Pulau Ubin on a rainy day

Here's my 1st post of the year. Visited Pulau Ubin for the first time for (don't know how) many years. Poor weather disrupt our trip even though it was bright and sunny early in the morning. I woke up in time to catch the beautiful sunrise from my bedroom window. A false impression that it is going to be a fine day.

We arrive at the ferry terminal at 10 plus. The new terminal was very much different from the old one that i remembered but the ferries were just as classic as ever. The ferry requires 12 people to leave and the 4 of us was quite lucky as the next set of people that came after us was a family of 8. Just nice! It's 2 bucks per head for the journey with an additional 2 bucks for bringing your own bike.

Finding our way around. We rented our bike at the very first shop. Quite a wrong move cause i think the rate might be cheaper at the shops further in. At $6 for a whole day rental, it was still cheaper than the last time i remembered which was $12/day.

First stop was to Chek Jawa as the lowest tide of the day was at 12+ that day. Chek Jawa was a 15mins ride away from the jetty area. Pretty easy to find with the map available from the information counter. There was a bike stand for us to park our bike at the entrance. Saw this rubber tree near the entrance.

What is a trip to Ubin without a jumping shot? At this point of time, we could feel the rain drops coming. Start of a prolonged rain that would last into the afternoon. Bad for photo taking.... While waiting for the rain to stop, I did some macro shooting at the ground below the broadwalk. Pretty blur because I wasn't using a tripod. See the monkey face? Wonder if this will be the next headline like the "Monkey Tree".

We waited for the rain to stop and decided to have our lunch while waiting. The place was infested with mosquitoes. We were at all out war with the bloodsuckers. DT seems to be spared from most of the attacks and was posing for me with our lunch which my dear brought along. The crab shown below have only 1 arm which DT claims is used to attract the opposite sex. We didn't believe him until we saw the sign board along the path.

Chek Jawa was suppose to be the highlight of the day. Too bad the tide was still not low enough and most part of the area is still submerged. Would have be better if we go a week later when there is no moon. To understand why, click here. Advice to visitors, please check the tide table to avoid disappointment.

A friendly couple walking the broadway despite the rain...

Chek Jawa is open from 8.30am to 6.00pm and there are information counters manned by volunteers of NParks. Kudos to them for the conservation efforts made on the island. We went to shoot the quarry after this but the picts turn out to be horrendous so I got nothing to show. Will be back some other day for it again.