A typical day at the zoo

In view of Shu's busy schedule and the lack of luxury to blog, the following report of Shu's last zoo duty session (a requirement for all volunteers completing a day of duty), was "borrowed" and pasted here. Certain parts have been edited to protect the identity of some vertebrates. For ease of understanding, Elvis is a 4.1m long king cobra, "Brian" was the other volunteer on duty and Bob is a stuffed green iguana specimen which was confiscated by Customs (while it was being smuggled) and donated to the zoo for educational purposes. What Shu doesn't admit in the duty report is being a little relieved at not having to give a speech during the king cobra feeding session. While interactions with small groups and one-on-one's are not hard at all, giving speeches to a large group does not feel that way. 

Here are two photos from Shu's post-duty strolls.

A couple of ring tailed lemurs that had come down from the trees to feed

The newest member at the Reptile Realm walk-in aviary - a green iguana

Quote - 

The day started out with a slight drizzle. It was a somewhat crowded day, with Zoo Hoo 2013 celebrations and a corporate family day adding to the total of visitors.

Elvis was still on his shedding cycle and lay straightened out just beside the glass looking dull coloured and moody. Brian used the green iguana specimen for interaction at the duty station and I spoke to visitors about Elvis and shedding while standing beside the enclosure. It is nice to have a resident green iguana (he looked magnificent that day so I took a picture) at the aviary to encourage visitors to go and see it after they've seen the stuffed specimen. I look forward to seeing the signages asking visitors not to bully it.

We had the usual types of visitors: curious children, lost visitors asking for directions, men using Bob to frighten their female family members/ friends, girls who shrieked at the piece of snake slough and Bob, parents trying to engage their young children's interest while talking to us about specimens on display, ones who wanted to pose for photos with Bob and others who were curious about reptiles.One of them asked if any of the specimens in the cabinet were for sale!

The crowds were not pouring in much until it was time for the king cobra feeding session. We had to explain to a lot of disappointed visitors that there was no feeding that day but used that as an opportunity to let them touch a snake slough and the teeth on the python skull while giving them snake facts. At one point, Elvis peed and after that raised his head and looked longingly at the back door of the enclosure (probably for food) and went back to being less-active. One of the animal keepers said he might be ready to feed next week. 

The most interesting and longest visitor interaction we had that day was with a family from Australia. There was a father, a little boy and his sister (I'm guessing around 10 - 12 year olds) and their uncle. We discussed a lot of things from tiger snakes, differences of crocodiles and alligators (sadly, we didn't have a good illustration of the crocodilian heads to show them), bearded dragons, blue tongued skinks and iguanas to the sale of crocodile and kangaroo meat. The two children were really smart, quite knowledgeable in reptiles, well behaved and so curious that it was a real pleasure to talk to them! 

After closing up the station at 3pm, there were still several visitors at Elvis' enclosure. On my way out, I happened to talk to a few more visitors. The spitting cobra had just shed and was looking very shiny and hyperactive. It was a good contrast to Elvis which was pointed out by one of the visitors. It turned out that he was an assistant zoo keeper for the primates way back in the 80's! He seemed to know so much about various animals and exhibits. He said that he visits Singapore and the zoo every year and it brings back a lot of memories. 

Some time ago, I played tour guide to a friend of mine. After watching the Rainforest Fights Back show that day as a "visitor", I learnt that there was an opportunity for visitors to take photos with a python, when only a few weeks ago, I ignorantly told a visitor that we don't have that any more. Seems like we have much to learn and explore the zoo ourselves to face some of the questions from the visitors we interact with! 

Happy exploring everyone, and enjoy your week.

Brian, do you like to add anything?

-unquote

The Puppet Theory

It might seem that our minds are all but puppet masters trying to carry out a well coordinated act. When we interact with someone, it is in fact one puppet interacting with another puppeteer's puppet. Puppeteers are able to manipulate strings of conscious thoughts behind a facade that is not apparent to other puppeteers or the audience watching this show. The most honesty one can extend to another puppet is to align their thoughts with the act. The most honesty one can expect from another puppet, is well, a combination of that puppeteer's willingness to display honesty and his or her skill in the art of puppetry. 

What puppet shows teach us. Image courtesy of www.roberthonstein.com

Back at work, a project finally drew to a close. A record breaking nineteen days of unbroken working days later, I got a full weekend off. My first stop was the zoo. For me, it was the most perfect, thunder shower blessed day at the rainforest zoo in Mandai. This was the closest escape from a concrete office cubicle to nature I was going to get. The animals seemed to enjoy the cooler temperatures and  fewer visitors. The reptiles were thrilled. I was also the tour guide for Ryuu's first ever trip to the Singapore Zoo.

Little did I know that a few steps off the beaten track was a quay and beyond the lake was a beautiful patch of forest, which (on that day) was enveloped by a thin sheet of mist.

Honestly, what will we do after we've cut off the last tree and poached the last elephant? Where will some of us run away to, for times when we want to escape the emptiness that technology, money and some puppet shows bring us?

