kilbunny is so right about basking in whatever sunlight remains. Just 2 hours before the mangrove walk, it wasn’t raining cats and dogs, it was more like thundering elephants and hippos! Day seemed to turn to night and I prepared myself for a very cold, wet and dark venture into the swamps of Kranji. But the rest of the day was so amazing, that I can only describe it with pictures and prose…

“Written in March” by William Wordsworth
“The cock is crowing, The stream is flowing, The small birds twitter, The lake doth glitter, The green field sleeps in the sun —

 

There’s joy in the mountains, There’s life in the fountains, Small clouds are sailing, Blue sky prevailing, The rain is over and gone!”

To truly appreciate nature, we should be like “The Happy Child” that poet W.H. Davies describes…

 

 

“I saw this day sweet flowers grow thick, but not one like the child did pick. I heard the packhounds in green park, but no dog like the child heard bark.

I heard this day bird after bird, but not one like the child has heard.
A hundred butterflies saw I, but not one like the child saw fly.

I saw the horses roll in grass, but no horse like the child saw pass.
My world this day has lovely been, but not like what the child has seen.”

Every walk with Daniel is a learning experience as he has so many interesting facts to share - about nature, plants & creatures, and even weird non-nature-related facts. This Reefwalk R&R outing was a success, with a comfortable group of ten, cool weather for a leisurely stroll through the Kranji Nature Trail, followed by ‘high tea’ & a getting-to-know-you session at the cafe at SBWR. Thanks to all who came, and till we meet again…

Hmmm… yes yes, time for me to put thoughts into words and words into actions.. Though me not a good writer like greengarden… hmmm…

Today, the reefwalkers have gathered again, set to a different tune, MS, Bernie, Darius, Doreen & Lotus and I went to the Pasir Panjang Heritage Walk. In conjuction with the Heritage Fest this month.

It was an amusing sight to see the various nature guides coming together to go for the same walk: Chay Hoon from Wildfilms (new celebrity on TNP :), some nature guides at Bukit Timah, and of course, us from Reefwalk.

So anyway, off we went with our guide of the day - Wendy (familar eh, well… she was one of OUR participant at reefwalk the last time! She is also one of the project managers of this walk) Check out the photos MS took with his latest toy of Wendy in action…

Our guide of the day, Wendy, briefly explaining the battle of Pasir Panjang

Along the way, Wendy told us some interesting facts on certain plants.. like how the wasps live and breed in fig tree flowers (like our snapping shrimp-goby and sea anemone-clown fish relationship How the foreign talents (smilax) threaten our local species.. (somewhat like our reef eh… ), etc..

However, it was the wild pepper plants that had caught the attention of little Lotus, perhaps it’s because they’re right on the floor so it’s easier for her to get her hands on it… Lotus, like her mom being really keen to learn started to copy down what I wrote on My paper…

>
Ahh… So much to learn

Along the canopy walk.. We saw some beautiful sun birds busy feeding on flowers… Tiup-tiup, Tembusu, wild cinnamon, as well as the rubber trees. Lotus being her usual self, was busy going around building up on her collections for the day… While Darius, as you can see, was extremely happy to have finally found a seat…

Darius - first time on Kent Ridge canopy-walk (exhausted smile)

Of course us being the older beings, again, tend to look at the bigger stuff, so we’re just discussing about how nice it would be to have a place at The Peak (condominuim that was part of the backdrop at the canopy walk) with birds calling you to wake up every morning… and how we can have our gathering there… *dreamy mood*

Ermm… anyway… sooo… moving on…

Yummy.. Indulgence of Bukit Chandu!

Yes.. the inviting sight of nice cold ice cream was our reward at the end of the trail… Thank you Doreen for the treat!

Then into the Heritage part we went - Reflections at Bukit Chandu..
The presentation was brief, but this is the cool part that I must show!

Reflections - artistic shot by Bernie

So, as we ended our trip at the well of reflections, with Bernie still craving for her first cup of coffee, I felt greatly satisfied to be reminded that we’re living in Singapore…
Where things are too orderly, but peaceful..

With a parting note:
Life is not a rehersal
We live only once
Live life to the fullest!

Hope that you have been enriched with our writings…

Official Opening of Semakau Landfill for Recreational Activities, by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

The Blue Water Volunteers were there to set up the Reef Exhibits booth, create awareness and make our presence felt! Getting pictures of VIPs visiting the booth is rather difficult when you’re short and surrounded by press photographers with their HUGE cams plus a crowd of other important people….. So we only got pictures of other very important people - those closer to our hearts:

A lady admiring posters of the rich marine life on our shores.

Former residents of Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng browse through all the photos we have, reliving happy memories of life on the island. This particular lady is thrilled to recognise most of the marine organisms. “Oh! Batu Orkid!” (Oh! Orchid-rock!) as she points at pictures of some corals. When she sees a picture of a scorpion fish, she recounts how she had been stung twice, and the best remedy for stings is to rub ‘belacan’ on the affected area!

She tells us how she would catch featherduster worms, and sell them as bait for 20 cents. Then she sees the picture of a tape seagrass fruit and says “Oh, ini sedap!” (This is tasty!) and her friend goes on to warn us that if we ate the fruit we will turn into “ikan duyung” (mermaids)!

Jani was on hand to greet and speak to Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. Luckily, she wasn’t her usual self when he stopped by the booth for a chat…

With KLOG sounding Neanderthal-ish and all, I thought I’d end with this —

Neanderthal Man: You woman, make home. We men, hunt food, feed woman.

But in “KLOG World”, we believe we have to move with the times….. So even our guys are getting into the whole metrosexual-act macho-yet try to look good-thing. They even ‘hunt’ for food with flair…..

Sorry, Danwei and MS! You can’t possibly allow me to take your pic, then not post it rite?

Ok, gotta go get rid of my Stingoes and stock up my first aid kit with belacan for the next walk.

For a more detailed and proper report of what went on, readRia’s post on the WildFilms Blog.