SZ Tale 08 - Botanic Garden

Today's focus is not Zoo but Botanic Garden.  Got a bit lost before I finally realised one should have alighted at the NUS bus stop...

Ta-da... and this is not the main NUS.. but the Law Faculty.  I got that blur too when Senior told me is near NUS previously...


As I got lost for half an hour, I left 15 minutes to be at the visitor centre... but while rushing, I can't help but admire at the grace of the black swans.  By the way at the end of the walk, I saw the white swans too but did not managed to take pics.


And I made it to the Visitor Centre on time.  Was the earliest in fact haha.

Thus begin our guided tour (15 bucks per pax - pricey one would say BUT that guide is really good.  Learnt alot)

First he told us that when we visit someone's house, we will first preview the outward appearance before exploring the insides... Likewise you should first appreciate the rainforest outward view... The emergents, the canopy, the epiphytes, the climbers, the understory and the forest floor.  Hmm of course the outward view can only see the emergents and canopy bah... I was just recalling my 6 levels of rainforst "p


I love the sigh of this... These are called common red stem fig.

"The figs grow on the trunk, often in prolific masses. Each fig contains hundreds of tiny flowers that are pollinated by minute wasps living in association with the flowers."
Source: The sign erected beside the tree

Open up view of the fig.. where you may find a wasp.. hee hee


This is an African Oil Palm.. I remember the fruits have an oily feel...


And lots of rattan.  Guide says in the past you can find lots of cheap rattan furnitues in neighbourhood shops.  Now you can only purchase rattan furnitures in upscale Orchard road.. Sighz human are so wasteful...


I did not know these are Pandan leaves... They are so big and thick.. and probably sharp too.. beware!


Because there wasn't a structured path in the rainforest thus some rampant walkings had damaged this precious rainforest that "Do not enter" sighs had to be adapted to protect it from further damages.  (I forgot to mention that you can only find rainforest in SG in Botanic Gardens and Bukit Timah only.. and of course a replicate biodome in the SG Zoo - Fragile Forest!)



Rainforst has lots of tall trees...


And to protect them from being struck by lightning, a conductor was attached to earthed the electric charges.. Mind you, these conductors don't come cheap... I forgot the price already but I remembered we were considering changing job to attaching conductor for tall trees haha..


How do one know the age of the tree?  They used to say count the rings.. but that applies only in the temperate countries because trees "hibernate" during winter and stop growing rings... but in the tropics, it is forever summer and forever growing rings.. Thus you have to measure the circumference to know the age.  Hmm I'm suddenly thinking if humans age can be measured by waistline too?  hmmmm

Stars flower... such pretty sight.  But have you ever consider these stars are the fruits to grow the trees and how many actually succeeded?  The rainforest may seem sturdy and tough on the outside but it is actually very fragile with shallow top soil and intricate web and complex interdependence... In short, the relationships in the rainforest are complicated too =D.


Ferns.. used to love them in primary schools.  I love to see their undersides for their spores... which helps to continue their existence...


Tree Vandalism.. I really wonder what is so interesting about carving... but I do know that some love stories the protagonists will return back to the tree to see their carvings and it will send some warm fuzzy feeling.. I suppose that is call romantic.. but this?


This is call a leaf litter plant because it collects all the leaves and nutrients to sustain itself... Interesting!


Longest Palm leave...


Coke secret ingredient - The Giant Cola.  It is said that coke no longer uses this secret ingredient though...


After we bid the guide goodbye and thank him for his vast and interesting guide... we took a walk towards the food court.  On the way I caught sight of this box of dog poo bags... While I like the idea of Botanic garden providing bags for dog owners, I would much appreciate if the owners bring their own bags, that is their responsibility... Of course such box is useful should owner use up their own bags due to certain reasons...


Had a fruitful day... would I come back again? Hmm to discuss in my personal blog...

One last question though, how do bananas grow? Answer can be found here.

Are we really serious in recycling?

Lipstick goes into burnables; lipstick tubes, ''after the contents have been used up,'' into ''small metals'' or plastics. Take out your tape measure before tossing a kettle: under 12 inches, it goes into small metals, but over that it goes into bulky refuse.
Socks? If only one, it is burnable; a pair goes into used cloth, though only if the socks ''are not torn, and the left and right sock match.'' Throw neckties into used cloth, but only after they have been ''washed and dried.'' 

Source:  How Do Japanese Dump Trash? Let Us Count the Myriad Ways

It may be an article written 3 years ago but I believed it is still in place now.  And reading it, I realised how tedious recycling is.  Anyway I was researching on how serious SG takes its recycling efforts... and after reading this article, I'm beginning to doubt if SG is just doing for display sake only.  Because our recycling bins are usually split into 2 categories, or 3 at most.  And does everybody really split their rubbish?  I know that no matter how many times I tell my mum that she shouldn't use plastic to hold the recycled paper if she is intending to throw into the mixed paper tin, she still feels that should be the way to bring down the paper.  If that is the case, then does the person collect the recylced materials really split the materials up or do they really just dump all these into one big rubbish truck and send for incineration?

Are we really serious in recycling?

SZ Tale 07 - Insect Preservation Workshop

Zoo started with booth training again as a recap in preparation for the test 2 weeks later. Then a debrief before we attended an insect preservation workshop. Lots of hands-on as my friends chose various types of insects to preserve.

