Vicky at Pulau Ubin | Singapore |

 
And so here I am again, on the hot point of blogging again, I know I've been treating my blog hot and cold recently :( Which is a bad thing, so here am I trying to remedy my guiltiness haha. This post is on the trip I've spent with my gang from the school in Pulau Ubin.
 
I seldom take taxi in Singapore, can say not more than 5 times, but seriously taking taxi once in a while isn't that bad at all lol. From my place to Changi Terminal (where Pulau Ubin Jetty is) would take around 30 minutes, taxi fare of around S$15 (share between 4), cheap!
 
Meet up with Queenin, Tania and Kang, so called the 'red line group', after having our breakfast, we head towards the pulau ubin jetty. Gyiyomi in taxi, I got follow up trends one you know.
 
Ferry fee only cost us $2.50 each trip each person. While waiting for the rest, so called the 'green line group', we got ourselves ready with sun block, sun screen, lotion and everything nice on us lol! Including insect repellent, the mixture of the smell was like...
 
On ferry to Pulau Ubin, 10-15 minutes of ride. Get to see beautiful view and scenery. I have to thank God for the lovely weather that day, few days back we were so worry about the weather because on forecast it shows that on this day it's gonna be gloomy cloudy with thunder. It's way opposite!
 
 
So that's Marco, Vicky, me and Kang. That big plastic on me is a fruit cake from Breadtalk. Yes, a birthday cake for Kang the birthday guy. With candles, cutter and lighter ready of course :)
 
Queenin, Tania, Geraldine and Michael on the board! They look excited don't they?
The boat can fit in 12 passengers at one time, excluding the captain. The boat isn't as 'shaky' as I expected, suitable for people with sea sickness I think.
 
After 15minutes of ride, here we are at Pulau Ubin! Welcomed by a beautiful gate entrance. Pretty crowded for a time like this in the morning, saw groups of people on bicycle getting ready for the trek. Early jua!
 
So here we are at Celestial Ubin Beach Resort. Michael bought deals from the famous website, super cheap! $10 for either 2 of Kayak, Bicycle or Fish Spa. We initially choose kayak and fish spa, but after much considerations, we then changed to kayak and bicycle.
 
Do you know that I never know what is kayak until the day Michael talked about it? And my first instinct to it is, kaya-king.
 
After redeem the tickets, before getting the activities started, we first celebrate Kang's birthday!
 
Thank goodness they have sheltered area like cafeteria to hang on, coz I read few blog posts saying that the wind is strong, fearing that the candles might not be lighted on. Well, thank God it turned out well too hehe.
 
Group picture of us, free drinks are provided from the cafeteria too. How much better the coupon deals can go further than this?
 
Because the security guard told us that the tide would be low in the late afternoon, so while it's still high tide, we decide to go kayak first. Each of us have to fill up a form (name, phone number and email address) before proceed to kayak. Now I received emails from some companies on travelling thingy, I bet it's from this lol. Just don't call me ah.
 
A group picture before kayaking, thanks to the kind guard. One of the regret I have is wearing short pant, especially under this sunny day. Now I have 2 toned skin on my leg lol, tattoo translucent sock.
 
Getting ready for kayaking! Choosing life vest was a headache, we spent like 15 minutes to choose a good one, it's either one side tie disappear or one side sponge disappear lol. After that we get kayak boat, all look the same to us lol.
 
Thanks Michael for the photo (I nge nge ask him to take one photo of us lol) and Kang for pulling us off into the sea. One thing to take note, be sure you take extra cloth coz you gonna either be got wet or soaked. The place where you sit on got holes one, confirm your butt wet first haha XD
 
There there, all are enjoying haha. It was so fun that day, me and Queenin even sing while kayaking. I remember I sang 'grenade', 'it will rain', 'superstar', etc. LOL. Who am I thinking I am, romantic on-boat music composer?
 
Michael and Vicky. She looks so relax, good that you fully utilised the use of the kayak boat Vicky haha!
 
Kang and Marco in the middle of the sea. Eventually they start to play 'splashing' as expected, which is why I suggest for extra clothes lol. Luckily me and Queenin in the mood of singing, we isolated ourselves from the water war lol!
 
