Pulau Ubin on Two Wheels

So Su En was trying to play the good host and one of the free Saturdays we had, we decided to head for Pulau Ubin - to cycle. 

Anyway weather is really crazy on this part of the world. It'd be really hot and humid one minute, then next thing you know, it's raining like a whole herd of cows were sacrificed to Rain God. On that particular Saturday morning, I was already up by 7am. It was cloudy out, but no signs of rain - yet. Then I received a text from Sue Wern. She said she'd just checked the weather forecast and there are hances of rain around Pulau Ubin. So she suggested we head for Bedok instead.

Su En pulak was determined to go ahead with Ubin anyways. In her words, if she's getting up so early, it's got to be to bring me to Ubin, cause she won't want to get up super early another time to do it again lol.

Took the risk and went on with Ubin anyways.

And guess what, weather was great! It was overcast, no direct sunlight. It was really pleasant and great for cycling. The boat ride from the jetty to the island took about 15minutes. Once we stepped foot on the island, we were greeted by rows and rows of bicycles for rental. 

Bicycles are rented between $8-10 for the whole day. Us girls were more interested in the 'pretty' two-wheelers than the functionality lol. Another friend from work, JL, took a mountain bike while the rest of us settled for the cute/pink/Ah Ma's pasar transport sort hehehe. I picked a light pink one, with a little basket in front and a bell that sounded like it had sore throat.

 

Who would have thought that Singapore holds such great nature?

I especially love this shot I took of SW. 

Su En brought us around and we finally reached the tallest point of the island. Huffing and puffing all the way up, the rewarding view -

 Nice eh? This shot doesn't do the view justice.... Love the cliff on the other side of the river... We also met a couple from Israel who were extremely surprised when we told them we know of Israel and where it is located haha. 

As usual, after a hard (somewhat debatable) workout, there's always extra calories to make up for the lost ones!

There was this huge seafood restaurant and thronged by the majority of the visitors. Su En led us right past the restaurant, and made a detour to a small little coffeeshop a couple of lots away.

Food was very good. We ordered stir-fry kailan, ginger chicken in dark sauce, omelette and also deep fried calamari rings :D In fact I had a shot of the calamari rings but it was blurry. Anyways, we were almost done with the three dishes in the picture before the calamari arrived. This uncle who brings out the plates from the kitchen was really blur. He kept bringing our food to another table! Then I think it was his wife who told him off and scolded him hehehehe poor uncle.

We only managed to cycle a part of the Ubin island, but Sue Wern and I were already planning to get here again and finish the other section!

Familiar Food in a Foreign Land

The others roped me in to cook for them :S

Tried out Mum's daun kaduk fried rice! Think Singapore doesn't have daun kaduk? Think again! They grow at the most unlikely of places, by the pavement outside my hotel, outside SE's place like a whole swamp!

Funny story is when we were trying to collect these leaves. We were walking past a walkway on the pavement when SE commented that she's seen those plants and asked us if those are daun kaduk. They sure looked like them, and I plucked one out, smells like one! 

So in order to pluck a whole bunch out without getting caught, three of us, MCC, SE and I pretended to stroll outside the hotel and later acted like we'd seen something interesting in the bushes. Then we started plucking whole bunches of the leaves. I think it would be downright ignorant of the passer-bys to not have noticed us as we were making quite a ruckus, giggling and all hahahah. There was this one apek who kept looking over at us and walking back and forth. Damn kepo ish.

We told Mum about our little act of thievery and she sent us an email, asking us to really make sure they are daun kaduk and edible if not we'll lose our voices lol.

Slaving in the kitchen one and a half hours later,

Ta-da!

MCC's herbal soup on the left, then clockwise my yummy stir fried pork slices with taters, daun kaduk fried rice, cashew nuts garnishings and stir fried sawi :D

Everyone said the fried rice was yummy! Though there were a few ingredients from Mum's recipe I left out because I couldn't get them, it was still very fragrant and best suited for the Penang Nonya tastebuds.

This shall be the bane on those hungry nights! Potatoes practically melt in your mouth, the onions so sweet...bliss!

One and a half hour of preparation and cooking. Less than half hour to wipe all clean :S But home -cooked food is worth it!

Second round:

Steamed fish Thai style. Couldn't get bunga kantan though, so the fish lacks the oomph, but nonetheless, all gone....

Jiu hu char that Sien Ee cooked and left frozen. Wrapped in lettuce with spicy sambal belacan (superb and authentic, from a jar, if you can believe it!), steamed egg and pork meat.

Survival skills 101: Must know how to cook! Or else you'd die from cravings and lack of appetite. :D