The Animal Song

Our neighbours have moved houses temporarily until their house renovations are completed. They have left Ginger to either 1. die a slow death or 2. be left to the sympathies of concerned neighbours. Everyone in our house has sprung to Ginger's aid, even without our neighbours asking. One bought a pack of cat food on her account so Ginger can be fed inside our house. Another cleans and tops up her bowl outside twice a day. Another lets her stay over in the house because it is "cold" outside (mind you, it is on average 30 degrees Celcius in Singapore). Ginger, meanwhile, is totally milking the situation and has already taken us for granted. I'm not sure I like this side of Ginger's personality. Maybe it is about time I had a chat with her.

The other day, I watched a movie called About Time. Normally, I would skip cheesy romantic comedies because my limited Time factor has made me extremely picky about my choices in entertainment. This movie was done by the same folks who did Love Actually and I thought it was very tastefully done, despite the unrealistic plot. On a deeper level, it got me thinking how important our choices of actions are as they lead to varied yet irreversible consequences. The movie also made me miss my family a lot and reminded me how limited my time on Earth with the people I call close is. So I am working diligently towards a Christmas holiday in Sri Lanka (by working I mean rehearsing mentally on how I am going to convince my boss to let me off for 10 days)!

Sometimes I wish I can draw a map of the world and instead of "Here be dragons", I'll mark "Here be gawkers" and "Here be ones who yawn without covering their mouths", but that might be considered racist.

The saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" no longer applies to people who don't live in apple-growing lands. The ones cultivated for export are infused with chemicals to increase shelf-life and decrease the consumer's life span.

I was at the formal dinner organised for zoo volunteers last month when The Animal Song by Savage Garden played during a game. It was like a blast from the past. For YEARS I had forgotten about the song and how very relatable those lyrics were!

When superstars and cannonballs are running through your head

 television freak show cops and robbers everywhere

Subway makes me nervous, people pushing me too far

I've got to break away

So take my hand now

Cause I want to live like animals

Careless and free like animals

I want to live

I want to run through the jungle

the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet

Long Live Jackfruits!

On some evenings, I am greeted by a cat on the ground floor of my building. I figured I'll call her Skitto but the name is still under review as it might be construed as mildly offensive. She is unlike any other cat I have met. On some days, she comes running to me like we are best friends. On other days, she runs away from me like I am a serial killer. I was baffled by this behaviour until one day, it dawned on me that she might be suffering from a bipolar disorder. If I weren't a white-collar worker, I could have been a veterinary psychologist!

This week is a very eventful one. Another social event approaches - the type that Simple Shu prefers to not participate in. It is a bother to find dresses (the theme is "Secret Agents and Spies") and think of make up, but if I am making any compromises to my regular routine, it would be okay to do that with my zoo friends, who share a lot in common with me.

I also failed a basic driving theory test by 1 mark this week. Failing is not only demoralising, it is also inconvenient. Oddly enough, after absorbing a lot of information on driving and road signs, I have just begun to notice signs on the roads that I never saw all this time. I wonder how much information of what we see with our eyes actually reaches our awareness. The brain is a curious thing. Last night, I gulped down a cup of coffee half an hour before bedtime in hopes of studying road signs. It failed to keep me up so I gave up and went to sleep. This morning, in spite of sleeping, I woke up feeling like my brain had been up all night from a caffeine overdose.

Jackfruit (the tree has practically a hundred uses in a lot of countries) is a favourite of many Asians. I was thrilled to receive a pack of dehydrated jackfruit chips from my parents the other day, which I cooked to (Shu's level of) perfection.

Raw jackfruit chips, preserved by dehydration

A delicious, finished product

We are what we eat

It almost feels like my body is syncing with a remote server in Europe since my trip there last August. I can feel the approaching winter and my body is gearing for the hibernation mode. My appetite has increased massively (towards comfort food) and so has fat stores in the abdominal area, obviously for insulation and the gradual release of nutrients when food is scarce. I also don't feel like socialising much (except with the inner circle of family and friends) and I assume it helps conserve precious energy stores. Even my leisure time activities are now centered around passively sitting, sleeping, watching or reading as opposed to swimming or hiking or dancing.

The other day, Ryuu and I finally (years since we first agreed on the plan) re-visited our old university. It was good to walk around campus, reminisce the past, notice how things have changed and yet how some things have not changed as all. It turned out that after all these years (6.5 years for me), the strongest memories we had were - not academic matters - but the best places on campus that had good food. It think it merely highlights that food plays a very important role in every student's life.

A sandwich machine fondly remembered by Ryuu who also swore the sandwiches tasted better back then

A green area by the Central Library that I used to sit and have quick lunches in between lectures.

The horrors of staying up overnight, frequenting vending machines for sustenance and studying for dear life.

