203. GO TAKE A HIKE! UBIN & CHEK JAWA

This is how close we are to Malaysia, a hop, skip and a jump. That large island Tekong is one large military camp...

A short boat ride of 15 minutes took me into Ubin - a different world from mainland Singapore.

As I approached the jetty - a rustic, idyllic simple lifestyle

There isn't a great deal near the jetty, which can be considered the village center, with bicycles for hire, small eating places, drink stalls and small mom & pop stalls. I popped into a van which will take me to the far eastern end of the island where the action is...Chek Jawa.

I've been to Ubin several times and is taking a look at Chek Jawa for the first time. National Parks (NParks) has been working on these parts over years and is ready to welcome visitors in larger numbers.

Everybody alights at this colonial showpiece known as No. 1 which is the Visitor Center. It's a viewing point. It's front door faces a beautiful view of the Straits of Johore, across it is Changi Airport on one side and the large Tekong Island on the other.

As this is the only building of character on Ubin, I shall plaster more of it on this page...

The front of No. 1 commands a nice view of the Johore Straits...and this jetty which is not yet for public use...

Local residents are macaques and boars. I wonder why our otters have not made their homes on Ubin, they are instead running quite happily in busy, town areas 

They are sniffing out food in those bags...there are signs that warn against leaving bags hanging on bikes - alas! common sense is not common...

Mangroves are amazing and wonderful creations of Mother Earth - everything has its purpose, all have a role to play. It's only now, the human mammals are getting it into their consciousness how we are intertwined, and if other creations in the Plant and Animal Kingdoms are removed from the equation, it's to our peril...

The indigenous peoples have always lived in communion with Nature and respect all life, they kill only for food and do not destroy unnecessarily. The slash and burn method is practiced by today's men as farming became commercialised...and greed influenced the decision making...

Only Mother Nature can be so perfect and 'thinks' of everything - breathing roots - which hold on to the coastal earth so securely, acting as a buffer against very strong winds and waves...

life in the mud

From the mud rises the Nipa Palm or Mangrove Palm whose seed cluster produce attap seeds used in local desserts. The flower clusters produce an edible sweet sap that is turned into an alcoholic drink. The most useful part would be the leaf fronds which were for a long time used as roofing in traditional wood homes in SEA...

attap seeds or attap chee

nipah palms

How they make attap roofing in Indonesia where it's a thriving business sustaining village folks. It's good too that designers use attap roofing in their projects in resort hotels and botanic gardens etc...

Traditional attap ceiling and house...

Mother provides the materials...the creativity and ingenuity of the humans do the rest. At the Center for Ethnobotany, a part of Singapore's Botanic Gardens, the pergola is made out of wood, bamboo and attap, I was actually happy to see that and snapped a few pics which are in the post on the Center...

The stroll on the extensive boardwalk was really nice...it was overcast so that was pleasant, no scorching sun, no rain...

the tide was coming in that morning, so didn't get a chance to see intertidal life...

A butterfly patch where some local species hang out on their favourite flowers...

Ubin, during the days of the colonial government, was one large quarry. Workers imported from China and India worked at mining these quarries. Granite mined was used to build the Causeway across to Malaysia as well as Singapore's Horsburgh Lighthouse. There are several quarry lakes on Ubin...this one looks peaceful and serene amidst the greenery...it's very deep...

...and the ubiquitous look-out tower

202. GO TAKE ANOTHER HIKE! OLD MALAYAN RAILWAYS

This park connector (PCN) was a railway track of the Malayan Railways, covered over. It goes under this very busy road junction, Queensway. Under this, I could hardly hear the roar of traffic above. With the numerous park connectors all over the island and more coming up, it's possible to walk, jog, cycle, from end to end...and be the venues for future marathons...

Known variously as Greenway, Green Corridor and Rail Corridor, they cut through wooded areas and quiet residential estates, away from busy main roads...The walk today covered Buona Vista, Queenstown, Tanglin Halt and surrounds...

This very old estate is beside the rail tracks. The plan may be renewal or conservation as the blocks are art deco (which I adore)

The early flats were utilitarian, cobbled together hastily to solve the acute housing crisis, some still stand after more than 40 years, slated for urban renewal...

The building that went on in the 70's into the 80's was at fever pitch - the Tourism Board in their brochures mentioned that 1 unit was completed every 30minutes. Hollow bricks were used covered over with one layer of plaster - it was home to the large majority of residents. 

I liked the decorative brick and tile work on the front facade. The Queenstown Public Library (below) is one of Singapore's oldest - that facade wall is an original, going back to 1970

Some interesting installations in Biopolis One-North and Fusionopolis, a biomedical research and development hub for biomedical sciences. The building names are scientific too...this place is like a small township...

These black and white blocks are leftovers from colonial days. They provide rental accommodations for employees of Biopolis, a walk, jog and cycle away.

The family pet is black and white too...

The blocks go by names like Arabia...

...Corunna...

...Gaza

This village has its own watering hole - Colbar (Colonial Bar) which comes alive at night...

its own village square...

and an abandoned water storage tank which will be conserved as a heritage structure

and lots of fabulous old trees...this is such a gracious estate

By the side of this large bungalow, a lane took me into the woods...and a change of scenery...

Not out of the woods yet...

I got out of the woods to find myself on a busy main road going into 2 of the oldest public housing estates in Singapore - Queenstown and Tanglin Halt, the latter will undergo rebuilding soon. These were the first public housing erected under the SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust), the predecessor to today's HDB (Housing and Development Board)

In one unit of this shophouse was a tiny museum of memorabilia of the old Queenstown, when it had one of the earliest bowling alleys...

Passed these houses of worship that are neighbours...

A few more twists and turns from here, I was back into the woods...

I find the contrasts of Singapore quite fascinating...

Mother Earth reclaims her land by growing over what man has built on her land...

Goofing around inside the pitch darkness of the bunker, crawling with lizards and roaches...These bunkers are left over from WW2 and the Japanese Occupation. The British used them as storage facilities and some are really large like those on Fort Canning with living quarters and cells for prisoners of war