to prepare the money in advance as those boat operators are quite kan cheong to collect the money from you as soon as you board on their bumboat. If you are bringing along your own bicycle, you will need to pay $2 for each bicycle on top of your fare. Each bumboat can only accommodate 12 passengers.

I guess we were very lucky that the weather was bright and sunny.

Enjoying the scenery on the sea...

The ferry terminal at Pulau Ubin. 

The signboard that directs you to the place you want to go. I was horrified when I visited their common toilet. Imagine not a single source of water was available. We could not flush the toilet bowl and no water to wash our hand.

The map of Pulau Ubin (don't ask me to read the map coz I'm very bad at map navigation, lols!)

There were a few bike rental shops along the same stretch of road. Their pricing range from $6 to as high as $25 (new bike). There is no limit to the number of hours but the shop assistant told us that all bikes must be returned to them by 6pm. If you are too lazy to cycle up, you can always hire a van near the jetty. I did not have the chance to check out their charges though.

The locals told us that usually the journey is about 45 minutes to reach Chek Jawa by cycling. Honestly I forgot to bring my watch that day and the 45 minutes trip felt like an eternity to me at one point. The uphill slope was so steep and I was trying to catch my breath by pushing my bike up the hill. The downhill slope seemed too dangerous for me to let go at my full speed.

One thing I learnt during this trip:

If you have children who are still on 4 wheelers, then its not feasible for them to ride there as the road can be very bumpy. Since YQ and Junior YS were unable to ride a 2 wheelers, we rented 2 bicycles that can accomodate both adults and children.

We took a few stops along the way to catch our breath as well as to enjoy the nature scenery. No more cycling is allowed when we needed to explore the mangrove boardwalk. We parked our bicycles at one corner and it was time to do some walking.

We took a 10 minutes break trying to cool down at the information kiosk and continued our walk towards the mangrove boardwalk.

Spider webs

Mangrove trees

It was a fun & educational day for them.

We were lucky to see a few monkeys swinging and resting on trees.

My $8 rented bike looked pretty rusty right?

Taking short breaks again to immerse ourselves in the nature surrounding.

Taking a pose at the lotus pond.

The queue started to form when we were leaving the ferry terminal around 4 plus in the late afternoon. Although everyone was slightly sun burnt and tired but the kids enjoyed themselves.

Bye Pulau Ubin! Hope we will come back someday again.