Oh Crap! A Crocodile!

Or is it an alligator?

Hi everyone,
Today, Tuesday was a lot of fun. I went to Pulau Ubin. It's rural part of Singapore, an island about 1 kilometre off the coast off the main island.

Yes, rural Singapore.

I had to see it to believe it.

Singapore, as I think I have mentioned is very hectic and crowded. But I heard about this island you can visit that is part of Singapore and is still pretty undeveloped. So after a 20 minute subway ride towards the east end of the island, and a half hour bus ride, I arrived at the dock. It was quite an adventure just getting to this far, trains (subways) are easy, buses aren't. I waited about 15 minutes on one side of the road, only to find out I was on the wrong side, and had to wait another 15 before catching the right one. Surely I had missed at least one that was going in the right direction.

Anyways, I finally got to the dock. It was only a few dollars to get on a bumboat headed to Pulau Ubin. A quick trip over and I arrived. You get off at a little area with 2 or 3 open air restaurants, some bike rental paces, a police station and a visitor centre. Though there is a decent amount of tourism to the island, its not too heavy, and the fact that I went on a weekday probably helped. I saw very few other tourists in my time there. It was really nice to have the peace and tranquility after spending time in the main areas of the city.

I rented a bike and headed off. The island has a few villages you see as you ride around. It feels like stepping back in time.

I was able to get a lot of great exercise, and take in some awesome scenery. It's really thick tropical forest, and there are secluded paths. After riding a few minutes, I went over a bridge over a little stream. Then I saw it there in the stream, a crocodile (or alligator, I'm not sure). It wasn't a huge one, but about 3 feet is big enough. I stood there, staring at him for a few seconds in shock, then he dived deeper and I couldn't see him. I got to see some other cool animals. A big lizard walking along the same stream (it was probably 2 feet long). I saw mudskippers and birds and fish and more. I also saw at least 10 wild boars in a pack. Supposedly they're rather elusive, the pamphlet for the island says its very rare to see them, which made it all the cooler. I was biking down the path, and they started running across it about 50 feet in front of me. I didn't dare get any closer. I saw a few, and thought that was it, then a few more, and more still. I waited a while to make sure they were all gone, I hear boars can be pretty vicious.

Later, I saw another crocodile. This one nearly made me crap my pants. I was flying down this really narrow, really secluded path, close the the shore of this little lagoon, in thick forest. Then, outta nowhere, about 5-7 feet from me I saw this second crocodile go running off. I assume I startled him. He sure startled me.

I saw something else, no idea what it was. I got a ways of the main paths again. I had to park my bike and walk, as the "bridge" was too precarious for a bike. All i know is it had a huge tail, it was in the woods near me, and it booked it outta there on my approach.

In addition to the awesome wildlife, and great bike riding, I got great views. Plenty of coastline and lagoons. I saw a mangrove swamp which was really cool, they had this open air "tower" you could climb up to look over the swamp. There was also a boardwalk (no bikes) to walk on to go through the swamp. Another cool thing was this really long coastal boardwalk, I was there at high tide, though at low tide you supposedly can see all the marine life that gets exposed.

No one in sight

Anyways, I got plenty of time out there to chill, and not see anyone else, just staring off towards Malaysia.

Malaysia

I met a group of Singaporean guys (all retirees) who were also out for a walk. We chilled out there and talked about food and Singapore and travelling. They gave me some great tips. They had all sorts of questions for me, like about my trip. When they heard I was from near Boston, one of them mentioned the Big Dig! I thought it was pretty funny that they had heard about it (and what a mess it was). They were also asking about the food where I live and so on. It was a unique and great experience.

Late in the afternoon I caught the boat back. I stopped for Nasi Lemak near the dock, supposedly that's the area with the best Nasi Lemak. Nasi Lemak is a Malay dish. It more of a meal than just one dish. It has rice cooked in coconut milk, cucumbers, chili sauce, an egg, fried chicken wing, and tiny crunchy salty dried fish. Definitely not my favorite thing I've eaten. It was edible, but not something that made a good impression on me. I dunno what it was, just didn't like it.

I took a walk on the beach nearby as well. It was a pretty neat area, though on the main island, it's far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

I made my way back and pretty much chilled out.

That was a long post.

But, I need to inform you about the food, of course.

I have no clue what I had for breakfast. Before I headed off for my little trip, I stopped in a Hawker Centre nearby. I found the longest line and got in it. However, everything was in Chinese, no English. When I got towards the front, and they asked me what i wanted, I just pointed and asked for the same thing that the person in front of me ordered. It was interesting. I was given three dishes. One was these white, flat, chewy noodles with this sweet-spicy sauce. They were good for the first few bites, but after that, not so much. the other was these finer noodles, with lots of sesame and another slightly sweet sauce. This one was really good. The other was a rice porridge with scallions and little crispy fried noodle-type pieces. I still have no idea what this was all called.

No idea what this is called

Tonight (my Nasi Lemak was my lunch/dinner), I had an interesting snack. It's an Indian thing served on the street here. It's like a small funnel cake, fried tile very crispy and very greasy. Then it's submerged in this vat of thick, red-orange sugar syrup. Its drained slightly, and you eat it. It's made fresh to order. It's calorific. The crunchiness and the sugar syrup makes it almost seem like a candy, but greasy, and awesome :).

That about wraps up my day.

One other thing, I know this is a really long post...
I have to answer a few questions that have been asked.

The white stuff on the Sup Tulang-Raw cabbage

What is a Hawker Centre- A building in which a variety of food stands are located. They're very cheap and delicious. Sorta like a food court, but all the food is made fresh, by independent businesses. They often specialize in just one or a couple dishes. They're open air and very casual. Basically, Singapore wanted to "clean up" the streets. That meant getting rid of street vendors, but they didn't want to destroy all the great food culture. So they were all moved to these centres. They're called hawkers because they often "hawk" their food. As you walk by some of them will try to convince you to buy their dish.

What is a durian- A very very stinky fruit. Loathed by many, loved by many others.

Spent Durian shells

Singapore is a fine city.

Goodnight,
Mike