Pulau Ubin : Manic Mangrove Madness

Today's Mangrove Madness trip started off with my long drive down the PIE towards Changi Point amidst cloudy ominous skies. Henry called me this morning just to confirm the time , and informed me that the rest of the adventurers weren't going to be early for the 11am meeting at Pasir Ris MRT. Thank god .. I wasn't intending to be early in the first place haha ..

After a brief lunch at Changi Village , we took the ferry which cost S$2 , which departed from a spanking new terminal which I had not seen before since my last trip to Ubin in the beginning of M1. Very nice..

Cun li , Henry and Tianrong ( "Dien Rong" ) onboard the ferry ..

Guanhao ( "Gooanhao" ) and the very lovely James Huang of course ready for departure.
Upon arrival, we quickly proceeded to meet this very nice Auntie at the bicycle who promised us a bargain rate of $8 per pax since we were in a group of 5. Obviously my Vanaja wink didn't convince her to lower the price down to $7 , but she was really nice. She offered to check the tide times as I intended to go to Chek Jawa , and provided baskets to be attached to our bikes. Of course Gooanhao took the biggest basket since he brought half of his bedroom to Ubin.

This is Henry in his manic state trying to crash his bicycle into me, while we await Gooanhao in the toilet.

As you can see, Gooanhao loves to visit the toilet and get everything prim and proper before departure. After much coercing , he finally agreed to leave the toilet , as seen here.
We wasted no time in our search for Chek Jawa , but we ended up in this densely forested area after Jalan Durian. There didn't appear to be any path in sight , so we reckon we took a few shots in case we got lost a la Blair Bitch Project.

These sexy shots of me were courtesy of Dien Rong.
This is my favourite butt pic.
Then the ominous skies morphed into a heavy downpour , and it was real heavy. Like geishas on amphetamines withdrawal, we scampered into a hut that was at the junction of Jalan Durian and Jalan Sam Heng. We had cycled all the way back because we got stuck at the forested area in Jalan Durian. We packed all our stuff meticulously into plastic bags in case they got wet. As usual, I started blaming Dien Rong for not buying ponchos.
The rain started to die down a wee bit , so we tried an alternative route into Chek Jawa via the coastal route. I suggested that we go down to this huge mangrove beach ( below ) which I assumed was continuous with Chek Jawa.

Several of us , without the knowledge of Hana Gwee's Physical Geography lessions, foolishly attempted to cycle on the aerated mangrove soil ...
Then disaster struck.. we realised the aerated foamy soil was wayyyyy too soft to support our bicycles , and worse , our weights as well. Dien Rong found himself sinking slowly .. Henry was still valiantly trying.
Cunli decided to play safe and wanted a photo of this "stream of crystal clear" water leading from the island out to sea. This was before we revealed that most of the effluent was most likely saijui from the auntie who rented us the bicycles.
By this time, we realised the situation was quite dire. The mangrove beach just could not support our weight, and Gooanhao was starting to feel his entire bike and feet literally sink into the beach, the same way Lilleen's jaws sank into the meat pie in Guangzhou.
Gooanhao asking for help , but forget it -- The photography diva moves only when there's a photo moment. Note his feet are stuck in the black thick mud of the swamp.

I wasn't spared from the swamp either.. Me and my bicycle got deeply stuck into the swamp. It was the most horrible and helpless feeling you had , because no matter how much strength you exerted, there was no way you can extricate ( I learnt this word from Gooanhao today ) your legs from the mud. Dien Rong's theory was that the pressure of the feet created a negative pressure under the feet just like those bathroom sucker bungs stick on the wall. It made a lot of sense coz' I didn't feel the mud was pushing my feet down , but more like some incredible force was sucking my feet in. I cried for help , but Henry thought I was joking at first. Dien Rong asked me in the "Ah Seng cum Constance Tham way" to "just pluck it out". It was only when I started gesticulating wildly and insist that I was being held down, that Dien Rong brought a snail-laden stick ( held by me and Dien Rong ) over to pull me off the mud trap to break the suction. The suction ripped my sandal off my feet , but thankfully it's Adidas sandals not Li Ning brand from Guangzhou.

