The Blind Men and the Elephant
Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.
The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would "look" like.
The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an elephant.
The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?"
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Pulau Ubin Trip
Few weeks back we made a trip to one of the Singapore get-away islands in the north east of Singapore called Pulau Ubin. This small island is nothing like Singapore, there are no traces of modernization, no skyscrapers, no shopping malls, no restaurants… In fact, it is like Singapore good few decades back when it was a ‘kampung’ – a village! It is a great spot for Singaporeans when they want to a break from modern lifestyle…
Our trip started in Changi Harbor Terminal, where we bought tickets for the bumboat. We had to wait until the boat was full and the cigarette smoking ‘captain’ decided, we could take off! The emergency vests on the boat were all covered in mould so we really doubted the safety of the boat, aiyoh…
Pulau Ubin welcomes its visitors in a small harbor, so called jetty, with few shops where you can rent bikes, small ‘restaurants’ looking more like hawker centers serving famous seafood. We decided to try it out and had a steamed fish and a coconut drink! I must say they were both delicious, and from what we saw on other tables, food looked fresh and quite tasty! We rented a bike, got a map of the island and off we disappeared in the jungle!
The roads around Pulau Ubin are rather rustic but it was quite nice break from the stylish and concrete Singapore! The island is small, but we wanted to explore every corner of it! We pedaled through the whole island, under the coconut trees, near old rubber tree plantations and old kampong houses, there was even a Buddist temple there! Pulau Ubin has a great biking trail system, with different difficulty levels from blue to black, so every biker can enjoy a day out cycling here. There are many break-out stations with locals selling fresh coconuts, cold drinks and other refreshments.
One of the surprises we had was weather changing in seconds! We visited an observation tower, had a break walking around the jungle and on the coastal boardwalk in the east part of the island and we took a turn to the central Pulau Ubin. It started raining, but as the rain did not bother us initially we decided to continue along the road. Little did we know about rain in Pulau Ubin… Within few seconds it was lashing rain, really lashing! It took us about a minute to get to the next shelter, and… we were completely soaked!
One of the highlights of the trip was amazing nature experience! We saw few interesting birds’ species, fish types, monkeys, even the komodo dragon! We took a wrong turn that turned out to be a dead end with a Buddhist temple, and on the way back to the main road a komodo dragon crossed out way! I wanted to stop and take a picture, but Herve was the sensible one and reminded me that after all these lizards can be dangerous and very fast… Few years back there were stories of komodos attacking people in Indonesia… we took off as quickly as our leg muscles allowed us…
After returning the bikes we went to the Secret Garden where they grow various types of fruit, flowers, herbs and vegetables. It was the first time I saw fields of aloe vera, lady fingers, or curry trees! It is well hidden in the other side of Jetty, Herve discovered this place when he was in the island some time ago, a magical and secluded place…
When we finished visiting the Secret Garden the dark clouds were back, so we rushed to the bumboat. Luckily there was one just leaving, so when we just got on board, a huge thunderstorm began! Pulau Ubin was an interesting and relaxing island, perfect for a day break from Singapore, especially for nature and cycling enthusiasts, but with that thunderstorm, we were happy we were on our way home…
Our trip started in Changi Harbor Terminal, where we bought tickets for the bumboat. We had to wait until the boat was full and the cigarette smoking ‘captain’ decided, we could take off! The emergency vests on the boat were all covered in mould so we really doubted the safety of the boat, aiyoh…
Pulau Ubin welcomes its visitors in a small harbor, so called jetty, with few shops where you can rent bikes, small ‘restaurants’ looking more like hawker centers serving famous seafood. We decided to try it out and had a steamed fish and a coconut drink! I must say they were both delicious, and from what we saw on other tables, food looked fresh and quite tasty! We rented a bike, got a map of the island and off we disappeared in the jungle!
The roads around Pulau Ubin are rather rustic but it was quite nice break from the stylish and concrete Singapore! The island is small, but we wanted to explore every corner of it! We pedaled through the whole island, under the coconut trees, near old rubber tree plantations and old kampong houses, there was even a Buddist temple there! Pulau Ubin has a great biking trail system, with different difficulty levels from blue to black, so every biker can enjoy a day out cycling here. There are many break-out stations with locals selling fresh coconuts, cold drinks and other refreshments.
One of the surprises we had was weather changing in seconds! We visited an observation tower, had a break walking around the jungle and on the coastal boardwalk in the east part of the island and we took a turn to the central Pulau Ubin. It started raining, but as the rain did not bother us initially we decided to continue along the road. Little did we know about rain in Pulau Ubin… Within few seconds it was lashing rain, really lashing! It took us about a minute to get to the next shelter, and… we were completely soaked!
One of the highlights of the trip was amazing nature experience! We saw few interesting birds’ species, fish types, monkeys, even the komodo dragon! We took a wrong turn that turned out to be a dead end with a Buddhist temple, and on the way back to the main road a komodo dragon crossed out way! I wanted to stop and take a picture, but Herve was the sensible one and reminded me that after all these lizards can be dangerous and very fast… Few years back there were stories of komodos attacking people in Indonesia… we took off as quickly as our leg muscles allowed us…
After returning the bikes we went to the Secret Garden where they grow various types of fruit, flowers, herbs and vegetables. It was the first time I saw fields of aloe vera, lady fingers, or curry trees! It is well hidden in the other side of Jetty, Herve discovered this place when he was in the island some time ago, a magical and secluded place…
When we finished visiting the Secret Garden the dark clouds were back, so we rushed to the bumboat. Luckily there was one just leaving, so when we just got on board, a huge thunderstorm began! Pulau Ubin was an interesting and relaxing island, perfect for a day break from Singapore, especially for nature and cycling enthusiasts, but with that thunderstorm, we were happy we were on our way home…
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