Busy in Singapore

Life has suddenly become even more busy now that Robert's project is finished and we can do more things here together. I was not very used to planning trips and things far ahead so as we got back from Bali suddenly discovered there is a Labour day long weekend coming up. By that time it was far too late to find anything at all - no flights, bus tickets, ferries, hotels. So there we were - stranded for 3 days. Had to find alternatives here and decided to go to Pulau Ubin - the island on the north east coast of Singapore that we sailed around in September.

Of course when we got to the boat terminal we found out that there were a few more people with the same idea - a few thousand to be precise. But the long long que moved surprisingly fast as they had foreseen it and there were tens of bumboats coming and going all the time. The trip only takes about 10 minutes. And of course it was very busy on the other side as well. Fortunately the bicycle rent shops were well stocked and we finally found a constellation of bikes to fit us all - boys in kids seats and Beatrice on her own. We set off towards Check Jawa, which is a wetlands reserve maybe 3 km from the boat jetty. It was pretty busy on the roads as well. But quite a nice ride until tarmac changed into earth path that was bumpy and hilly. After we had had a little rest and snack Beatrice fell going too fast downhill on this bumpy road. And she had no helmet! It was quite bad but luckily no major bruises and there was no point going back from there either. So after a while we continued towards the destination. She was not keen to ride. It was probably her first fall on the bike ever.

We did the boardwalk in Check Jawa but didn't see a lot of wildlife because it was too busy with people, just many small crabs and mudskippers in the mud. There were some interesting palm trees though - Nipah palm - the only type that grows in mangroves with very funny shaped fruit (hope to get a picture up here soon!). The view from the tower was good. Part of the boardwalk is over water, nice and breezy. The way back was up and down the hill - both ways too steep to ride so there was a lot of pushing especially as Beatrice was being extra careful after her fall. We passed a quarry with strange dark blue water and made a small detour to the north coast of the island to have a look at Malaysia - through high fences in the water to keep illegal immigrants off Singapore soil. There were small farms on the way, all making a good business on that day selling cold drinks. There are still a few hundred people who live on Pulau Ubin - a lifestyle nothing like the rest of high tech Singapore - bicycles to move around, water in wells, electricity from generators. Very much like a Malay village it used to be. Although a taxi driver told there are plans to develop the whole island with high rise apartment blocks and extend the metro there ... . I think it would be a shame but Singapore thinks they need to grow in order to stay competitive and as there is so little space where to put all the new people, they have to use every square meter.

Well, anyway we made our way back to the main centre and were thirsty and hungry and had a nice early dinner of fresh local fish. Then back with the bumboat. I guess it would make a great day out, or even a weekend as you can camp there and stay over night on any other weekend of the year. The 1st of May was just a little too busy.