This stick saved my life ( + / - Dien Rong's help )

Dien Rong's and my sandals after the mangrove madness.
That was the seemingly innocuous beach which looked nice and flat and solid , perfect for cycling. But DON'T be fooled. It is actually a HUGE slab of soft , aerated soil waiting to pull you in.
Group at the Deadly Mangrove Swamp.



Gooanhao by this time had broken his P.R.C. brand sandals due to the suction of the mangrove mud.
Some lovely fungus which Cun Li claimed was ling zhi , but didn't dare try.
CHEK JAWA
For the record, we finally found Chek Jawa when we discovered that a barricaded path was the actual path we were looking for. It's so stupid .. why make a path to such a wonderful place like some kind of elusive trail ?

Mangrove roots looking really beautiful in the mosaic of green , just like a Biore Pore Pack peeled off a pimply nose.

CunLi and Henry on a rock.
4 of the goons on the rock trying to be so Hulk Hogan-not.

Beautiful me and the vast Chek Jawa swamp behind.
I wanted this shot to be like the F.I.R album shot in the desert , with Henry being the girl in red.
Dien Rong behaving like the Lion King gone mad. Me and Henry staying as poised as usual.
Sweet shot courtesy of Cun Li.
Gazing into the far blue skies amidst the fresh breeze cleansed by the earlier downpour, we couldn't help by looking past the dissipating grey clouds and see our bright future shine upon us.

Appreciate the vastness of Chek Jawa behind the characters in the photos. Of course appreciate the beauty of the characters as well.




Friends of mine would know I always always always LOVED to see Starfish. So it was a huge delight to see not one , but many many starfishes flitting around in the rockpools.
So many starfishes !!! and they made cute star patterns in the sand , which Gooanhao pointed out. Note the very nice pattern this star-fish made.
This is the green sea cheebye which you can find plenty of on the mudflat. I reckon it is a kind of anemone as it has a lot of little suckers on it.
Close up of the sea cheebye.
Cun Li likes putting things into the sea cheebye , and it would just happily swallow up rocks , pebbles or anything that can fit within its grip. Works the same way for the human version right I guess ? :-)

Cun Li was very brave and volunteered to carry this pretty crab on his hand. The eyes popped up like those green aliens in Toy Story ( the ones who kept saying "We are Eternally Grateful" in the Fengyuan tone )

Another very pretty orange crab which Dien Rong pointed out.
I could have spent the whole day looking for more beautiful things to capture on my cam, but the ever-conscientious Gooanhao rushed us back as the tide was coming and the time for our last ferry at 7pm was drawing near.

Since we knew the exact way back, it took a mere 20 minutes to get back to the main ferry town and we quickly returned the mud-soaked bicycles. My bicycle was making such a racket with the rickety gears, and moreover my perineal region felt as if I just had multiple episiotomies done with a car key , so I was more than thankful to get off the bicycle.

We settled down to a feast of Drunken Prawns , Wild Boar Hotplate , Chai Poh Omelette and "Lap Sap" Vegetables. I LOVED the drunken prawns , but they weren't anything special from those in Singapore.
The prawn head should never be spared with its fresh and rich taste, and this is the fashionable way to eat it , SIA girl style.
Me against the setting sun in Ubin ...

My parting shot of Ubin in the sunset before Dien Rong and Gooanhao chided me for taking so many photos and risk missing the last ferry.
On the boat back ...
Cunli out in the ledge of the ferry enjoying the last rays of the setting sun with the sea breeze stroking his hair.
Henry looking longingly at the shadows of the island whom we had met and conquered many nasty dangers of the mangrove , as we approached Singapore mainland.