Singapore Rediscovered: Pulau Ubin and Chek Jawa Wetlands

I think I might have enjoyed this trip to Pulau Ubin / Chek Jawa more than I’d thought I would. It’s probably largely due to the fact that it’s 100% paid for by the government. LOL! One uncle in my tour group summed it up so succinctly when he looked at the dishes laid out for our ‘seafood lunch’ and said “政府请的” (i.e. treat from the Government). It’s even worth waking up at 6am, going to Changi Village for breakfast, and meeting the group at 8.50am for the tour. If you’re interested in the itinerary, head over to this Klook page. And there are numerous Instagrammable spots on the island, the second largest of our offshore islands (after Tekong), so the young ones will certainly find ways to keep themselves occupied. That said, most of the folks in my tour group were senior citizens.

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A bit of history: Pulau Ubin’s original name is Pulau Batu Jabin (granite stone island) as it’s been the site for granite mining since the 19th century. The granite was used in construction projects such as for the lighthouses. At one time, there were as many as 5 granite quarries in operation and this economic activity attracted over 2,000 people to come live on the island! Now there are only about 30 who spend their nights here. According to our guide, there are now more houses than people on the island. Oohhhhh… sounds like it could be spooky! (In the 1970s, the granite quarries began to close as the industry faced a decline, and residents started leaving the island.)

House No. 1 was built in the 1930s as a holiday home for the then-Chief Surveyor, Langdon Williams. This Conservation Building has been restored and is now the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre. Our guide kept referring to this house as his own home, as a joke.

A bit of history: Besides granite mining, there was also rubber tapping and prawn farming on the island. The last of the prawn farms ceased operations in the mid-2000s. Interestingly, the mangroves ‘reclaimed’ the area after prawn farming activities stopped.

And oh! We did get to enjoy some steamed prawns at lunch but first… We had our breakfast really early (7.40am) at Changi Village. Haha! I picked braised duck noodles while my darling had nasi lemak from Mizzy Corner – he found a post about it on DanielFoodDiary. The chili’s really sedap but it’s strange how every item’s not hot/warm. He was the 4th customer – the stall had just opened for the day when we arrived. I did enjoy the chicken wing though!

And since we’re on the topic of food, here’s what we had for our seafood lunch that was probably the highlight of the tour. On the Klook page for the tour, you might see a tantalising picture of chili crab but forget about it, that crab will not materialise during the tour. Haha! The seafood (fish, prawns, clams) is really fresh though! And the rest of the dishes were tasty too. There wasn’t anything that was rejected. All the 6 seniors at our table approved. (And oh! There were a total of 24 participants for our tour on 26th April 2021, a Monday)

Actually 24 guests wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought there’ll be 8 pax, actually. And 24 proved to be a logistical nightmare too. We had some annoying fellas who weren’t at the meeting point by the stated 8.50am timing. One sent a message to the group at 8.45am saying “1km away” while another sent a message at 8.55am saying “We are 2 bus stops away.” (@_@) Our guide stays in Clementi and he still managed to be at Changi Point Ferry Terminal before 8.30am. (*The guide won’t berate participants who show up late, obviously, but let’s just say that those who are punctual and nice people get certain privileges. It’s really subtle. But those who notice it, will know what I’m saying. Put simply… BE EARLY, NOT JUST PUNCTUAL! If you’re late… shame on you!)

Here he is:

And 24 again proved to be a headache at the Changi Point Ferry Terminal as the bum boat uncles refused to set off until they had 12 passengers on their boat. But our guide had us in 3 groups of 8. So each group had to wait for another 4 pax (from the public) to join us before we could set off. So we waited around like a bunch of goondus for random people to show up. The guide tried to have one boat take 12 of us and another boat take 13 (inclusive of the tour guide himself) but there’s a strict limit of 12 pax only. IF we had set off in two boats with 12 participants each, the guide may be stranded at the ferry terminal waiting for 11 other people to show up. SO… to the tour agency (which I believe is Otter Tours), please just let 23 pax book this tour. Then together with the sole guide, it’s a perfect 24 people for boarding 2 boats lah. Please. Tolong.

Anyway…

I think my biggest ‘takeaway’ from this trip has to be that humans and (wild) animals can coexist peacefully. Here in Singapore, we are so spooked by reports of wild boars hurting people, otters wiping out the fish in condominiums’ ponds and scaring children (@_@), and people can’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea that we live on an island, our homes are encroaching on natural habitats and it’s not that wild animals are invading our space but that we’ve invaded their homes!

Right from the get-go, our guide had told us to keep plastic bags and bottles safely hidden in our bags as the monkeys and boars associate these plastic items with food. It was repeated ad nauseam that if you take out a plastic bag, a monkey’s going to come snatch it away from you. And towards the end of the tour, there was an auntie in my group who did the unthinkable – she took out her plastic bags. SO SHE COULD KEEP HER UMBRELLA IN THEM. Mind you, it wasn’t raining so the umbrella was dry. She could have stuffed the brolly into her bag, end of story. But no, she had to DOUBLE BAG the umbrella. Then she started screaming hysterically as a monkey descended from one of the trees near her and snatched the bags away. As we turned to look, we saw more monkeys heading in that direction. But that first monkey had already discovered that there’s no food in the bags so it dumped the bags and climbed up a tree. Of course, said auntie didn’t retrieve the bags. (@_@) Haiz.

Please don’t be a dumbass. If you’re told not to take your plastic bags out, then please follow instructions lah. Don’t be a dumbass, ok.

If you decide to go on this particular tour, do pick a weekday slot. Our guide told us that the island’s rather crowded on weekends too as even domestic helpers flock to Ubin on their off days. And of course, I expect that folks might bring their brats *ahem* I mean kids along. On weekdays, most of the people you’ll meet on the tour will be retirees. One obvious advantage: they’re probably all vaccinated already! Hahaha!

If you’re going on the same tour as we did, do wear covered shoes (sports shoes or trekking shoes are great) plus a cap and sunglasses. Wear long pants and tops / jackets with long sleeves if you’re concerned about tan lines or mosquitoes. Spray mozzie repellant all you want. Just know that the commando-type mozzies will still get to you anyway. So bring Mopiko – I did, ‘cos my darling is a mozzie magnet. After he got bitten, he slathered Mopiko on his arms. LOL.

One really smart thing my darling did was to freeze 1L of coconut water the night before the tour. So we had this ice-cool beverage in a carton for drinking throughout the tour. It was a new brand – ZICO – from the Coca-Cola Company. Tasted pretty good!

This tour is not suitable for the really elderly. If you’re unable to get around without a walking stick, please pick a less tiring tour. Just the boardwalk alone is about 600m, in the mid-day sun. It’s scorching hot, yes, and I was glad I had my sports fan around my neck to keep me cool. XD And then there’s a tower you can ascend that’s like 7 storeys high?

All in all, it was an enjoyable trip to Pulau Ubin – it’s like going back in time, to the 60s. No ATMs, no shopping malls, few vehicles, lots of wildlife.

Whatever you do, don’t let the SingapoRediscover vouchers go to waste, ya? See a tour you like, just sign up immediately. We waited too long and by the time we were ready to book the one featuring the Gardens by the Bay + Tung Lok lunch, it was fully booked already.

*Note: Our guide shared that when selecting bicycles for rent, make sure you test the brakes first. Don’t go for a ride and then discover that you can’t stop the bicycle as the brakes aren’t functioning. Also, he says $12 for full-day rental is steep. Ask around. If it’s about $8, it’s fine. We did not rent bikes as we got about mainly by van and doing a lot of walking.