scrap metal - a source of pocket money

the prices of scrap metal have gone up in tandem with its high demand. copper appears to be lucrative, fetching a higher price than aluminium, tin, lead and zinc. the scrap yards in sungei kadut display big banners welcoming sellers of such commodities.

i was told that in china, the thieves stripped off metal structures in public places in broad daylight, just as they had done in certain parts of singapore. i have come across, in remote places in singapore, rubber insulators discarded by copper wire thieves.

i am reminded of my childhood days - at the time when japan embarked on industrialisation - and there was a great demand for metals, especially iron and aluminium. we used to go around the neighbourhood and beyond hunting for rusty nails, screws, nuts and bolts and all things iron. we stored them in metal tins and sold them to the 'karang guni' man.

there was this incident which we would sometimes recount: my second sister (xiao huay) was punished for returning home way past dinner time. she kept telling my mother " woh buay kong, woh buay kong". my mother responded angrily, " loo, buay kong, woh pak kah lerh kong."

she was trying to explain to my mother that she sold the tin cans that she had collected. my mother took it to mean that she could not divulge the reason for her being late in coming home. so her angry response was: if you refuse to tell me, i will beat you until you tell me the reason.

senapang trail @ bukit timah nature reserve

i do not usually walk the same trail on two successive days because i am afraid people may end up saying "hey, he has been walking since yesterday"...when they see me in the (same) clothes i had worn the day before.

so, yesterday i was at bukit batok; today, i am at bukit timah. anyhow, a chance of route is good for the spirit and soul. i took the senapang trail which leads to rifle range road. as i neared the rifle range end (of the senapang trail), the smell of durians hit me. sure enough, i saw a durian tree laden with fruit.

and for the first time, i saw someone lucky enough to pick up a whole, unspoilt fruit. it might be only the size of a small melon but it was still a prized catch. nearer to the visitors' centre, i came across another durian tree. this time, there were many durians - all spoilt ones, in the drain. the squirrels are responsible for causing the premature fruits to drop, and then the durians rot.

as i moved closer to the visitors' centre, i saw a stream where the water must have come from some underground spring. it was clean, clear water and somebody had placed a container to collect the water. there was also a scoop, which means that the water could be used for bathing.

not many people used this trail because there is a notice which warns hikers to stay away from this track which is meant for mountain bikers.

2nd monthly walk - canopy walk @ kent ridge

from treetop walk to canopy walk. this looks like it is going to be a monthly feature - togetherness walk for teachers and former students. today, we met at car park b of kent ridge park, from which we started our walk. the walkers were two teachers and four former students, including two of their partners. found out that chye kiat lives within walking distance of the park.

our first stop was the pond next to the normanton park apartments. we fed the huge fish and tortoises with the 'expired' bread that we had brought along. we also visited the koi pond before taking a stroll around the vicinity of the pond.

we then proceeded to take in the scenery as we did the canopy walk. at the end of the walk, we came to the reflections at bukit chandu. as no one was keen to have a tour of the place, we backtracked and headed for the look-out point.

the group considered a few places for our 'on on' before deciding on the kopitiam at the wholesale centre. had a hearty breadfast of two half boiled eggs and a slice of toast each.

after breakfast, it was shopping time. puay heain bought tons of fruit which included oranges, lychees, cherries, pineapples and strawberries.

our next scheduled walk to labrador park will be on saturday, 28 july.

lunch with diana, ben & dan @ plaza market cafe

originally, we were supposed to have lunch at the sun with moon japanese dining and cafe at wheelock place. however, it was fully booked for lunch on friday. so, daniel suggested that we had it at swisshotel instead since we both have the feed at raffles cards. turned out we both had voucher for a complimentary meal - either lunch or dinner - for two at the plaza market cafe.

so, instead of diana and ben giving us a treat at some japanese restaurant with a strange name, we all ate for free at plaza market place. diana and ben were there first. they checked and found a reservation made under daniel's name but no ong's. anyway, they requested and got another table.

