Pulau Ubin Aug’20 – a perfect storm, boats, & off-road
Something like 5 years ago we came here last with Mum. It was also her last visit to Singapore in fact, sadly. It was just Wifey, Jude and I with her that time as the others were at school. We only came for a wee boat ride and lazy lunch at the seafood restaurant. Not a bike to be seen…
Remember that (this is going back in time blog format if you click the link below)?
If not, CLICK HERE.
My beautiful Mum, a VERY young Jude Jude and a few pounds lighter for yours truly… Jeeze. All change!!!
As I am sure we’re all aware Red Dot is getting a tad samey and small now with nearly 6 months of country lockdown, so we’re always on the lookout for variety and something ‘new’. Today that ‘new’ came in the form of Pulau Ubin Aug’20 – a perfect storm, boats, & off-road. A cracking day for us. An earlier start than usual for us, leaving home at 0930 with plans of a 2-hour bike-ride, then lunch, then something else and home for a shower and dinner at the local. Sounds like a plan…
YOU MUST WATCH THE VIDEOS – ESPECIALLY PERFECT STORM…
A couple of lessons learnt folks;
Take a change of clothes (as we found out today) just in case – there is not much cover if it rains.
Make sure you buy water when you get to the village – keep hydrated, it is literally a jungle out there.
Take plenty of cash, especially if hiring bikes, as ALL services there are cash only.
Bath in mosquito spray and take gallons more with you – those buggers are hungry there.
Maybe take a little vaseline for unexpected rubs and abrasions if you haven’t cycled for a while.
If you have wee ones, the rental bikes are shit and there are some super steeps hills that they like cannot cycle up.
Be quiet if you want to see any wildlife… just sayin’ like.
Super-efficient at the Changi Ferry Terminal. A fair queue to start but then BOOM about 50 PAX were all released at once, and queue management was likely boarding a ride at Universal Studios. “Party of 2, any parties of 5…?” type thing… And we were off on our bumboat…
It really does feel a little like travelling somewhere else thank goodness. We are officially off the main island. Goodbye Changi Village and Changi Beach. Only a couple of weekends ago we were on that beach taking a picture of the boats all leaving to Pulau Ubin. Today it is our turn.
Like a scene from the film, Dunkirk. A convoy of bumboats all hitting the journey ar once. Uber cool. A little queuing at the jetty end as they were off-loading their pax. Also very much like the film, Dunkirk. Then back off they go to get their next refill of eager pax.
A little boat video footage and arrival at the jetty, then our first little foray on the bikes before lunch.
Arrival & 1st ‘not so cool’ bike ride
Again memories flooding back. If you read the blog of our trip here with Mum it will become clear. We were sitting ordering lunch. Jude who had just mastered walking was pottering about. Yep, we heard a splash. He was in one of these fresh shellfish containers but chose the one with swimmer crabs in it for his swim. Today we needed a change of clothes due to the rain, this day 5 years ago we needed a change of clothes because of swimming Jude Jude…
And luckily today we did bring spare clothes. Much needed from the torrential storm, but also so Jude Jude can show off his 8-pack (yes, he calls it that…).
Bloody funny it has to be said. It really did feel like a drop in temperature to single figures. It was nasty for about an hour or so as the storm hit and hung around for a while before passing off just leaving ‘normal’ heavy rain. It was certainly an intense hour or so. But it did make me giggle seeing the kids not able to cope, as you can see from Strawberry Blonde…
A must watch little video segment of our lunch in The Perfect Storm. I kid you not, it dropped like 20 degrees, the wind came in like a tornado and the rain was coming at 45 degrees. It was insane. But so bloody funny. Reminded me of Summer days back in Margate, the UK.
A perfect storm over lunch
Just waiting for George Clooney to go past on his boat. At one point you literally could not see Singapore and nearly not even the jetty. It was monsoon weather baby. As I said, “It’s more fun in the Philippines…”
Then, despite the rain, the food started to arrive. Hey, it’s a seafood restaurant, they were all wet before they got cooked.
We dined today at the big restaurant here with the ocean views and also amazing views of storms and rain.
Season Live Seafood – you can’t miss it. It’s sort of the only one there.
Let’s see what Lonely Planet has to say about the place; “Catch the breeze at this no-frills, waterfront eatery: a swirl of wok smoke, hawker table and plastic tubs filled with fretting sea creatures. Its repertoire of classics includes butter prawns, fried squid and sambal sweet potato leaf. Aim for a table near the water’s edge.”
Nice one Lonely Planet. Shit yeah, we caught a breeze today and nearly had the water’s edge on our laps haha. Just watch that video…
And then the food started to rock up haha. We needed it all to be waterproof. We ordered a bowl soup and because of the rain it took 3 hours to finish it… (boom boom). These deep-fried buns for this Chili Crab are the biggest I have ever seen. Literally the size of hand-grenades, bt bloody delicious.
Quite a unique Chilli Crab style. Not very chilli for a start and loads of tomato sauce in there. Super-sweet. But fairly reasonable at $70 for a big boy with loads of meat. Great job.
Out next were the butter prawns. Equally superb and absolutely HUGE too. Really, really good and super-fresh. These were gone in the blink of an eye…
King Rib up next. Really nice. A great little restaurant that was JAMMED this lunch. Looked like everyone on Singapore had decided to exit Red Dot and have some fun in Pulau Ubin today. It’s a 3-4* place. Your average, very nice Chinese seafood restaurant. Perfect for today’s fun and games.
For bike ride #2 we took Jude Jude’s knackered kids bike back and swapped that and mine in for a bike with kid’s seat. I now felt like Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing with my co-pilot R2Judio sat behind me. Who was talking the whole time, warning me to keep looking forwards, watch for puddles and slow down? Wow, just like his Mum whenever I drive in the Philippines.
MAKE SURE YOU WATCH THIS VIDEO TOO
You can see how much #1 has changed post his Army training now if you watch the video. Seems he is now even scared of cycling and wet mud haha. I see a new film release please; “Ah Boys to Men III – mud & puddles…”
Plus watching Amy on a bike just reminded me of watching National Geographic and video footage of a baby Giraffe or Wilderbeasts 1st steps. Check her legs when she goes through that puddle at the end. Classic!!!
Bike ride #2 off-roading & bum-boats home
Far off in the distance is some wildlife. Can you see it? I so should have brought my big camera. Anyways if you look right in the middle of the photo and the top of the tree you will see a rather large Hornbill flying away. Probably because he heard my co-pilot moaning about me riding too fast through the puddles again.
All finished now and awaiting our Hobson’s Choice of bumboat to ferry us home. What a cracking day. A very unexpected experience day it has to be said haha. Jude Jude got soaking wet both times we have visited in 5-years. Amazing!
BFF’s. Pilot & Co-Pilot.
Are all family photos going to end up like this now? Smile? Say cheese? I am tempted to have this made to a canvas for the wall just as a reminder for 2020. Too funny.
Strawberry Blonde clearly forgetting the law with #1. Both still reminiscing about the puddles…
Up on deck with the best view. Co-Pilot and I say goodbye to our Pulau Ubin adventure. Let’s not wait 5 years next time.
