Birds of a feather

The office is a ghost town. 80% of the workforce is out of the office, traveling, chilling or spending the holidays with family and friends. Operations have come to a near stand-still. The ghouls left behind in the office are also in their holiday spirit (in other words, lazy, unproductive and sometimes unresponsive to matters regarding work). They do what they can to stay awake and not get restless while clocking time. This is expected to go on until the new year dawns when things will start to pick up. 

Well, I was given a small basket of work assignments by the boss before he went on his vacation but I've had to ration it out carefully for the whole of next month. If I finish them all eagerly like I usually feel compelled to tick off items on lists, I'm not going to feel too happy about coming to work in a couple of weeks' time.

It's funny to think I look forward to times of reduced workloads like these with the same enthusiasm a kid feels about waiting for the long school holidays or the occasional wish that the school burnt down, drowned in the floods or was bombed overnight (we had a civil war going on in the country at the time and this would not have been a surprise) while the kids and teachers were safely away in their homes. But this excitement dies sooner than expected, especially in the case of being trapped in an office for 10 hours a day with not much work and restricted internet access.

Nearer to the end of the long holidays, most kids (I was one of them) end up thinking "OH GOD, I AM SO BORED. I WANT TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. I MISS MY FRIENDS. I DON'T WANT TO DO ANYMORE HOUSE CHORES AND GET BOSSED AROUND AT HOME."

At work, it's not much different, "OH GOD, I AM TERRIBLY BORED. WHY IS NO ONE SENDING ME ANY EMAILS?? SOMEONE GIVE ME WORK!! ARGHHH *fights the urge to pull out hairs* I WANT TO GO HOME *sobs*"

I discovered another vending machine in a remote corner of my office today. I was drawn to a new label on the list of options that said "Nestea Japanese Green Tea". It looked and tasted suspicious, like something that got washed off a sink so I couldn't really tell if it was genuine or if the machine was not working properly. With increased varieties of tea types in the market and their hyped health benefits, anything liquid-like with floating debris can pass off as tea these days.

That rant stretched longer than I planned.

On to more interesting things, I spent my Christmas day with birds.

Early that day, I set off to the Jurong Bird Park. It was probably my 4th time there. Let me begin with saying I never liked birds that much. A few years ago, I thought of them as just annoying, boring and useless creatures. But awareness and awe can change opinions very quickly. Birds to me are now a successful class of animals that have differentiated into so many species with unique adaptations, interesting behaviours and often with beautiful colours. This was yet another ingeniously landscaped award winning park home to over 5000 bird specimens from roughly 380 different species representing various habitats from around the globe. Like the zoo, it is primarily a leisure attraction, but the park also contributes actively to educating the public, conducting research in the field and in conservation of endangered species.

Rule No. 1: A day of adventure has to start with a good plan and a good meal

First off were the penguins, with their curious black coats and white under-bellies. They are flightless birds. Over the long years of evolution, their feathers modified into good insulation to keep warm from freezing temperatures and they became expert swimmers. Watching them dive underwater is just like watching a bird fly, only difference being the watery medium.

 They are expert swimmers. The black and white shading stands to their advantage against predators from the skies and from the watery depths 

    I thought penguins only lived in the South Pole. I was wrong. The ones above come from warmer temperatures of Africa.

The exhibit of owls and other noctural birds was a recent addition. The lighting conditions were modified to mimick night time so that visitors were able to observe them in their active state. I never knew owls looked so adorable with their huge cat-like eyes and the know-it-all expression on their faces. There was a plump Snowy Owl, much like Hedwig from Harry Potter, that turned me to mush and nearly made me want to beg for a hug. It's no wonder these animals have been captured and separated from their natural habitats thoughtlessly to fulfill human fantasies. 

The Scarlet Ibis get its pretty colour from a pigment called 'canthaxanthin' from the food it eats.  

