Exploration: Attap Valley Bunker [VIDEO]

It's a long weekend for us Singaporeans :)

Time to charge up and spend time with our loved ones and family.

We have just uploaded a video of our Attap Valley Bunker tour which was organised by the National Heritage Board of Singapore. Do check it out on Youtube using the link below:

Video snippet from our Attap Valley Bunker Tour.

You can read up on our PREVIOUS POST to find out more.

Happy weekends everyone!

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Exploration: Sunset Way 'Tunnel'

Hello! Happy New Year to all our readers!

How did you spend the last few hours of 2014? For us both, we had a simple dinner followed by watching The Theory of Everything :) We don't really like crowds so we skipped the fireworks this time round. It's not always that we get to spend time together at the stroke of midnight due to our crashing shifts, but I'm glad that we managed to do it this year.

Throwback to what we did last year.. or more like on the last day of 2013... oh my, that was more happening. It wasn't exactly the idea of a perfect date for the mainstream but it was indeed memorable for us both, just the way we liked it!

He had been telling me stories about how he used to cycle with his schoolmates around Sunset Way. There was this playground where they used to hang out at, this housing estate which they used to cycle through, this 'tunnel' which they had explored before.

Notice that I kept using 'tunnel' with apostrophes? It's not exactly a huge tunnel but more like a tiny tunnel OR huge longkang.

Our starting point : 11.38am

From there, we started looking for our path towards our destination. We actually got a bit lost and were mostly depending on @amsyarstifler's memory, which is actually not bad!

Wondering where this leads us to...

 Even if in doubt, follow the words of Dory...

And we found the first 'tunnel'!

Time check: 11.53am
OK *Scissors paper stone* WHO GOES FIRST?!

It was a pretty daunting task (to decide who goes first, haha) especially that it is very dark inside. I'm also assuming that it is the home of a thousand lizards and cockroaches...

What it looks like inside. It's actually quite big, we didn't have to crouch to pass through.

The light at the end of the tunnel - we got out without any encounters with the creepy crawlies I mentioned! 

Call me weird but I actually liked seeing the colours here.

Who cares if we look stupid here...

The ceiling of the next tunnel we had to pass through is much lower. Given my height (and I'm short), I remembered that I still had to crouch a little in order not to get my hair caught in all these bugs' homes! Luckily I remembered that I have some plastic bags with me and we used them to cover our heads. :D

Yay, we survived! Super happy!

That was the last of our tunnel adventure and I remembered we ended up somewhere in Greenleaf if I'm not wrong. I cannot remember everything that exactly happened but there was some climbing, some laughter and lots of times which we were like "eh you go first".

And when we were inside those tunnels, one of us would be the one shining our iPhone's flashlight while the other would be watching out for parts of the ground which is slippery with some hmmm... deposits. But nope, it wasn't smelly (AT ALL, i don't lie) as you would imagine.  

What would you do if one of these dropped on you?

We saw a really HUMONGOUS spider on our way back and of course spent at least five minutes trying to get the best picture of it on our phones. hahaha

I don't think that this path has been walked on for years.
Time check: 12.35pm

The path was really desolated, leaves and moss covered up most of the ground and it was totally undisturbed until we passed through.

Somehow we reached back to our bike without getting lost :) It was quite tiring even though it was only an hour from the time we started.

Have you ever seen a bike crossing the road at a traffic light?

Overall it was a fantastic exploration experience. I got a shower right after I reached home. haha! But I've learnt that :

1. Teamwork is important.
2. Tunnels are not scary, creepy crawlies in tunnels are.
3. Plastic bags are useful.
4. No matter where you are (even if in a shitty place), make the best of it and you'll always have lots of FUN!

Hope you liked this post :) If you're keen on exploring, be it forests, tunnels, longkangs (lol) or derelict buildings, here are some useful tips!

   - Wear comfortable attire but best to cover up arms and legs too

   - Wear proper shoes or sneakers, we wouldn't advise slippers or something you wouldn't want to get dirty

   - Get a cap, or a hat, or you'll be wearing plastic bags like us

   - Load up on sunblock - I got really tanned the following day

   - Get your calamine lotion ready if you worry about mosquitoes

   - Do some research! - time needed for the trip, what terrain to expect, safety measures to take

   - Bring some WATER

Other than that, exploring is a very simple activity with minimal preparation - this particular exploration of ours was a spontaneous one since we were both in good attire :)

Till our next post,

Have fun! 

