uniquely bukit batok nature park

bukit batok nature park has become my base for my morning walks. the reasons for my choice: proximity, area large enough for an hour walk, free parking, presence of a body of water, toilet facilities, undulating landscape and funny characters.

another suitable candidate for my base is the bukit timah nature reserve. the only setback: it is very difficult to turn into hindhere road before 9.00 a.m. because of the morning peak hour traffic. sometimes, i am forced to encroach onto the bus-lane which is not worth the risk.

there are certain features at bukit batok which are not found in other nature parks. first, there is this disused granite quarry where granite slabs and earth are still slipping into the pond every time it rains. i have been wondering when some of the vegetation will come down with the earth holding it.

not far from this pond, there is this tree - i do not know if it is a banyan tree - that has wrapped most of its roots around a huge boulder.

free parking is available at lorong sesuai. this was also the site of a japanese shinto shrine and war memorial. the syonan chureito was built in 1942 to honour japanese soldiers who died in singapore during world war ii. according to records, there was also a wooden cross built in memory of allied troops who died during the same war. the cross was not far from the japanese memorial.

there is also a family of white breasted laughingthrushes that has made the bukit batok nature park their home. if you walk often enough in this park, you are bound to meet them. they have become so used to humans around them that they do not shy away when you approach them.

the characters who frequent this park also contribute to its uniqueness. there is this lady, in her 30s, who is rather uninhibited in her singing. she yodels or sings very loudly, sometimes in english and at most times, in mandarin.

there is another character who is always around the park with his partner, an indonesian maid. this man, in his late 60s, carries a support with him when he walks. in fact, he has two supports - the indonesian maid on one side and the four-prong support on the other hand. he is always chatting animatedly with his companion, but if you observe carefully, you will know that he does not need both supports - he can manage very well on his own.

koster's curse



i have this feeling that most people who walk or jog in the parks are quite oblivious to what is around them. they do not bother to find out more about the plants and trees that they come across during their jaunt in the park.

getting acquainted with the flora and fauna in the park makes the walk in the park more meaningful. being able to identify the more common plants and knowing something about them makes one feel connected with the surroundings.

one common shrub found in all parks in singapore is the koster's curse. the koster’s curse is a perennial shrub, about 50–200 cm in height. the hairy leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and have distinctive veins. the plant produces small, white flowers, followed by purple berries.

the koster’s curse is a highly invasive shrub native to tropical america. the species has been transported around the world as a garden plant and seed contaminant. koster’s curse has become a serious pest in at least 16 countries, including hawaii, fiji and indonesia.

in hawaii, more than 40 000 hectares are infested. once established, koster’s curse can form dense thickets that smother plantations, pastures and native vegetation, much like lantana.

if one is caught trying to sneak this plant into australia, one will face a penalty amounting to aus$60,000.

kite surfing at st kilda's beach

we were at st kilda when we saw about a dozen kitesurfers out in the sea having a whale of a time.

kite surfing is a seasonal activity in most parts of the world because this extreme sport is wind dependant. at st kilda's beach, the kite surfing season is between october and march.

kite surfing is a relatively new sport, with the first international competition held in 1998 on maui in hawaii.

pictures @ sky high mt dandenong

fireflies in singapore?


i do not think we will be able to see fireflies in their natural habitat in singapore ever again. it has been a long, long time since i last saw fireflies in singapore and these were seen within the vicinity of my house in the kampong. although, they were not in abundance, it was fascinating enough. i remember catching some and keeping them in a bottle. in the day, they appeared to be an ordinary insect.

the last time, i chased fireflies in the dark was more than thirty years ago at jason's bay in johor. we had ridden our motorbikes there and made camp on the beach. on that moonless light, we came across some of these bioluminscent bettles. we managed to catch some but released them soon after.

