Pulau Ubin

Ah, nature! I found you tucked away on a little island off the eastern shore of this concrete labyrinth.

To begin this tale, it once again starts with a deliciously smooth latte at Highlander Coffee Academy near Singapore General Hospital. I once again ran into our new friend Hannah who this time was joined by two of her colleagues, one of which was Meng Shyen who offered to take me to the tiny island of Pulau Ubin with a friend of his who is visiting for the week.

We met on Friday morning and took a double decker bus to Changi village on the far east of the mainland. This was a great way to see parts of Singapore not visible on the underground MRT and a nice trip down memory lane for Gordon, Meng's old collegue who lived towards Changi over 10 years ago. There are no times for the small 12 passenger water taxis, you just have to wait for enough people to fill one, usually not long. So after a quick bite to eat (and the best carrot cake I've had so far....which incidentally is not the least bit like what we think of in the west as carrot cake) we boarded the water taxis with our noses filled with diesel fumes and chugged the 10 mins across the water to Pulua Ubin.

There we rented bikes for $5 and cycled our way around the island, giving the western section a miss as it was a foot or so underwater. It is a jungle paradise with beautuful birdlife, the odd snake and wild boars! Meng was a brilliant guide as he has been to the island several times as a student studying the ecology and ecosystems so he can spot the tiniest mudcrub and lung fish, normally invisible to my eyes, with the ease with which one spots a McDonalds store.

During the week is definately the time to go as we had the island virtually to ourselves and it gets very busy on the weekends. Cycling is such a great way to see the island, being able to breeze around at your own pace and there are some nice steep gravel roads that provide a small thrill as you fly down them with the wind in your hair. Having returned the bikes, we refreshed ourselves with the obligatory Tiger beer in the small square of what passes for the township. The island is dotted with little ramshackle huts and tin shanties that form part of the island's charm and allure. A world away from the dizzines of the glass evevator in our luxury hotel, Pulau Ubin was a welcome taste of the real world with it's amazing corals, jungle, mangoves, birdlife and slow pace of life.