Yeah Yeah Yeah -New Politics

My virgin trip to Pulau Ubin! With Sarina, together with Mun Yee and Xin Pei whom I had asked along.It's a good thing Sarina brought a map along, despite it having a hole.Finally set foot on Pulau Ubin. I was dam excited about it!The friendly info counter guy helped take a picture for us.We took a picture of the map, just in case. Well, it worked, somewhat. I lost the map brochure whilst cycling. =/Starting off. I had stay at the back to ensure everyone stays in the group and no one gets left behind. At the same time, Sarina led the team. Not just that, as Xin Pei had just learnt to ride the bicycle, I had to guide her along, following closely behind her.Accident count: 1Hm, does it look like we're going in the wrong direction?This doesn't look good.We reached a dead end. Initially we assumed that we were going in the right direction, until Sarina went further passed till our bicycles weren't accesible to the place that we thought we went was the right one. And behind us were a couple of girls, who also got lost, and tried to follow us as a guide. We had to turn back, with the girls joining us.

Not a good start to the whole cycling trip eh?

And I thought that we could actually make friends with them...

Anyway, we finally found our way, or at least I thought we were. And our first checkpoint!I was at a lost.And the two girls actually left before us! And due to that, I decided to call them the Pang Seh girls, for leaving us behind when we actually helped to 'un-lost' them.

After a bit of rest, we went on our way.Accident count: 2

Oh we heard birds calling. Probably for a mate. As we saw this bird first...and then this one, probably a male, as it had a longer tail as the other one. Probably used to attract his mate. The kind of bird you would NEVER ever see on the mainland.And we reached our second checkpoint. Look how happy Sarina is. Haha!This residence had flowers growing at the front of the house.I used to see these around when I was in primary school. Good times.Probably the most iconic thing you would remember if you're here. Cookie monster!I wanted to play sepak takraw...Mun Yee's house. Planning to visit her during Hari Raya. Haha.Oh, and we found this lizard running around in the grass.

Accident count: 3

Our 3rd mini-checkpoint. I turned and actually saw monkeys being kept in captivity. So I suggested we stopped for a while and take a look.Look! My long distance relative! Being kept in cages...

After cycling for what looked like hours, we finally reached our main checkpoint: Chek Jawa!

Welcome to Mun Yee's second home. Apparently I already entered without being invited in. Haha!Acting like a manatee.Her house actually held an exhibition! Preserved animals that you can actually find there in Ubin!Sea pens! I was imagining something else.And the house actually has a fireplace that doesn't work! How cool is that? Well, at least it's decorated!Sarina watering firewood, and I was hoping (pretending) to see flowers growing.It really does look like I'm pretending to pee. I was actually pretending to intentionally face the other way with both thumbs up. Meh.Mun Yee's jacuzzi. Nothing classy about this jacuzzi though. Haha.Out towards the back of the house, is a dutch door! First time seeing such a door. Meh...The back of the house. The design is so cool. Nothing you would in Singapore. Probably in Australia. I would like to live in this kind of house, if given the chance.The pier.Unglam maximum.The next model. Hahaha!At the jetty.Me and my crazy face. Haha!Pulau Sekudu, also known as Frog Island. Inaccessible.Look! It's Karen!Time for JUMP SHOTS!Deja vu picture.My meditation powers have proved to much for the camera to take.The coastal boardwalk. It's a very long coastal boardwalk.We saw tons of mudskippers! Took pictures of the bigger ones.The tree of life and death.The Pang Seh Girls! Argh!As we continued down the boardwalk, we entered the mangrove area. Lots of tiny mangrove crabs, with one pincer at least 2 times bigger than its whole body. We had to be careful as there weren't any barriers to keep ourselves from falling over. Lots of ant nests and greenery. Followed the path all the way back to the entrance of Chek Jawa. We have basically covered the whole of the place, so we took our bicycles and made our way to Mamam Beach. The road there was full of ups and downs, literally. And we made a stop which I later found was called Balai Quarry. And what truly amazed was the water over there.THE WATER'S FREAKING BLUE! I'm like awestruck at how the blue the water there. Because you would never see waters that blue around Singapore. At that moment I wasn't even sure if I'm still in Singapore territory. I was greatly reminded of the water when I was over at Tioman Island. Except that the water here in this quarry is much deeper.

Thanks to the couple who helped us take that picture.

After much rest, we continue our journey, ups and downs.

Reached Mamam Beach, and was quite disappointed at the sight the moment I reached. There was basically nothing there, except a toilet and a view of the sea. We had to continue on our way, anyhow. And Xin Pei said that there's a farm not far from there, and so we cycled on the offroad track.

And we did pass by a residence. Xin Pei told us that there's a gigantic boar being kept there! And surely we did see it! It was huge! But no pictures here as there weren't any good pictures of it. =(

But we saw rabbits!!!This rabbit has eyes that could kill...AK Rabbit.Now this is what I really call lepak!This rabbit is so cute!After enjoying the cuteness of the bunnies, we had to make our way back to the starting point, as we had to make it there before the rental time expires, so we cycled back at a faster pace. Half way through, I recognised a familiar road and followed it back. The whole journey took us about 4 hours in total.

And we were like so reluctant to leave the place, as you can see from our faces... But we had as Mun Yee and Xin Pei had plans.Total number of accidents: 3

1st: Xin Pei crashing into a bush after losing control of the bicycle.

2nd: Not really an accident, but Mun Yee's bicycle chain fell out of the gear. Took me about 10 mins to get it fixed.

3rd: Me crashing into Xin Pei as the brakes were not strong enough for me to stop. But nothing serious.

Virgin trip proved an eye opener. Away from the urban life from the mainland, and observing the simple kampung life that was going on there. Lots of natural habitat, with creatures living peacefully without having to worry much about having their places being taken away due to development. I would definitely go back there one day, to cover the west part of Ubin, since we only covered the whole of the east section. Well, until then.