our malaysian friend who lives in kuala selangor had invited us in the past to visit her so that she could take us to kampong kuantan to watch the millions of fireflies by the riverbanks. found out during my last trip to desaru that you need not go all the way to kuala lumpur to catch this display of nature's wonder. you can also enjoy this experience along the banks of the johor river at kota tinggi.

fireflies are not flies; they are bettles. and not all species of firefly emit light or have a lantern at their ends. some species are able to synchronize their flashing so that they all flash in unison, on and off at the same time.

the flashing of fireflies is part of their courtship behaviour. generally male fireflies fly about and flash to locate females. each species of fireflies has its own flash pattern of male-female signal and response.

this tongkat ali is reborn

the last time i saw this tongkat ali (eurycoma longifolia jack) plant at bukit batok nature park, it was in a bad shape. i do not know whether its damage was the work of nature or the work of human. the slender trunk (or stem) had broken into two parts. subsequently, someone removed the top part where the leaves used to be.

i then thought that without leaves, the small tree would be dead. was i surprised today when i saw that new leaves had sprouted just below the break in the trunk.

my golfing days

i did not realise that i have been playing at the game of golf for more than 15 years until i chanced upon a birthday card given to me by my two daughters on my 43rd birthday, that is about 16 years ago. then ivy was 8 years old and ida was 3. must have been ivy who designed and wrote the card.

my picking up of the game was a preparation for my retirement. i had vision of me playing golf with my retiree friends. well, this vision has been partially realised. i do play with my kakis, who are retirees, but only occasionally.

i am still not very proficient at the game, though i am quite well versed with the rules of the game. so, i still do not have a proficiency certificate (pc, as they called it). i feel handicapped when i hit the shots because of my own perception of my limitations. i have this mental image that my physique will not allow me to hit the white ball beyond 150m. so, up to now, i have not gone for any handicap test.

to be honest, i cannot say that i really enjoy the game of golf. i enjoy the company of my friends on the fairway and the green but i rather caddy for them or drive the buggy than tee off with them.

to compliment me, my friends like to say that i am consistently inconsistent when i play golf with them.

x'mas lunch at madeline & michael's place


every year, for the past two decades, without fail, we will turn up at madeline and michael's place - actually, it's madeline's sister's place at jalan ma'mor - for a christmas day lunch. the may primary group of people comprising mrs huang, christmas lee, kay poh, lilian and mrs gnaes will be there. i used to meet two of my former students from balestier hill secondary at the same gathering.

we would enjoy the same kind of food each and every time. every year, without fail, there will be turkey, beef stew, ham, fried chicken, salad, curry chicken, meat balls, sausages and pie. for dessert, we would have chocolate cake, sugi cake and pineapple tarts. and without fail, we would have agar agar jelly. but, this year, we waited and waited, but the jelly failed to appear.

so, when i got home from the christmas lunch today, the first thing i did was to get the ingredients to prepare my own agar agar jelly. there was one packet left from the last purchase and following the instructions faithfully, i came up with 1.5 litres of solution for the jelly.

just found out that the stuff that i made this afternoon is the soft and wobbly type of jelly. the ones we used to savour at the christmas lunch were the solid type which can be dislodged from the container or mould.

how to eat a pomegranate


it is not so much how to eat than how to get to the seeds of the pomegranate. from what i gather, it is one of the messiest fruit to handle and the stains from the juice are quite permanent.

i cannot remember how i ate the fruit when i was younger. i must have eaten it because i can still remember the crunchiness of the seeds and the sweet and sour taste it left in my mouth. could not have been very savoury because i have not eaten the fruit since those childhood days.

how to prepare the fruit for eating:

1. cut off the flowery end of the pomegranate
2. score into four sections
3. break the sections of the fruit open
4. eat the arils
   

a ripe pomegranate is ruby red, smooth and firm to touch. it should feel heavy. the seeds are edible. the juice of the pomegranate stains, and it is nearly impossible to remove the stain.

you can submerge the pomegranate in a bowl of water to keep the seeds from squirting and staining. the seeds sink to the bottom and the membrane will float to the top.

