A Walk Outside

Hello everyone!! How have you been? I'm sorry I haven't been writing much -- besides being busy with school and my little brother, I've been having the flu! I had a fever for days, but am better now, just that I have this stupid cough and sometimes a head and tummy ache. So my Mom has been taking care of me and giving me my nasty tasting antibiotics. I've finished my homework now though, so I'm going to share with you some photos I took!

My Mom takes us for long walks to the beach almost every day and each time there's lot of different things to see. These are photos I took on one of those walks (except the one on top of course, which was taken by my Mom! I was about to go for ballet then haha).

So first let me show you the mangrove swamp we always walk past. The canal leads to the sea. The swamp area used to be much bigger, with lots of herons, snakes and monitor lizards, but that has greatly decreased :(

That day, we were so lucky to see this little bird in the bougainvilleas! He or she looks like a hummingbird, don't you think? But my Mom says we don't have hummingbirds here, and he is actually a sunbird. In fact, she thinks he may actually be a spiderhunter, one of the largest species of sunbird.

Like hummingbirds, sunbirds feed on nectar, and also insects and spiders. They have long, curved bills, and tubular tongues for nectar feeding. They're so cute!

Some sunbirds can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, see? They fly very fast, so I was happy to catch these shots!

There are lots of beautiful trees and plants by the sea.

My Mom says many of them have been here for years. I hope they stay around for many years more!

Many ships pass through here. Singapore is the world's second-busiest port and the world's busiest transshipment port. Ships like this one are so huge they look gigantic even from the shore. My Mom says LNG is a tanker that transports liquefied natural gas. The ship has a double hull or body to protect the cargo from damage or leaks.

Out at sea, there are lots of these kelongs. Kelong is a Malay word for these sorts of offshore wooden structures. They are built mainly for fishing, though there are fishermen and their families living in the bigger ones. They are secured to the sea bed by tall wooden posts that go down several metres into the sea. These ones look like they're resting on the water surface, but there are many that are elevated high above the water and you have to climb up the rickety beams. My Mom told us she did that when she was younger. The kelong she went to was out in the deep sea and she could see big shiny barracuda in the water below!

Now let me tell you about this thing. We had been seeing it in different parts of the sea for days already and I finally remembered to take a picture of it. The first time we saw it, we said it looked just like the head of someone with goggles and greasepaint on, half-submerged like those people on secret missions. Then I said he was in some competition for treading water, and that he had outlasted everybody.

You see -- he refuses to give up! That's why he looks like this now.

There were many poor dead crabs on the shore that day. The bottom of this crab shows he is male. When they are alive, we can see them running about in the shallow water and then suddenly diving and disappearing into the sand.

I read an article that said that unlike what a lot of people think, crabs and other crustaceans DO feel pain. My Mom has always believed this and refuses to eat them (and animals in general). Once, we rescued some crabs from the supermarket. My Mom says that those poor crabs and lobsters we see tied up in the supermarket or in the tanks at restaurants are boiled alive. Now a university study has proven that these poor animals do feel pain! And if you read how the study was done, you will see that they are smart, thinking creatures too! So please don't eat them!

There are lots of sea stars washed up on shore too. Don't call them starfish because you know they aren't really fish. They don't have backbones for one thing, but fish do. Did you know that sea stars can grow a new arm if they lose one? They also don't have brains or blood, and move by using hundreds of tube feet on their undersides.

Now let me share with you a very sad picture. This is a beautiful bird we have to walk past every time we go to the beach. He is quite far away so we can't tell what kind of bird he is, but he has a very long tail and sings very loudly and sweetly. I think it is very very wrong to keep a bird caged. Caged birds cannot stretch or use their wings and are lonely and bored. Imagine being trapped like that all day, every day! He must be so sad when he sees the wild birds calling to each other and flying past. Mommy says there is a poem by one of her favourite writers called "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings". One verse of the poem is:

The caged bird sings with fearful trill

of the things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom

Isn't that sad?? Please don't ever get a bird for a pet, unless you are going to build a bird sanctuary in your backyard or are rescuing one that has been abandoned.

Well, before I go, let me share with you something happy -- a picture of my little brother who is now one month old! He is getting cuter and cuter every day! I love him!!! He is soooooooooooooooooooo adorable! I just want to hug him and squeeze him FOREVER!!!

