19 Nov - The Beginning
The eight of us took the 10 p.m. coach from Golden Mile Complex to Hentian Bukit Gantang in Perak. The 9.5 h journey was rather uneventful and everyone tried their best to sleep despite the oncoming vehicle lights and the stops at Yong Peng, KL, Ipoh.
20 Nov - Alone in the dark with sandflies for company
After having breakfast in a coffee stall in Ulu Cheh, the lot of us was ferried to the base camp where equipment and rations were distributed. Wow, everyone was issued a parang - instant Rambo!
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| One of the instructors demonstrating how a bamboo water bottle is made. Everyone was supposed to make his/her own water bottle because we had to use it for the rest of the course or go thirsty for 4 days. For novices like us, it took us more than an hour to make an acceptable water bottle. | Hairy Clidemia (Clidemia hirta). Suffering from cuts and bleeding wounds? Simply put some leaves in your mouth and chew, then spit out to rub on your wound. Tried on a bleeding leech wound and it seemed to work. Talk about jungle medicine! | Our model of the year, with accessories - parang and a recently dug ginger in her hands |
21 Nov - leech armies, drenched clothing and furious waters
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| Shelter for the previous night. Made from the Bertam Palm stems and leaves. A real hassle to work with as the plant is full of thorns on the stems and leaves. | Carrying firewood from the Meranti tree to the next campsite. Meranti can burn very well as it contains flammable resin within the wood. | Rafflesia. One of the biggest flowers in the world. Very rare! |
22 Nov - More fun with plants
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| Trail making in the jungle. Lighter side of the leaf is supposed to face the observer so that he can follow the direction the leaf is pointing to. Useful for guiding rescuers to your location if lost | Bamboo noise trap. Trip the twine and the bamboo snaps shut, creating a rather loud noise. Great for giving an advance warning of approaching humans or animals. Have to test the system first though as it may not work as designed. | What do you do when your bamboo noise trap sounds? Grab your bamboo spear of course. Ah, the multiple uses of bamboo... |
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| A dip in the river after a hard day's walk. | After all the above strenuous activities, it's chow time to replenish all those lost calories. Cutting open the Bayas Palm to get to the edible heart. Unfortunately, the one we cut open has a rotten heart and there was no way to tell beforehand. Just had to cut down another Bayas and try again. | Dinner around the campfire. Dinner menu included rice, Maggies noodles, sardines with onions, Anchovies in belachan - not too bad considering we are in the middle of the jungle with no one around for miles. | Bleeding from leech bites. Real nasty creatures. If you pull them out while they are still feeding, the wound does not close and you continue to bleed for hours. Quick, grab some medicinal leaves! |
23 Nov - Counting bites - leech, tick or sandfly
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| Tongkat Ali. Supposedly good for men... and women. The Orang Asli also used it as a medicine against malaria. Chew the root to flood your mouth with bitterness. Highly sought after by people for its medicinal properties. | Drinking water from liana. Water tasted either slightly bitter or fruity. Proper identificaiton is required as there are more poisonous lianas than drinkable ones. | Back in base camp. Returning all our backpacks, parangs etc. Back to civilisation and all our work waiting in the office. Hmmm, is that really a good thing? | Showing off bites and bruises |
Sky started drizzling on 30 Oct 2004 3 p.m. I was quite surprised to see Tuan Woon at Changi Village Jetty. Apparently, Allen has contacted him about this trip. Funny, the police erected a tentage right before the jetty to check the bags of all who enter and leave. Maybe P. Ubin has been identified as one of the possible bombing targets. [Shrug]
Just before 3 p.m., I received quite a few messages that most of the people would be late. Oh well, just have to wait.
3:10 p.m. Peiyu turned up.
3:15 p.m. Allen turned up with his sis, Adeline and friend, Cynthia
3:25 p.m. Cube turned up rushing
3:30 p.m. Boat left with passengers. Let's wait for enough passengers to fill the next boat.
3:40 p.m. Caiyun turned up rushing (more quickly than Cube)
3:50 p.m. Finally managed to get enough people to board the next boat. Ubin, here we come.
First task upon going ashore was to get everyone some wheels to ride around the island. Adeline and Cynthia were not quite impressed with the mountain bikes and small mountain bikes so in the end, six of us were on bikes and the two of them were on foot.
We took the route to Chek Jawa (CJ) and we acutally saw a wild boar in the distance crossing the road. Ok guys, keep your heads up and stay alert. Luckily, no incident took place.