you can go this site: http://emptyage.honan.net/mth/2007/10/how-to-eat-a-po.html to find out more.

crab shells on pomegranate plant


the pomegranate used to hold a special place in the traditional chinese house-holds. most chinese would have a pomegranate shrub growing in a large clay pot outside their house or if they had a small plot of land, it would be growing on the ground near the gate. another name for the pomegranate is chinese apple.

the chinese see the pomegranate as a symbol of fertility - a lot of sons and daughters - and as a promise of faithful offspring to the family. for a baby's one month celebration, some chinese have ang koo kuehs in the shape of a pomegranate.

both the taoist priest and the chinese buddhist monk use a twig from the pomegranate plant for sprinkling blessed water during their rituals.

the chinese offer pomegranates together with mooncakes and dates in moon worship.

some chinese still adhere to this practice of washing their hands or face in a basin of water ,where the pomegranate leaves have been soaked, when they are leaving a wake or a funeral.

i am still trying to figure out the significance of hanging crab shells on the pomegranate shrub. some even tie red ribbons to the branches of the plant.

walk at ong keh sua kar


steven, who runs a food business in sydney, is back in singapore and together with his wife elaine, he joined us for this month's walk at fort canning park. we had been looking forward to albert koh's company but he has had to stay away again. he preferred the company of his bed.

we gathered at the car-park at the registry of marriage before eight o'clock. kwan, who travelled by train, was there at around seven and he did a short walk prior to joining us. pastor phua and our guest walker from sydney arrived at about the same time. puay heian, who had waited for her brother, reached the meeting point just past eight.

the start point of our walk was the spice garden. there was much interest in the great variety of spices found in this garden. we walked up to the keramat, past the 9 pound cannon and stop to peer into raffles house.

the ladies were more amused than the men when they saw omsq - the old married soldiers ' quarters. somebody asked: what about the young married soldiers? why aren't they catered for?

we had to capture the moment because it was the first time that steven and elaine were with us. the group posed for photos towards the end of the walk, one with clarke quay in the background and another at the raffles terrace.

driving in australia

singaporeans should be very much at home driving in australia because we, australia and singapore, share the same road system as our colonial masters - right-hand drive. i agree with ivy that driving in australia is a less stressful experience compared to driving in singapore as most australians do not drive in a 'kiasu' manner. of course, you do run into the odd 'boy racers' and the 'bull dozers'.

no one flashes headlights or sounds the horn at you if you choose to travel on the right lane at your own pace. as a result of stricter enforcement, most motorists keep within the speed limits. should you mistakenly form up in the wrong lane and need to make a change, most drivers will forgivingly let you slip into their lane.

i was most impressed when an emergency vehicle came to a traffic light stop. three vehicles which were in its path, drove across the line and moved to the sides to allow the ambulance through. after that, the three cars moved back to their original positions as the light was still red.

when driving in australia, you need to know the difference between a freeway and a highway. a freeway is like our expressway where there are no traffic lights. on freeways, the speed limit is usually 100km/hr whereas on highways, speed limit is 80km/hr. highways are not necessary wide roads; some highways are single carriageways.

however, highways which intersperse with freeways can be interstate highways, like the hume highway, 880km long, which links sydney to melbourne. then there is the 1784km princes highways which link most of the states in australia.

melbourne also has a money charging system quite similar to our erp (electronic road pricing). they call it the citylink tollway. whereas we have a unit fixed in our vehicle, theirs is a etag, an electronic transponder, a portable device which can be transferred from one car to another.

in melbourne, if you drive in the city itself, you need to learn how to make a hook turn. when you need to make a hook turn, you move quickly to the leftmost lane. generally, hook turns are made when turning right when you are sharing the road with tramlines to your immediate right.

the wineries of mornington peninsula


aside from the scenic places, which include the beaches, and the fruit farms, i think the primary attraction of the mornington peninsula is the wineries. some are open daily, some, on weekends and some can only be visited if you make an appointment.

