Sunday, June 26, 2011

Labrador Nature Reserve












Went for a relaxing meditation outing at Labrador Park, a place of beautiful greenery & sea view besides its rich history. A great place to listen to the nature's Orchestra of birds, insects, swaying of tree leaves and waves of the sea.


In future, there is Labrador MRT at the very front entrance of the Park but there is quite a distance to walk as the Park is quite deep-in. Currently, may be accessible via SBS bus 408 from Harbour front Bus Interchange which operates only during weekend & Public Holidays.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Pulau Ubin

A day of good weather that we had for our trip to Pulau Ubin.

We arrived at Changi Jetty near Changi Village to take a bumboat to the island. The boats operate from 6am-8pm and will only leave if it has 12 passengers ($2 per person) , so one either wait or pay the difference for the boat to start the journey.




It takes only around 15 minutes to reach the island.

Once onto the island, after the jetty board to welcome you to Pulau Ubin, one steps into the rare to see kampung days' scene in city. It is a recommended way to tour the island via cycling, hence there are a couple of bicycle shops with various types of bicycles suitable for families (with baby/child seat), dual extended version for couples and mountain bikes which is more recommended for the stony, forest path of the island. And the rental is very reasonable ranging from $6-$14 depending on the age of the bicycles for a WHOLE DAY!
For those who do not cycle, they can either take a slow stroll or take a taxi/van which charges about $6-8 per person per trip (to be negotiated in advance) to the island's popular places of interest.


The roads are already much well improved compared to many years ago when we had school excursions and we decided to explore Chek Jawa, the island's popular nature site. It is about 20minutes' bicycle ride from the jetty.


All car passengers or cyclists have to alight and park their bicycles just outside the reserve. A short walk to the right and one reaches the Information Kiosk manned by at least 2 friendly rangers where you can get information brochures on the Chek Jawa Wetland.





First sign of wildlife on land that we saw a mother wild boar with her kids near the kiosk.





We decided to begin with the rightmost path and a beautiful British colonial era cottage - House No 1- Chek Jawa Visitor Centre, appeared before us. The other side of the cottage has a fantastic sea view with a viewing jetty.



Beware, these are not beautiful greenland but green mosses floating above the water near the shore that one may mistaken.












A great place to watch planes flying low in the sky, a beautiful picture of technology and nature.



From the cottage, we walked back to the information kiosk and embarked on the 2nd path that leads us to what resembles the boardwalk concept at Macritchie Reservoir. There is a small adventurous sloppy path before one reaches the Coastal Boardwalk.










Near the end of the boardwalk, we reached the Seagrass Lagoon which we spotted the secretive crabs and mudskippers.


To be continued....