At first it is hard to control the direction of the boat, but as we kayak along the sea, thing seems to get under control. I keep on screaming "Ok right! left! right! left! Eh the boat changing direction liao, rightrightright! right! right! right! Ok ok, can ady. Right Left Right Left" and it goes on...
 
We kayak-ed for about an hour plus, until I cannot stand the 'sunniness' exposure on my leg, I cry out loud. We kayak back to the shore and put back everything and ready for the next adventure.
 
It's been a while since I cycle, I remember the last time I cycled was in my hometown Sibu.
They have 2 seat bicycles here in Pulau Ubin too, I initially planned to ride on this with Queenin, thinking that I can handle it (although it's my first time haha), too bad I was wrong. So I end up on single bike.
 
Please be sure to check on the safeness, especially the break of the bike. The kind guard helped us to check the break and the tyre air. That's very nice of him :)
 
 
So we cycle to one of the famous restaurant in Pulau Ubin, Live Seafood Restaurant. Know this restaurant from google search, given the good reviews, we decide to give it a try as well :)
 
Lemon Ice.
 
Fried Rice.
 
Fried squid.
 
Belacan Kang Kong.
 
Sweet and sour pork.
 
Sweet and sour chicken.
 
Fry yew tiao.
 
Fish vegetable soup.
 
Fry prawn.
 
Overall of the food, I rate it 7/10. Didn't get to try chili crab though, will try it next time.
 
After lunch, we decide to visit Chek Jawa. And there go our journey of cycling.
 
Reading the map halfway, of course we have to do that, avoid from getting lost what.
 
Beautiful giant tree, by the way there's a plug on this tree.
 
Then we stopped by the entrance to wetland of Chek Jawa, where we have to walk in without bike.
 
Wild boars! I told my friend that the baby boars look like just being shaved haha. They are harmless unless you try to scare or hurt them. The whole family came that day, father (obviously the biggest one), mother and 5 children.
 
 
 
The tower, for sight viewing. Didn't get to go up though.
 
Mangrove area, famous for their exposed roots and the fact that they actually provide homes for many living things, preventing floods and soil erosion.
 
Boardwalk, a very long one.
 
A group picture before Kang left. There onwards, we continue our journey.
 
Nearby the visitor center, there's a house (or not?) looking amazingly beautiful. Wish I could live here, surrounded by greens.
 
This is the view from the back of the house, look at that design and sculpture, who doesn't love it?
 
Guess where is it facing?
 
The sea! Ohh emm gee, perfection overdose can?
 
This is me walking towards the end of boardwalk. Vicky suggests this shooting, artistic eh.
 
Something that we cannot miss during the hot day, isotonic drink! FYI, the drink in the picture is a mixture of 2 types of isotonic drinks and Pepsi (which explains the colour). Do not try this at home.
 
The beautiful blue quarry of Pulau Ubin. Can't go in though, which is a sad one. We just get to see from the outside of the fence. The lake is really blue in colour, can imagine how clear the water is.
 
On the way back, pass by this natural looking pond.
 
Purple lotus, prettiness is something that matters.
 
So yeap, basically that is all. You can see the words seem to get shorter and shorter as you scroll down because I am super sleepy now, was waiting for my hair to dry up (I showered late, I deserve it T.T). No I didn't use hair dryer because if I did, I might end up being a noisy housemate and neighbour.
By the way, you have to pay $2.50 ferry fee while back to Singapore island. Kinda miss Pulau Ubin now, will never forget the nature and wild life and food and wind and scenery of it.
 
Touching Singapore island.
 
 
 
Thank you for reading. Good night and have a nice weekend! :)
*Intruding my bed*


Vicky in Melbourne, Victoria

















I spent my Chinese New Year 2013 in Melbourne with my boyfriend and his family. It was definitely an awesome one! Seen new, feel new, touched new and experienced new.
Love the weather especially, although daytime could sometime be as as hot as Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore, I look forward to the late afternoon, close to evening time when the weather is cool enough for me to breathe deeply in *closing my eye* and enjoy the cool and cozy breeze.

 
Thanks to Clifford's eldest brother, Colin and his wife, YeLing, who have provided us hospitality and transportation all this time in Melbourne.