the buffet spread was quite good - with some japanese stuff, lots of meat, pastries and fruit. daniel recommended the durian pudding which we each had a bowl. the ice cream turned out to be too sweet. the stewed beef was good.

we did not leave the restaurant until 2.30 p.m. when they stopped serving food. daniel had another appointment at cafe cartel, diana and ben went to suntec city and i took the train home, via jurong east.

taking new paths to explore the same body of land

today, i undertook a new path to explore familiar terrain. found it exhilarating and fun. sometimes a new way around an old thing can add some excitement.

in my many trips to climb bukit timah, i have always used the road. true, in the past, i had done some trekking using the paths but that was decades ago. today, i decided to take the south view path, the cave path and the catchment path. it did not lead me to the summit but it proved physically more taxing than taking the normal route.

found out that there are actually three cave entrances, which are all sealed. do not know how many caves there are because the three entrances could lead to the same cave. at least one of the cave openings had some light at the end of the tunnel - which could mean it is a through cave.

somewhere near the end of the cave path, there is this trough where water has collected. someone has used the leaves of a plant to direct the flow of the water.

pasir ris park revisited

when ivy and ida were younger, we used to take them to pasir ris park on weekends, either on a saturday or a sunday. they liked pasir park because of the 'enormous playground'. when i was teaching in the afternoon session at ghim moh secondary, on some mornings, i would drive ivy to play at the playground. then i would drop her at home before rushing off to school.

today, i went to check out the same playground, which has undergone some changes. they have repainted the structures with more vibrant colours and there are some additional stations at the playground. the rope pyramid does not seem to be as intimidating as it was before.

i remember they enjoyed climbing the rope pyramid and riding on the cableway though, at that time, the cableway was a bit too high for them and they needed the added push from their mom or dad to get onto it and to ride the length of the cable. they also liked the slides and the climbing structures.

pasir park does not appear as open as it was in those days because the trees have matured and there are more buildings within the park. there is also a restaurant - the fisherman's village -facing the sea. with camping being permitted these days, you see quite a number of colourful tents by the beach. there are also kelongs and fish farms out in the sea off pasir ris.

white crested laughing thrushes @ bukit batok nature park

these attractive birds inhabit forests, including stands of teak and bamboo. they move in close-knit flocks, clambering through low thickets or flicking aside leaf litter on the forest floor in search of insects and small fruit.

when moving about, white-crested laughing thrushes keep up a continuous chattering “conversation” with each other. from time to time, the entire flock breaks into loud, boisterous calls, which resemble laughter. at the same time, they prance about the forest floor, flapping their wings.

quite a number of these thrushes have made the bukit batok nature park their home. they have grown quite accustomed to humans such that they do not fly or run away when approached unless you try and get within striking distance of them.

meeting of former students and teachers after more than 30 years

on father's day, seven teachers and five of their former students gathered at the house of one of the students. the date had been picked much earlier and when we realised it was father's day, it was too late to make a change. a lot more former students of ours could not make it because they had to spend the time with their families.

we started with tea - kueh kueh from bangawan solo and cut fruit - followed by wine drinking. the red and white wines were specially picked for the occasion. he has an air-conditioned wine cellar with a whole range of wine and other types of liquor.

we were given a tour of the palatial house. there is a lot of water within the house. there is a 25 metre swimming pool and a large koi pond. in his game room sits a brand new billiard table. his family room for karaoke singing and movie watching is larger than my combined living room and dining room. outside the game room is a full-size tennis court when you can also play basketball.

as with old friends who have not met for a long time, we sat around and talked a lot about 'the good old days'. in the evening, we had catered peranakan food for dinner. after dinner, it was again time to relive the days of yore. we chatted till about 10.00 p.m, spending nearly seven hours in this wonderful house.

nutrition talk @ health promotion board

i have been giving nutrition talk to children attending the health camp at the health promotion board building. the previous groups i talked to were primary 4 pupils from princess elizabeth primary school. today's talk was for some children from a child care centre in bukit batok. their ages range from 8 to 12 years old.

