Labour Day 2014: Exploration of St John's Island and Lazarus Island

Fine weather on Labour Day! Happy coz we would be going to explore St John's Island... I have read about a hidden gem in Singapore and we had allocated Labour day for this exploration. 

Just as we got out, Mr Cheong noticed the below flowers in the 'garden' of his neighbour. We thought that the flowers looked a little like hydrangeas and looked so pretty, so i decided to take a photo of it. 

We had lunch at Toast box (Greenwich branch) again all because Mr Cheong wanted to eat chicken wing from Old Chang Kee

This time, instead of eating Mee Rebus, I ordered Laksa like Mr Cheong :)

After our lunch we proceed to Marina South Pier where we would be taking a ferry ride to St John's island. Mr Cheong had checked previously online that there would be ferry ride to the southern islands every hour. But upon reaching, we found out that we had missed the 1pm ferry, and the next one would only be at 3pm .

We bought our ferry tickets for 3 pm and went to explore other areas.

We decided to check out Satay by the Bay. We have passed by it many times but have never went in. 

Satay by the Bay :

18 Marina Gardens Dr, Singapore 018953

I had expected it to be a place with many satay stalls but I was wrong. There are actually many different kinds of stalls selling a wide variety of food. There are in fact only 2 satay stalls and 1 of them is Halal whereas the other is not.

After walking around, we decided to have some ice instead due to the warm weather and since we had just taken our lunch. 

I ordered Mango Castle and Ice Lychee. While the staff was preparing my Mango Castle, I realised that I have ordered the wrong thing. I had wanted to order the Mango Shaved ice instead of Mango Castle. zzzz.... but nevermind... Mango Castle it shall be. 

The Mango Castle came with normal crushed ice, mango sauce, real mango cubes, mango pudding and Mango ice cream. It cost the same as the Mango shaved ice , S$6

It was pretty refreshing especially in the hot weather. After the Mango castle, we just ate the lychee from the Ice Lychee as the Ice had melted and the liquid was diluted and didnt taste that good. 

After our dessert, we went around to explore a little since we still have some time and we discovered this hippo structure. We were kind of disgusted with the brown dirty water. 

And on the other side, the pond was kinda unsightly too. 

I wondered wont it encourage mosquitoes to breed there?

It was about time for us to proceed back to the Ferry Terminal. 

Each ticket to the Southern Islands costs S$18.

Upon boarding the ferry, I realised I have forgotten to bring my monopod and our shades!!!!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mr Cheong keep wanting to take pics of me with Cheng Ho as I had went on Cheng Ho a few years back. He wasnt very into these oriental stuff actually... So here I am posing with Cheng Ho at the background. 

Without my monopod didnt prevent us from taking couple selfie... Now I have to really stretch my hands out but still.. our heads covered most of the background.

Finally the ferry started to move and wooo.... we were on our way !!!

I caught sight of St John's Island which is the first stop 

The people waiting to board our ferry to the next stop - Kusu Island. Mr Cheong and I would be alighting at St John's Island. We would be exploring only St John's and Lazarus islands this time, not going to Kusu. 

The moment we alighted at the small pier, we were greeted by crystal clear water. The water looked so much like that of Tioman Island in Malaysia. I didnt know that we could get this kind of water here in Singapore!

Do not believe me? Lets take a look at the following photos. 

Can you see the rocks beneath the water?

Can you see our legs???? HAHAH we cant help taking pics and more pics... But be careful especially if you are bringing kids here. Dont let them come to this rocky area.. Just let them stay at the beach. This area here though is shallow water.. but many rocks. MR Cheong whose rubber slippers were washed away a few times by the current almost injured himself as he stepped on the sharp rocks with bare feet. 

Mr Cheong trying to put on his 'washed away' slippers

Looked at some of the things we have found.

We even saw a small crab at the beach but it ran away too quickly and we didnt manage to snap any photos. 

Now that we are done with St John's Island, We would be going to our main highlights of the day. 

Lazarus Island:

Lazarus Island is the main reason why we decide to explore the Southern Island. 

Some Lalang photos on the way. Since we didnt take any lalang pre wedding photos, Mr Cheong decided to take few photos for me.. lol

I have been telling Mr Cheong how beautiful the beach at Lazarus island is.. and he didnt want to believe me. He didnt bring any swim wear so I didnt too since I wasnt expecting to swim without him. 

THE LOVELY BEACH!!!!!

The water is crystal clear and the sand is super fine!!!

MR Cheong is so happy with what he saw!!!

We felt as though we were out of Singapore! 

Mr Cheong loves sea and he loves the sight he saw at Lazarus island

I am happy when Mr Cheong is happy with my recommendation!

Mr Cheong could not stand it any further. He decided to go into the water for a swim without his swim wear. LOL. This is the very first time, he is so tempted to swim in a beach in Singapore.

Luckily he has bought his underwear to change (we had brought some change of clothes for Jeff's house later, but I didnt bring any under garments so I cant go too deep into the water.)  :( totally regret.. should have brought my swim wear with me

Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves so much at Lazarus, that we even played with our shadows.. ahahahha

It was finally time for us to go back to the pier to catch the last ferry ride back. As we took a stroll back to the pier, more photos. 

Our fruitful Labour Day. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we have planned to come back again but with our swim wear and picnic basket :)