Pulau Ubin

Posted on July 8, 2012 by skisoo

Singapore is at the same time an island, a city and a country. Escaping from the city generally means a trip to neighboring countries. But fortunately there are still some getaways natures, either in the middle of Singapore with the different parks (especially the botanical gardens and nature reserve) or on a tiny island near Singapore, which remained in a state of ‘kampung’ ( village in Malay): Pulau Ubin.

Ferry terminal

Pulau Ubin was used as a granite quarry in the beginning of the English occupation until 1970. Careers are now gone out and the nature reasserted itself. Now only a handful of people still live on the island. The island has been preserved for now of the massive urbanization of Singapore and has become a tourist destination.

Pulau Ubin

To get to the island, the only access is to take the ferry from Changi Point Ferry Terminal, boats leave when they are full (12 people, $ 2.5 per person). The main activity on the island is to rent a bike and exploring the various trails offered, you can see the map on the website of National Parks.

Beginning of the walking trail

A little field of pandamus

The place to rent a bike

When I was there, I wanted to cut through the forest following the dotted path on the map located on the panels on the island. I found myself in the middle of the forest with my bike trying to fight my way through the trees and bamboo, on what was left of a path barely marked and the sky was turning to storm … I was not very serene! Fortunately I got out of the mangrove/forest and found a normal trail before the rain started to fall. A tip, avoid the dotted paths if the weather is threatening!

The forest/mangrove

One of the trail

Haw Par Villa

Posted on July 3, 2012 by skisoo

Haw Par Villa is a world apart in cosmopolitan Singapore. This is one of the most bizarre theme park ever, very different from Sentosa (Universal Studio, beach, golf, restaurants …), based on Chinese folklore and mythology.

Entrance of the park

Many legends, mythological stories or illustrations related to Confucianism are represented there as a place to learn traditional Chinese values. The park was created in 1937 by brothers Aw Boon, creators of the famous analgesic ointments ‘Tiger Balm’.

I do not know much about Chinese mythology, but thanks to this park I can tell you it is imaged, bizarre and disturbing: a crab with a woman head, rats healers, mythical animals, scenes not common in everyday life (an old sucking the breast of a woman) and especially the 10 courts of hell, sculptures showing the punishment reserved for bad people.

The crab woman

Let’s have a look at the 10 courts of hell:

People burried alive

Chamber of Ice – Children who abuse their parents were sent to be frozen

Chamber of Grinding – Misers who give nothing to others are reduced to powder in the chamber

Mountain of Knives – Merchants win more than what they deserve by working honestly are doomed to climb a mountain with sharp knives

Drug addicts and grave robbers are burned on a burning pillar

Food wasters are saw into two pieces

Once we got out of hell, the stories represented by the sculptures outside seem much kinder.

Rat Doctors and other animals

The tale of madam white snake

Monkey’s god flower fruit kingdom

A tale of chivalry

The Tiger-car !

I wish you a happy visit. The park is accessible from the station ‘Haw Par Villa’ on the circle line.

Mount Faber

Posted on June 28, 2012 by skisoo

Mount Faber is a hill located in the central part of Singapore, the place is known for the views it offers of Singapore (the hill rises to 103 meters and the highest point in Singapore is Bukit Timah). The summit is accessible either from the cable car from Harbour Front, or by bus (several stops along the route through Mount Faber), or by walking from the station Harbour Front.

The sign a bit everywhere in the park

The forest on the side of Mount Faber

The way up is quite fast by foot but with the ambient heat, I arrived completely sweating at the summit. Fortunately the effort is rewarded by the nice view of Sentosa and an industrial area of one side of the CBD and on the other.

View of the Reflections Condominium from Mount Faber

Nice little restaurant with view on the CBD (we can see a little bit of Marina Bay Sands)

At the top, besides the magnificent views over the city, there is a fresco telling the story of the port city of Singapore and the influences of different ethnic groups. There is also a small merlion who stands watching. What I like about this hill is the peace and quiet, the place is usually deserted (which is quite rare in Singapore), the exact opposite of Ion Orchard on a Saturday afternoon.

The beginning of the fresco at the summit of Mount Faber

The Merlion at the summit of Mount Faber

From the Mount Faber, we can go to Telok Blangah Hill Park, by crossing the highest pedestrian bridge of S)ngapore: the Henderson Waves, a bridge 274 meters long and 36 meters above the ground, shaped in waves. At night, the waves are illuminated in different colors.

The side of the the Henderson Waves

The Henderson Waves Bridge

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Posted on June 25, 2012 by skisoo

Singapore is built around a rainforest and we can feel it in the botanic garden, the place is lush and full of giant palms. Like many botanical gardens in the world, the Singapore Botanic Garden is split into different section: rainforest with the forest in its original state, the ginger garden, the Children’s Garden, evolution garden, the orchid garden and other small parts more anecdotal. My favorite part was the orchid garden, a garden with an impressive number of orchids (more than 1000 species and 2000 hybrids) of all colors. Some hybrids with amazing colors have been created in homage to famous people. Access to the orchid garden is $ 5, the rest of the botanical garden is free and easily accessible from the station ‘botanic garden’ of the circle line.

Orchid Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’

Sculpture Flight of Swans

The Lawn, place of spectacles

Hybrid Orchids

Orchids

Fountain

In the botanic gardens

Let’s go to South East Asia

Posted on June 22, 2012 by skisoo

After living several months in Singapore and traveled in some countries in Southeast Asia, I thought it would be nice to make a blog to share pictures of the different places I visit. So I bought a server, a domain name, installed wordpress and started writing some articles. Then I thought it would be interesting to transcribe my trip to Australia that I did when I was studying over there for 6 months (first half 2010). 35 articles later, I finally finished writing (with many photos) about my trip to Australia. The blog will now change region and moving towards Asia. I’ll be doing lots of articles on the different countries that I visited: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia…

Conclusion of my journey in Australia

Posted on June 19, 2012 by skisoo

This trip to Australia was a truly an amazing experience. Although it was expensive (for I was living on a tight budget) but no regrets at all. It was a country with extraordinary people (locals and tourists) extremely friendly and welcoming. Before going there, I had a vague idea of the country, surf, pretty girls, a big rock in the desert… I was surprised many times by lot of details like the quality of life (sunny all the time, clean city, secured, no crime, and lots of good stuffs like electric barbecue pits in the parks-beach or the free pool in town), the hugeness of the territory (2 hour drive seem nothing for Australians), the variety of landscapes (desert, tropical islands, rainforests, …) but finally, the most memorable was the good vibes and good atmosphere during the days at university and travelling around. Australia is THE country for backpackers,with hostels abound everywhere and meeting extraordinary people is pretty much what you do everyday. And Australia, though it is a really huge place, it seemed small when traveling, I bumped in 6 or 7 people seen in places hundreds of miles away few weeks earlier.
In a nutshell, I love this country and I highly recommend to everyone to go there at least once (and maybe to stay for good!).