Driving down to the city

Just one of the bus stops on the street, and a broken glass.

Read your bible! Good way to remind :)

Two Monks Cafe at 350 Sydney Road *copy from the board*

Signature Brew in a shopping mart

Had our lunch at Subway, which I had quite a few times in Singapore. Taste the same lol.

This place sells a lot of discount items, including branded stuff and domestic household items.

Fish and butchery area, a lot of people speak Cantonese, they make the whole atmosphere feels like a Hong Kong market haha.

Fruits and vegetables on the rack for sell

Sweet cherry, my first time trying them. My first impression for this berry is, sour, medicine taste, and I'm wrong (probably because of the red berry which we always can see on top of birthday cake lol). They actually taste very sweet, just like apple plum.

Day Day Cooked Food.

Nut Shack or snack? o.O

Home cook dinner, bean curd with tomato seasoned vege soup, can I say this is a typical Chinese Asian soup? Taste awesome ok.

Just a random building from the street, it makes me feel like I'm in Melbourne, which duh of course I am in Melbourne. Take me as cow in the city la lol!

Hong Mart the Asian grocery

Dim Sum for brunch at a Chinese restaurant.

We ordered Chinese fried mochi, fried yam, Siu Mai

Stir fry Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Vermicelli roll) with onion spring, I still prefer over the steam type with soy sauce.

Fish eggs Siu Mai.

Chicken Legs or feet?

Buying fish for dinner that night for Chinese New Year Eve dinner.

Colonial Fresh Markets

Abalones for each of us *smiling*

Tada! Home cook dinner for CNY Eve. Very blessed and thankful for every dishes on the table, for the talented chefs (ok I'm not one of them if you are wondering).

Right after dinner that night, we went to Melbourne China Town for a walk, since its related to Chinese New Year, enhance enhance the environment lo.
As expected, on that cold night, China Town was packed with people, human and mortals.

They have this Chinese New Year festival that night, people including couples, families, friends, tourists (like us) almost made the walking pathway blocked.


Went to Church the next morning (Sunday)

They have both Chinese and English session, we went for the Chinese session. The one who delivers the speech spoke in Cantonese and there's a translator who translates into Mandarin. Eh, should be the other way round. I have forgotten, but I remember I listened to the Mandarin one teehee.

Chadstone Corner of Melbourne

I don't know if I'm the only one but this reminds me of Marina Shopping Mall, the design of the ceiling especially.

Lord of the Ring Fries, I bet they get the name from the movie I know I knew.

Yam Milk Tea from Bubble Cup. As an experienced milk tea drinker, I would rate this AWESOME! Everything is awesome for me :]

Joyce had her green tea milk tea from Bubble Cup too.

Beautiful crystal ball on the ceiling, couldn't resist to take a snap of it.

Outside of Chadstone Corner, mushrooms statue aww.

Super duper sweet rock melon ohh emm gee! I would have stuff them all in for my 3 meals.

Trying to act like feeling cozy in a cold winter, if you notice my hand gesture. FAILED. By the way, the top is from Esprit which I bought in Singapore, yes they sell seasonal garments too!

Erm, when I saw this picture, my thought popped right up "Is this Chinatown? How bout the Chinatown I talked about just now? Holy crappy, I think I shared the wrong info" Still, I'm not sure if this is china town, but the possibility is bigger than the previous one. So let's forget the China Town I talked about just now ah *swipe hand in front of your face* "Forget...forget....

A snap of street down the China Town

Public cubical toilet, yeah I know I know it's just a toilet, but I never seen one before, so.. *kacha* lo.

Entrance to China Town

Loving the night street view of Melbourne

 We also went to pick berries! Too bad it's not the harvest season (which is around October), so we are told that there may not be as many ripen one as in harvest period.

Sunny morning to start with that day.

This is field which we were about to step on for the pick.

Can hardly see big and red strawberries :( But guess what, I still manage to pick plenty of them :)

Black berries especially! I just picked and eat them straight away, which I then realised that there's actually quite a lot of tiny bugs on them :S *the bugs eat fruit, I eat bugs, ma equal to I eat fruit* yes! self-convincing success

Cute looking strawberry

Found this star-shaped strawberry, didn't pick it nor eat it.

