'Mature' People Should Not Do Some Things

Today started out bright and sun shiny (does it start any other way in Singapore?) with Steve and I packing for our weekend adventure - this weekend it was to Pulau Ubin (Granite Island). We packed all the usual; the backpack, the camera bag, lenses, and plenty of iced water. Off we went on the day's newest adventure. Riding bum boats to the island was going to be a new experience.



We called a taxi and went to Changi Point Park and caught a bum boat over to Pulau Ubine (the granite island...). We noticed right away why they called it a bum boat:





They are in grand shape indeed. Steve and I discussed if they would pass US Coast Guard inspections, but we seriously doubted it:



We did not see a life vest anywhere nearby, but we were relieved to look out the window and see other boats so we knew we would be rescued in a matter of minutes should something happened. Thankfully, we arrived safely.

When we got off the boat, I could see already it was going to be a grand adventure. The aroma of the durian slammed us when we stepped off the bummed boat, and I immediately saw this 'mature' man selling durian and jackfruit:



I will never say my skin is sagging again. This give me the worries about what I will look like old and gray after losing weight. I know now that I need to keep my body parts covered. However, I hope I am well enough to sell something at his age - but rest assured it will not be durian.


Stepping off the dock area, we found a welcome sign and as we always do, we offered to take a picture for a group of 'kids' coming onto the island. And as they always do, they asked to have their picture taken with us :-)



It was at this time Steve stated that he had this novel idea to ride bikes across the island. We looked around and he quickly stopped at the first place we saw:




He signed his life away. Better yet, he signed mine away :-(




There were plenty of bike shops to rent a bike from:





But he only wanted the best for me, so he chose the place that gave me a new bike. Thanks for noting the sign Leone;
Always
Alert
Avoid
Accident

We saddled up and...




... off we went into the wild blue yonder.

Ok, so maybe it was the dense green jungle:



As we get older, we find things that are more and more difficult to do. Today I found my newest thing that is not easy to do for us 'mature' adults is bike riding.




It was near this house where things went wrong. I know what happened next was because of a multitude of things; the front brake on the new bike stuck, the seat was too high, the weight of the camera bag was in the basket, I have lost 70 pounds and am still trying to figure out the weight distribution thing, and we had stopped on a hill - all of those reasons combined was why the next incident happened.

I had just shifted down into first gear when we decided we needed a drink. After resting a bit, it was time to move on. I got back on the bike and started out; then somehow I immediately lost my balance and after performing amazing acrobatics - I still lost it. I came down hard on my left knee - BUT I SAVED MY CAMERA - and somehow it took an amazing picture of the incident:




This is what it looked like after my not so successful digger fall:



I am not showing a really nasty picture of it because I don't want you to lose it - but it was sliced open with - remember the granite? It was nicely ground into it. Now my knee has a digger bruise and nice cut on it and feels like sand paper.

In the middle of the Asian jungle this young man comes from no where to my rescue. After cleaning it a bit and his persistence, I was helped up and walked across the street to a very convenient man's home who just happened to have a grocery bag full of 100 year old arm plasters - aka Bandaid's in the states. It was all too convenient - trust me - I think he has seen this before. After a doctoring of war wounds we were happily on our way into the mangroves. Thank you to the nice young man that was patient enough to see if he was going to really have to rescue me.

It was well worth the trip, even with the digger dive, but it most of it will have to wait. Today, I have to tell you one more thing; we saw a hornbill and it's breeding box!!







WHOOO HOOO! They are nesting on the island and you can see the different stages of the Pulau Ubin hornbill breeding HERE - isn't it great?


I am really beat (literally) tonight, so I think I will finish writing about it tomorrow. I found one other amazing thing (to me) and it was a piece of a butterfly wing.



I can only imagine how pretty it was when it was alive. I had to take a picture - I would have loved to see an 'unbroken' one. Off to rest now :-)