This is a Jungle Nymph Walking Stick. It is one of the most troublesome to preserve insect because there is a lot of stuff you have to dig out (obvious from its size). After you clear out the intestine and eggs etc, you pad the insect with cotton and formulant before you are done.


(Psst, fyi, many phasmids - stick and leaf insects - are able to reproduce parthenogenetically if males are absent, producing all-female offspring and thus enabling the species to survive)

Other insects preserved include the horn beetles, hissing cockroaches and scorpion...

As well as butterflies. They are the least troublesome as you just need to pry open their wings if they are still "fresh" and do some arrangment.


(Psst... This is the beautiful Taiwanese Tree Nymph. The caterpillar has a marshmallow feel touch and is poisonous when eaten.)

Else if they have been kept too long and are too dried already, you can just pin them with their folded wings.


(Psst.. This is the Common Rose Butterfly... which is not at all common I think because you can't find it in the Zoo... sob sob...)

Oh and I chose to work on the butterflies hahaha..

SZ Tale 06

Zoo started late today... and it is the first FF training.

I was given a detailed procedure on how to set up the station. Had to take the stick insects and kingmeal worm. Quite a lot of hands on. The group was having fun taking photos too…

Then we had a biodome tour conducted by a keeper. The sun conures got attracted to the crickets that the keeper was holding (which he used to demo how the archerfish shoot their kill later) and came close to him haha.



Then we had some habitat talk and a frog talk by Dr. Leong Tze Ming because this is the year of the frogs. Had dinner and an evening walk to search for frogs and toads. They were so small and the toads were plentiful along the road. These two frog pictures were taken by one of my friend.



Some other pictures that she took can be found here.
Her photography skills is excellent.. and she is one patient photographer.

The day ended quite late and I was quite overloaded at the end but overall, it had been fun.

SZ Tale 05 - Keeper Attachment

I started off on the wrong foot with the keeper early in the morning because I got his name wrong and he is quite a fierce (maybe strict is a better word) keeper. But then I’m not complaining because he taught me a lot actually.

First task of the day was to sweep the floor, then wash the vegetables.


They were for the manatees which kept eating constantly (more about that later). Then we had a morning tea break. I found out that the central kitchen which is primarily in charge of preparing food for animals; is also in charge of the food for the keepers (at least the 2 tea breaks.. lunch was also provided but not sure who prepared).

I was told much later on that I had to sweep the floor etc to make myself sweat. This will then open the pores to remove the perfume away and make me smell similar to the surroundings. Then when I interact with the animals, they will find me familiar. Interesting!

Anyway the animal I feed most is the manatees or sea cows or sea mermaids. They are herbivorous and use their large, prehensile upper lips to grasp the plants and guide them into the mouth. They can grazes for six to eight hours each day.



The zoo currently has 2.3 (2 males and 3 females). Eve (I hope I did not get the name wrong) is pregnant and should be giving birth anytime soon. Oh and she has been pregnant for about a year already (their gestation is about 12-14 months).



In the past, manatees were hunted for their meat, hide and oil. Today, they are threatened with habitat degradation from oil, chemical and toxic waste pollution.

Oh and the zoo has a special token feeding session where interested people can feed the manatees with carrots and potato. I had the chance to see one of the loyal feeders, a young girl. The mum told us that her daughter never fails to visit here if they visit the zoo. She did have a lovely time feeding the manatees.



Manatee Mania (Feeding session)

Venue: Splash Amphitheatre
Time: 2.00pm
Fee: S$5.00

Other than the manatees, I fed Randy the sea lion with fishes and fish heads. The other sea lions were fed by other zookeepers. The sea lions can be quite noisy, playful and extremely active.


I did not take picture of the sea lions though because they were in their holding dens. However I took some pictures of the African Penguin or Black-footed penguin or Jackass penguin as my friend likes penguins and had asked me to take some pictures for her. Not very well taken though because the penguins were pretty active too haha. Anyway I did not have a chance to feed them or look after them either.



The Jackass penguin is thus named because its call sounds like the braying of jackass or donkey.

It inhabits the coastal waters of Southern Africa and is the only penguin found on the African continent.


Foraging is done during the day, usually in small groups although as many as 3,000 penguins may congregate in one area.

Jackass penguins continue to face threats from oil pollution and introduced animals such as feral cats, which prey heavily on the chicks.



My last photo of the penguin before I ended my attachment..


I’m not sure what this bird is, forgot the name already.


These birds and the pelicans were sharing the same holding den


Then is home sweet home for me… amazingly I managed to survive my attachment and I actually left with a deeper understanding of certain things. One thing the keeper taught me was that other than the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), there is another R… he made me guessed first and I thought was Remember? Haha.. then he said Replant. Hmm now I feel so guilty because I did not think of it. He concentrated more on forestation and believed that so long we save the nature, the animals will save themselves. True because right now we are robbing them their natural habitats, that’s why they are in danger.

Anyway on the way back, the clouds and the trees ease my journey back…




Lastly I would like to share this movie with you. A kind soul uploaded it a year ago and while the video is not clear, the commentary is crystal clear and the message the commenter was trying to bring through to the audience is something I hope to share with you too.


Source: Youtube