Jingle Rock

Today will go down as the day I went for a swim with one half of a swimming suit.

I elaborated on my last post about my mobile "home" with convenience at my finger tips. I braved another week of heavy rain showers and thunder storms, carrying my swimming kit to work in hopes of going for a swim on my way home after work. Today, finally, the weather improved and I was thrilled. I even found a new bus route for my mission.

But then, it all went downhill from there. I took my eyes off the road for a bit to switch to a different music playlist and missed the bus stop. Undaunted, I asked for directions and walked three bus stops backwards to the swimming complex. On entering the complex, I was so overjoyed to see the blue expanse of water and the laughter of kids splashing in the water. I could not wait to jump in. But to my horror and utter disappointment at the changing rooms, I realised that I had forgotten to pack one half of my swimming suit after taking it out last weekend for my sailing adventure. There was NOTHING I could do, but to pack my things and leave for home red faced to drown my sorrows in a bag of left over, crumpled, salt and vinegar chips.

WHY ME???

That incident would have really put me in a bad mood for the remainder of the week, had it not been for the news that The Hobbit movie tickets were out for purchase. I got mine booked! Yay!! Also, two of my best-est friends (each from different galaxies) will say hello to each other in person for the first time on the movie day. I'm all nervous about how it'll turn out, but we've already established that I'm a little paranoid so I'm subtly aware that I may be overreacting here.

It's still the eleventh month of this year but the jingles have already started to play everywhere.

Into the Blue!

Today turned out to be a great day. I got an invitation to go for a sailing class on short notice and I was not disappointed! Several hours at sea starting early in the day, learning to catch the wind in the sails and control a small sailing boat - was not as easy as it looks. We sailed to our heart's content, in the open seas and on one occasion sailed around a huge oil tanker! We were even allowed to jump off the boat and swim (more like float with the life jackets on) around in the water for awhile. After we were done, we had worked up a giant appetite and had a very satisfying lunch to conclude. My retentive memory is not too great so a lot of the theory on boat parts and sailing maneuvers that were taught has already bounced off my brain. But the sea always, always makes me happy, relaxed and charged! So thanks Sarah, for that out-of-and-into-the-blue invite! :P And might I add, Groupon vouchers rock!!

A laser bahia - it takes considerable skill to conquer the winds and make them work for (and not against) you. 

I am like a tortoise now, carrying my 'home' with me to work. I failed many times trying to reduce the 'junk' in my heavy hand bag because there was nothing I wanted to get rid of and I've come to accept that having a bad posture or chronic pains later in life will be the compromise for having everything I need within my reach now.

Inside Shu's bag
The food kit - bottle of water, a snack for emergencies and mints
The med kit - first aid for minor ailments, antiseptic wipes, tissues
The cosmetics kit
The weather kit - the sweater, umbrella, shades
The entertainment kit - music player and phone
The writers' kit - a book to read, pen and notepad
The wallet

The downside to carrying such a lot of things is that it is impossible to find any one item in a hurry, without having to sweep through so many other things. And it can be quite frustrating, say for example, if I had to find a can of pepper spray to use on a criminal.

Recently, I even carried a swimming kit in hopes of going for a swim after work. But for the five days I carried it to work, the country experienced heavy rainfall with thunder storms. And when I gave up on the idea and left the kit at home one day, lo and behold, that day turned out to be a sunny day.

When life gives you lemons, and it tends to do that a lot, you have to make lemonade out of them. I spent many weeks crying over how little time I had to do the things I usually enjoyed with the commitments of my new job. This regular complaint became such an ear sore, even for me. And I found out that with a little trimming here and there until life was reduced to simpler terms with a few expectations, I can get very close to a state of perpetual satisfaction (with a little margin for the occasional peak or trough).

All it took was a little mental conditioning and I've had to cut down on TV programs that were rather pointless entertainment, be okay with blogging only once a week, be okay with not being able to keep up with social networks online and offline, put some creative projects on hold, be okay with not being able to keep up with the latest news, save time spent on cooking by eating out instead and even turn down certain social invitations with company I don't enjoy very much.

