Heading for Mt Rinjani

Packing is as tough as the climb
Packing is as tough as the climb

I am still packing. Packing is always a chore that has to be done. A list of items. Searching for some rarely used items in the storage. Buying some stuff. Organizing which goes into the bag that the porters will carry and which goes into the bag in the hotel and which goes into the bag you are carrying. From miners torch, to woolen gloves, to camera and energy bars – you want to be sure everything you need will be inside.

Tomorrow at dawn the MaxiCab will take me and four others to the Changi Airport Terminal 2. From there we fly to the island of Lombok, east of island of Bali, in Indonesia. There is a challenging climb up the volcano called Gunung Rinjani (literally mount princess). I will get to admire my Father’s world. Marred by sin, His world is still beautiful and wonderful and awesome. Imagine the new earth and the new heavens!

As usual the ascent of the peak is a challenge. And so is the overnight camping in tents for three nights. However when I look at some of the photos and videos of the crater lake and the volcano, the pleasure and delight ahead outweigh the hardship of weeks of training, and of the trek itself.

So here I go for a whole week. I hide under the shadow of the Almighty – and that is a very big shadow, like a huge mother ship in the sky, watching and backing us up. Praise God.

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Bukit Timah Hill hike: unusual sights

Nothing is wasted
No wastage
Landing on the wrong spot
Poor landing
Tiny pimpled mushroom
Pimpled candy
Orange mushroom
Orange curious
Ant hiding under a leaf
Hairy edge
Odd couple
Odd couple
Twisted fern stem
Twisted life
Supermodel mushrooms
Supermodels
Metallica blue
Metallica blue
Yellow protrusions
Yellow ooze
Angsana parachute
veined parachute
Strange tiny "rambutans"
Rambutan candies
Brownie
Luscious
Ascot
Ascot

I used Olympus xz 2 with its supermacro function. Slowed down my hike but had a delightful time. I don’t know the names, so I have given them descriptive captions.

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Trekking Pulau Ubin

Boats at Changi ferry point awaiting passengers
Boats at Changi ferry point awaiting passengers
A pleasant 15 min boat ride to the island of Pulau Ubin
A pleasant 15 min boat ride to the island of Pulau Ubin
Trekker friends: Michael, Y.K., Nellie, Jane
Trekker friends: Michael, Y.K., Nellie, Jane, Judith

The last time I went to Pulau Ubin, I was a teenager. With a few friends we took a boat across to the island and walked across the small holding farms and orchards and forest to a small beach front. We swam an hour or two and then made our way back. All I remembered was feeling weary from the long hours of walking and taking the public bus from Bukit Timah to Changi.

Now it is so much easier. We drove to the car park next to the Changi Village hawker center. The ferry point is just in front of the car park with electronic meter so there was no need to worry about the number of coupons to use.

When there was a load of 12 people, the boatman brought us aboard a boat and brought us across to the island. The boat ride took about 15 minutes and we paid $2.50 each directly to the boatman. Soon we were on Pulau Ubin and walking on bitumen roads.

On bitumen roads
On bitumen roads
Pitstop with a beach view
Pitstop with a beach view
We came across many Muslim tombstones and this is one of them
We came across many Muslim tombstones and this is one of them
Can we really call it a "wild" boar?
Can we really call it a "wild" boar?
Standing in front of what was once a chief surveyor's colonial house
Standing in front of what was once a chief surveyor's colonial house
The Chek Jawa boardwalk
The Chek Jawa boardwalk
On the boardwalk
On the boardwalk
Atapchee - sea palm
Atapchee - sea palm
Looking down at friends from the tower at Chek Jawa
Looking down at friends from the tower at Chek Jawa
At the herbal garden
At the herbal garden

We walked from 9am to about 1pm. At the ferry point on Pulau Ubin was a small village where we had a seafood lunch at one of the restaurants. The highlight of the walk was an encounter with “wild” boars that seem very used to human encounters, and the boardwalk through Chek Jawa, one of Singapore’s conserved ecosystems, a coastal walk, “a unique natural area where six major habitats meet and mix”. It was more an enjoyable excursion than a trek. Cycling would be more fun, and there were many shops with all kinds of bikes for hire. Maybe the next time, that is what I will do.

Pulau Ubin circled
Pulau Ubin circled


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