28th March 2010
Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin, Singapore
I've been with Team Seagrass (TSG) since it started 3 years ago. Team Seagrass is part of the Seagrass Watch, an international organisation based in Australia. It was formed in 1998 and is the largest scientific, non-destructive, seagrass assessment and monitoring program in the world.
I was speaking to a dear friend of mine, Ria Tan, who has been supporting TSG since it's formation stage, about the possibility of getting Rover Scouts involved. She was more than glad to allow them in (But of course they have to go through the standard interview process. Haha..). In fact, this is not the first time Ria has been roped into my evil splendid scheme of getting Scouts to invade appreciate Mother Nature. I've a feeling that whenever she sees my name appearing on her mobile when there is a text message or call or even through emails, she knows that I'm up to no good. Hahaha...
Anyway, as I had a job assignment on Saturday morning, I couldn't join the Rovers in the indoor orientation session so I joined them for the actual survey on Sunday afternoon at Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin. We met for lunch and apparently... we were just a teeny weeny bit late. Haha... Immediately off we went in the bumboat on a hot Sunday afternoon. Once on the island, we were quickly sent off in the vans straight to Chek Jawa. At the information center, no time was wasted once again when we were split into two teams for each monitoring site and prepared all the gear. Quick briefing by Siti, the seagrass guru, and off we went to the shore. As we always say, 'The tide waits for no man'.
I was appointed to oversee one of the transect in Site 1 and along with me was Kian Seng, Jiahui and Melissa. Oliver, May Lwin and Edi joined another transect in Site 2 guided by another friend of mine, Andy. My team got down to work quickly and they got the hang of it real fast! I was comfortable enough to let them manage the monitoring while I constantly survey the surroundings for interesting marine life to show them. Soon enough, we completed and were the first in the site to complete. Since there was still time, I showed them around the shores of Chek Jawa (which is not accessible by the public as it's a reserve) till it was time to head back.
Back on land and since everyone completed early, Ria took us on a guided walk along the mangrove section of the boardwalk. Along the way, I was called on by Ria to act as her assistant guide to talk about mud lobster mounts. While I was explaining, suddenly one of our veterans, Alvin, spotted a black spitting cobra and alerted everyone. You could see the excitement - the group became paparazzi and started snapping photos of the snake. I think the snake, like any celebrity, quickly slithered off deep into the mangroves.
Coming to the end of the boardwalk, Ria asked if anyone wanted to climb up the Jejawi Viewing Tower (A tower that overlooks almost all of Chek Jawa's shore and is named after the Malayan Banyan tree growing near it and is almost as tall). Apparently, only Edi was energetic enough to go up. He ended up taking a group shot of all the lazy bums below, which somehow looked like a map of Singapore!
Photograph by Edi
To be nice, I also took a photo of him up in the tower. Hahaha...
The trip was indeed fun, and back on mainland, the lot of us, together with Ria and some friends, went for a good, well-deserved dinner at the nearby coffeeshop in Changi Village. We were sharing and chatting all about the trip, and it seemed like it was a good start. I'm sure Ria hasn't seen the last of the Rovers. Watch out for us cause we'll be back!
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