There are 60 over islands in Singapore, and sad to say, as a Singaporean, I've been to less than a quarter of them. Hence, I was looking very forward to this team bonding event, where we embark on an island hopping trip St John's Island & Kusu Island.
We bought our tickets for the 2pm ferry from a bright orange counter of the Singapore Island Cruise and Ferry Services at Marina South Pier, which is accessible by MRT (Marina South Pier MRT station).
The ferry (on the right)
Bye bye sky scrappers
The ferry ride to St John's Island took 30mins, and as this is the last ferry of the day, we only have 15mins to explore the island. We went around taking quick snap shots of this tranquil island surrounded by clear green sea. Before the island is open for the public to visit in the 1970s, St John's Island was previously a quarantine station, then a drug rehabilitation centre.
If you intend to stay longer to explore the island or visit Lazarus Island, which is connected to St John's Island by a bridge, you can plan your trip based on the ferry's schedule.
We literally hop back to the ferry to hop to the next stop, Kusu Island, which is a 10mins ferry ride away. "Kusu" means tortoise, and legend says that this island was transform from a magical tortoise which did so to save 2 shipwrecked sailors.
Again, the clear green sea welcome us, and this time, we had 1 hour to spend on the island. We spent the first 30mins playing old-school team bonding games like dodge ball and 7-up, before visiting the nearby Da Bong Gong temple to pray for good health, fortune and luck.
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It's time to bade farewell to the island. We board the ferry to go back to the main island, and I look forward to another trip to the southern islands soon, this time, with more time allocated so as to fully explore the beauty of the islands.
