Remembering those days!

And oh, what a whole load of memories the trip brought back. Initially, had thought it's just going to be a simple, get-out-of-office-and-back-to-nature kind of trip, on a humid Tue afternoon, with another about 45 colleagues, to Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin. To expose them to the flora and fauna of Mama Nature, and enable them to appreciate the wholesome-ness of biodiversity we have on our shores. As for myself, a time to get out into the sun for a much-needed dose of Vit D and some salty breeze to clear my work-saturated head.

But then, the minute I boarded the rickety Ubin bum boats from the (refurbished) jetty, all hell broke loose. All the memories came flooding back, tsunami style. Crystal-clear memories of how as carefree 2nd/3rd yr Uni students, we used to head to Ubin to cycle, bbq, camp and look at stars; how we explored Chek Jawa before it got gazetted, boardwalks got erected and signs got put up; how as a fresh young educator, I brought CCA kiddos there for their annual overnight camps, night walks and orientations... and then, when I looked at the tiny male fiddler crabs squirming about in the sand, waving their not-so-tiny, bright orange pincers to try and attract the opposite sex, I can't help but remember those tiring but happy days spent in Phuket as a Uni Hons student on the overseas Bio field trip, when we had to investigate crabby behavioural patterns, trawl through net catches of swimming mantis, wade in muddy swamps, and preserve specimens in glass jars using pungent chlorofoam...

Wonderful memories. But, bittersweet it is still, for as time passes, people move on. Am just thankful that I've got a chance to experience (and remember) all these.

This is a case of a 'normal outing' that got transformed into a super nostalgic walk down memory lane.


Idyllic ubin


Vastness of the land


Boardwalks


Hermit crab in its shell


Big sea cucumber


As the sun sets