Thank you for visiting! See you again really soon!!
 

Waves in a Bottle!

Hello everybody!! How have you been? Are you ready to go back to school? I'm looking forward to seeing Nicholle and Maisy! We had so much fun together during the holidays! Yay for good friends you can count on!!

Just yesterday, I got a bit creative and made this little experiment in a bottle! I like to shake it around, or flip it over and shake like crazy. Then the whole bottle turns blue, with a million teeny little yellow bubbles of oil floating around. After a while, the blueness settles down and I will roll it around on a table to make extremely mad waves. Then before the waves die down, I'll quickly stand it upright, so that the bubbles fly everywhere, like seagulls! After all the flipping, rolling and shaking, I do it all over again!

When I get tired of all the crazy shaking, I watch all the bubbles float down, piling on top of each other at the bottom to make a seabed. It's quite fascinating actually. Sometimes I decide that maybe all the insane flipping might cause the bottle to slip from my hands, and CRACK! So, maybe doing all that stuff is kinda dangerous haha...

Hey, do you know what the "twilight zone" is? It is the middle layer of the world's oceans, that part of the pelagic zone that goes down from 200 to 1000 metres below the ocean surface (the pelagic zone is any water in a sea or lake that is neither close to the bottom nor near the shore). According to Wiki, some light penetrates this deep, but it is insufficient for photosynthesis. Animals such as swordfish, squid, wolf eels, cuttlefish, and other semi-deep sea creatures live here. They are adapted to life in near darkness, cold water and high pressure. Also, there is enough sunlight for animals, such as the chain catshark, to be fluorescent! Here's my little twilight zone in a bottle! I hope you enjoy watching!

Bye and thanks for visiting! Remember to visit me at Bikbik and Roro, where I have been guest blogging for the last week!
 

On Sadness and Cuteness

Hi everybody! How have you been? I hope you all are doing OK, although the weather and haze pollution are so bad. The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) went up to 401 today. I've learnt that the PSI is a sort of measure of the air quality. Zero to 50 is good, while 101 - 200 is unhealthy, 201 - 300 is very unhealthy, and anything above 300 is hazardous. So we are in the hazardous range now. The smell of smoke even comes into our house although the windows are shut. Plus the temperature is 35 degrees :(

I read in the news that "Indonesia on Thursday accused Singapore of acting "like a child" over thick smog from forest fires in Sumatra that has triggered an environmental crisis, as the city-state's premier warned it could last weeks" (you can read more here and here). I feel sad that there is all this bickering going on while there is such a bad environmental crisis happening which is not being fixed. I also feel so bad for the poor wildlife that is being affected :(

Let me share with you something happier. Remember the cat pin my Mom made for Maisy's birthday? It was so cute, I wished I could have one too, so my Mom made me a little one! This is a tiny Ragdoll kitten! He reminds me of my cat Ming Ming.

This pin is actually very small, just about 3.5cm. But he has a cute star in his ear! This is what he looks like close up. Isn't he simply adorable?

And this is what he looks like on a cardigan! Isn't he sweet?

My Mom actually put some cat pins in her shop. This cat head is one of them! I love his colour and his beautiful green eyes. These pins are environmentally-friendly because they are made with recycled, reclaimed things. My Mom has been taking some custom orders for her cat pins, so if you want one, just email her or me! They are OOAK (one-of-a-kind), so you can look super cool wearing a special work of art!

OK, see you again soon! Try to enjoy the rest of your June holidays even if you are stuck indoors. Keep praying that the haze crisis can be fixed peacefully, permanently and soon!!!

Wiggle!

Hello everybody! How have you been? I actually have lots of things to post -- including a GIVEAWAY -- so stay tuned! But first I wanted to share with you some wonderful news!

Remember Wiggle? That's him up there, as a sweet baby mealworm. I took this picture after his friends Scriggle and Shake had left :(

But I was determined not to give up and Wiggle was determined too! And look what happened -- Wiggle became a pupa! My Mom was home when it happened; she says it happened really fast. When she came home, he was still in his mealworm state; then when she looked at him about half an hour later, he was like this! See that browny-black thing on the side there? That's his old casing from his final moulting. In the days before he metamorphosed, he acted all uncomfortable; he kept scrunching up and looking like he was dying. I was a little worried, but something told me not to give up hope!