the better known ones include tucks ridge, stonier, moorooduc estate, red hill estate, paringa estate, t'gallant, monalto, dromana estate, main ridge and willow creek.

for us, going back to the mornington peninsula meant going back to familiar places like the sunny ridge strawberry farm and the t'gallant winery.

t'gallant is set in a tin shed with tree trunks as supporting beams. it has a wide range of wine at a wide range of prices, with a wide range of pinot gris and pinot grigo - which is its trademark wine.

we bought four bottles of pink marcato and one bottle of juliet pinot noir which i gave to chris.
we drank one bottle of the marcato at the house in rye, gave one bottle to michael and steven and took two bottles back to singapore.

visiting nara @ mulgrave, melbourne

nara, my former colleague from monk's hill, and his wife visit his eldest daughter anu in melbourne at least twice a year, once in april and once in september. this year, they made a third trip in december, to be there to celebrate their granddaughter lara's birthday.

anu, who studied at national univeristy of singapore, is lecturing in dentistry at melbourne university. her husband burka, a german, is teaching mathematics at monash univeristy. they have a son, called karl and a daughter, lara. because the children are part indian, karl is also known as arun and lara's indian name is lathitha.

i had wanted to drop in at anu's place in mulgrave on 14 december but was told by anu told that her father had not recovered from, no, not jet lag, but lack of sleep on the flight to australia.

we visited them the next day. anu and burka had bought a 20-year old house at mulgrave and had it renovated with the help of anu's father-in-law, a 74-year old retired engineer. the flooring in the living room and the patio could easily pass as the work of a professional.

on the day of our departure, by some coincidence, we met again at chadstone shopping complex, where lara's birthday party was held.

santa comes to dandenong market

on our second visit to the dandenong market, we met santa and his gang of entertaining musicians. it did not seem like they were busking because there was no receptable on the ground for collecting donation.

they are just some like-minded people who enjoy making music together. i think they were at the market to build up the festive mood for the season. they first played in a procession and then, in a small group of four, they would take up position at different parts of the market to entertain the people at the market.

like most markets in australia, the dandenong market is not open daily. besides farm produce like fruit and vegetables, you can also get a whole range of household stuff at the market.

comparing the prices with those back home in singapore, i do not find them much cheaper. however, things here seem to be much bigger in size; you have watermelons, costing aus$8 each, which are triple the size of those from malaysia.

another interesting observation is that the people here do not mind the fruit being over-ripe. mangoes and bananas with black spots are commonly sold at the markets.

christmas light up in the suburbs

in some suburban parts of melbourne, they may not have the lights up of orchard road but they do have private residential homes that are so elaborately decorated with christmas lights that they become an attraction for the locals.

last night, when we stopped at this house along the burwood highway, there were at least fifty people in the compound marvelling at the scale of the lighting. the house owner even had a generator to supply electricity for the light up.

the place was so well lit that you did not need a flash to take your night pictures. the decorations were not confined to just the compound, even the inside of the house and the garage were filled with figurines and christmas lights.

the night before, chris had taken us to view some houses in his neighbourhood which were similarly decorated with christmas lights. over at cathies lane, the owners of one whole row of houses had come together to decorate each and every house there.

they do not have the lights on throughout the night. the house at burwood highway, for example, is lit up from 9.00 p.m. to 1.00 a.m.

london bridge & portsea beach at mornington

when you visit melbourne, a lot of the locals will suggest that you take a ride to the great ocean route or visit philip's island to watch the fairy penguins. when i drew up the itinerary and included a visit to philip's island, yew lian was not too keen on it, so we dropped the idea.

i had left out the 'must see' twelve apostles because of my own experience. it is a long and winding drive to the twelve apostles, which are actually rock formations in the sea. and if you get there on a cold and rainy day - which happened to us - you do not get to see much.

