Pulau Ubin: the preserved island to discover another side of Singapore
Island Ubin is an island located northeast of the main island of Singapore. The opportunity to go back in time since Island Ubin truly represents the last area of Singapore that remains as close as possible to what this small peninsular country was like 60 years ago, before it took off down the road to modernity.
That is to say a country composed mainly of tropical jungle, villages with traditional Chinese houses that we call Kampong (even if different from the Kampong Malaysian).
Pulau Ubin is particularly suitable for a bike ride since it has several cycle paths, but also hiking trails, crisscrossing the jungle, dotted with small lakes formed by the remains of the granite quarries that were exploited on the island.
After taking you south of Singapore in the St John and Kusu Islands, so I continue my journey through the islands around Pulau Ujong, the main island making up the city-state of Singapore. The opportunity once again to go green and illustrate that Singapore is not just an urban jungle or just these gardens like Gardens by the Bay, however popular they may be.
Short bike ride on Pulau Ubin
I was making the transition from the Marina, where I came from, after my tour of St John and Kusu Islands, and arriving at Changi wharf for Pulau Ubin as the afternoon was already well underway.
No choice, you have to make do! The difference in transportation between this island and the one in the morning is obvious. Here, we take a local boat called a bumboat, all made of wood and with a capacity of barely more than 10 people.
Arriving on the island, I was a little worried about the weather because I saw this big black threatening cloud in the distance, but no matter, I'm here, I'm staying and here I am renting a bike to set off to explore the island.
Exterior of Changi Ferry Point wharf access.
The few passengers going to Pulau Ubin at the same time as me.
Upon arrival on the island.
A rare patch of blue sky that I would be entitled to on Pulau Ubin.
Fish farms float in the area.
An overview of the main village of Pulau Ubin.
A map of the island displayed publicly next to the village.
It's hard to believe you're in Singapore.
As I take the bike, I am given a quick briefing on what there is to see and I am given a map to help me find my way. In any case, given the time I have left, I will mainly focus on one area of the island, in this case the south-eastern part, where I have arrived.
And it is towards the area indicated " Beach n' mangrove" on my map that I was heading towards first.
The Pulau UBin map that I was given to the bike rental company.
Sensory Trail
As its name suggests, this trail is intended to be a “sensory” route. Personally, I didn't particularly feel any smell or any other senses that were particularly highlighted other than my sight, but it's a good introduction to the wild nature of the island. Contrary to what one might believe, the chickens we see there are normally wild chickens, which have the particularity of being able to fly.
This is an easy walk that can be done on foot if you have time and takes about 1 hour to complete. It will take you through the Pulau Ubin village plantation, where fruit trees (papaya, banana, rambutan, breadfruit, etc.) are planted.
For my part, I didn't linger there too long and continued towards the seaside. As I passed these coconut trees and this tropical jungle, I still had trouble realizing that we were in Singapore.
The coconut trees of Pulau Ubin.
A monkey crossed there.
After some minutes only, I arrive at a small stretch of beach where a few bikes were already parked. The tide is high, so it's hard to imagine a "beach" as such, but I understand it's a picnic spot by the water.
Time to do 2-3 photos and I got back on my beat up bike, thinking I would do a little loop around the area, I started to ride along the same path following the water's edge, just like another bike just in front of me. But as I started to see him go down, take the bike and go over a tree trunk, then a group of rocks and struggle to continue without being able to get on the bike, I quickly turned around to go see another area.
Teck Seng's Place
So I went back to the main path and then onto the tarmac road. Bordering the sensory Trail, you will come across a pretty pond filled with lotus flowers at the edge of which I took the time to take a few photos, again.
My goal then was to reach house number 1, which simply refers to the number of its postal address. In doing so, I passed by some local houses, made of wood and which are supposed to represent the Kampong style.
I was passing by one of them without realizing it, house 363B, also called Teck Seng's Place. The latter is located on the left side of the road (going towards Chek Jawa), higher up than it.
Lotus flower pond in front of the house.
It was owned by Mr Chew Teck Seng, a local trader who lived there from 1970 until 2005, when he relocated to Pulau Ujong (the main island). The house has since been preserved and renovated as a model Chinese kampong house, retaining the original architecture to maintain its rustic charm.
She now serves de « museum » immersive that traces the life of Island Ubin in the 1970's. It should be noted that at the time, the island was exploited for its granite mines, the very name of the island " Island Ubin » meaning the granite island!
The Family Chew ran this supply store which supplied the workers located around the various quarries located around Island UbinThe house is only open on the 2nd and 4th weekends of the month and on public holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 14:00 p.m.
Another house crossed on the island.
House No. 1
It is when arriving towards Check Java, the wetland area of the island you will find House No. 1, a Tudor-style house built in the 1930s, which today serves as a visitor center. The house, bordering the sea, has been carefully restored.
Arriving at the reception center (House n°1) of Chek Jawa.