the slides are prepared by the health promotion board. all i have to do is to run through the slides and impress upon the children the importance of having a balanced diet. i have also to help them identify the healthier ingredients for preparing a salad, something which they will have to do as a follow-up to the talk.

i am paid s$50/hour by the company (esn) that engages me to give the talk. only nutritionist or someone with a physical education diploma qualifies to give the talk. at my first session, an officer from the hpb sat in to assess my suitability as a speaker.

singapore hash house harriers

i have known of the existence of hash house harriers but was not aware of the extent of their activities until i came across a group of them at jalan kampong chantek on wednesday evening. the group was about 30 strong, with the majority being women. quite a number of them arrived at the meeting point in taxis. the rest drove and parked their cars on the grass or by the side of the road outside the murnane reservoir.

found out that the group was the singapore hash house harriets. they hold their runs on a weekly basis, every wednesday, starting at 6.00 p.m. the venus is not made known until a few days before the run. a run organised by this group is always led by a woman.

on thursday, saw another group - the kampong hash house harriers - gathered at the stagmont camp heavy vehicle carpark for their run. although it is a different group, you see some of the same people - those seen on wednesday - at the run.

there are at least seven groups of harriers in singapore with each group holding their respective run on a fixed day of the week. every day of the week, there is at least one run organised by a hash house harrier group. there is even one for dogs known as the k9 hhh and one for kids called the hhhorrors. the kids usually have their run on alternate sundays.

in every hhh run, there is a hare or two - who gets a headstart - to mark the trail, using bits of paper, chalk or flour. the rest are the hounds. i suspect that, for the majority, the best part of the run is at the end where they guzzle beer, gorge on food and indulge in crazy antics.

bedok reservoir park

today (june 13) visited one of the bigger parks in singapore. had driven past it many times before but did not have the time/chance to explore it.

as bedok reservoir will be the venue for this year's inter-school canoeing championships, there are quite a number of groups carrying out their training sessions at this site. besides canoeing, there are some rowers training hard for the dragon boat race.

for joggers and walkers, you can either take the dirt track which goes around the reservoir for a distance of 4.3 km or take the road track, where a round trip measures 4km.

there are toilets within the park, one near the entrance and one somewhere in the middle of the track. they are in the process of constructing more toilets at the park.

the temasek polytechnic is linked to the park by two bridges which cross the canal.

durian hunting in singapore

durians from malaysia will be with us in about a week's time. wonder how and where the stalls at geylang are getting theirs earlier. in fact, they seem to have the fruit the whole year round.

went looking for durians at a few rural places, some not actually rural, in singapore. in lim chu kang, there are a few durian trees by the roadside after the equine quarantine station. in other parts of lim chu kang, there are durian trees left behind by people who were resettled. there are also durian trees at the durian loop of the rifle range trail. they are also found in bukit batok nature park and yishun park.

at the durian loop, i came across a number of 'damaged' fruits on the ground. most of them have been tampered by monkeys (according to the national park board personnel). somehow the monkeys were able to dig through the husk to get at the flesh. according to the national park board person who was there to stop people from 'camping' in the reserve to pick durians, those durians were not ripe yet.

today, i found out the real culprit behind all those durians on which some animals have left their marks. it is not the monkey's job. if we humans have problem prying open the husk, i do not think the monkeys can do any better. it is a smaller animal.....the squirrel. saw this squirrel working on one of the durians at a tree in lim chu kang. there was a hole on one side of the fruit.

swinging time at the park &

taking the bull by its horns

sometimes an innocent shot may turn out to be vulgar/obscene or hilarious, depending on how you look at it. in the picture below, someone has joined the two climbing ropes to form a makeshift swing. the frayed ends of the ropes have been secured with masking tape.

the top picture is not that of a bull's horns but the leaf stalk of a palm.

weaver bird's nests at jalan gemala

was exploring the lim chu kang area when i came across this tree laden with bird nests - no, not chinese delicacy bird's nest. later, found out that there were a number of trees with such nests. saw the small baya weaver visiting the nest.