On the way picking berries, simply delicious just by looking at them.

Me and Clifford, happily holding our collection on hand, before walking back to the main reception.

We didn't manage to eat all them, there are around 7 containers of berries altogether. In fact, we blend them with milk and make into berry milkshake, some with yogurt. I miss drinking all these healthy drinks everyday. They contain anti-oxidant you know?

Grape field, where free tasting of wine is available!

We went to zoo too.

Lovely child by the bench while at the bird show.

Instructor feeding the bird. These birds on show are very clever and smart. They would fly to anywhere the instructor ask them to. One of which can talk too, the parrot yes. Really enjoyed the show :)

Ahh yes, it's the koala, I would kill myself if I didn't get to see the featured animal (which is koala and kangaroo) of Australia lol. I dare to say this because I saw them already ma.

150 years old tree, what? The picture very artistic? I know right, hohoho. *thick face*

Didn't get to see an open-eyed owl :( They sleep during the day and awake during the night time. I really salute the way they sleep (or rest?), like a boss.

Cute bat rubbing his eye (I assume?), this kind of bat feeds on blood fruit only. Which reminds me of a movie call "Contagious", the human are trying to find the origin of the source of the outspread of virus, which in the end is this bat (not particular this bat, but bat yeah).

Had lunch at Lunch box Kimchi, a Korean restaurant by the street.

Simply nice :)

The shower of sun rays through the opening of the clouds (Good caption? :D) Loving the view of sunrise.

On the way to pick Pipis by the beach (a type of clam) Just know that, in order to pick clams on the beach, you have to buy a license to do so. No there is no lessons to be attended to get the license, you have to buy it. And one person is limited to a certain weight of picking these clams. I guess this is how Melbourne protect their living things on the ground, and to avoid extinction.

*Being drawn into the scenery*

That's me walking along the seashore, I know right, it looks "beachy" lol! And see the bumps of sand? Those are created by us, digging for pipis.

Awesome, amazing, breath-taking, natural, worldly, unbelievable, gorgeous, greenish, bluish, speechless, view. (Just to make sure people on google search can find this, who wouldn't want to share this amazing creation of God? :))

I hope this is not considered as vandalism lol.

Our successful collection of the pipis of the day! Now you see a live pipis in sea water.


Now you see dead cooked pipis on the plate, yummy. I heard they have lower cholesterol than many of the other seafood. (Alasan to eat more)

Stop by chocolate factory on the way back home.

100% Chocolate made penguins and even the sand! They even give name for each penguin aww :)

Pyramid Rock of South Coast, super strong wind that could blow someone lighter than me, away. (Aha no I'm not gonna tell you how heavy I weight :P)

On top of the mountain, Clifford and his dad are lying on the rock because of the super strong wind that could possibly blow away someone lighter than them, away. (Aha, no I'm not the camera man :P) So yeah, they have to lie down to reduce the wind pressure on them.



Walking down the wooden staircase, sometime (if you are lucky) you can see living abalones by the rocks.

The yellow patches on the shore are normally what the abalones feed on (if I am not mistaken, better put a claim lol)

Rocks by the shore

Guess what are the white dots? They are all tiny snails! I have to admit that I killed some of them (accidentally stepped on them) as there are too many of them on the ground.

Close up look for the yellow thingy (don't know what is the name) I stepped on them too lol, at first it feels tickling and tingling, the more you step on, the more you feel like you are stepping on a slimy bubbly carpet.

We also stop by the area where penguins can be seen.

There you go, penguin resting in a man-made wooden box. The entrance is built facing towards the sea (ie. the sun), so that the penguins will know when to leave home for food and go home before the sun sets.

Sadly, I didn't get to see penguin that day, because I leave before sun sets.

Big rocks by the beach, located in one of the biggest park.

Breath-taking scenery, can I just live here?

Sticking-out leafless branches out of the bushes

Oh yes, I must story about this. In this picture, I was standing on a beach sand call, Squeeky beach. Each step of walk u took on the sand, they will "squeek". So if you run or just jump on the spot, they will "squeek squeek squeek squeek squeek" hahaha, it just simply made my day haha.

Sunset, the eye of the sky.

Sunset by the jetty port while crossing a bridge, was a tired day that day, but I can say it was a definitely wonderful day.

