Pulau Ubin

Brian and I enjoyed a festive Friday night celebrating our friend Karen's return to the island after being gone since the holidays. Our condo friends helped me organize dinner in her honor at Brewerkz on the river and we ended the evening at Jai's bar. The condo folks are great fun to go out with and certainly not a good influence for a couple doing triathlon training. When daylight came way too fast this morning there was no way I was hopping on my bike to ride for 1.5 hours. Instead, after a lazy morning at home, we packed up a picnic lunch for the family and drove out near the airport to catch a boat over to Pulau Ubin.

Pulau Ubin is a little island about a 10-minute boat ride from Singapore where you can enjoy outdoor activities in a more rustic village setting. People go there to camp, hike, fish and ride bikes. This was our first trip out there so naturally we didn't have a clue what we were doing. We didn't even go to the correct ferry terminal the first time around. Thankfully we were close to the right place and "booking" the boat was a casual transaction. An old man asked if we were going to Pulau Ubin (although I didn't even understand his pronunciation of the place) and led us to the boat. The  bumboats hold 12 passengers and they'll take your bikes across as well for a minimal fee.

We waited only a few minutes before boarding but unfortunately it began pouring down rain during that time, so we got soaked after reaching the island. After finding some shelter from the weather we ate our lunch and within 15 minutes, the rain ceased so we set out to rent some bikes with seats on the back for the little girls.

We spent the early afternoon riding around the island while listening to the sounds of birds and various creatures of the forest. At one point we heard what sounded like a wild rooster and that captured everyone's attention! The ride was more challenging than I anticipated. The combination of riding a 5-speed bike up hills with an extra 30 pounds sitting behind me made me feel less like I had cheated on my training today. It wasn't overly hot and we enjoyed riding through some fairly dense areas of rainforest and seeing the opposite end of the island where campers and boats congregated. Megan did a great job navigating the terrain on her own and it was nice to get off the beaten path a bit and explore this natural island next door.

On the drive home, I began thinking about where we will ride bikes as a family when we move back home. We really need to make the most of the beautiful tropical surroundings here.