Today, I've also completed a project that was pending for quite awhile now. And that was to make a collage from photographs of all the people that are dear to me and events in life that are memorable. Now I have a huge square of happy faces looking at me as I sit on my table to work. I'm extremely proud of my creative genius today!

Shu's handiwork. In this photo is also a panda that I've recently adopted. 

Intricate balances

Balance - that important concept which keeps things at optimum levels, at their best, in motion, in harmony, in order, at peace and the like. I would think it is relatively easy achieve because we know what theoretically tips the scales and what weights we have to throw in to balance it. But the challenge lies in maintaining it, because it is very, very easy to lose it in this Life of constantly changing variables.

Let's play a fun game of balance the scales. The rules are simple: use what you have at hand, the winner gets to be happy and the loser get a good measure of misery. 

The official entry into 'adulthood' signifies the beginning of a life of juggling things - responsibilities, family, social ties, education, career, finances, health, personal growth, etc. Some might even become professional jugglers over time. But it's no wonder that many of us are somewhat stuck in an intermediary phase, refusing to let go of that care-free, fun-loving, adventurous, blissfully ignorant and innocent inner child. Maybe it's not such a bad thing! And I strongly believe adulthood is much more fun and bearable when living it with a little dose of child.

Outdoor advertisements can be quite entertaining. Many a time, I wish I had been quick enough to snap a photograph of the things I come across. Very recently, I had a glimpse of a banner for a new type of stuffed bun while I was in a moving bus. It was called "Gold Digger". Now I do not know if it is just me, or if that kind of name puts people off that product for what it brings to mind.

And then, there was this. I wonder what the men feel about this one. 

Off I go to my first day of official Docent duty at the zoo. The world is a much bigger place than what we are often led to believe and I fully intend to go check it out!

Mid-week crisis

The days seem to go by with the satisfaction of living a balanced life and time spent having meaningful associations flickering away. Time slips through my fingers though I try to hold on to as much of it as I can. Most days are battles to stay sane and not let the madness affect the people I care about.

But we must go on. We have a million things to be grateful about. We have much to look forward to in life. We have missions to accomplish. We must survive.

This song was a pleasant surprise on my way to work. I love The Script.

 

A weekend with the pandas

The Singapore Zoo recently got two Giant Pandas from China for the upcoming "River Safari" attraction. Us volunteers got lucky enough to be invited for a sneak peak last weekend, ahead of the official opening date in a few weeks' time. The pandas were housed in a beautifully landscaped and climate controlled enclosure at 18 degrees Celcius. And when we met them, they were not-so-busy acclimatising to their new home.

Pandas are an endangered species with roughly about 1600 animals left in the wild. They are rapidly losing their native bamboo forests to our insatiable greed and harmful activities. Captive breeding in zoos and conservation centres have been highly successful and about 300 pandas are found in captivity at the moment. It is through one of these centres in China that Singapore got this couple. Apparently, the Chinese government is strict with their conditions and they do not want any of the panda DNA made available to the public as it is considered a national treasure. That's what they told us when someone asked if pando poo can be sold as souvenirs! Pando poo, is not like normal smelly and wet poo. It's very dry and leaf matter are almost undigested, looking much like pot pourri and smelling like green tea (it's true - I smelled it after some initial reluctance!).

The bear-y ancestors of pandas, having somehow ended up in bamboo forests of China, evolved and adapted over the years to eat a primarily bamboo diet with the very occasional carrion (like bamboo rats). I'm guessing it helps with increased protein requirements during certain phases of their life cycle. They have also developed very strong jaw muscles for chewing all day. As there is very little nutritional content in bamboo, they need to eat about 10-15 kgs of bamboo shoots a day and eat very frequently giving rise to mountains of poo! Several bamboo cultivation projects have sprung up here in order to supply the zoo's demand for panda feed.

