Trip to Pulau Ubin

A map of Pulau Ubin

Journal Entry 2

About the island

The trip to Pulau Ubin fell on the 28 October 2008. This trip was planned by my Co Curriculum Activities(CCA) to enhance the different qualities of what the school hopes to inculcate in us.

Shaped like a boomerang, Pulau

Ubin, also known as Granite Island, is situated just at the northeastern corner of mainland Singapore. The 1020-hectare island was once a cluster of five smaller ones separated by tidal rivers, but the building for prawn farming has since united these into a single island.

Ubin is largely made of granite hills. In the early days, granite mining supported a few thousands settlers. Much of the original vegetation was also cleared for the cultivation of rubber and crops like coffee, pineapple, coconut, jasmine, etc. Now, abandoned granite quarries remain as a picturesque relics of Ubin's history, while forests and grasslands have regenerated to cover up the ravages of the past.

What we did on the island

At around 7am in the morning, we gathered at the foyer to report our attendance to our teachers-in-charge. Together with them, we boarded the bus to Changi Jetty to wait for the bum boats which will bring us to Pulau Ubin. The bum boats came and the sea breeze was very cool. It was only a ride costing us 15 minutes of our time. When we reached there, we sprayed the insect repellent in order not to become "food" for the mosquitoes.

The first part of the journey was to go as fast as we could to Chek Jawa wetlands. Along the way, we saw many dogs. These dogs were very adorable and they do not bark nor whine and they don't bite unless they feel threaten. We also saw a family of wild boars. The wild boars appeared in a place where they are less likely to be spotted. We also saw mud crabs, mudskippers and many other living organisms which are not found in Singapore.

We trekked back all the way to the basketball court where we started this arduous journey for our lunch. After lunch, we continued to trek and we decided to trek up the hill which at the peak, we are able to sea the whole Ubin Quarry which is extremely beautiful. When we were at the half of the hill, some students complained that they were too lethargic to continue. But the rest of us did not want to give up and everyone decided to persevere a bit more.

Finally, we reached the peak of the hill and the scenery was extraordinary. However, too much of good may lead to a bad. When we reached the peak of the hill, it started to rain. We decided to wait for the rain to halt before going down the hill as it was rather dangerous to go down the steep and wet slope. The rain stopped 10 minutes later and we decided to get down the hill as fast as we could before it starts to rain again.

We walked all the way back to the jetty and take the bumboats back to Changi Jetty where we would take the bus to get back to school. Everyone was dead beat and there was pin-drop silence on the bus.

From this trip, I have learnt that we must persevere in whatever we do, be it in studies or other things. I have also learnt that teamwork is something which can aid us in whatever we want to achieve.