Sobering week of news

We awoke Saturday morning to the dreadful news that a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, only 77km from Kathmandu and quite shallow, causing immense damage and killing hundreds of people. We immediately thought of our friends and their families in Kathmandu and also Gudel, hoping none were involved in the rising numbers being reported. The news only got worse over the following days as we learnt about the avalanche at Everest Base Camp, the mudslide devastating a whole village and the rising death toll. It was sickening. As far as we know at this stage everyone from our trekking company and the villagers in Gudel are OK. But so much heartache being suffered in the country! And it isn't just confined to Nepal but also in neighbouring India, China and Bangladesh. Our hearts go out to the people in the guesthouses, little shops and tea houses that have made our visits to Nepal so memorable. It is hard to accept the images we are seeing of ruined buildings, so many of them of such cultural significance and the suffering on the peoples' faces.  Coincidentally our EBC photobook arrived this week, we relived the trek again through the photos on the pages but with very mixed feelings. Earlier a book had arrived with our front cover but we were quick to discover that the rest of the pictures were not ours. Oops! Big mistake by the company. Somehow they have given us pages full of someone else's trip from Singapore to Lijang and Shangri-La in China. Looks like a great trip, just not ours.

On Friday Heather and I went to the Botanic Gardens essentially to go birding but also just because it is always a beautiful setting for a walk. The place seemed to be busier than usual, full of people out exercising and school groups. The latest outdoor sculpture exhibition closes this weekend so it was good to catch that although most of the 15 bronze installations didn't really inspire me other than the fact that they were monumental in size. This is the Taichi series of Ju Ming, a Taiwanese sculptor, featuring abstract blocks representing the human form. 

Ju Ping also created the 12 Gentlemen standing tall as the permanent feature at the Metropolis in Buona Vista, which I like a lot more. 

  




We didn't see a lot of different birds but it was a pleasant morning. In the afternoon the rain bucketed down and we had a brilliant thunder and lightning show. Was very happy to be home to watch it, not out in it.

Around 1,000 people gathered at Singapore’s Kranji War Memorial for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service, hosted by New Zealand in collaboration with Australian counterparts. We were unable to attend this year since as it fell on a Saturday and we work out to the east while Kranji is in the north west. 

On Sunday night MAE staff met at Wine Connections in Robertson Quay for a mid-term dinner. There were a good number enjoying the evening under a glorious sky .






Monday saw the group of regulars walk around McRitchie Reservoir, from the Mushroom cafe in a complete loop. Peter was away for a second week, this time in Korea with son Tim and his wife and baby. Heather brought along friends from Bangalow in NSW who did well considering they have just spent over a month in the northern hemisphere. We saw a number of birds including an orange-bellied flowerpecker for the first time. 

In the evening we joined a small group at Blu Jazz in Kampung Glam for dinner and then finished the evening at Divine in Park View Square where the latest wine fairy did her thing again. Once again I have failed to get a good picture. It must be something to do with the bad feng shui of the building.

 

Exploring further afield

On Thursday a group of us returned to Eco Green at Tampines and on to Pasir Ris, hoping to see the owls again. Unfortunately they have moved on but we did see some more lovely birds including the busy weavers, a purple heron and highlight of the day - Coppersmith Barbets feeding their young. Heather was happy with her new binos. Eric had a senior staff mtg at Jurong, on the other side of the island, so he had to stay home but enjoyed a sleep-in. 
On Fri the two of us ventured north to Yishun and walked to Sembawang via the Park Connectors. 

These are images of the very peaceful Yishun Park. From Yishun MRT it wasn't far to the neighbourhood park which is well known for its gallery of rainforest trees. Then we joined the Simpang Kiri PC which follows the river out to the Straits of Johor. Next time we do it, we will go right to the end to visit the Bottle Tree Village, but for this walk we connected with the Canberra Sembawang PC and walked through to Sembawang Park. 

Sembawang Park is one of the few parks in Singapore with a small stretch of natural beach. A group of women were just finishing up a game of Petanque on the sand court. They invited me to come back and join them next week but when I explained I live in Seranoon they said, "Oh, so out of the way!". Funny, I was thinking the same thing about the location of their park.  There were some massive old trees and nesting boxes, probably encouraging the return of Pied Hornbill to the mainland. 

It also encompasses Beaulieu House, built in 1910, which was the residence of the Admiral (Commander-in-Chief British Eastern Fleet) back in the colonial days. Sembawang was home to the Naval Base which included dockyards, wharves and workshops, as well as supporting administrative, residential and commercial areas. 

It has all since been handed over to the Singapore government, which in 1968 converted it into a commercial dockyard. Fortunately many of the 'black and white' colonial buildings have been maintained. They look so cool and tranquil set well back in huge grounds in the leafy streets.

