Pulau Ubin Cycling

another good ride to the ubin island from my home. cover a total of 55km. is only half the distance if I were to be in Suzhou but it is better than sitting at home without doing much exercise.

woke up at 6pm, get myself prepared, washed up, had a light b/f and off i went to pulau ubin. started off at about 6:45am when the sky starting to brighten up. Rode slowly at the pace of 15 to 20km, passing through concrete wall of HDB flat, road with tree canopy cover, industrial park and gardens. by 7:45am, i reached changi point ferry terminal where we would take bum boat to the ubin island at the most east eastern part of Singapore. make a call to my friends and he told me that it will take another 15 to 20mins to reach changi point.

they reached, together with them, we queue for the bum boat ride, S$2.50 for a person and S$2.00 for a bike. there are another 5 with their bikes going to pulau ubin as well. I understand that there is a mountain bike park that has a 8km track and these riders must be heading for that.

well, we reached the island, picked our rental bike from one of the many rental shops. they have various type of bikes, single suspension, dual suspension, single seat, dual seats, children bikes, girl bikes, etc. started our journey on the island. rather slow ride with many stops to take pictures, view scenary, take leak, feed terrapin, resting.

by 12noon, we returned the bike and had lunch on the island. headed back to main island and had ice-kacang (红豆冰沙) before i rode another 18km from Changi point to SengKang where I stay.

Seng Kang HDB flat taken from the bridge spanning across Serangoon river.

the morning sun taken at the tampines industrial park

Passing by the Downtown East Resort. Currently, the biggest theme park cum chalet in Singapore. By early next year when Resort Sentosa World and Resort World are open, this theme park will be the smallest.

Reaching Changi point. Another 2km.

Finally reached.

Changi Point Ferry Terminal, bum boat took us to Pulau Ubin

my ride together with other on the bum boat

Boatman concentrating on his job.

one of the bike rental shops. many type of bikes available for rental. the owner is teochew, they were speaking to ah wee about life in pulau ubin.

my friends

My bike

Terrapin being fed

Wee doing the job

that was me at one of the mountain bike session entrance.

map of the mountain bike park.

the mountain bike trail actually surround this quarry.

friends

friends

friends

lunch after the ride

Secondary School Pictures

it has been almost 30 years since my first day at secondary school. so to recapture some of the memories, a ex-school mate actually started a facebook group for that. Here I show you a link to some of the pictures. let me know if you can spot me.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1215116171717&oid=113992092810

been some time

Since we were back from China, we have not really went for a good outing. 2 weeks ago, while reading paper, i saw that HI-5 is heading to town for a show. i thought, it may be a good idea to bring my son for the show. so, i went on to book ticket online for a Friday afternoon show.

Friday, i took leave and went to the show with my family. my son and wife love the show but i almost felt asleep (haha, a bit bore for me) but still good for them. as long as they enjoy it.

After the show, it was about 5:30pm and we thought we should head to changi airport for dinner. many in other countries usually will not travel to their airport for meal but in Singapore, it is a norm. many singaporean love to eat, and the changi airport has lots of restaurants as well as food outlets to cater the singaporean. we had the steamboat cum bbq at T2 (terminal 2, Changi Airport has 3 terminals), total damage about S$35, ok for a family of 3. after dinner, we head to T3 as we have not visited the T3 before since it opening 2 years back.

T3 is very well build and nice. there is also a Crowne Plaza Hotel right next to T3. at the same time, as Singapore is hosting the 2nd night F1 race during end of September, there is promotion of the F1 that has free F1 arcade game, complimentary photo. Keith took part in the arcade game competing with 3 other kids similar of his age. the helper mending the game told him to go slow with his accelerator and he did. With some spinning and lost of direction, he was leading the race. The other 3 racers were spinning so hard and their rear wheels were gone. After 3 mins, Keith came in first. We were so proud of him. He received a gift from the promoter, a 3D F1 car puzzle.

Keith, getting ready to race.

Keith holding his winning gift from the race.

Keith winning gift.

Gan Bei - 干杯

Once a Chinese and an English man went to the restaurant.

They begin to tuck into their food. The Chinese man lifts his glass up and makes a toast to the Englishman
"Gan Bei" (Cheers). The English man was confused but he continues eating.

This happens a few times and whenever the Chinese man wanted to drink he would always say "Gan Bei"

The English man only nods and silently continues to drink and eat again.  Not so long after the Chinese man says it again, "Gan Bei" while he is lifting up his glass.

This time, the English man puts his cutlery down and angrily said to the Chinese man " It's all right if you CAN'T PAY!" I will pay! So just shut up".