Went cycling @ Pulau Ubin with the dar dar two Saturdays ago.
It was Pedal Ubin, a free guided cycling tour on Ubin, on every first saturday of the month. If the dar never thought to drag me down for it, I would never have gone. After all, I’d never been to Ubin before, and I had no idea what it was like. Plus, waking up at 6am on a Saturday was just unthinkable.
I didn’t regret it.
Our first Ugly Picture of the day
Changi Village Jetty
The boat ride
Ubin is so cute and quaint! It’s kinda commercialized, with the renovated jetty and all the mountain bikes for rent. But unlike overly sanitized and nauseatingly artificial Sentosa, Ubin still retains a big part of its rustic charm and original infrastructure (or lack thereof). The moment I stepped on the island, I was in a different world. I thought I’d flown off to Thailand or Vietnam.
It’s the ultimate overseas travel on a tiny shoestring. $4 for the boat rides there and back, $6 for a bike rental, and a whole morning of exercise and ubin sightseeing.
On Pulau Ubin
The guides were very chatty and interesting. They brought us around the east of Ubin, introduced us to lots of plants, folklore, and animal calls. We went near Chek Jawa, tackling some rather steep slopes, but we got to see the quarry and smell the strongly scented tembusu flowers.
Scented Garden
The Beach
Sungei Ubin
Quarry
Me — Exhausted
It was an eventful trip. One of the girls fell down and scraped her knee. She was a real good sport about it too. There were 2 bike breakdowns, and half the group kinda got lost in the final leg of the journey. We weren’t lost cos Dar knew his way around the island. The guide was new to the east part of the island so she lead them the wrong way. Wasn’t for long though.
Felt a real sense of accomplishment after completing the entire trail. To top it all off, dar and I each got our own coconut drink. Cool and refreshing.
I Survived
I want to go again! Any takers?
oh my gosh. cycling at ubin in the morning really does sound exhausting. and, i’m so not that sort of person. hahaah.
YES!!!
if it was after i was back. =) I want i want!
gah! that’s me with helmet hair!
and it’s now the first Saturday of every quarter, not month. So the next trip is in September!
where can i get the details..
click on the link in the 2nd para… ;-)
I like Ubin!
Nice set of photos! Will link from the Pedal Ubin site. Your group explored an area we usually don’t go to becausse you all looked like you could do it, well done!
I’m preparing for the next quarter’s ride this Saturday and updating the webpage, so found this post.
Hi Siva! Nice to hear from you here. We were all set to join you guys for another round tomorrow but an appointment came up. So you guys go ahead and have fun and we hope to see you in December!