WHAT IS UP PEOPLE. This is going to be a
blog post for those of you having your holidays or just looking for a great
outing with friends. If you're an adventurous soul with some $$$ to spare, why
not leave the mainland check out a few of our offshore islands?
SUMMARY:
Home -> Marina South Pier -> Boat
ride to St John's Island -> Walked to Lazarus Island -> Seringat Island
-> Walked all the way back to St John's Island -> Boat ride to Kusu
Island -> Boat ride back to Marina South Pier -> Lunch at 5:30pm -> Home
DISCLAIMER:
If you don't really enjoy walking for long
hours, eating on the go, experiencing the relentless heat of Singapore's sun,
walking in the rain lest it does rain here, this might not be for you. But it never
hurts to step out of your comfort zone does it?
Having ended A's recently, I slipped on my beach outfit, brought an extra pair of clothes and a bottle in my bag, then grabbed my
neighbour Jun Li who's a nature lover just like me on a thursday morning. We
arrived at Marina South Pier at 9:58am and caught the 10am ferry as we always
tapped into school before the bell rang, and being late was never in our
dictionary. Ok enough of reminiscing school life let's continue with the GUIDE TO ISLAND
HOPPING
If you're lucky, you might see some
dolphins on the way to St John's Island. If you're luckier, you might find some
really cute and approachable kids sitting in front of you in the middle of a
pretty crowded but comfortable ferry.
Ferry Timings:
http://www.islandcruise.com.sg/ferry-schedule/
It brings you from Marina South Pier to St John's Island, then from St John's Island to Kusu Island and from Kusu Island back to Marina South Pier.
Ferry Timings:
http://www.islandcruise.com.sg/ferry-schedule/
It brings you from Marina South Pier to St John's Island, then from St John's Island to Kusu Island and from Kusu Island back to Marina South Pier.
We played a little with them until their
parents asked them to stop talking to us. Maybe we looked a little too
suspicious.
After about half an hour, we arrived at our
destination - St John's Island. This was the view from the boat.
Here we have a very inviting signboard. It
was drizzling when we arrived.
Having no idea where to go to, we decided
to explore this place. Walking all the way straight from the entrance, We saw
this sign that led us to the Marine Park Gallery.
It looked pretty cool so we walked in.
The crowd in the ferry we saw vanished and
we felt like we were on our own in the island.
We ended up on a pretty nice trail full of
greenery
And we realised we were on our way to some
research area that had a small gallery for us to learn a little more about
marine life.
On the way there
we saw some pretty nice chalets too.
There are pretty nice washrooms here
relative to all the other washrooms you'll find on this island so be sure to
utilise them well before you carry on walking for another 4.5 hours (if you
wanna follow our footsteps)
We left very soon because most of the area was restricted so we walked back to where we came from and explored some small lanes that led uphill. We ended up being blocked by lots of vegetation so we walked to the end of St John's Island. Btw I was wearing slippers so it was really slippery on the rainy weather.
Walk walk walkwalkwalkwalkwalk
So here we are at the end of St john's island. As you can see in the image behind me being anti-social is the ferry terminal (for pick-up and drop-off), and behind the ferry in the photo is Lazarus Island.
There were lots of insects crawling below the rocks but once you're there they run away. Check out this cute crab.
So here we are at the end of St john's island. As you can see in the image behind me being anti-social is the ferry terminal (for pick-up and drop-off), and behind the ferry in the photo is Lazarus Island.
There were lots of insects crawling below the rocks but once you're there they run away. Check out this cute crab.
We made it to the end, snapped some photos and headed back to exploring the island. Be careful on the rocks though!
As we walked to Lazarus Island we walked past some classic-looking villages, it didn't feel like we were in the Singapore we knew.
At the end of St John's you'd see a sign leading to these toilets. They're clean but SUPER OLD and did I mention this is a place full of stray cats so you might find some in the toilets too. How exciting.
I coincidentally saw a classmate with his cousins there (what are the chances) so why not get them to snap a picture of us? This was on the link that leads to Lazarus Island. Btw we are actually very friendly people. I was just hiding my stuff behind me hahaha.
We passed by a really small pond filled with cute little turtles at the start of Lazarus, then continued our trail.
And here we are, back to secluded long paths. The rain really helped keep us cool though thank God we didn't have to face the crazy sun.
There are plenty of huts around the island to take breaks in, but we were too cool for them and continued our journey.
Since we were there to explore, we deviated and walked into this path full of leaves on the floor.
You'd find pretty nice views of greenery and insects in here. We ended up at a little sheltered hut full of mosquitoes. So we walked back to where we came from.
Aaaaand we continued our trail, and deviated once again into some random path. There were some crossroads and choices had to be made, and behind the wilderness contained one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen in Singapore.
The waters were blue, sand was soft, and weather was perfect for a dip. There were some plants that stuck to you with their thorns though so be careful of that.
Too bad we didn't have a chance to because we had to continue exploring. There are no toilets nearby so be prepared to walk around drenched if you indeed go for a dip here though!
So we kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
Somehow this sign has a Seringat on it, this is pretty confusing. I think we are still on Lazarus tho
AAAAAnd we ended up here. Trapped with nowhere to go but down to the sea. If we were ballsy enough to swim over we'd reach Seringat Island. But we weren't. And no one should be. Because it looks pretty tough and dangerous.
So we walked and walked and walked.
We thought we were lost because we forgot how we came here but eventually we ended walking out of the wilderness into more familiar scenes of Lazarus Island.
After walking for a tad bit more, we got to the link between Lazarus and Seringat Island.