Then we headed along Admiralty Rd beside all the dockyards and military instalations. It was hot and we were beginning to feel weary but instead of taking a shortcut to Sembawang MRT along Canberra Rd, we continued on and made our way back along the Sembawang PC. Once again this followed a waterway so was cooler and we found ourselves at an interesting temple which on further investigation turned out to be the Sembawang God of Wealth Temple. The building supports a impressive God of Wealth statue, weighing 8000kg and measuring almost 9.5m, mounted on the roof. You might be surprised to learn that of the many gods, the Chinese God of Wealth is the most favored god. It was such a colourful temple with another image inside completely shrouded in red ribbon offerings, red lanterns totally obscured the ceiling and coils of incense burnt slowly. 

Thankfully it is currently testing week, so leg weary as we were, we could sit through most of the evening at work. On Sunday night we returned to Wild Oats at Punggol Park for dinner but once again the beautiful lakeside setting was spoilt by poor service and unsatisfactory management policy. I keep saying we won't go back, but inevitable we try once more to see if things have changed. Why won't they serve you a free glass of water? Once you have ordered a bottle of wine surely you are entitled to complimentary water, especially in this climate. Everywhere else we go it is offered without even asking if we want it.

On Monday we walked one of my favourite trips from Kent Ridge to VivoCity via Henderson Waves and Mt Faber. Eric was the sole male as Peter went back to Drysdale, near Geelong, to celebrate Past Players day with the old boys at the footy club. It was a very hot day for a walk but good to be out walking freely. On the way home we went via Kallang and Dhoby Ghaut in search of specialties for our Great Race outfit. The first of the point scoring quizes was released this week. 

Then we followed that up with with a trip across to Pulau Ubin on Tuesday morning. Arriving at the Ubin jetty, after the 10min $2.50 ferry trip on a bumboat, is like taking a step back to the 80's. Most of us hired bikes, as this is the best way to get around the island. Top left are the ferries lined up at Changi Point, clockwise we're on board. Below we arrive and walk up the main street lined with bike rental outlets. Left, June, Kathy and Sarah are with us as we get ready to head out of town.

In no time at all we were fortunate to find an Oriental Pied Hornbill. Ubin has the only wild population of these birds. It was on its own but later we heard the raucous cackling of a flock, though couldn't see them for dense vegetation. We walked along the boardwalk through the Chek Jawa Wetlands, around the Coastal boardwalk and to Ubin House No1. Along the way we found quite a few local residents. Top left is the Philippine Glossy Starling, below it an Oriental Pied Robin, centre the White-rumped Shama and left the Oriental Pied Horbill. 

Ubin House No1 was built in the 1930's in the English Tudor style, similar to the cottages built in tea plantations during the British colonial era, with a great view of Pulau Sekudu and mainland Singapore. According to one account, it was built in the 1930s by the then Chief Surveyor, Langdon Williams, as a holiday retreat. In other accounts it was said to be the vacation home for the resident British medical officer.

Whoever originally owned it, it would have made a lovely weekender. A far less grander scale than the ones we walked by last week but a fabulous setting. 
From there we rode past a disused granite quarry and on to one of the campsites before making our way back to town along some roads less-traveled. 

Just on the outskirts of town, Eric went on to the lagoon and the girls headed home along the Sensory Trail but the map wasn't accurate (author's privilege) and at one point we had to abandon our efforts and retreat back the way we had come. I hate that! And have the bruises to prove the struggle undertaken. We had come to a precipice and turning back was the only option, believe me. 

Wearily, we eventually made our way into town only to find Eric was not out with a search party scouring the jungle looking for us, but sitting in the shade of an umbrella enjoying his beer, even though I had his money and backpack on my bike. He was still able to convince the owner of the local provisions store that he was good for it. 

I swear nothing has changed in this store in the 4 years we have been visiting, not even the prices. 

We caught the bum boat ferry back to Changi Village and enjoyed a late lunch at the Hawker Centre. In the evening we caught up with Peter at Plonk. He has just returned from Australia and tomorrow leaves for Korea where he will meet his grand daughter for the first time. A very excited Papa.

Parisilk Revisited

In the 80's, living in Butterworth, if you wanted anything electronic you put your order through to Paris Silk in Singapore and before you knew it, a phone call announced the order was on base waiting for pick up. It had arrived courtesy of a Hercules transport that the RAAF flew on regular runs between the here and the Singapore Base. Paris Silk was located at Sembawang at that time, conveniently close to the Air and Naval Bases. It was established in 1952, selling textiles, mainly silk, hence the name. Over the years, very good rapport was fostered with the military personnel from both Australia and New Zealand and their reputation for service and delivery was excellent. 

