Pulau Ubin Trip

After much anticipation this morning, my classmates and I were off to Pulau Ubin to gather data for our project. Since I had never been to Pulau Ubin before, I could not wait to step foot on this unknown (well, at least for me) island.

I prefer standing on the deck of the bum-boat on the way to Pulau Ubin. It was extremely refreshing standing on the deck, with the wind blowing into my face and cool seawater spraying onto my legs.

In the blink of an eye, we stepped foot on the jetty of Pulau Ubin, greeted by a sign with the words "Welcome to Pulau Ubin" emblazon on it. As we make our way to the town center, I could not help noticing the numerous bicycle kiosk, lined up side by side as far as the eye can see. Bicycles must be a main form of transport around here. The sight of a cleaner with a blower in one hand and a bike in the other confirmed my hypothesis.

Very soon, we were on our way to Balai Quarry, the most famous quarry on Pulau Ubin. The sight stunned me. It was so gorgeous, the lake of the quarry separated from the sky only by a stretch of forest. The water was so clear that you can see the reflection of the puffy white clouds in the water.

Our team make a long track to the Malam Beach, which was equally beautiful. You can stop and admire the rather cloudless sky and clear seawater here, which could hardly be seen in a busy city like mainland Singapore. Although we can still witness a cloudless sky anywhere in mainland Singapore, we were all so busy minding our own stuff that we hardly noticed the beautiful sky.

During a toilet break at the solar powered toilets beside the beach, we saw a wild dog wandering near a tree, and to much of our amazement, it did a "big business"! It must be shy with a dozen and one students watching, as it quickly moved off from its natural toilet. All of us had quite a good laugh after such a long and tiring journey and we were energized instantly.

We made a wrong turn as we journeyed towards Noordin Beach, only realizing about 15mins later after arriving at a familiar spot that we had came across earlier in the morning. After a short break (and much cursing and swearing), we made a U-turn back to where we came from towards Noordin Beach. More curses would ring out when we arrived at the beach just to discover that it was under "renovation". Devastated, we returned to the town center, only to stop at the village elder's house for another water break. After a short discussion, we decided to return on a min-van.

The adventure at Pulau Ubin ended with a big feast at a food stall in the town center. We "camped" there for a while before returning to school.