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Balai Quarry. Old disused granite quarry. Water looks great but drowning accidents are not unheard of. |
I had counted on the low tide at CJ that day at that time. You see, if the tide is not low enough, you are only going to see water at CJ. Unfortunately, I had not counted on the training session for volunteers at CJ. For those not in the know, CJ is strictly off limits to the public UNLESS you are a NParks staff, CJ volunteer guide or participant in one of their guided tours. Since we were not any of the three, we were asked "politely" to leave the place. All right, at least we managed to snapped a few photos before leaving but under our breath, we "vowed" to return.
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A lone Avicennia at CJ mudflats |
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Fiddler crab displaying its enlarged claw on a bed of seaweeds. |
Before we left CJ, we managed to find a campsite nearby suitable to look at CJ later in the night (at the right time for low tide of course!) - nice small clearing with gravel on the ground.
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Old well near campsite. Still operational with water within. Sadako, anyone? |
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Summer House. British used to live here but now it is fenced off as the structure is supposed to be "unsafe" |
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Stone jetty leading out from Summer House |
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Purple heron feeding on the beach at dusk |
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Sponge found on the mudflats near Summer House. Guess what, it feels like sponge too. |
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Sea anemone on mudflats, ready to open up it feeding orifice as the tide comes in. |
On the way back to the village, I was riding point with the rest rather far behind and guess what, I came face-to-face with a wild boar (could be the one we saw earlier). It was looking straight at me from 20m away. Naturally, I look at it too, wondering what to do next. We froze for a "long" time. Then, it took a step forward. Great! Is it going to charge? I will have to use my bike to block it. Apparently, it was not too interested in charging a guy like me and it took off into the bushes next. Phew! (As a sidenote, this was the place where I almost cycled over a cobra sunning itself across the path previously.)
Rain poured on the way back. We rode back in darkness as the drizzle continued.
Luckily Ubin Village has this nice seafood restaurant for us to rest our legs and fatten ourselves with a sumptous dinner of 6 dishes (only???).
Adeline and Cynthia decided to leave for the mainland after dinner as they were rather drenched. Caiyun was wavering whether to go too but reason (or rather our persuading skills) triumphed in the end to keep her around for the night.
As we moved out for the campsite (a good hour's walk away), the night felt cold, wet and dark (duh!) but our spirits were high. At least we have a tent for us to stay dry and insect free.
Around 10 p.m. We reached the campsite. Rain has cleared and the moonlight was really bright. Piece of cake to pitch a tent. As we started to unpack the tent, we realise... to our "horror"... the tent supports were missing. NO TENT FOR THE NIGHT! Oh well, we managed to set up a simple shelter with ropes and groundsheet and used the tent as a groundsheet.
As with most overnight camps, we spent the night discussing about all sorts of things, from perfume making to Cheryl Fox (someone thinks she is smart and good looking but others think otherwise - a bit boh liao right?)... Luckily, we had some sherry going around to make everyone less inhibited in their topics. Turned in at 1 a.m. Then it was mosquito feeding time. Even with many mosquito coils burning around the camp, they could somehow find their way to have a taste of blood.
4 a.m. Walked over to CJ but the tide was still rather high. Returned to camp and waited.
5:30 a.m. Another walk to CJ. Tide was not as low as yesterday. We brought all our stuff and found a comfortable rock to meditate on while we waited for first light.
And when it came, it made all the "misery" worthwhile. Heck, it made living worthwhile. Everyone ought to look at a sunrise once in a while to appreciate the beauty of life.
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Distant lights in Johor amidst the emerging dawn |
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The stray dog that followed us throughout the night. Helped to chase away unknown animals lurking around in the bushes and on the beach during the night. |
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The "egg yolk" has fully risen. The actual rising only took a minute or two so if you are not attentive, that's it. |
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All right, those were the pics but they are nothing compared to what you experience if you are right there on the ground. |
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Unknown plump bird observed at CJ after dawn |
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The gang of six at CJ after a gruelling night. Do we look dazed or what? |
Just before leaving Ubin, we climbed up to the island's highest point at Puaka Hill (75m above sea level) and caught a breath taking view of the surrounding landscape.
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Looking to the south. In the foreground is Ubin Quarry filled with crystal clear (not sparkling though) water and in the background you can see Pasir Ris Estate. |
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Looking to the north from near to far - Ubin Quarry, prawn farms, Straits of Johor, Johor. |