So, thank goodness I kept waiting and feeding him. Although in his pupa stage, he did not do much at all. He just lay about like that. For awhile I kept giving him stuff to eat, but when I saw he was really not interested, I stopped. Day by day, he changed colour, turning just a little darker and browner each time.

At first, he was just this pale thing with no features. But after awhile, he started showing little dark bits. I was glad he was changing more obviously, because many days would pass and he would be so still, I wasn't sure if he was still alive!

So here he is looking a bit darker.

And here he is from the top. My Mom kept saying he looked like an alien.

Here he is looking even darker. During this time, he started moving a tiny bit, which was rather nasty. But I was glad because I felt it meant that he would be transforming again really soon. He had already been in his alien state for quite awhile, maybe a couple of weeks.

Then one day, after a couple of days of twitching, I found him like this! Isn't that amazing? He really changed! I wish I could have gotten a video of him taking of his pupa "jacket", but it was tiring just sitting there looking at him and waiting.

And today he is like this -- a real, proper beetle! Isn't he nice and dark? Here he is enjoying some apples and lettuce. At first, I was all set to release him into the wild, but my Mom pointed out all the birds that were out there. I decided he would be safer and happier in his own little home. It's like a beetle hotel really, with good food! I'll keep taking pictures of him now and then, though I guess he won't be changing anymore now. I'm so happy he is all grown up now! 

See you again real soon! Don't forget -- I have a fun GIVEAWAY coming up!!

Goodbye

Hello. I am very sad. Scriggle and Shake have passed away. That's why I made this little movie for them, to always remember them. I would like to thank the Sylvanians for caring so much and being part of this. Please pray for them, though I am sure they are fine somewhere in Heaven. I think that Wiggle must be very lonely now, but I think he is adjusting. Bye bye Scriggle and Shake.

Here's Wiggle. I hope he is fine. He is eating dried apples and wholewheat bread. By himself. 

Learning Journey!

Yesterday we had our class excursion! Let me share some of my pictures with you. Here I am on the bus with one of my best friends, Kirthi! The bus was huge, because it had to carry our whole class and two grownups -- our form teacher and my Mom!

Can you guess where we're going?

Yup! The National Orchid Garden at the Botanic Gardens!

Here we are walking through orchid-covered arches into the garden.

See how tall the palms are?

Here we are in front of some fountain.

Here we are walking a very long bridge to get to the Cool House. It is so nice to be surrounded by so much nature.

Here we are outside the Cool House. Our teacher is explaining what the Cool House is. The Cool House shows what it's like in a tropical mountain forest. There are lots of orchids here, and carnivorous plants from all over the world too! The air here is cool (I think my teacher said it's 20 degrees), and there is a heavy mist which got us all damp.

Isn't this orchid wonderful! Like something from another planet.

And here you can see us getting wet in the mist.

Of course, because this was a "Learning Journey", we had to do some work. We all had worksheets we had to fill out along the way. Here I am writing about the orchids I liked the most.

I don't know why I am glowing here.

Here I am in front of some Vanda Miss Joaquim.

Finally we got to have our snack time. A lot of us were quite tired and hungry by this time. Here I am snacking with two of my good friends, Harmony and Emma. We are sitting in a colonial bungalow.

Before we left the Gardens, our teacher said we could play for awhile in the field. Here we are looking at it. Our teacher is telling us how far we're allowed to go.

And here we are playing Duck Duck Goose! For some reason, there are people who actually want to be Goose.

Harmony, Emma and I played some jump rope.

And here we are back in class. We had been at the Gardens the whole afternoon, so we just had about an hour of school left. Our teacher wanted us to go over our worksheets. What a fun day!

Now, I will show you some of the beautiful plants and flowers we saw. Actually, there are thousands of species and hybrids in the Gardens, so this is just a small handful. I hope you like them!

Competition Time!
To get a special mention in my blog, just leave a comment with the correct answer to any of the questions here!
1) Which orchid is your favourite?
2) Have you been here before? Do you plan to?