Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin.

Looking back across the water to Changi Beach.

This is one of the secrets of Singapore that most tourists probably don’t get to see. It is an island just off the coast at the Northern end of Changi Beach. It has not been developed like the rest of Singapore. At one time it had Rubber tree and coconut Plantations. It is a Granite Island and at one time was quarried for Granite. These Quarries have been filled with water and at present are no longer in operation. Lately there has been talk of restarting one of these quarries back up again. This was brought on by problems with getting sand and Ganite out of Indonesia recently. We had hear that this is a lovely place to spend a day riding bikes through jungle and getting close to some wild life. There are some people living on the island but they are mostly living in shacks in the jungle, some with no power. The contours are flat low lying swampy areas with rolling hills of granite. Ruth and I decided it would be great to visit during one of our Monday/ Tuesday weekends and that we needed to do this before the quarry opened up again. So recently on a Tuesday we set off.

The Main Street Of Pulau Ubin

When you arrive on the island the first thought that hits you is how laid back and peaceful it is. The main street has a number of bike shops, a few restaurants selling a range of food and drinks. There is a conservation centre and a police station. We checked out the visitor information centre and collected a good map of the island. My excitement levels rose higher when I read that there were wild boars on the island. The officer told me he had seen some wild pigs that morning. He gave us some directions of which way to head to see a range of the wildlife. Next stop was the bike shops, we got to the first one and found ourselves sitting on mountain bikes, for $8.00 we did not have to get them back until 6:00 pm that night. I suggested that if we weren’t back by then they may need to come and find us. The woman at the shop said they would wait until after breakfast???
Finally we set off on our adventure. There were a number of birds we had not seen before. Lots of thick lush vegetation. One of the highlights was stopping to investigate crashing sounds in the bush and being entertained by wild monkeys feeding in the palm trees. As we rode off from this spot having to slow down for the grumpy one who was crossing the road.

Ruth enjoying the challenge of riding in the jungle.

We spent quite a few hours biking around exploring the island. We arrived back at the main street about 3:00pm by which time we had both had enough cycling and were ready for a bite to eat. We went to the First Stop which was a delightful eating house. We had a beer and a lime juice which was just superb. We followed these with sweet and sour pork and green ginger chicken with fried rice. It was a feast that kept us going for the rest of the day. Everything at Pulau Ubin moves at more relaxed pace and I would recommend as a great place to spend a day when you need to unwind. It was neat to get out and ride without having to worry about the traffic. We timed it right because as we left the island on the bumboat the clouds were growing darker. On the beach at Changi we watched a thunder storm engulf the island.

There is not much chance of getting too lost, there are lots of maps.

At the moment Singapore seems to have a spectacular thunderstorm most afternoons. We have become accustomed to getting up to a bright fine morning and having the clouds roll in during the afternoon. This is followed by a heavy down pour after an hour or two this rolls off and it fines up to become a hot evening. When it rains it pelts down with gigantic drops of rain.

The Bumboats leaving Changi Village.