baya weaver's nest is an architectural feat. it hangs from a palm frond or branch and looks like an upside down flask. the general features are a central nesting area with a long tube that leads to a side entrance. this tube makes it difficult even for snakes to enter the nest. although they look precarious, most nests are very well attached and are impossible to remove without almost destroying the nest. the nests last well through the 3-month breeding season, sometimes even up to a year.

after the breeding season, other small birds may roost in the abandoned nests. the nests are made entirely out of strips of grass which the birds collect by cutting a notch in a tall grass, then stripping off a 30-60cm length.

no stalks or entire grass blades are used. the birds then use their strong beaks to weave and knot the strips of grass. a newly-made nest is green with fresh grass and turns brown as the grass dries. a bird may make up to 500 trips to complete a nest.

mangosteen juice - health product?

i have been buying mangosteens, mainly from sheng siong, since the season started sometime in march. i pay between $1.80 and $4.00 per kilogram for this fruit. when it first started appearing in the fruit section, most of the mangosteens were from malaysia, then followed by those from indonesia. lately, most the mangosteens are from thailand. i prefer the thai variety. the malaysian version is just as good.

i do not buy much, usually less than a kilogram - about 12 to 15 fruits. this is because i am the sole consumer of the fruit. at home, fruit is not a very popular food item. once in a while, ida and her mother will take the cut mango pieces or the red seedless watermelon pieces but nobody else touches the mangosteens but myself. however, of late, lay bee has mentioned that she would like to eat mangosteens.

that's where i found out that she has been hearing or reading about the merits of taking mangosteen juice, specifically xango juice. appended below is the claims made by the xango people:

xango®juice boasts a proprietary whole–fruit formula, harnessing a concentrated rush of xanthones—a vigorous family of next–generation phytonutrients. sounds complex. research shows xanthones possess potent antioxidant properties that may help maintain intestinal health, strengthen the immune system, neutralize free radicals, help support cartilage and joint function, and promote a healthy seasonal respiratory system.

here's what someone who is skeptical about the xango claims has to say:

fruit drinks are often healthful beverages. but the only reason i can see that the promoters of mangosteen can get away with charging us$37 for this product is that they are playing on patients' hopes and fears in a cynical way. without the health claims, open or implied, the product could only be sold for at most $5 or $6 (which, for example, is the cost of antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice).

crash course in cooking for ida

ida leaves for melbourne in less than a month's time. while there - for the time being - she will be staying on her own. she will move in to stay in the same townhouse as her sister at the end of the year when one of ivy's housemates move to her own place.

ida has been wanting to learn how to prepare soup and cook some simple dishes. today, she got one of her church friends, joel koh, to come and give her a crash course in cooking. joel is the son of one of my former students, albert koh, who retired some years ago. yes, my student retired before me.

they went to the wet market at 7th mile upper bukit timah road to buy the groceries for making a soup and frying a vegetable dish. joel gleans his knowledge on cooking from reading cook books and observing how his parents cook.

it was not just a cooking demonstration. as he prepared the ingredients, he explained to ida how to cut up the garlic, what type of oil to use for cooking, how to check if the kwali is hot enough to put in the ingredients for frying. i also pick up a few tips on cooking from this young man.

limbang and chua chu kang parks

every time you go to a new park, you will learn something new. today, i learnt that the park that can be seen from the mrt train around chua chu kang is not the chua chu kang park but the slighter smaller limbang park. anyway, the chua chu kang park is only 5 hectares big. the chua chu kang park is just across the road from limbang but it is not so visible from the train because it is away from the track.

every park has its own uniqueness. in the case of the limbang park, it is its structures and sculptures. the twelve animals of the chinese zodiac are represented at the park. there are two metal structures which act as goal posts and the shelters at limbang have sail like patterns. there is also this covered way which can double as a shelter when it rains.

chua chu kang park has a playground set aside for toddlers. like the park at punggol, there is a restaurant - rasa istimewa - within the park. there are toilets in the park. limited park facilities are also available at this park.

like a number of other parks - bukit batok nature park and yishun park - there are signboards warning users to look out for falling durians.