Kindly ignore my weird impolite standing posture (still wanna 'nge nge' look at the camera lol?!), I'm just too nervous feeding the kangaroos for the first time lol!

Feeding them aren't as spooky as you think (or maybe just me?), they eat the food on your hand gently, can say in a very polite way. Notice the middle kangaroo in the picture? She is carrying a baby kangaroo in her pouch aww :)

Ok there is this story about this particular kangaroo, he/she is following us almost the whole journey in the park area. I bet he/she is begging for the food on my hand, how to beg? By biting my bag =.= As long as he/she didn't jump and kick like the kangaroo 'Muay Thai' or whatsoever boxing style can already.

Koala in the picture: "I've wonder what's the life it would be if I wasn't a koala..."

Do you know that Koala actually slow moving all the time as they are low in nutrient and because of that they have to conserve energy. Which explains they sleep a lot throughout the year, new perspective of view on koala? They are not lazy, they fight too!

This parrot (I suppose) is really friendly and socialised. It was resting on the top of branch when I arrived, I then made some imitating sound sound trying to get its attention. Then the parrot really climbs down toward my direction using its beak :D More over, greet me with "Hello" too aww...

Eventually later I found out that this parrot has a plan on prison breaking, I was stunned. You should tattoo a prison map on you too smarty.

Can I call this 'angry bird' instead of its real name, since I don't know its real name lol.

Tasmanian devil, cute looking "bear?". They are being called devil because of their scary sound they have, this is for the purpose of self protection. God always has His very own unique way of creating :)

The 3 little emus, approaching me for the food on my hand *gulps* Don't dare to feed them on hand because when I saw the way they eat on ground, they also eat off the sand. Imagine the sand as my hand, you know how I feel lol.

Perfectly bandaged sleeping bat. Actually I first know how a vampire sleeps (which is in this way), then how a bat actually sleeps. Guess which cartoon? :)

Franklin Point, some point in the middle of the hill.

Endless view across the ocean and the city.

Stop by one of the restaurant nearby for the famous fish and chips.

Custard cream cake

Famous fish and chips

On the way to the famous rock of the 12 apostles

This is one of the famous, probably one of the most visited area in Melbourne. You can actually google search for "12 Apostle Australia", 12 limestone stacks off the shore. And then you will see a lot of pictures which have the EXACTLY same angled picture as mine.

View of other 'apostles' stones.

It's been told that there's actually a sunken ship under this sea? O.O

Baskin Robbins ice-cream in Melbourne! Bought them using deal coupons, awesomeness overdose!

Home cook dinner, fried noodle with pipis :P

Went to this Vietnamese restaurant for its famous beef noodle

Tada! The soup is soothing enough to warm your tummy, especially when it's very hungry. Couldn't have any other better beef noodle elsewhere, seriously.

Avocado milkshake, super thick! They put the real 'ho liao' to make this milkshake perfect, there are some where they put either more ice or milk than avocado (hmm it is indeed normal when ice and milk are more than avocado, but what I'm trying to say it, the proportions are really a lot a lot a lot more than the avocado itself, okimdoneexplaining)

Vietnamese market here sells cheaper fruits and vegetables, you can see people scream all the 'lelong' deals. This second they can sell a bag of apples for US$4, next second they sell it for US$2, lol.

Beautiful building structure

If I'm not mistaken, this is the Victorian Market. Too bad when we reached there, around 2 in the afternoon, most of the stalls are closed. Some still open, selling super cheap fruits just to clear them up, guess we are lucky? Haha

Random shot of a walkway by the street, loving the beautiful sculpture. I know it may looks normal for you, but you know, take me as a cow in the city.

That's basically how I spent my trip in Melbourne. There's actually 700+ pictures, you can see all of them in my facebook albums (Melbourne trip part 1 and 2). Quite impressed by the picture quality taken by camera Nikon (not advertising ah), thanks to Clifford's dad who gives me a chance to actually be a real photographer. As you know I normally use the digital camera (Panasonic Lumix TZ7) which I bought in year 2009, time to change I guess? :P TeeHee!

Thanks for reading, have a nice day ahead!
One more hour to tomorrow, so have a nice day ahead ahead!