Visit Chek Jawa before 2012!

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For all of you who are sick of hanging out in the malls, go Chek Jawa - "one of Singapore's richest ecosystem", "a unique natural area where six major habitats meet and mix"
(nparks 2009)

It's at the southern tip of Pulau Ubin.

Apparently, our government might claim it for state use from 2012 onwards. SO, it's your LAST CHANCE to catch a glimpse of the natural scenery!


What You Can See There
There are two board walks available FOC - coastal and mangrove. As you walk along, you can see:

• sea view, which was extremely beautiful in the evening as the sun set
• coastal forest, which is nice combination of orange clay and green plants
• tiny crabs, crabs and more crabs (e.g. fiddler crab)
• salamandar
• wild boar (we had one dashing across our path and scaring the wits out of us)
• mangrove swamp
• loads of palm trees with gigantic fruits
• bird's eye view of the area (if you climb up the Jejawi Tower)

Click on the flickr badge to see my photos.
Alternatively, see a virtual tour here.


What You Can Do There
If you book nparks' guided tour package priced at S$60, you can wad down the coastal swamp at a very safe and good spot to see the tiny organisms in close distance. (Note that these tours are restricted in order to protect the environment but they're very popular. High demand meets low supply = they're fully booked a few months in advance. If you really want to go with them, you have to check out the nparks website on the 1st of mar/jun/sep/dec for updates on availability.)

If you're there by yourself (just like my friends and I) you can't go to the same spot where the guided tour group will be, 'cause there's a gate with someone guarding it. However, you can still wad into the coastal area somewhere else! There's an opening located at the mangrove board walk, where the mangrove swamp meets the coast. When I was there, the tide was low enough and it seemed safe. **Caution: Please assess the situation before going in on your own.


Tips to Enjoy Yourself Better
Bring:

• sun block
• shades
• covered up shoes (if you're going on your own. if you're going with npark, they seem to provide special boots for the coastal swamp tour)
  
• 10x optical zoom camera (esp if you did not pay $60). trust me, you'll need to the zoom. Also make sure you have good macro mode on your camera.
  
• binoculars (esp if you did not pay $60)
• water
• insect repellent
  
• cap (if you like..)
• CASH (all transportations, boat or van or bicycle, only accepts cash)

Do also check for the low tide timing. you won't be able to see much if it's not low tide. nparks has kindly provided this information on their website too.


Total Cost of Trip?
The cost really depends on how you want to get there and what you want to do.

Option 1: Go with nparks
If you go with nparks, I think you still have to pay for the boat trip to Pulau Ubin yourself. So...

$60 (Guided Tour Package) +
$2.50 x 2 (Return boat trip to Singapore main island) = $65 / pax


Option 2: Go on your own.
If you go on your own, here are some pricings for your reference.

$2.50 x 2 (Return boat trip to Singapore main island)
$4 (Van ride if <7 people in the trip) $2 (Van ride if >7 people in the trip)
$5 (Bicycle rental)
FOC (Walk there by foot)

= S$5 ~ S$$13 / pax


How to Get There?
Simply find your way to the Changi Ferry Terminal at Changi Village.

Buses to Changi Village:

• 2 - from New Bridge Road Int, passes Outram, Chinatown, Bugis, Lavendar, Kallang, Eunos, Bedok, Tanah Merah MRT
  
• 29 - from Tampines Int
• 59 - from Bishan Int, passes by Braddell MRT
  
• 109 - from Serangoon Int, passes by Hougang area
  

Cheers!

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

If you are sick of the hustle and bustle of city and working life, you can check out the TWG Tea Salon & Boutique located at Republic Plaza.

(apologies for the lack of photos)

To get there, just follow the directions in the MRT station towards Republic Plaza. Once you're there, take the escalator up to level 1 and walk out of the building. At a most unexpected place, you will find a transparent sensor door that is not much wider than a typical home entrance. A TWG Company logo is placed in the middle of it and through the glass, a flight of wooden stairs, warmed by the glowing lights, invites you to enter.

The entrance hinted that I was about to enter a very different place. It seem like a portal. I took a deep breath and stepped in.

I ascended the narrow and enclosed stairways and emerged at what seemed to be a mezzanine in the building. Cylindrical tea containers, whose shape reminded me of the old tin milk containers Dutch ladies carried, formed the "walls" of the mezzanine. All I could see, besides the containers, was the tall ceiling decorated with crystal chandeliers and elegant drapery. The huge contrast with the enclosed and humble stairway created an amazing experience. It much reminded me of the experience of entering the grand sistine chapel (but with a touch of warmth and homeliness;)

At the top of the stairs, I was greeted by the store owner who peep over the counter a metre or so away.

