Pulau Ubin Off The Beaten Path Tips by bpacker Top 5 Page for this destination

Colourful Sea Life on Chek Jawa Beach

Now, other than the colonial house, there is colourful sea-life on Chek Jawa Beach. You'll see anything ranging from delicate sea anemone like these to shy hermit crabs. A rare find in urban Singapore! Click on my travelogue for some really cool macro shots of these creatures.

Note: It's better to go to Chek Jawa Beach with a guide. So do sign up for the free guide service under Nparks. You'll really need to book way in advance since it's very popular.

Website: http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/i030e.htm

Seventh Month Auction

Now other than Opera, there was a rowdy auction going on at Pulau Ubin. It's not as sophisticated as the one at Sotheby's as there's no rostrum, hammer or chi-chi patrons. Instead, the auctioneer will simply leap onto the stage and yell out unintelligible numerals in Hokkien( a Chinese dialect). Odd things like roasted suckling pigs, altar gods, liquor, etc are sold to the highest bidder and the money raised will determine the grandeur of next year's celebrations.

Infra red scan on the Ghost Picture

After I showed the ghostly orb pictures on this Pulau Ubin page, an extremely curious robertgaz did an infra-red scan on the picture. Haha, guess what he saw? Does anybody have Dan Akroyd's number over here?

Other things that go bump in the night

Of course, other than the orbs, we saw other conventional live creatures in the night walk at Pulau Ubin. Other than mud lobsters, we saw a gigantic golden point spider, lots of fireflies, etc. The Golden Point was a lovely creature with a golden body and long black legs.

*This picture was taken by my friend Gloria on her Panasonic Lumix.

See it now?

I caught something unusual . Of course, I didn't notice it until much later. I pondered over what could have been and verified my image with the rest of the nature group members. To my surprise I found out that they captured the same thing too. It was definitely not the owls we meant to see...

Ghosts? at the Durian Trail

This is not something I would recommend for the faint-hearted. But if you're keen on paranormal sightings, walk along the durian trail in Pulau Ubin in the dead of the night*. I did so, during the Hungry Ghost Festival ( seventh lunar month) period, no less. Boy did I regret it. Not only didn't I fulfill my initial quest to spot the local owls, I caught something strange....

*Safety is paramount. Don't do this alone! Go in a group and bring walkie talkies, handphones with you.

Ghostly orbs? Fireflies?

Here's what I saw when I enlarged my photos . A series of ghostly orbs. Then again, it could be fireflies or even dust. But firefies were usually green in colour and the other members in the group also caught the orbs, though their images were not as disctinct as mine. A further research on these revealed that I was not the only one in Singapore to capture this on film (http:// www.spi.com.sg ) These things are usually seen in graveyards. Oops, now what have I landed myself into???

Colourful Performances for the Dead

Come every Aug/Sep, Pulau Ubin would prepare itself for guests from the netherworld. Yes, you heard me correct. Aug is the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar Year and it's the month where the gates of Hell are open and ghosts roam freely. Kinda like Halloween, I reckon. During this season, the usually empty stage near the jetty will be prettily decked with lights and a full fledged opera performance will be staged...for the dead.

Enthralling Performance for the Dead

The Chinese Opera at Pulau Ubin was fascinating to watch. Never mind that it was performed for the dead! The performers were decked in heavy makeup , glittery ancient costumes as they sang in a forgotten Chinese dialect. There were no visible spectators that night but a row of empty chairs were laid out at the front. Of course, the nature group photographers and myself knew better than to take those seats. They're afterall meant for the dead.

Colonial House

Somewhere in Pulau Ubin, on the Chek Jawa beach, lies a colonial house, which has mock-Tudor gables and a chimney. It was formerly known as 'No 1' and was built more than 100 years ago. Nobody lives there now but it's open to the public for exploratory purpose. Of course, if you believe in rumours, this house is suitably haunted at night..