And once again, happy 2015! May your new year brings new experiences and more joy the whole year round.

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Exploration: Islands Hopping (St John's, Lazarus & Kusu Island)

Hello once again and thank you so much for reading this blog. 

Today's review would be about our exploration to the Southern Islands of Singapore - St John's and Kusu Island.

To reach these islands, you first need to board a ferry from Marina South Pier. Each ticket costs $18 for adults and $12 for children. Tickets can be bought at the terminal itself. For directions in getting to Marina South Pier, click HERE. 

The islands are mostly popular for fishing enthusiasts, a weekend gateway from our busy Singapore or just to those who love trekking and want some adventure. 

The Schedule for the ferries (from Marina South Pier) are:

Monday to Friday: 10am, 2pm

Saturday: 9am, 12pm, 3pm

Sunday & public holiday: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm

The Southern Islands are made up of 8 major islands - Kusu Island, Lazarus Island, Pulau Seringat, Pulau Tekukor, Saint John's Island, Sentosa and the two Sisters' Islands. One thing worth mentioning is that these islands have evolved over the years due to reclamation works done.

It was a calm ride to our first stop - St John's Island! It took about 20mins to reach and those on board were mostly fishing enthusiasts as we noticed from their various fishing equipments. We wore Airou tees (Felynes from Monster Hunter) as we heard that the place is a cats' paradise. Click HERE to see all the cat photos we took!

After reaching St John's Island, turn left and you'll be crossing to another Island - Lazarus Island. It was said that there will be a 'secret' lagoon which was what our desire to explore came from.

Things we saw along the way to Lazarus Island:

 A chicken.

 Some fishers.

 Beautiful view

 We got lost and were greeted by a lovely path of dried leaves.

A big grasshopper.

And then finally, we reached!

It was perfect.

Selfie time.

 We were surprised by how beautiful the lagoon was. Fantastically, it was only us. 

 We couldn't wait to put our stuffs down and go play in the water. Furthermore, it was low tide when we reached so we could actually walk some way down the sea before it got too deep.

We packed a picnic for our 'island holiday' too. :) By the way, there are not much amenities available on Lazarus Island - there's a toilet about 10-15mins down the path but that's about it. Remember to stock up on food and water!

It's a dead crab. But it was cut clean and its flesh was gone. We guessed the culprits for this could be the hungry birds.

It was about time for our next ferry ride to Kusu Island. These ferries operate on schedule so it's best not to miss any of them if you plan on getting somewhere. After heading off we went to the nearest toilet we saw. But we totally did not plan feeding cats for the next half hour.

Well, if you love cats, this would be a problem. Because like us, we had a problem getting away from these cuties once they show their pitiful and hungry faces. If you have food (of any kind actually) they will come to you and jump up to grab the food. Yes it's cats infested. 

But you see, she's enjoying herself here.

After saying goodbye to the kitties, we head back to where we started.

 We still had time so we explored some of the nearby buildings.

 Open cubicles.

 Keep your eyes open and you'll definitely spot stuffs like these.

 It was a cloudy day but we could see the Singapore skyline from here!

You can even hold bbqs over at St John's Island if you want :)

4pm on Friday - time to board the ferry and head to Kusu Island. It was a shorter trip this time round.

We were so thirsty by then and really needed a cold drink. Luckily, there's a shop at Kusu Island. It's where the temple is. Just be friendly and ask the owners for a drink.

 Satisfied.

No wonder it was nicknamed Turtle Island. 

There are various stories (what you call myths) involving this island. One of them involves a magical tortoise which turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors - one Malay and one Chinese.

A commissioned drawing she did sometime back to illustrate the myth.

Kusu Island is also famous for The Kusu Keramat, the sacred shrines in commemoration of a pious family - Syed Abdul Rahman, his mother Nenek Ghalib and his sister, Puteri Fatimah.

 People from over Singapore would come to pray for blessings. The walls were adorned with writings from many people.

That was the end of our Island Hopping Holiday. It was a really memorable trip for the both of us. If possible we would really like to go again probably with a bunch of friends. And it would be even better if we get to explore the Sisters' Islands next time! 

But till then, here's a panorama view at the Marina South Pier. :)

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Happy exploring!

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