Nowadays, they are re-branded as Parisilk and trade in computers and electonics from 5 stores; 2 in Holland Village, one each in Bedok and East Coast as well as Sembawang. 







Heather has developed quite an interest in birding since walking with us so she decided it was time to invest in a pair of her own binoculars. I offered to go shopping with her on Friday and we found ourselves at Parisilk in Holland Village. I was very impressed by two pairs they showed us, but kept reminding myself I wasn't shopping for myself. Besides I love my Nikon Monarchs. To cut a long story short I have since sold my Monarchs to work colleagues and returned Saturday night to by a set of German Steiners. Same size and weight but improved contrast to help see wildlife most easily. Oh, and Heather got herself a pair of Vortex.  
Peter has now moved out of his place and is sharing temporarily with ex MAE staff now working at the Overseas Family School. They live in Yio Chu Kang, so not too far away. He has left a few pieces of furniture with us here until his next, permanent move. Glad to be able to pay him back a favour after all he has done for us. His good friends, Chen Guang and Chunjiao, have offered to organise a trip, for a few of us who have trekked in Nepal together, to their home region of China. She is from Changchun, the capital and largest city of Jilin province, He is from Harbin. Both are in the Northeast corner. above Korea and not too far from Vladivostok across the Russian border. We are considering it for the September break, a rare opportunity to visit China with local insight. 

I struggled with a sore throat and headache on Sunday so didn't join the walkers on Monday. They walked through Kampong Buangkok, the last remaining kampong in Singapore. It was mentioned in the local newspaper as recently as February when a resident began renovating one of the remaining 26 old homes by tearing down its wooden roof and walls and replacing them with metal and brick, not the traditional building materials. 

Some heritage enthusiasts were voicing their concerns that it would result in the loss of the area's character. The kampong, which is on private land, is not a conserved site. Most of Singapore's kampung architecture no longer exists, the best examples are now on Pulau Ubin. 

From an era long gone, these traditional clogs called “terompah“ were usually worn within the confines of the home.

They were preferred by women when working on wet surfaces particularly when they were washing clothes, working in the kitchen or going to the bathroom. This was because clogs would not slip and they prevented wet feet. Vendors in the market place also preferred them as the high wooden base kept their feet away from the wet and dirty floors in the markets. Earlier clogs were hand-painted with two coats of paint; red for women, green for men. No good for my knees and arches.



We visited Bidadari with our binos and Eric's camera on Tuesday morning. While we didn't see anything unexpected we would have listed at least a dozen different species without difficulty. Happy with the new purchase. Top is a male olive backed sunbird, below the Chinese Pond Heron in breeding plumage. 

Every time we visit here we see more destruction of the habitat. Below are the envisaged new neighbourhoods. They have already begun Alkaff and Sennett so we only have half left of what we started with. Same for the birds. According to the Urban Development Authority, there will be a park measuring one tenth of its total size, as well as a cycling path for its six neighbourhoods. These will serve residents of its 11,000 flats. 

The Singapore Nature Society has proposed quite a different parkland boundary as seen in

the image. This was once the Muslim section of the cemetery and has become very overgrown with trees since the graves were exhumed in the early 2000s. We feel it would be a good compromise, a win win for all but - this is Singapore. Population growth is high on their agenda.

In the afternoon we cooked Sri Lankan dishes to take to Heather and Helen's and share along with Peter, Robert and Maria. It was a fun night and the food was fabulous. The pictures are too ridiculous (so not to be posted here). 

Good Friday

We enjoyed our Good Friday, beginning with a walk through Eco Green at Tampines. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and lots of others were walking, jogging and bird watching too. We had a very successful number of sightings and one complete surprise. 

When we were first becoming interested in birding, our Butterworth buddy Keith, sent us a bird field guide and in the front cover he wrote a personal note advising us that there had been one bird omitted. It was the rare, Red-Tipped Double Breasted Mattress Thrasher (he always did have a different sort of sense of humour!). Anyway, lo and behold we think we found its nest at Eco Green. What do you think? 












Since we first saw the nests of the Baya Weaver we have been fascinated by these amazing birds. They belong to the same family as sparrows and munias and are a common resident in Southeast Asia. In Singapore they are mainly found in wooded areas with plenty of long grass nearby, so they are often seen in this particular park. They are colonial breeders who nest in numbers on a single tree. Their woven hanging nest looks a bit like a gourd and has a long entrance spout at the bottom. The nests are usually found hanging on the thinner outer branches of Acacia trees. It is thought this deters bigger, heavier predators from going to the nest. 
The male, with his black mask and distinctive golden crown, works tirelessly to build not one, but at least two to four nests during the breeding season, as they are known to have a harem of at least two to four breeding females. Females will check the nest during the ‘construction process’ and will not accept it if it is not up to their standard. Breeding season is usually from March to July when females will lay up to six eggs.

