Wan's Ubin Journal

Hi All! I might be starting a new series on Wan's Ubin Journal called "Where Have U-Bin?" where I feature some of our foreign (and maybe local) friends who have stepped foot on Pulau Ubin and were also amazed as to what our island had to offer. For our first post in the series, let me introduce you to Gregory! Say hi to Gregory! Photo courtesy of Gregory @travelingeevee I have had the wonderful pleasure of crossing paths with Gregory (@travelingeevee) when I was scrolling through Instagram and even featured his posts on Wan's Ubin Journal's "Ubin Also Instagrammable" series. You may take a look at his awesome photos right  here ! We have recently kept in touch since the feature and I even found out that not only did he post his pictures of Ubin on his Instagram, he also created a vlog of that very trip as well! He was more than willing and happy to share the link of his vlog with me and I was more than thrilled to watch it. In the vlo

Hi All! On September 23rd, 2018, there were two major events that took place in My Ubin Journey which included the reopening of Ah Ma Drink Stall as well as the return of my uncle who had never stepped back on the island since 1986! This post will cover on the former as Pulau Ubin celebrates its latest restoration success. You can read up on the latter here ! Photo courtesy of Mr Desmond Lee's Facebook Page After nearly six hours of amazing (and exhausting) quality time spent with my mom, uncle and cousins, we ended the day off with a very special celebration - the reopening of Ah Ma Drink Stall! Ah Ma Drink Stall had recently underwent a huge restoration that took place over a period of months (almost two years if you'd like to include the planning procedures, too!). The stall was once a small and in an almost rundown state, also constantly flooded during high tide or heavy storms given its location on a river bank surrounded by mangroves. Finally, on September 23r

Hi All! On September 23rd, 2018, there were two major events that took place in My Ubin Journey which included the reopening of Ah Ma Drink Stall as well as the return of my uncle who had never stepped back on the island since 1986! This post will cover on the latter as I document the day where history was rewritten for my eldest uncle. Tune in for the next post where I will share on what might be a momentous part of Ubin's restoration history. I was excited as this day would have marked something significant. Not in my life, nor my mom's but that of Pak Ngah, my current eldest uncle. My mom always mentioned to me, that amongst all her siblings, Pak Ngah was the only one who had never returned home ever since he moved out of the island back in 1986 - a full decade before I was born! Just when I thought that my mom's return was long-awaited, my uncle's was really one of a kind. A week before, I asked my cousin, Kak Diana, if she was keen in going out to Ubin f

Hi All! This post will be sharing about my return trip to Pulau Ubin on September 15th, 2018; a month since my accident during the Pulau Ubin Heritage Trail back on August 18th, 2018 which you can read about it here . I spent the day engaging in one of many kampong activities, which was garden tending and learnt some cool new things! It's been more than a month since I went back to Pulau Ubin and I must admit there is that sense of homesickness all these while. I originally wanted to head back to the island the weekend before but it couldn't happen due to a battering thunderstorm that pretty much struck the whole of Singapore throughout the first half of the day but at least that homesick feeling disappeared on Saturday morning, September 15th, 2018. I knew prior to this on Facebook that there might be a group or two of volunteers who would be going down to Chek Jawa for a coastal cleanup but by the time I reached the basement of Changi Point Ferry Terminal, was I in f

Hi All, On this day, the 13th of September, 2018, marks the 26th anniversary of my late grandmother's passing. I have yet to learn so much about her and every single time I would get to know her; her attributes, her characteristics, her values and her morals, it gives me a fresher and much deeper sense of love for her. She passed away four years before I entered the world. My brothers were blessed to have been cradled in her loving arms, fed with her tender hands and loved with her gracious heart. I could only imagine the sense of immense grief that befell on my family, especially towards my mom on that day as she had her best friend forever - whom wiped away all her tears, knew all of her fears and secrets, lent a listening ear to all her stories and poured her heart out with compassion and love for her - gone to answer God's calling. Etched deep into her memory, my mom would recall her experience 26 years ago when she received the urgent call from her brother at

Hi All! This post is a follow up to the previous chronologically-accurate posts in the "My Ubin Journey" series, " Printing, Paperwork, Pulau Ubin Outing ", which was published nearly a month ago! My apologies for the lack in catching up on the real timeline as I have been engaged in what seemed to be a pretty eventful August and I couldn't really bear not to write those highlights down in Wan's Ubin Journal for all of you to read it as fresh as it was! In this post, I talk about my subsequent trip down to the island the following week; this time with my mom and how I came across a mind-blowing discovery and also the email that kick started my heritage hunt. Immediately as I got home from an entire half day on Pulau Ubin with my colleagues, I shared with my mom my experience back on the island. She was excited to hear how her birthplace was like and was happy to know that things have pretty much remained as rustic as she could remember. And then it