jacob ballas children's garden

children are able to romp around a tree house, venture across a timber bridge or play hide and seek around the giant trunk of a 100-year-old tree.

the $7 million garden, named after a late philantropist, is a specialized facility dedicated to the education of children in singapore. it is the first garden of its kind in asia and has been designed to provide a unique discovery and learning experience in a garden setting. the garden features plant displays and interactive exhibits. guided learning is also provided to complement formal learning in school.

today, i managed to gain admission into the garden by 'borrowing' a child; yesterday, i was only allowed to walk past it. in order to be admitted into the children's garden, an adult has to be accompanied by a child no older than 12.

because it was a warm day and it was around noon, a lot of children and adults were frolicking around the water play area.

admission is free and the place was crowded today despite the warm weather.

tongkat ali - asian viagra

tongkat ali is a tree native to malaysia, thailand, and indonesia. the part of the tree used medicinally is the root.

tongkat ali was dubbed the "asian viagra" in a may 1999 report in the new sunday times. it has been in use in malaysia for many years by men to increase sexual desire, libido, sexual performance and to treat erectile dysfunction.

tongkat ali appears to work by increasing levels of the hormone testosterone. testosterone is primarily responsible for the growth and development of male reproductive organs, including the penis, testicles, scrotum, prostate, and seminal vesicles. normal testosterone levels maintain energy level, mood, fertility and sexual desire.

young plants are not used for medicinal purposes. only roots of an age of at least 10 years are considered effective. the common recommendation is that 20 to 50 gram of root are cooked for about half an hour to release the active ingredient. one drinks the resulting tea and discards the cooked root.

if you can get hold of tongkat ali root, this is probably the most effective tongkat ali you can use.
the roots of the tongkat ali tree grow 1 to 2 metres straight into the ground. they have very few branches. it takes two men several hours to dig out a single root.

it seems that the national park board is planting the tongkat ali trees in most of its parks. i have seen quite a number at fort canning park and on two small plots at bukit batok nature park.

3 small eateries at coronation arcade

(actually there are 4; missed out one)

there are three small eateries located in a tight corner of coronation road, just across the road from the shell petrol station. all three have received quite good rating from people who have eaten at these places. i parked my car in the basement in the buidling which houses the ntuc supermarket. after 5 p.m. on a weekday, you can park for free - that is, if you lucky enough to find a lot - at the public car park just one street up.

tried the first eatery - thai noodle house - today. ordered tom yam noodle soup with chicken meat. i was told the other option - seafood, is just as good, if not better. for $6 a bowl, there was just enough thai noodles (we would call it kway teow) to fill half a stomach. the soup was authentically thai and good. i had a fresh lime juice (for $3.50) and for dessert, i asked for thai ruby, at $2.50 for a small, small bowl.

it is a small restaurant and as it is quite popular, it can get quite crowded during peak hours. service was prompt and good. there is no service charge at this family run restaurant. also, no msg.

i have not tried the food in the other two joints but from what i have gathered, the food in the other two shops are worthwhile trying. the recommended food to be had at curry wok includes curry (of course), chap chye, lor bak and ngoh hiang. you should try the prawn noodles, laksa, chay kway teow, lor bak, duck mee sua and chicken kapitan at penang kitchen.

the same is said of the three eateries: not much of an ambience but the food is good. there is also no complaint about the service and the prices are considered reasonable. it is not a food centre, so expect to pay a bit more, say $5 for a bowl of penang laksa which you can get for half the price at abc bukit merah food court.

there are actually four small restaurants in that row; missed out the one with a chinese name, next tot he thai noodle house.

chinese snuff bottles exhibition at

asian civilisations museum

took the mrt to raffles city and walked to the asian civilisations museum to view the exhibits of chinese snuff bottles. 355 snuff bottles, including masterpieces from the 17th century, from the personal collection of mr denise low were on display on the second floor. admission is free and the exhibition is on until november 2007.