A flock of flamingos

Another interesting exhibit was the 'Dinosaur Descendents". This was another group of very large flightless birds - Ostriches, Emus, Cassowarys and the Rheas - and they provide a link between early reptiles (dinosaurs) and modern birds. It is believed that this group of birds evolved into such large sizes and lost the ability to fly as they didn't have natural predators. Until man drove some of them to extinction, that is!

 

        A skeleton of an Elephant Bird at 12 feet tall. This species from Madagascar hit extinction only about 1000 years ago

                                                

      Curious Rheas that seemed too friendly with the visitors 

 A Cassowary, with a bony head structure much like a flying species of dinosaur. Now the structure functions as a 'helmet' for it to get though dense vegetation.

The Emus were sleepy that day

Ostriches with well developed leg muscles are capable of out-running a horse in a sprint

In the bird world, the males are more attractive than the females (this is of course to please the ladies) and some are especially skilled at singing, making nests and even helping baby-sit later on. Another thing I noticed about birds is that they take romancing and family responsibilities very seriously. The parrots, cockatoos, conures were usually found in loving pairs. Male Hornbills feed the female (which remains inside a nest, never coming out until the chicks are ready to fly) and the chicks for 3 long months. 

Victorian Crested Pigeon

A Crowned Crane...I wonder how they ended up with such unique fashion styles!

A loving couple of Mandarin Ducks. It's not hard to differenciate the very attractive male and the dull looking female. 

 The park boasts the tallest man-made waterfall. In a country where there are no such natural beauties, this was a welcome treat to the senses.

Lunch time!

And the final station of the adventure was the Breeding and Research Centre. The reason I wanted to visit the park again was to have another look at this place! It brings to mind scenes from the Jurassic Park movie, where dinosaur hatchlings were incubated and fed.

The Incubation Room

 Eggs were taken care of with temperature and light controlled carefully

The Nursery for the hatchings

A newborn enjoying the attention of visitors or at least trying to make sense of it. The keepers have day/night shifts to ensure they are fed well and taken care of round the clock

 At the Weaning Room, they are taught to eat their staple solid foods. These were a rowdy bunch, making loud noises and demanding attention.

 Comparison of sizes (from the left): Elephant Bird, Ostrich, Chicken and Hummingbird eggs

The adventure at the park ended with "High Flyers" - a show featuring over 100 birds. They were trained to entertain and showcase their strengths and abilities in flight and intelligence in learning to mimick sounds (even speaking human languages!), while also inspiring and making us humans more aware of why we have to reduce consumption and recycle the limited resources we have so that animals like these can continue to colour our planet and roam freely. What we can do to help really begins with a single mindful step of making the right choices that suit everyone. It's not that hard, really.

A very entertaining show, it was definitely a crowd pleaser

After the bird park, I set off to a lovely, cozy Christmas dinner at Katy Kat's place. The food and company were just perfect. Katy, If I had a time machine, I would go back in time and enjoy that restaurant-quality mushroom and cheese pie again, several times over!

Merry Christmas!

It's officially the weekend for me! I don't know what exactly it is, but I've managed to work myself into a happy high after I got off work today. I wonder if it was the weekend or the bubble tea or the book I am currently reading or the approaching holiday season or simply the cool breeze of a fan blowing in my face as I lie comfortably in bed in complete silence - whatever it is, it feels good.

These days my commute to work is brightened by this book I am reading. Who doesn't love a good story with dragons in it!

A Facebook friend of mine had sent me an inbox message today just to say "Happy New Year" and tagged 124 people to the same message. So every time someone from this pool of mostly unknown 124 people responded with a "Wish you the same", my mailbox got spammed and because I have adjusted my settings to receive inbox messages as sms on my phone, that got spammed too. And because I had to wait till I got home to find out how to detach myself from this nuisance of a thread, I had a lot of spam by the end of the day! Seriously, I wonder sometimes if "common sense" is really as common as the name suggests. Needless to say, I did not reply with a "Wish you the same" and spam another 124 people in the process.

