Today I went to another one of Singapore's island which is very near to Malaysia frontier. It's the "Pulua Ubin" which is located at the north east of Singapore. To get to Pulau Ubin, I started at the Tanah Merah MRT station and transferred to bus number 2 taking almost an hour to the Changi Ferry Point Terminal. The terminal was located at Changi Village, next to the bus terminal.
At the ferry terminal, I waited for a boat which would take me to Pulau Ubin. Each ferry would take twelve passengers and it costed $2.50 per passenger for a one-way trip. I enjoyed the moment on the boat which took about 15 minutes, I then arrived Pulau Ubin.
After I came out from the Pulua Ubin ferry, I walked around and explored the place for a while and found out that the best way to explored Pulau Ubin was to hire a bike and ride around the Island. So, I went to bicycle rental and got my own at $6.
I also got a map from bike rental to look for the attractions in the island. One big attraction on the island was the Chek Jawa wetland, which had extremely rare ecosystems, animals and plants. So, I decided to go straight there. On the way, I cycled along a metalled road in the forest. There were many couples and families cycled here. Not only adults but kids also. I was wondered when I saw young children as a biker. By the way, almost every biker said hi to another passing rider when they came across.
Deeper inside was a rougher and steeper road, provided with past old wooden houses and coconut trees. Cycling around the island evoked my childhood memories, because I biked almost everyday evening when I was young.
After biking for a while, I came across wild boars in the forest. They walked up an down along the forest onto the bike path, I found them many times while I was biking. Caught by surprise, I saw a sow was feeding her babies, It was adorable!
About 1 km into the island, There were many parts of the track that were too steep to ride up. So, I decided to get off my bike and push it uphill instead. It was challenging beyond description, I almost faint away for many times.
After more than an hour, I finally arrived at Chek Jawa wetland which didn't allow the bikes inside. So, I parked my bike, took a rest for a while and made a short walk to the Chek Jawa boardwalk.
At Chek Jawa, there were two main boardwalks which supported visitors. I stopped and took a picture of the landscapes at seashore and decided to walk along the Coastal Boardwalk path. My good luck, what a pleasant weather today! It was not too hot to enjoyed the sea breeze while I was strolling.
At the end of the Coastal Boardwalk, there was the choice of continuing on along a Mangrove Boardwalk or heading back to the bike parking. I decided to continue to Mangrove forest and walked around 15 minutes and backed to parking.
As part of the one-way road system leading to Chek Jawa, the way back seemed shorter but also felt harder going. I was tired of moving the bike up and down the slopes, there were many times I wanna give up. Anyway, I had no choice.
I decided to take a rest at Balai Quarry, which was a lake on the way back. I was stunned when I saw my message with mobile signal warned me that I was in Malaysia! I was panicked and tired also. So I ignored the message.
I was thankful when the gravel road ended and I reached the metalled road again. After riding back almost 30 minutes, I finally arrived at the jetty. I went back on a boat, and paid another $2.50 back to mainland Singapore.