"Hi" he said, "how can I help you?"

'Er... I'm just here out of curiosity?"

"That's good." he smiled.

"Maybe I can have some tea?"

"Of course!"

He showed me to the waiter at the platform half a mezzanine up. I stepped up and... I thought I was in a restaurant in France:

The place was filled with perhaps less than twenty tables, all European styled wooden pieces; the chairs were upholstered with a luxurious layer of cushion and velvet-like textile; the tables were covered with pristine table cloths, delicate plates and utensils. Some French music was playing in the background. The tall windows were covered with translucent silver curtains and the place was warmed with glowing light from the chandeliers.

I was shown to a seat in the furthest corner of the place and given the menus - a tea menu and a meal menu.

Being my first time in such a tea place, the menus thoroughly confused me: the tea menu listed all the teas with codes at the side (which later I found out they represent the grade of the teas) whilst the meal menu described, in too much detail and too much French, the food and pastries they have.

I decided to have a tea set comprising of a choice of tea and pastry. Other than that, I was lost. Thus I asked the waiter for recommendations for choice of tea and pastry.

I was served Bain de Rose Tea (an exclusive blend based on first flush Deejarling) and the Singapore Delight tart (a wild berry cream tart which uses some vanilla tea base or something. FYI, the desserts and pastries all had something 'tea' in them). As the waiter poured the tea into the teacup, a gentle rose fragrance filled the place. It was pleasant.

I sat in the shop sipping tea, enjoying pastry and occassionally glancing out of the translucent curtains into the cityscape outside. That was the only reminder that I was actually still in Singapore and in reality.

All in all, the experience and quality of food there was great.

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and knowledgeable in tea; they did not hesitate to answer my endless questions about tea and oblige my weird request to open the tea pot. And, they taught me more than I asked.

I spent some half hour there and left smiling and relaxed.

I will definitely go back again some day.




For your information:

My tea set costed me $22.35:
$16 (original price) + $3 (surcharge) + 7% (GST) + 10% (service charge)
The surcharge was because the choice of tea is capped at $9.50 and Bain de Rose Tea costed $12.50. Therefore I had to pay the difference.


Here's the address if you want to go:

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
9 Raffles Place, #01 - 22
Republic Plaza
Singapore 048619

Tel: +65 6538 1837
Fax: +65 6534 1837

Opening hours:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Hort Park

I often take the bus 963 which passes by this beautiful bridge with a HortPark sign underneath so I thought that the bridge was part of the park or something like that. But last thursday, when I finally found time to check out the park, I realised that it was not at all! The bridge is the Alexandra Arch and it is the little path behind the sign that leads to HortPark.

Having said so much, so what is HortPark?? For the information of those like me, HortPark is actually short for Horticulture Park and is a gardening hub.

Like many other Singaporeans, I live in a HDB with not much room for gardening activities and I was never interested. But when I was at HortPark, I was quite fascinated by the plants' colours, their display methods, the whole architecture and presentation of the plots. The place feels like one huge experiment lab with all these curious-looking things which makes the place interesting.

This is one of the shelters on the way to HortPark. It is pretty and inviting due to the beautiful flowers. Maybe after some time, the plant will creep to cover the whole pavillion. If not, I can only imagine myself sitting to appreciate the flowers only during my most poetic feeling evenings or nights 'cause it's way too hot in Singapore!

I was greeted by this beautiful mosaic art at the Hort Centre (i.e. entrance pavillion). The rays of lights are actually mirror tiles and the mix of colours makes the picture so cheerful!

Vertical planting. I thought it was a good idea if you have no place for trees and you want greenery around.

I like this one. The sign next to it says that this kind of gardening requires little maintenance. You put the plants in and cover it. The moisture inside is therefore recycled and it is a mini ecosystem by itself! so cool! It's pretty too. Reminds me of the ship in the glass or the antique chinese glass bottles. I might try it next time if I have my own house.

This is so funny! It's a nursery and they were trying to convey how we have to take care of plants like babies. See the cot and the baby walker??

Haha, his reminds me of my primary school days and the primary school garden. I remember I cut up a plastic bottle and put some jelly like substance to plant a money plant I cut from the neighbourhood park. I think it was for some science project in primary 4?

There's even a wizard of oz plot!

So cute! Flowers as eyes and flower pots as body parts!

A footpath piece.

I saw the sculpture and I laughed! They "see no evil" and "hear no evil" = the people sitting at the pair of benches nearby are probably *erhem* ....

