Singapore - Day 139

After the euphoria of the GP on the weekend Matti suggested that we tag along and join him for a day exploring one of the more unspoilt parts of Singapore. Matti had read a bit about an island off the north coast in the Lonely Planet guide and we agreed that it would be a nice change from the retail/hightech buzz of the city.

The 4 of us (Kimmy, Emma, Matti and me) took the train to the end of the line towards changi airport, transferred to a bus that took us to the NE coast and then caught a 'bumboat' to Padang Ubin. It's a small island off the coast that is soon to be listed as a world heritage site. Arrived at about lunchtime and took a short walk through the town before settling on a place that had the best looking photographs on their menu. We're still battling to order food in a foreign language so pointing at the picture is the only way until we learn a little Mandarin!



Lunch was great, I'm still on the stirfried noodles and Emma got the dose of greens she's been craving for days.With our bellies full, we jumped on rented bikes to tour the island. About 20 minutes into the cycle we noticed the dark clouds looming overhead but, decided to trudge on. Then someone opened a zip in the clouds and all hell broke loose! At first we thought we could deal with the downpour but at the top of the hill in the north east corner of the forest trees started collasping right in front of us! Seriously, within the space of a minute we saw 3 trees (all 50ft plus) uprooted and fall in the road not even 20 meters away. It was at this point the Kimmy started having a sense of humour failiure and promptly started barking instructions to all of us to 'get the f*ck outta here!". We were wearing shorts, teashirts and flip flops -absolutely drenched and cycling for our lives in the opposite direction trying to find the shelter we passed on the way up. Sat under the shelter for about 30 minutes as the thunder continued to clap around us and saw the funny side of our near death experience.....but there was more to come.



Already completely soaked, miles away from a hot shower we agreed to keep going and followed one of trails on a map that we picked up at the info centre. It was only an hour into phase 2 that we realized that the trail was not suitable for bikes. At one point we had to get off the bikes and push them through overhanging bushes and paths that just weren't big enough. Eventually after going on a scouting mission by foot through knee deep clay I concluded that we'd reached the end of the road. The four of us turned back after about an hour, drenched and covered in mud, to find a new trail that finally took us back to the main tarred road and thankfully the little village we'd started at.After returning the bikes (you should have seen the look on the guys face) we sat down at the local village pub, sucked on a few Tigers and giggled about the reaction we were going to get from the city folk on the public transport on the way home.Emma is a beaut and like loads of the people we've met traveling so far, we're sad that we didn't get more time with her. She's off back the Oz and we both wish her well on her continued travels - hope to see you in Cape Town one day Em. Matti is off to Vietnam and we'll be joining him as soon as Kimmy gets her emergency passport from the SA embassy here in Singapore. Next stop, Ho Chi Minh City -Vietnam.