HOLA~ Yet another one of those overdue blog entries simply because recently, I've been doing a lot of productive and some rather unproductive things and therefore, I didn't even have time to blog. Well, productive things basically mean editing photos, which could jolly well spend me at least an entire day for a single film, and unproductive things could mean going out... :|
Which reminds me that I have 2 more DVD concerts of Namie Amuro and ayumi hamasaki that I have yet to unwrap and photograph. Think I shall do these next week or the following week when I have more time. Next week would probably be the most hectic week for me considering that I have to go shooting (with a rifle, this time round...)
Anyway, last Sunday (May 6, 2012), Vera, Nick, Jessica, Bing Ru, Jun Xi and myself went over to one of Singapore's island, Pulau Ubin, to celebrate Jessica's belated 21st birthday. This was meant to be celebrated way in April but due to some unfortunate unforeseen circumstances, we had to postpone it. Sorry Jess~
And as always, I'll leave most of the talking to the photographs. Took lots of really good ones but had to heartlessly omit some of my favorite shots because they don't really do much to telling the story of what we did there. Sigh~ The harsh world of photography merging with writing - hence the blog name "word shutter"...
Early in the morning (or not...), I headed over to nex at Serangoon with Nick and Vera to collect Jessica's birthday cake before heading over to the Changi Point Ferry Terminal which I didn't know was located near the hotel where
Alvin celebrated his 21st birthday. Goes to show that Singapore is really small, yes? Anyway, we had to take a taxi because we thought that we were late and furthermore, taking a bus over to this place would be a torture since it's relatively out of the place.
Here's Vera with the Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake packed in this aesthetically pleasing box but honestly, the design is bad because it doesn't have a tight seal and isn't as insulating as the Swensen's boxes which they use to keep their ice cream cake and therefore, the cake was melting at a steady rate despite the extra dried ice that Vera bought. You'll see what I mean later on. While waiting, went around the terminal, snapping photos but they aren't really very interesting.
V.I.P!! Here comes the princess in a carriage in the form of a taxi. Shortly (or maybe not?) after we arrived, the rest of the party people arrived and I managed to snap a photo of Jessica inside the taxi. Coolness, yes? :D
You might think that not many people would want to go to Pulau Ubin but you are absolutely wrong! There were tons of people at the terminal that day but thank goodness, they also had lots of bumboats to transport us over to the island despite each boat's capacity of 12 passengers only. In case you don't know what a bumboat looks like, this is it. Not a classy ferry but good enough for a 5 - 10 minutes ride across the sea.
The pair of best friends since they were in Secondary 1 sitting inside the bumboat side by side. If you're interested in a short getaway, you could also head to Pulau Ubin for just S$2.50 per ride (return ride not inclusive). Plus, if you want an even greater deal, you can search online for those coupons like what Jessica did for a whole day adventure pack which includes lots of activities which I shall go through in this post.
And we've finally arrived at Pulau Ubin~ Well, not really
finally considering that the ride was really really short as compared to the ride I took to Batam. We were greeted with these colorful flags to symbolize that the island is celebrating some festival for some Chinese deity but that's not why we came here in the first place. Anyway, this is the second time I've been on this island even though I'm a Singaporean - the first being one of my secondary school Student Council camps which I have extremely vague memories of...
Even though it's her birthday, Jessica went all out to prepare these really yummy durian puffs made from fresh durians! They were so soft and creamy and delicious! In fact, she made a whole box of those and throughout the entire trip, we snacked on these like candies because they were so good and of course, we finished every single morsel of it~ Fantastic cook she is!
For our deal, we headed over to the Celestial Ubin Beach Resort just a stone's throw away from the jetty we alighted from. They offer services like fish spa, full day bicycle rental, kayaking, fishing, accommodation and some others. If you enjoy the beach and enjoy the water, you would probably want to go to Ubin one day to satisfy your inner surfer (not that you get to surf in Singapore's quiet waters anyway...)
After registering our deal at the really tiny registration counter, we headed further into the resort to prepare for the cake cutting ceremony for Jessica's birthday. Tip if you're going to Pulau Ubin - don't get an ice-cream cake. You'll feel sorry for it by the time you get there. We picked this extremely huge red and blue umbrella to "camp" at with the "gentle" sea breeze hitting upon our faces.
HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY JESSICA!! We immediately got down to business the moment we opened the box because ice cream cake waits for no one. At the speed the cake was disintegrating plus the strong wind blowing upon it, hasting the melting process, we had to fight against time to ensure that everyone would still be eating a solid cake as opposed to liquid cream.
Notice in the previous photo, the candle wasn't lit up? Well, the wind was so strong there was no way we could successfully light up that single candle, let alone candles for a 21 year old lady. We improvised by striking a match stick and getting Jessica to blow that out for her birthday wish instead because at least the flame stayed alive longer on that wooden stick.
This close up photo of the cake shows you how madly the cake was melting. It's almost as though the cake was sitting in a puddle of cream. Next time, we will stick to a normal sponge cake that doesn't melt as crazily as this one because this was messy!! But it's a gorgeous cookies and cream cake, yes?
Another disadvantage of an ice cream cake? You can't serve them on kitchen towels or facial tissue because you would be eating the cake plus paper. So, we took these small pink spoons and literally attacked the cake before it disappeared before our very eyes. The cake is made up of a delicious chocolate sponge that's rather frozen (which I love~) at the bottom, topped with a thick, generous layer of cookies and cream ice cream and garnished with 3 Oreo cookies and chocolate decoratives around the cake. Though messy, it was still heavenly!
Part of the deal that Jessica got for us included a full day bicycle rental and after stuffing our faces with that gorgeous cake, we picked our vehicles just a tree away from the red and blue umbrella and cycled away~ A bicycle (and the skill of cycling) is really important on this island because there are no such things as buses so you either walk or travel on bicycles. If you really cannot cycle though, you should grab someone who can and rent those double-bikes so the person in front will be doing most of the work while you enjoy the breeze at the back.
From the resort, we cycled 2.4km further into the island to their other branch to enjoy (or not) the fish spa that came with the deal as well. There was no time limit to the fish spa so if you enjoy getting your legs tickled or fed on by the fishes, you could choose to stick your legs in the pool for the whole day and no one is going to care whether the fishes are eventually going to devour you entirely. Here we have Bing Ru, Jessica, Nick, Vera and Jun Xi by the pool.
Honestly, I didn't like the fish spa because it was so ticklish! I can't handle tickles! When I put my legs into the water, the fishes immediately came over to attack them and it felt like electric eels swimming around your legs. The fishes nibbling on my feet felt like small electric shocks. After less than a minute in the water, I gave up and resumed my duty as the day's photographer.
Just a few minutes before we reached the spa, it started pouring heavily and I really meant HEAVILY. There were lightning and thunder and the rain was so strong it drenched parts of our bodies even though we were under shelter at the fish spa. My camera was wet but thank goodness it's still functioning until today. The dry box is really essential! Due to the sudden storm, we sought shelter at the fish spa and some of them entertained themselves while spa-ing and playing card games.
When the rain finally stopped, we went back to our bicycles and started our journey to exploring the small island. Here's my bicycle and I swear that this might be the last time I'm going to rent a bicycle at Ubin without those gears which you can adjust to make cycling easier. Being a rocky island, some parts of Ubin are extremely uneven and cycling on this bicycle upslope is definitely a living nightmare. I spent a lot of the time pushing the bicycle uphill because my legs couldn't take it anymore as some of the slopes were really steep. Nevertheless, cycling was still fun because there were lots to explore and lots to see!
For instance, we cycled past this container which this really interesting painting/advertisement of the drink store beside it. If you're thirsty or want a break for your bum from all that cycling, you can park your bicycle and have a breather at the many drink stores located on the island. Most of them would sell coconut drinks to cool yourselves down but unfortunately, due to the bad weather, we didn't really had a chance to stop for a drink but at least I took this photo which I adore~
We cycled over 5km from the spot we had our fish spa over to one end of the island - Chek Jawa. Chek Jawa, from my understanding, is like a marshlands and it feature lots of wild life but again, due to the bad weather, all we could see was water. There is this really long bridge into the sea for you to strut down if you're interested but because we were on a tight schedule, I didn't have time to head down to take photos. Sigh~ Maybe my next trip, I shall go to the end of this gorgeous bridge to shoot to my heart's content.
