Today is family day! My family always maintain in order to strengthen family relationships, we must have a sort of program once a month, whether it eating or outing.
I slept at 0500hrs because of work and woke up at 0800hrs, just 3 hours of sleep, my goodness. But nevermind, family day is just as crucial as sleeping if not even more important.
Reached Changi village with mum, sister & brother in-law at 0830hrs. After had our breakfast at nearby hawker centre we proceeded to the jetty.
(New jetty)Yes, folks we are heading for Pulau Ubin; A place where time stood still.
Singapore runs like a well oiled machine: efficient, modern and spotless. But there is another side to Singapore that most people seem to have overlooked. Meet Pulau Ubin.
Pulau Ubin appears to be "birth defect" from modern Singapore and in fact, most of the inhabitants of Pulau Ubin have left for the 'rat race' in the city. The main occupants that remain in this hilly island are now mostly fishermen or subsistence farmers.
We are heading there with a mission, to try the local village's chicken.
Trip to Pulau Ubin is $2 per person and in order for his trip to be worth his while, the boatman wouldn’t leave until he had a minimum of 12 passengers. It took about just 1 minute of waiting before we all get in the launch.
(My work's launch is much better conditions than this)My mum & sister were filled with enthusiasm I couldn't say the same for myself.
Just a couple of hours back, I was in a launch(work).
(they looked excited, no doubt)We arrived at this island after a 15-minute boat ride. Here got sea, got beach, got sun.....but what's missing?
Ah......how nice if they got baywatch like girls as lifeguards.
(First thing that greeted you once arrived)
(Cars number plate in green)The only luxuries here are shops and rundown cars. The island locals here are quite friendly and the place appeared that time has frozen here. The two-storey shop-houses are the tallest buildings around here.
(like back the olden days)It's a strange sensation to be in these surroundings. There are a few provision shops and seafood shops at the entrance of the island. Adventure seekers like my family wanted to explore untouched areas of the island first. The best way around is on a bicycle, which we rent a mere $5 for the whole day.
(at least 6 bicycles shops)Slept for only 3 hours and under hot sun go ridding on a bicycle?
I must be crazy to agreed to this idea.
(I keep reminded my mum not to speed, she can go up to 100km per hour.)Yes, I'm crazy.
Since I'm here, I am prepared to use those beautiful muscles of mine(do they exist in the first place?) and sweat it out a little.
(my mum)We started panting our lungs out.
(Endless track, endless sunray)
(Tour de france team)We made a pit-stop at this fairly well-kept kampong houses for some cold water. They sell $1 per can (Coke, 100 plus & etc)
(I love kampong house)As we pedalled along, I was the last..........of the pack.
(Everybody waiting for me)
(Pedalled=energy=food)Before we knew, it was lunch time. The purpose of coming all the way here is to try their chicken. Ride back to the village and we decided to try this village's seafood shops.
(First stop, what a sign)We were informed that most of the seafood here, chicken & duck were local reared. First dish, “live” sea water prawns farmed in Pulau Ubin.
(My god, it was heavenly delicious)Damage: $20
I had eaten fair share of “live' prawns over the years, this I must say it really good.
Next on the dish belong to wild life.
(wild boar meat)Damage: $10
Fat? No fat, unlike pig. It's taste like pig meat except without much fat. It taste really good and if you guys happen to be in Ubin next time...must order.
As for the next dish....
(Veg)Damage: $5
A meat lover like myself, I have no knowledge what kind of vegetable is this.
The objective to organise this trip is for our kampong chicken. Why? Well, just the other day we were having dinner, talking about Pulau Ubin's village chicken taste so much better the ones sold in supermarket and that why we're here now.
Here comes the leading actor/actress.
(Village's chicken)Damage: $15
What's so special about this chicken?
I find that it's not so oily and definitely less meat. Actually nothing special.
(A picture tells a thousand words, yummy)
(Make it yummy part2)After lunch, we decided to explore more of this small island.
Here some photos taken along the way.
(Old abandoned houses)There are many old house along the way. It can for sure pass off any ghost houses.
You wouldn't want to spend a night here, I assure you.
(Rusty car)I could see a least 5 vehicles in this kind of conditions along the road.
(Control flow of the water)There were many abandoned quarries, I'm not sure why they built so many of them in the first place.
(Opportunities local vilagers)There are stalls selling from local coconuts plucked from Ubin, I was told.
(Rest place for the dead)Really, I'm not aware of cemetery being existed in Ubin.
(largest temple in Ubin)This is the famous temple in Ubin however I can't read chinese, I don't know what was the temple's name.
We made our way to the jetty about 3:00pm and I felt that the experience going back to nature was fun and seeing that life in Ubin was really simple, really nice.
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