While Christmas holds no religious significance to me, some of its traditions have always been part of my growing up. A tree was essential. So were the cards and gifts. Where a real cypress tree was unavailable, we've put up with plastic ones (like the tiny tree below that I decorated with my 5-year old nephew this time) and even roughed out with bamboo branches! I suppose as children, we were just drawn to the joyful Christmas stories we read and watched. Even with various commercial enterprises over-using the theme of Christmas to make profits, it is still a time of the year when people tend to be less self-involved, more cheerful and generous. And I like it for those reasons.

I recall how my mother and father cleverly led me to believe that Santa left presents for me while I was asleep... until I was about 7 years, that is (then he mysteriously stopped giving me gifts)! I never questioned how Santa knew exactly what I wanted or why I could never catch him in the act. I never wondered if Santa back home was Asian or Caucasian like in the books and movies. And we never left him any milk or cookies. Hell, I should have wondered how he got into the house in the first place, when we locked all our doors and windows and we didn't even have a chimney. Stupid me.junior! I did however once try to catch him or the present, at least. One stormy night, I woke up in the middle of the night and looked around for my present but didn't find it anywhere in the house. So I went outside thinking he might have left it inside the car. To my horror, the front door shut with a loud bang because of the howling winds and I got locked outside. My parents took awhile come and rescue me. I did get the present I wanted that year. If memory serves me right, that was the last present I got from him. My parents probably figured it was for the best.

The Christmas tree of 2012

And I would like to end this post with a warm welcome to Ryuu, who after a very long hiatus and a nasty case of the blogger's block, has recovered and returned to the blogosphere (http://razorbladeryuu.wordpress.com/) to entertain us. Happy blogging, Ryuu!

Urgh. The water in my bottle tastes strongly of dish washing liquid. I should probably get out of bed and get some fresh water.

*does the weekend dance*

Home Sweet Home

The holiday season is here. I am looking forward to the next two days home with the family, before I fly back to resume life and work.

I have been left behind at home by the family with instructions to straighten up the house, entertain any guests that visit and supervise a bunch of delivery guys who will be setting up a cupboard and some shelves. They (dad, mom, sis and nephew) have gallavanted off somewhere. I straighted up the house and while waiting for the family, expected guests and deliverymen to arrive, I sat down to write this blog in comfort and peace.

I've really missed blogging.

Tonight is the nephew's 5th year post-birthday celebrations with close friends and family. He's passing an Angry Birds phase so it's not hard to guess what tonight's theme is - Angry Birds cake, Angry Birds birthday suit, Mom in an Angry Birds t-shirt and Aunt (that would be me) in an Angry Birds t-shirt. I doubt we'll have time to blow up any balloons today.

After a rather pleasant 3.5 hour flight, I landed home late last night. It's been an year since my last visit and even longer since all four members of my family reunited at the same time and same place. So much has changed. I relocated and is in a new job, my sister is an optimistic entrepreneur, my parents are older and my nephew taller. I've missed the little chap and it was a bonus seeing his thrilled expression this morning when he saw me.

The last day of work before my mini-holiday was somewhat eventful. In a random conversation with my boss, I found out he is a big fan of Queen (the rock band). Omitting details of how I feel about this band, I'll just say that he was immediately awarded the honour of "The Coolest Boss on Shu's Planet, Ever".

I also had to manage a case of smelly shoes at work. It's not just my shoes - clothes, dogs and even Ginger was smelling funny the last time I met her. Without strong sunshine to dry up moisture left behind from these rainy days, things can get mouldy very quickly. I had to improvise to avoid an embarassing day at work, so I ran down to the convenience store and bought a wad of car air freshner, cut it up to small squares and stuffed them inside my shoes. Little did I expect to smell like a brand new car while walking around the office. Oh well. Better that than be remembered as Smelly Shu.

After an year of anticipation, I watched The Hobbit at the cinemas last 13th. It was EPIC. I loved every bit of it. And I would love to visit New Zealand some day.

Gotta go, we have a party to host!