Most benches are low and small which increases the fantasy factor in the park. I felt like Alice in Wonderland!

This is the Research Plot. Some of the plants are planted on the roof and they are experimenting on the possibility of roof gardening. Apparently there is some irrigation problem that has to be solved. The rest are under the roof, which is retractable so as to control the amount of sunlight or rain they receive. So scientific right?

I thought the concrete and glass building backdrop is interesting. Is this a characteristic in Singapore? Two contrasting elements so near to each other...

Work in progress!

The glass house in the park: There are a lot of beautiful flowers and they made me happy!

Some of the flowers.

One of my favourite trees in Singapore: Raintree. Looks like laces in the sky!

About halfway through the park, at the appropriate time and place, there is reasonably priced drinks at the Hands-on House and also has water cooler facilities.

The park authority hasn't forgotten that most people would come with children or friends. So they are a few playgrounds in the park and a group of youngsters seem to enjoy themselves at this higher difficulty one.

The mushrooms, stones, ridges and even the rhino is made entirely of rubber for children safety at this one. I like the rhino.

Here's one for younger children. It is thoughtful of them to place a pavillion next to this one for the parents.

A breather open space from the intricate plots and playground activities.

And good news for those who are looking for alternative places to surf the net! There's wireless@sg and two of benches in the entrance pavilion have electrical points near them. I sat on one of them and this is the view I saw.

Turtle hidden somewhere. See if you can find this! Btw, actually I found the plants growing out of the shell a little disturbing, haha..

Hey! Besides what I've shown, there are other interesting gardening plots like the Herbs Garden, Bamboo Labyrinth, Golden Garden and Silver Garden waiting for you to explore! (which is the point! I shan't spoil your fun of discovery) There is also a gardening mart for gardening enthusiast, a restaurant (KHA F&B outlet), seminar rooms for you to rent and many other activities at the park. For more information, the HortPark website at National Parks Board provides very comprehensive information including how to get there:

There are carparks at the park entrance so for those who drive, no worries! If you are there in the mornings, remember to bring your caps or umbrellas to protect yourselves from the sun.

In addition, from now till 27th Dec 2008, there is free guided tour and plant sale every last saturday of the month (i.e. this coming saturday 27/9 for the month of September). You have to register at the counter 15mins before the tour. So take note!

Keppel Island/atas island

(Marina@Keppel Bay)

If you are looking to get a feel of an exuberant marina lifestyle, a place to hang out with close friends, watch stars with your girlfriend or simply want a departure from the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Singapore, this is the place to be. This is the place the "ATAS" people wish we never know, but now its public. Woo Hoo!

GR drove me here one weekend (for those with own vehicle, the underground car park charges a flat fee of $3 per entry) some time ago. It was my first time here and as we entered, I was pleasantly treated with an eye feast of splendour and exquisiteness from its architecture.

(Fine food at Prive and TCC)

(The iconic 245m Cable-stay bridge between mainland and island)

(View of Caribbean at Keppel Bay from the island)

(Relaxed people)

As we walked around the island, I indulge myself in the slow pace of activities which made me calm and relaxed. Most people were in small groups and chatting among themselves. The environment around the bay is rather cooling with occasional pleasing sea breezes to calm the soul.

(one of the many yatchs at the dock)

(Overview of yatch dock)

There were many yatchs docked in the bay. They come in a variety of sizes with the smallest one being the one in the pic above to bigger ones which are like 2-3 times the size of that. The place is in fact specially designed with yachting and yacht owners in mind. It aims to aid in the promotion of Singapore's yacthing community through advancing knowledge, enjoyment and participation in yachting and nautical arts. I suspect that some of the bigger yachts might even be available through rental for private functions like birthday parties.

(leading pathways)

(Park pavillion)

Further away from the main building's restaurants, there is a small left path which leads into a small park. Along the path there are park pavillions for people to rest or to seek shelter from the heat if its during the daytime.

(grass patch at the end of the park)

The area is scenic with lots of unobstructed sky view and fresh air. It's a good place to hang out. And you're into cycling, we saw some cyclists around too. You could also make the island part of your cycling route :)



How to get there?

(Keppel Island architectural model)

click here for map.

Whether by foot or by car, the only way to Keppel Island is through Keppel Bay Drive which is a narrow road after the habourfront traffic junction and right before Carribean at Keppel Bay condominium.

Car: It's easy to miss it so keep your eyes peeled for a small direction sign at the entrance of the road.

Bus services: (SBS Transit) 10, 30, 57, 93, 97, 100, 131, 143, 145, 166,
(SMRT) 188, 963

MRT: Habourfront station

Been there? Share with us your experience!