Of course these birds are not going to do all that work right next to the path where some thoughtless person might be tempted to take the nest home with them. Oh no, they build well way from the path, but our intrepid photographer risked life and limb in the long grass to satisfy his keen birding wife. This was her first outing in months remember.

Other interesting sightings included the Rufous Woodpecker (a first), Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Pink-necked Pigeon, Sooty Bulbul (a rare visitor in Sg) and Golden-bellied Gerygone (another first). 

Then we walked to Pasir Ris Park using the Park Connector Network. This took us past the lake where a huge number of people were fishing. It's is a good sign, as last time Eric waked here in early March, the lake was polluted with an algae bloom. The same algae bloom wiped out 600 tonnes of fish belonging to 55 fish farmers who operate off Pasir Ris in the East Johor Strait. It is this water that is pumped into the lake and that is how the problem spread.

It turns out there was a fishing competition being held. At that time the largest fish caught weighed just over 3kg but the organizers explained that quite soon they were going to release the fish in the traps and one of them was more than 9kg. 







In Pasir Ris Park we saw many families enjoying a day off walking, cycling and picnicking together. You can hire in-line skates and bicycles in the park and there are even stables for horse rides. We walked along the boardwalk through the mangrove area and then to the trees where the walkers had seen the family of Spotted Wood-Owl in March. 

I hadn't been able to join them and was hopeful the owls might still be here. And they were, 5 individuals, and my, how the youngsters have grown! It was quite difficult to distinguish the adults from the juveniles. Such a big owl, about 50cm in height so you really didn't need binoculars but it was great to have them. They are a nocturnal bird, becoming active at dusk and feeding on rodents and smaller birds. The facial discs are buff orange with dark brown eyes and a barred chest with the upperparts chocolate-brown, but flecked with white. Not one of them moved the whole time we were observing them. 

As we left the park we noticed a group of Indians just about to take to the field for cricket. One couple were playing a local form of croquet on a course that is cleverly set out with recycled plastic drink bottles. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the public holiday in the outdoors. We had been invited to a bbq in the afternoon but were quite late getting back and tired too. 

The weekend flew by with classes and Easter surprises in the staffroom including eggs and an amazing cake. When the working week finished we met up with some colleagues from some of the other branches at Bliss in Ang Mo Kio. We had a group of 18 which was great but the kitchen staff were overwhelmed and everone tells me the food was great, I didn't get my meal. Never mind, I had a 3 course meal when I got home (I found 3 small bits of stale bread in the fridge so I had tomato and cheese followed by vegemite and cheese and then peanut butter and honey on toast for dessert). 

On Monday a large number made it all the way to Sungei Buloh Wetlands, tucked away in the northwest corner of the island, for the walk. They have done an amazing upgrade out there since we last visited. The new extension opened on Dec 6 while we were in Nepal. The new viewing hides are constructed in the shape of pods and blend in beautifully with the natural surroundings.

We took our binoculars and saw lots of birds although with that large number it wasn't easy to keep everyone happy all the time.  The migratory birds are leaving, now that the northern winter is over, but we saw plenty of great sightings including (clockwise from top left) the common flameback, collared kingfisher, scarlet sunbird and large tailed nightjar.

Some of us continued on to Choa Chu Kang for lunch and then by the time we eventually got back to Serangoon we crashed on the couch. Eric went shopping and I went to the picture framer in Boon Keng to have the sand painting from Myanmar stretched. Then Eric cooked up a lovely ox-tail stew for dinner.

On Tuesday night we explored the north-east point, what was once Punggol Jetty. We were very close to the harbour of Johore Bahru in the north and to the east was the northern tip of Pulau Ubin where we could see the Outward Bound Camp.  The old Punggol Jetty area was apparently a very popular weekend eating spot. One of the original restaurants, which moved out in 1994 when the land was acquired by the government, has now returned. I found a newspaper article dated last August where the original owner was quoted as saying: "The original restaurant had a kampung feel. It had a zinc roof and was next to a sandy beach. On weekends, more than 600 customers would turn up for dinner and tables had to be set up by the roadside to accommodate them.
When the buses No. 82 and 83 did a three-point turn at the end of Punggol Road, they'd come within 1m of the tables. But our customers didn't mind. They just wanted to enjoy their meal under the stars."
The whole place has been transformed into Punggol Settlement, a 2 storey waterfront complex with F&B outlets as well a bike rental and kids area, which opened in August last year. 

We chose Georges By The Bay, and sat out on the verandah to enjoy the sea view and breeze. 
In the background are the lights of JB, much nicer view than in the daytime. 


Across the road is a Punggol Ranch which provides horse rides and you can stay in some dinky little wagon-chalets for about $180 a night. Thanks, just looking.