snuff bottles were used by the chinese to contain powdered tobacco mixed with aromatic substances during the qing dynasty. smoking tobacco was illegal during the dynasty, but the use of snuff was allowed because the chinese considered snuff to be a remedy for common illnesses such as colds, headaches and stomach disorders. therefore, snuff was carried in a small bottle like other medicine. snuff bottle are comparable to the snuff box used by europeans.

the size of a snuff bottle is small enough to fit nicely inside the palm. snuff bottles were made out of many different materials including porcelain, jade, ivory, wood, tortoise shell, metal and ceramic, though probably the most commonly used material was glass.

the stopper usually had a very small spoon attached for extracting the snuff. though rare, such bottles were also used by women in europe in victorian times, with the bottles typically made of cut glass.

chinese snuff bottles were typically decorated with paintings or carvings, which distinguished bottles of different quality and value. decorative bottles were, and remain, time consuming in their production and are thus desirable by today's collectors.

straits rhododendron/melastoma

this shrub is very common. see it all the time on my walks at the various nature parks and also at wastelands. today, i finally found out its name. the seeds are dispersed by birds.

the attractive flowers last only one day, opening after sunrise, closing the same day, with the petals falling off a few days later. the flower has two different kinds of stamens.the seeds are tasteless and can be eaten, but stains the tongue black. in fact, the word melastoma is greek for "black mouth".

the flowers are usually dark purple or pinkish. i have also seen the rare white ones at mt faber.

the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and taste sour. the pulp around the seeds can also be eaten. the seeds are used to produce a black dye, the roots, a pink dye. in some places, the leaves are fed to silkworms.

the leaves are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery; wash for ulcers, to prevent scarring from smallpox; and to treat piles.

the fruit is favoured by birds like the flowerpeckers and doves which also disperse the seeds. squirrels and monkeys are also fond of the fruit. being among the first to be found on wasteland, the plant helps prevent soil erosion and to allow regeneration of vegetation.

river valley swimming pool

& the van kleef aquarium

this morning we had our morning walk at fort canning park. we wanted to learn more about the different spice plants that are planted along the spice trail. because of poor prior arrangement, we parked our cars at dfferent areas: i parked my car at fort canning itself while tye thong's car was parked at tank road.

as i walking along the '14th century walk of history' path i caught sight of the disused swimming pools of the former river valley swimming complex. it brought back memories of the few times i swam there and also triggered memories of a nearby building - the van kleef aquarium.

i had learnt from my former colleague that the river valley swimming pool was infamous for being the haunt of the gays. they would prey on unsuspecting young school boys. these people tended to spend an unnecessary long time in the changing room. they were also fond of parading in their skimpy trunks. i don't remember being taken advantage of.

van kleef aquarium is the predecessor to the underwater world at sentosa. in fact, when it closed down in 1991, many of the aquatic creatures were transferred to sentosa. i went into the aquarium only once but visited it many times, just standing outside and viewing some of the exhibits.

singapore's first public aquarium opened in 1955 and it was named after a dutch resident kwb van kleef who donated nearly $1/2 million towards the building of the aquarium.

chi dynamics brand of qigong

attended my first session of chi dynamics brand of qigong held at the immaculate heart of mary church at 24 highland road. newcomers usually join the group on the first tuesday of the month. my friend tye thong had invited me to join him for the tuesday sessions from 7.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. lay bee was more keen on it as she had done qigong in the past with two other sifus.

as beginners, we were separated from the main group. instead we were assigned an instructor - mr yeap - who briefed us on the history of this chi dynamics movement and the founder, master anthony wee. we were educated on the flow of qi. qi is the invisible energy that flows along the meridians of our body. the belief is that when the qi flow is blocked or interrupted, disease or pain results.

for slightly more than one hour, we were taught the basic stance. he also talked to us about the 5 types of breathing and he demonstrated and made us practise the 4-6-4 technique of breathing.

mr yeap himself leads a session at pine court's basketball court every friday from 8.00 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. his wife was assisting the instructor at last night's session at highland road.