I found this very adorable picture of a panda cub being fed by a caretaker

Probably as a measure to ensure survival rates, a mother panda has only one cub at a time. She is fertile only for about 2-3 days per year and doesn't want to have cubs every year. When female pandas have twins in the wild (a rare occurrence), she picks the strongest cub to look after with the best care she can provide. Chances of having twins are increased with artificial fertilization techniques at captive breeding centres. I bet there are plenty of volunteers who are willing to babysit the extra bundles of joy. But seriously, it's no easy task. The cubs are interchanged daily between human care (kept warm in incubators used for human babies) and panda mum care and given round the clock attention that includes feeding milk and 'changing diapers'.

We also got to hear some R-rated gossip about what happens at breeding centres. Adult pandas are shown panda porn! *gasps* .When asked from the audience why we thought that was, a young member in the crowd answered,

"To make them horny?"

And the presenter replied, "Ummm, yes it is possible. But it is more to teach them how it's done."

Oh, sex education. That's a controversial teaching aid for instructing amateurs, but it's proved to be effective in this case!

We also heard that animal keepers make the male pandas do squatting exercises daily so that their hind limbs become strong enough to mount the female when it's time to make the home run. I say that's a lot of human intervention and couples therapy. But those are the types of drastic measures that are left to be done in a desperate attempt to save some of our species which are nearing extinction. The more fortunate species which are more endearing and appealing to us humans always have higher chances of survival than others.

Pandas naturally look very endearing with their black/white coat markings, non-aggressive nature and furriness that reminds us of cuddly teddy bears. They therefore make great conservation ambassadors (much like dolphins) and are able to engage the attention of the public long enough through this emotional connection for them to hear the conservation message. I suspect their adorable looks gave them some immunity from ending up as ingredients in Asian traditional medicines which are not too friendly towards other endangered animals like tigers, rhinos, sea horses, etc. Pandas are also termed an "umbrella species"; when protecting them and their habitats, several other (not necessarily cute or cuddly) endangered species living in the same habitat also benefit from the combined efforts taken by the public, conservationists and governing authorities.

And that was one of those feel-good weekends spent at the zoo with the pandas and a few newfound like-minded friends.

Love Letters

Lately, in the mornings before going to work, I make the following resolutions and *try* to keep them.

~ Make small talk ~

~ Engage in conversations ~

Sometimes I manage to make a little conversation with the cab drivers I meet and during the earlier part of the day, I smile more and say good morning to the people I bump into, but as the day goes by, my usual self returns and I recede to my more stimulating inner world. It's such a bother to try to think of small talk topics for people you hardly know. Sometimes my mind is blank as a slate when I am forced to make conversations.

Being introverted has several downsides in an office environment. First of all, it shows and people keep reminding me that I am too quiet. Part of me knows it too and that I need to change that a little bit. It's hard to make new friends because small talk is hard to initiate and I lie in wait for tiny windows of opportunities to go make friends with seemingly interesting people. Quiet introverts can very easily be swept under the rug like dust bunnies and go unnoticed. Times like these, I am grateful to the few extroverted people who include me and make me feel welcome. Damn you, other introverts in the office. You guys are a very cold and un-engaging lot!!!

I found an interesting initiative. It's called More Love Letters. Each month they send an email with personal distress stories of about three people with first names only. Usually, people who are close to the distressed persons request More Love Letters to cheer their loved ones up and that's how they get picked as the ones to receive bundles of letters from anonymous strangers. None of their personal details like full names or home addresses are mentioned. What people like me who likes to write letters do is to write to these people (to just one person or all three) - something, anything that will cheer them up. It's all mailed to the organisers of the initiative who collect the letters and post the bundle to the distressed persons. I do not know if everyone likes reading letters or if it helps cheer them up from whatever they are passing through, but it has certainly engaged my interest. People in distress range from heart breaks, to cancer patients, to victims or abuse, to soldiers who fought in the war, to people passing rough patches in life, to those who have forgotten to laugh, to those who are lonely etc. Writing to random strangers anonymously feels good and daring to this blogger, who is not an adrenaline junkie.

Today, I finished my book on Last Chance to See. That was seriously an epic read mixed with funny and heart-wrenching realities of selected wildlife conservation stories around the world. I feel like I lost a dear friend who kept me company on my way to work all these days. Oh dear, what will I read in the bus tomorrow??

Go to sleep, Shu. It's past your bedtime.