The interior of the house and its fireplace.
One of the unique features of the house is its original fireplace, which is probably the only one in Singapore. (as a reminder, we are practically at the height of the equator, so much so that a fireplace is truly folklore at this latitude!).
The ground floor of the visitor centre house has information panels illustrating the history and natural heritage features of Chek Jawa. Below the house, I reached the jetty on the sea, while the sky grew increasingly threatening (I could see rain falling in the distance).
From here there is a beautiful view of the house and the marshy edge of this part of the island.
Check Jawa
I then enter Check Java, where I would be greeted by a wild pig going about its business (i.e. looking for food for to summarize), which is quite common on this part of the island, where the local wildlife is particularly visible.
FYI, Chek Jawa can only be visited on foot, so I had left the bike in the appropriate parking lot next to the visitor center.
The Chek Jawa wooden promenade.
Jejawi Tower in the middle of Check Jawa Forest.
Chek Jawa is a wetland area composed of 7 interdependent ecosystems including coastal forest, mangrove and different types of shorelines. Each of the ecosystems brings its share of rare plants, local and migratory birds.
For a view overlooking the forest, there is nothing better than the observation tower (Jejawi Tower), which I headed to first before the sky fell on my head. It was the only place where I actually came across people since a class on an outing was coming back from there and leaving the coastal promenade along which the tower is located (named Mangrove and Coastal Loops).
Given the late hour, I unfortunately didn't linger too long, but the full daytime walk can be really nice for observing the wildlife. local (you can see some exotic birds like pied hornbills, and, in addition to wild pigs, monkeys, monitor lizards etc.).
The view from the tower.
Only green. Too bad the sky was so overcast.
Pekan Quarry
As a last quick visit before returning the bike and heading back to the city center, I was going to take a look at one of the old quarries on the island. These are now all filled with water and form artificial lakes which are a refuge for birds such as herons.
I was going to Week Quarry, because it is the closest to the village where the quay I arrived by is located.
The lake of the old Pekan quarry.
Other visits on the island
Continuing further west from Pulau Ubin, you can visit a few more small local attractions. Starting with the island's "peak", Bukit Puaka, which rises to 74m. It overlooks another lake.
Next door is a small Chinese temple, Wei Tuo Fa Gong Temple. As you head towards the Ketam Mountain Bike Park, a recently developed (45) 2008-hectare park with 10 km of mountain bike trails, you will pass the so-called German Girl Shrine.
The shrine of the "German girl". Photo credit: Kars Alfrink (photo flickr under license commons creative 2.0)
To summarize the history of this sanctuary, it dates back to the First World War. There was then on Island Ubin a piece of land on which a German family who owned a coffee plantation had settled. If the owners are identified as Daniel Brandt and Hermann Muhlingan, the identity of their daughter remained unknown.
When war broke out, the British army rounded up the German plantation owner and his family. His frightened daughter (about 18 at the time) fled into the woods. The rest of his family was sent to a detention center in Singapore. A few days later, the girl's body was found dead by plantation workers.
While at first the workers simply covered her body with sand and offered her flowers and incense as they passed by, a group of Chinese workers on the island eventually carried her remains to the top of the quarry and gave her a proper burial.
Pulau Ubin, a preserved corner, but until when…
To sum up my impressions, Pulau Ubin is particularly atypical, I really like this feeling of being completely somewhere else, while still being in Singapore.
It is a perfect island for relax for a day and spend time surrounded by a nature still preserved. It should be noted that Pulau Ubin is the last place in Singapore with a natural rocky coastline.
All other islands are being massively transformed as part of the land reclamation plan to gain land from the sea. A project was also planned for Island Ubin, currently on hold until absolutely necessary to be expanded. But with the expansion of galloping urbanism, Island Ubin should unfortunately not be an exception and see its landscape radically change if these central reservations were to be developed.
For the record, I had roughly spotted the bus I was supposed to take for the return, but I was a little confused about the direction of the circuits. Arriving at the stop that I think is the right one, I look at the bus numbers while waiting.
A gentleman getting off a bus just now saw me in a bit of a "trouble" and gave me some information straight away, and for some reason I don't know, gave me his card straight away. EZ Link (rechargeable card for using public transport) in which there were some credits left. So I was able to get in for free by having the right bus number. I barely had time to thank him before I jumped on the bus in question.
This confirmed my impression from the trip that Singaporeans had become less "cold" in a few years, because other people had helped us earlier when we went to the Southern Ridges.
How to get to Pulau Ubin
You have a dedicated wharf in the north of Singapore, not far from the airport. If there are several access wharves on the island, this is normally the only one that is open to the public. There are in fact 2 other wharves in the north of the island to access the Outward Bound Singapore, youth centers (a type of camp for activities similar to scouting).
From Changi Wharf, count 15 to 20 minutes to get to Pulau Ubin Island.
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