The museum overlooking the beautiful sea at Chek Jawa. This is definitely one of my favorite shots of the day. Even though Ubin is filled with trees, jungles and forests, there are some interesting structures to feast your eyes on and this is one of them. I would highly recommend a trip down to Chek Jawa just to look around because the scenery is amazing and there are lots of things to photograph. Even if you're not a shooting kind of person, it's a romantic place to bring your lover to. *wink wink*
I've never imagined that Singapore (well, not the mainland, of course) has such a BEAUTIFUL quarry! Well obviously, this photo was enhanced but I have to be honest - the water was touched up to bring out the natural color of the greenish blue water. Yes, this is how the water looks like in real life! Isn't it pretty? I was pleasantly stunned when we cycled past this area and I had to get the whole troop to stop because I had to take a photo of this place. It's so pretty I can die!
Apparently, there are more than one quarry on Ubin and I'm not sure what this one is named (Please leave a comment at the end of the post if you do! I'll appreciate it!) so maybe the next time I go there, I shall go hunting down the rest to see if they are as gorgeous as this one. Maybe next time, I shall go back and take a landscape photo of this during sunset for better light~
Cycling over 10km in a few hours is definitely hard work and after exercising and toning our thighs, it's time to exercise our digestive juices (that sounds so unsexy all of a sudden). The deal also came with a pasta of your choice - either spaghetti bolognese or spaghetti with lobster. We headed over to the restaurant near the fish spa area after exploring the island and parked our puwets down for our well deserved rest.
Inspired by one of those Facebook "games", Bing Ru suggested that we place our mobile phones stacked on top of one another so that we do not go back to our anti-social styles of looking at the phones instead of our friends. Well, not that it matters to me anyway because I was using a phone that could only be used for texting and calling (it's not a smartphone). So, the rule of the game is that anyone who couldn't resists and has to touch his/her phone during the meal will have to treat the entire table. My phone rang a few times but knowing that they were just Twitter updates, I disappointed the rest by not touching it. I'm an expert, yes? :D
Most of us picked the Lobster Spaghetti thinking that it would be a great deal because come on, who doesn't like lobsters?! Well, it was a terrible letdown to be honest. Here's how it looks like. What it tastes like? Well, the spaghetti sauce was flat and all you could taste was just flat sweetness. The lobster was just shells and the meat inside doesn't even taste like shrimps! It felt like some hard, disgusting meat thingie. Good thing this pasta isn't listed on the menu so the restaurant cannot con people that they use genuine lobsters because I seriously doubt so. Wouldn't recommend this at all~ The bolognese version wasn't as fantastic neither so honestly, you can forget about the pasta. It's atrocious. But since it came with the deal, might as well have it right?
Another aspect of the deal, which costs S$19.90 from what Vera told me, is that it comes packaged with an hour's worth of kayaking in this small pool by the restaurant. As most of us were tired from the cycling expedition, a lot of us gave it a pass and sat at the table, gossiping away. The adventurous ones who ran on car batteries were Nick and Vera. After having the pasta, they went straight for it and enjoyed themselves in the water for around 20 minutes because firstly, the pool was small and secondly, we had a boat to catch to return home. For me, on the other hand, I enjoyed snapping photos of them from the restaurant because they were having so much fun, it kinda made me happy watching.
Before heading back to the terminal to catch our bumboat back, we took a photo at this iconic structure to the bridge leading into the island. I think anyone who goes to this island will have their picture taken here, yes? Here are all those who went for the trip, including myself, because we took this photo using a tripod. Hee hee~ :P Had to justify me bringing the tripod yes?
We took advantage of the sunset behind us and took a couple of group shots with it. Really gorgeous, yes? Presenting to you the Lims with a Peh~ Thank you, Jess, for inviting us to this wonderful birthday celebration which also helped me burn a lot of calories and allowed me to explore this beautiful island of nature!
The best friends posing with their Instax photos taken from Jessica's Instax camera. I hope that their friendship will continue lasting through the test of time and that they will always be by each other's side even though they are physically away from one another. :)
And finally, the last shot featuring the beautiful sun setting behind that thick layer of clouds but yet, still radiating that beautiful glow taken from the bumboat back to mainland Singapore. Overall, I say that this Ubin experience was really special because we really explored lots of of the island and burnt a lot of calories in the process. All that ice cream cake and pasta didn't make me feel guilty at all after all the exercise. Furthermore, having my siblings and good friends along with me on this trip made this experience so much more special because we spent time watching out for one another and enjoying ourselves together.
Will definitely go there again one day to take photos at my own pace~ :) Once again, thank you Jessica, for inviting us!! :)
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