Seringat Island (if im not wrong) was pretty small. It greets you with a long beautiful pathway filled with lalang.
It also greets you with cute little birds if you're lucky.
Then you end up at this circular piece of land surrounded by plants.
And you get a pretty nice view of the marina cove area from here.
We had to catch the 2:30pm ferry, so we walked back to St John's Island. By the time we did this Junli's feet were blistering due to the abrasion from the rain and my toes were aching from walking throughout with slippers.
We explored the final path on Seringat Island quickly to find that it leads to the place we thought of swimming across (kinda) to.
walkwalkwalkwlakwlaklwaklwklaklwaklkwlakwwaklaksldkalkslzxcm
Actually.. we didn't do our research properly and thought we were heading back to mainland so we could have some lunch.
Well, we ended up at Kusu Island at 3pm. without lunch. sad and hungry. and the ferry only departs at 4pm to mainland. Just gonna leave you with some pictures of this rather religious island.
This beach might actually be one that is worth hanging out at compared to the one shown before. It's clean, quiet and there are shower and bbq facilities around but i'm not sure how clean they are.
Walking up this long flight of stairs and battling mosquitoes, we arrived at an abandoned-looking mosque/temple/muslim-taoism-fusion-house-looking-like-place. FYI, some Malays, Indians and Chinese worship this god named Datok Kong.
And we made our way down.
At 4pm, WE'RE FINALLY HEADING BACK TO SINGAPORE!!!!
After getting a pair of slippers from a shop right at the pier, we headed off to find some lunch.
But it was good to have a comforting bowl of ramen at 5:30pm at Ikkousha located at Chjimes.
RAMEN IS AWESOME. IN TOTAL WE WALKED AT LEAST 10 KILOMETRES ON THE ISLANDS. THANKS FOR READING GUYS HAVE A GREAT LIFE.
eric
As we walked to Lazarus Island we walked past some classic-looking villages, it didn't feel like we were in the Singapore we knew.
At the end of St John's you'd see a sign leading to these toilets. They're clean but SUPER OLD and did I mention this is a place full of stray cats so you might find some in the toilets too. How exciting.
I coincidentally saw a classmate with his cousins there (what are the chances) so why not get them to snap a picture of us? This was on the link that leads to Lazarus Island. Btw we are actually very friendly people. I was just hiding my stuff behind me hahaha.
We passed by a really small pond filled with cute little turtles at the start of Lazarus, then continued our trail.
And here we are, back to secluded long paths. The rain really helped keep us cool though thank God we didn't have to face the crazy sun.
There are plenty of huts around the island to take breaks in, but we were too cool for them and continued our journey.
Since we were there to explore, we deviated and walked into this path full of leaves on the floor.
You'd find pretty nice views of greenery and insects in here. We ended up at a little sheltered hut full of mosquitoes. So we walked back to where we came from.
Aaaaand we continued our trail, and deviated once again into some random path. There were some crossroads and choices had to be made, and behind the wilderness contained one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen in Singapore.
The waters were blue, sand was soft, and weather was perfect for a dip. There were some plants that stuck to you with their thorns though so be careful of that.
Too bad we didn't have a chance to because we had to continue exploring. There are no toilets nearby so be prepared to walk around drenched if you indeed go for a dip here though!
So we kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
Somehow this sign has a Seringat on it, this is pretty confusing. I think we are still on Lazarus tho
AAAAAnd we ended up here. Trapped with nowhere to go but down to the sea. If we were ballsy enough to swim over we'd reach Seringat Island. But we weren't. And no one should be. Because it looks pretty tough and dangerous.
So we walked and walked and walked.
We thought we were lost because we forgot how we came here but eventually we ended walking out of the wilderness into more familiar scenes of Lazarus Island.
After walking for a tad bit more, we got to the link between Lazarus and Seringat Island.
Seringat Island (if im not wrong) was pretty small. It greets you with a long beautiful pathway filled with lalang.
It also greets you with cute little birds if you're lucky.
Then you end up at this circular piece of land surrounded by plants.
And you get a pretty nice view of the marina cove area from here.
We had to catch the 2:30pm ferry, so we walked back to St John's Island. By the time we did this Junli's feet were blistering due to the abrasion from the rain and my toes were aching from walking throughout with slippers.
WEAR PROPER FOOTWEAR.
We explored the final path on Seringat Island quickly to find that it leads to the place we thought of swimming across (kinda) to.
walkwalkwalkwlakwlaklwaklwklaklwaklkwlakwwaklaksldkalkslzxcm
Actually.. we didn't do our research properly and thought we were heading back to mainland so we could have some lunch.
Well, we ended up at Kusu Island at 3pm. without lunch. sad and hungry. and the ferry only departs at 4pm to mainland. Just gonna leave you with some pictures of this rather religious island.
Walking up this long flight of stairs and battling mosquitoes, we arrived at an abandoned-looking mosque/temple/muslim-taoism-fusion-house-looking-like-place. FYI, some Malays, Indians and Chinese worship this god named Datok Kong.
Overall, this was a piece of land that was much more humanly-intervened because of the barbeque pits and tiles laid upon the floor. It would be a bustling area during the ninth lunar month between September and November.
At 4pm, WE'RE FINALLY HEADING BACK TO SINGAPORE!!!!
Civilisation.
But it was good to have a comforting bowl of ramen at 5:30pm at Ikkousha located at Chjimes.
we were so drained.
RAMEN IS AWESOME. IN TOTAL WE WALKED AT LEAST 10 KILOMETRES ON THE ISLANDS. THANKS FOR READING GUYS HAVE A GREAT LIFE.
eric
