14 June 2009

Lazy on Ubin and Durians

It's a warm hazy morning as we head out to Pulau Ubin.
Pulau Ubin is teeming with mangroves. We're planning a short lazy exploration of Noordin Beach.

It's wonderful to see families bringing their young ones to visit Pulau Ubin. They seem quite excited to be on the trip!
On the jetty in the early morning, there's already a family that looks like they've been fishing for a while.
Ubin is tranquil in the early morning, even on a school holiday Sunday. The crowds don't start streaming in until much later.
First, we fortify ourselves with the marvellous Ubin-only, Sunday-only Lontong at Pak Ali's shop. It's only 8.30am and already, the Lontong is nearly all gone! Well, for the late comers there's still delicious Mee Siam, Mee Rebus and Nasi Lemak.
Noordin Beach looks sad. There's soft clay under the sand. And the hideous fence doesn't improve the ambience. But there's already some families and campers at this rather remote beach.
But today, we are looking for mangroves, so we head off inland and had a great time exploring the mangroves there. There's so much to tell, it's in a separate post.

We notice lots of activity along the roadside. It's Durian Season at Ubin!
There are roadside stalls it seems at every corner selling this strange fruit that gets everyone into a frenzy.

And lots of people parked along the roadside, ostensibly the base camp for forays in durian collection in the forested areas.
The haul seems impressive!
By the time we finish having lunch it started to rain. So we didn't eat any durians or even buy any to take home.
But I hear Ubin's durians are among the best. Alas, I'm not among those who enjoy eating this pungent fruit. So I wouldn't be able to share any further insights into this.

At lunch we also bumped into Vilma, Andrew, Celine, Kwok Wai and Marcus who were doing an overnight survey at Ubin. And also the Chek Jawa guides, who just finished doing a public walk today. There sure is a lot to see and do at Pulau Ubin!

More about Pulau Ubin.

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