A picnic at Lazarus Island

My first visit to the southern islands was several years ago and I had been yearning to to visit the southern islands of Singapore since then. The 3 most accessible islands are St. John's, Lazarus and Kusu island.

The special thing about these islands is that they are beautifully quiet and scenic without massive weekend crowds at most beaches in mainland Singapore.

Not many people go there because it is that it is not particularly convenient to get there. It is now a lot more convenient with the new Marina South Pier MRT station that leads right to the pier, but some planning is required as the ferries leave every 2 hourly takes some time to loop from mainland to St. John's, to Kusu and then back to mainland. A return trip ticket is slightly at the expensive side of $18.

In addition, there are no touristy shops or eateries at those islands as you although we did see a sign pointing to a cafeteria at St.John's island. After all, it is home to the Tropical Marine Science Institute and Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore's Marine Aquaculture Centre. In essence, you have to take along with you everything that you will need on your trip there.

Here's what I brought for my trip:

1) A picnic mat
2) A cooler box
3) Lunch - a packet of Swiss Deli Rosti, Norwegian smoked salmon, sour cream and some pepper
4) Tea - a mixture of lavender and chrysanthemum flowers
5) Some nice cold yoghurt
6) Pre-washed salad mix
7) Trangia 25-4 Alcohol stove kit
8) 500ml of Methanol fuel

There are several beaches to choose from. You can choose one that overlooks the city skyline or one that faces the vast ocean. It is amazing to see yachts coming close to the shoreline and partying. Talk about exclusivity man.

We chose to sit at one that overlooked the vast openness and started boiling ourselves some tea using the Trangia. It was windy and the fuel usage was a lot more than what I am used to when playing with the stove at home. Thankfully, I brought more than enough fuel and the integrated windshield worked well in giving me usable heat for boiling the water. Honestly, while tea was good, I couldn't help feel that an ice cold beer would satisfy me so much more in such intense heat.

Unfortunately, we did not take too many pictures while we were there. Here is a nice aerial video that someone has uploaded to youtube. It really is a beautiful place.