Our Little Adventures 2013 - Pulau Ubin, Chek Jawa (7 Dec 2013)

The December school holiday is here. My children and I had wanted to visit Chek Jawa Wetlands for a long time. Due to overwelming responses for the NakedHermitCrabs guided tour, we were put on a waiting list. Luckily, Ley Kun replied before the tour date and said she could put our family on the guided tour. 

 

I woke up early that day to prepare sandwiches in case the children were hungry during the walk. It states that the walk will take about 2 hours. We reached Changi Point Ferry Terminal at about 7.45 a.m.

 

[Photo by http://openurbanism.blogspot.sg/2013/05/pulau-ubin-chek-jawa-boardwalk.html]

The ticket for the bumboat is $2.50 per pax. We paid the uncle on board the boat. And off we go. Ivory did not join us because she was sick. We left her at grandmother's house.



 

My dear Imax looked excited. He was pointing at the main island and said what he could see.....

 

Here's my Isaac boy posing for me. The boat ride took less than 30 minutes. We reach the Ubin Ferry Terminal around 8.20 a.m.

[Photo by http://openurbanism.blogspot.sg/2013/05/pulau-ubin-chek-jawa-boardwalk.html]

We took a taxi (van) plate no. 128 to Punai Hut. We were early. The intertidal tour was scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m. and our guides were not here yet. So we roamed around the visitor centre area. 

The Visitor Information kiosk.

This used to be a house during the colonial time. It's now used as an exhibition hall.

Sick marine are kept here till they are well.

A fireplace

At the back of the visitor centre

This island is called Pulau Sekudu. Do see next photo for more information

 

We went back to the information counter at 9.10 a.m. Streams of people started coming. I believe they were also participants of the guided tour by NakedHermitCrabs. We were eating our breakfast (the sandwiches I prepared) when we saw wild boars coming out. They roamed in a family. They were finding food. This smaller boar was not camera-shy. He kept coming near us and posed for our cameras.

We started our walk at around 9.45 a.m. First we spotted a spider. Our guide, Pei Yan told us the spider resembles Mr Pringles (the potato chips).

We reached the Jejawi Tower and climbled up the tower. A beautiful view of Pulau Ubin from the top of the tower. We could see Malaysia, Tekong Island, Changi Airport tower from here.

[Photo by sparklette.net ]

Isaac talking to a new-found friend. They were both 7 yrs old.

Look at the box-up animal. It's a crab. The next pictures showed close-up of these crabs

[Photo by nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com]



[Photo by nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com]

We spotted a tree climbling crab. Please see next picture for close-up.

[Photo by http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.sg/2013/06/chek-jawa-with-special-guests.html]

Mud-skipper

This is the blue-spotted mud-skipper. [Photo by nakedhermitcrabs.blogspot.com]

This is the atap seed plant. It grows in mangrove. Please see next picture for atap seeds, in case you don't know what's that.

 

We usually find atap seeds in Ice Kacang. Very nice and sweet fruits.

When we continued our journey, our tour guide spotted an insect on a leaf. It was not a grasshopper or stick insect. It's green in colour but we do not know what it was called.

We also spotted some marine snails. They are different from the normal snails we usually see.

Scenic view while walking towards the broadwalk.

Someone spotted a snake. This is called the paradise tree snake. Look at the picture below.

Isaac borrowed the binoculars from our tour guide. He was trying to find the resident bird, the white bellied eagle.

Imax is also searching for the eagle.

We finished out walk by 11.30 a.m. We walked back to the visitor centre whereby the children drew some pictures on what they saw during their 2-hours walk. I called the taxi aunty to pick us up. She arrived at Punai Hut around 12 p.m. We ate our lunch at a zichar stall near the ferry terminal.

Taking the boat ride back to main land, Singapore. Imax was telling his Daddy about his little adventures.

 

It was a tiring day. The children slept in the car. 

My Family

Looking back to the past...I came from a family of 3, daddy, mummy and me. I remembered growing up as a lonely child. I was frustrated when I returned home to an empty house.

I told myself when I have a family, I want to have 2 kids. So that the kids have a companion. Wow,  now I have 3 kids. Two lovely boys and a sweet little girl.

I'm glad that I started family early. At least, I have the energy to chase after them...playing wrestling with Imax and catching up with Isaac.

Let's walk the the memory lane.

Issac was born in 2006.

 

Imax was born in 2008.

We had our family photos taken in 2009 because we did not expect to have a 3rd child.

Ivory's arrival was a surprise and special gift. Ivory was born in 2012.

Our family photo on Ivory's 1st birthday celebration (2013).

Looking back at these photos...I can say time flies. Children grow up so fast. I remembered this time of last year, I was still doing my confinement. Now, Ivory is 1 year old, has 2 teeth and is learning how to walk. She understands certain words like "sayang", "pat pat", "good girl", "naughty girl", "aeroplane", "MRT", "拍拍手", "擦肚子", "妈妈回来了", "爸爸", "公公", "婆婆". And her first word is "pa pa pa pa pa". Sigh!!, All my 3 childrens' first word is "pa pa pa pa pa". Maybe papa is easier to call than mama. Anyway, Ivory's our darling little girl. She loves to eat baby biscuits. She likes toys, music, books, attention & affection. And she's curious about a lot of things.

 

Imax is a funny boy. He never fails to make us laugh with his jokes. He's stubborn at times. We have to slowly talk to him. He likes attention too. We all know his love for food so we usually kept some fruits, snacks, chocolates and candies. And he still has one bad habit - bed-wetting ocassionally. Lol~ He's my funny little boy who loves affection.

 

Isaac is the eldest so we expect a lot from him. We hope that he can set up a good example for his younger siblings. We didn't have much time to teach him since both Xieyi and I were busy with work and the youngest one, so he's pretty much on his own in primary one. Luckily, his results are ok. We are relieved.



This is the blog about my family.