Friday: Friday started out with a lunch date with our NIE advisors and staff members. Little did we know we'd be going to one of the most interesting, unique, and different places on the whole island. We arrived at Bollywood Veggies at around 1 o'clock, and were there all afternoon.
Our server was a hilarious man, who after deciding our order for us, played guitar and told us all about the farm. The farm is owned by a woman named Ivy Singh Lim, and her husband, who we also met, and who was one of the most interesting people I've ever had the pleasure of talking with.
"She's very anti-government," our professor said to as, as we left the table, and that's putting it lightly. Ivy talked our ears off about Singapore's history, slavery, the government and it's flaws, education and it's flaws... it was really interesting to talk to her.
She is a strong believer in fate, empowerment, and nourishment, and it shows in her property - with a beautiful, delicious restaurant, amazing, full garden, and 'museum' that shows the history of food production in the world. A nice man named Anthony Hopkin gave us a tour of the museum right after we ate.
The museum was filled with beautiful paintings - a timeline of agriculture and industry in our world!
This last picture shows the future - other planets coming for food from the famous Bollywood veggies!
Beautiful, woven baskets!
Elise with Anthony, our tour guide.
The tour then continued to the garden outside... which blew my mind! There were SO many different types of plants (from edible to poisonous) and they were all healthy, plentiful, and pesticide free. The garden tour was hot but so worth it - it was awesome!
Such a cute puppy behind the restaurant!
"Be ONE with NATURE" - loved this place and it's emphasis on the importance of education!
The group on our tour!
Rice paddies...
Aloe Vera! Dad would've been happy!
"Children need action... let's go WILD!"
Loved this woman and her belief system...
Bollywood veggies was a great experience that I will never forget. When discussing Singapore's education system with Ivy, she mentioned, "Isn't this great that God brought you here to meet me." It stuck with me, and the whole day I really did think about how grateful I was to have seen her farm and toured her garden (and eaten at her restaurant...yum!). When I got home I started Facebook messaging with my older sister, Cory and told her about my amazing experience there. She proceeded to 'tag' me in a picture from her Singapore trip almost 4 years ago:
She had been to Ivy's farm with her group from NUS, and had a conversation with Ivy about the importance of female leaders and owning your own business, etc. I wish that I could go back and thank Ivy for the impact she had on not only me, but my family! Who knew?! This really was an amazing, eye-opening experience for me - one that I'll never forget!
After leaving the farm, Sunny took us back to our hostel where we rested, showered, and got ready to go out to dinner. We went to Clarke Quay, the 'happening' place to be for nightlife in Singapore. We had dinner at Señor Taco's, and saw some beautiful buildings and restaurants.
After dinner, Katherine and I decided to stay out and go to a few of the bars, and Katie and Rae headed back to the hostel. We went to a bar called China One, then to Zouk nightclub - which is apparently in the top 5 best clubs in the world ;) It was a really fun night, we stayed out way too late though... but it was a good time!
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Cat of the Day!
Today's Cat of the Day is this cute 'cat' we saw at Bollywood veggies!
Saturday: Even after getting very little sleep, we woke up Saturday morning and got ready to go to Pulau Ubin, an island of the coast of Singapore. We got on the green line, crossed the entire country, got on bus #2, and headed to Changi Village, where we would board a boat and head out to the island!
Approaching Island Ubin! Pulau is 'island' in Malay.
We got to the island and headed over to the 'resort' that allowed us to rent bicycles for the day and kayak for 2 hours for only $10. It started to rain on us a little while we kayaked, but the rest of the day was absolutely beautiful, clear blue skies, a ton wildlife, and some amazing scenery.
Where we kayaked and rented bikes! They were so nice!
Getting ready to kayak! (Mom, are you jealous?)
My bike for the day...
Can you see it?! Look close....Spider!!
A wild boar! We saw her babies too... check out the video on my Facebook!
The trek through Pulau Ubin was incredible and we saw everything from huge spiders, to wild boars, to monkeys!!! We eventually reached the Chek Jawa wetlands, and it was an amazing site to see.
Such a beautiful day!
Katherine, Katie, Rae, Elise and I on the Chek Jawa boardwalk!
Low tide!
The most amazing view of the day!
Our day on the island ended with a highlight of seeing not just a monkey, but about TEN monkeys all together on the side of the road playing around. I was able to snatch a picture with one, but you can see a few of the others in the background! (My camera had died at this point, so I was begging the other girls to take lots of pictures!)
Pulau Ubin really changed my life. Seeing what Singapore looked like in about the 1960's, in comparison to how different the main island looks - I will definitely be back here one day!
We finally made it back to the resort and returned our bikes... my pedal fell off on our way home (thankfully it was then, and not at the beginning of our trip!) We got back on the boat to Changi village, ate a delicious dinner from the food stalls, and got back on bus #2 to the green line MRT. We left the island at 5:30 and got back to the hostel at 8:30pm, so it was quite an endeavor getting home. I showered, (which was much needed at that point), got into comfy clothes and was asleep within about 10 minutes. This morning I'm relaxing, blog postin' and getting ready to do an early dinner and Night Safari tonight! Then work starts tomorrow! I can't wait!!!
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Cat of the Day!
Today's Cat of the Day is a tie between two kitties we saw in Changi Village.
The first one we saw right after getting off the boat (he was a lil' bit grumpy) -
Kitty #1:
The second one we saw while we were eating dinner!
(He looked just like Simba and Nala with his nub tail!) -
Kitty #2:
The gardens/farm that you went to sounds like SUCH a cool place! I love that you're doing a cat of the day. ;-) Miss you!
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