the other reason i did not suggest the great ocean route was that we could see similar rock formations off the sea near portsea. there is also a london bridge at portsea.

the house in rye


this house in rye, built in 1992, was our accommodation at the mornington peninsula on 10 & 11 december. the wife of ivy's pastor, daisy, bought this house for more than aus$300k in 2005. the house is used for church retreats and their own holiday getaway.

it is a 2-storey house with six rooms, two on the ground level and four on the top level. the ten of us occupied the 4 rooms on the top level. it is fully equipped with cooking facilities and heaters for the colder months of the year.

we had most of our meals in the house except for lunch on the first day when we went to an eatery for fish and chips. we had bought and taken our own groceries to the house. ida cleared whatever she had in her fridge to finish it at rye.

the girls all worked together to prepare a bee-hoon dinner for the 1st day. ida cooked her teriyaki chicken. the second day's dinner was chye perng cooked by yew lian and yew kim.

cherry & strawberry picking

there are three things you should do when you visit the mornington peninsula: 1 wine tasting at the many wineries 2 cherry and strawberry picking 3 walk along the beach. we did all three of these.

we visited t'gallant, a winery, and bought a few bottles of wine - 3 pink marcota and 1 juliet pinot noir. chye hup bought a bottle of marcota which we finished on the second night of our stay at rye.

chye hup, fiona and yew lian picked cherries at a farm in the arthur's seat area. they picked both the red and maroon cherries. the darker cherries were sweeter. for aus$5 each, they could eat as much as they like during the picking and whatever they picked and wanted to take away, they had to pay aus$5 for each kilo of cherries.

as for strawberries, four of them, each paid aus$8 to pick strawberries. they could eat as many strawberries as they wanted, except the big ones, and they were each allowed half a kilo (of strawberries) to take away.

they did not pick the very ripe ones because they were going to take them back to singapore.

ivy's honda civic & personalised plate

the top picture shows ivy's honda civic bought in august this year for aus$26, 600. she had traded in her 4-year old korean car for aus$8000.

the bottom picture shows a car with a personalised number plate.

barbeque in chris' garden

australians enjoy having bbq parties in their own garden. in most homes, the bbq set is part of the furniture. the set in chris' garden uses gas and volcanic rocks. so, on sunday, after the church service at waverley and after our visit to st kilda's art market, we were back at wantirna south at 4.00 p.m. to prepare for the bbq.

chris' son and his greek wife, who live at glen waverley, joined us for the bbq. his nephew peter came at around 7.00 p.m. ivy, ida and dorcas came from clayton to be with us.

the food included chicken drumlets, squids, beef, mutton, different kinds of sausages, barramundi and chicken ribs.

of course, we had beer, ale, wine and ice-cold coke.

geelong, queenscliff and williamstown

geelong, victoria's second largest city, is about 80km from melbourne and it took us about one and a half hours of driving to reach the shores of corio bay. we spent most of our time at geelong waterfront, especially at cunningham pier and the carousel, before making our way to the beach where we had our picnic. we had an enjoyable time feeding the sea gulls with bread crumbs.

30 minutes from geelong is the delightful seaside resort of queenscliff. we had seen sorrento on the other side of the peninsula during our previous visit, and so we made it a point to see queenscliff this time around. the car and passenger ferry takes 40 minutes to travel from queenscliff to sorrento. foot passengers pay aus$9 for a one-way trip. we had tea at the cafe with a view of the beautiful sea.

the first time i heard of williamstown was when bel's brother asked if we could do him a favour by collecting a plastic candle mould from someone in williamstown. then pei chern told us that williamstown was a quaint place located at the mouth of the yarra river.

on our way back from geelong we made a stop at williamstown, the first port of melbourne. we walked past the titanic restaurant to the seafront. we spent some time near the time ball tower.

for our dinner, we chose to have pizzas at the toto restaurant along lygon street, the italian heart of melbourne.