The university had several new buildings that had popped up like mushrooms 

 Evidence of student extra curricular activities

Student residence areas

 Overall, it appeared like the campus has adopted a lot of green initiatives since our time

 The dining hall of my old hall of residence

Unfortunately, my phone battery died an hour or so into the trip and that put a dent on my plan to write a descriptive post of  the trip, complete with photos. Also, we stuffed ourselves with really good food from an Indian food stall at one of the student residences and that is the last thing I remember. Come to think of it, I don't even recall how I got home.

Good things

It's Friday, I'm thrilled for no particular reason and I'm in the mood for a post!

When I'm high in spirits, I tend to notice more of the good things that happen around me (and vice versa too). Like today, I was invited to a mini birthday celebration at work from a Project I don't even work in and treated to lunch by the good will of another person. Then I noticed that the friendly bus driver of a bus I take regularly greeted everyone one with a smile and he got the same reaction from most of them. Some even stopped to make mini conversations with him because he had an air of friendliness and helpfulness about him. Then I realised that in Singapore there is hardly a cop to be seen on the road and yet people behave in ways that are beneficial to them and others as they share a very small land space in close vicinity. It is amazing to think how a good intention of someone, even small, can have a ripple effect affecting several others.

Lately, I have noticed the posters below stuck in buses, trains and stations in Singapore. On digging up information about these curious posters, I learnt that the Land Transport Authority came up with the idea as part of the Graciousness Programme 2013 campaign. I must admit they've had a positive impact on me. I can't be sure if it is because it is unique (I have never seen this type of simplistic art style on a national level campaign in my time here) or if it is the powerful one-liners at the bottom that makes you question yourself loudly, but I like them and it is not often that I appreciate advertisements here.

This is my favourite one of the lot. The first time I saw these penguins asking me if I feel the same way, I wanted to shout a big "YES, I DO!" inside the train station. It's a good thing I have well functioning internal brakes that stop me from making an ass of myself.

Voices in the head

Recently, my company introduced a scheme where late comers have their wages docked. It's proven to be very effective so far. I have begun to notice my consistent punctuality in the mornings.

The conversations in my head in the mornings no longer go like this:

VOICE 1: Ah crap. It's the alarm.
*hits snooze* x several times
VOICE 2: Ok, now it is really time to get up and catch your bus.
VOICE 1: Can't we catch a cab just for today??
VOICE 2: NO. It is expensive (not to mention environmentally unfriendly).
VOICE 1: Screw you. *rolls over and sleeps a few minutes more*

Instead, they go:

VOICE 1: Ah crap. It's the alarm.
*hits snooze* x several times
VOICE 2: Ok, now it is really time to get up and catch your bus or you will have your pay docked and have to pay for a cab.
VOICE 1: GAH. *rolls out of bed*

Interestingly enough, my 17 minute segment of the train commute coincides with Singapore's sunrise. Watching the sunrise gives a renewed sense of hope. Today, I couldn't help myself think, "Mr Sun, you have been rising and shining for us everyday for the last 4.5 billion years, without so much as a holiday. I suppose I can't complain much about my work."

Flattery and flirtations seem to have the opposite effect on me. They are not met with the reaction the flatterer/ flirter expects.

Shu's automatic response to flattery and unwelcome flirtations.

Mirrors

Ever get the feeling that life is moving much faster than you can document it? I do a lot these days.

Also, I may have been slightly dyslexic all this time and nobody pointed it out. Then again, I am a bit of a hypochondriac who is untrained in psychology.

Mirrors are an interesting example of how light and chemicals can affect one's self image. Being just pieces of glass coated with a layer of metal, they help us form the mental image of what we look like on the outside. Funny enough, not all mirrors make you "see" yourself in the same way. Some (and I like these), like the ones found in fitting rooms of fashion-related stores, soften up detail and others give more detail than you might like to see in you.

They say we can't judge books by their covers. Well, we can't judge them by reading just two of their pages either. People are complicated like that.

This clip is too cute not to share. Roundedness can be endearing sometimes.

The Jungle Book

I figured I'll post this to wish Happy Birthday to my awesomely talented, driven, loving, generous and pretty sister in the best language I speak.

Sadly, we are miles apart with oceans and mountains between us, but she's been a pillar of strength for all of my life (and counting) playing various roles of sibling, subordinate mother, friend, guardian, advisor, partner-in-crime and an ally. Of the most notable, she refined me from a "Mowgli" to a (cleverly disguised) respectable looking citizen with essential social skills, she has pushed me to be bold and daring and she has always been supportive of my tough decisions.

(Left) Shu's sister and (Right) Shu. Aren't I adorable?? Well, not really. The family still testifies that I was a holy terror at that age. Then one day somewhere during adolescence, I was abducted by aliens I think, and later returned to my thankful parents as a good child. Nobody knows what triggered the shift in temperament.

I got the sweet end of the deal, coming in 9 years after her  (and no one else between us!) with guaranteed showers of extra attention, love, gifts, free rentals and hand-me-downs. When it came to me, she spent her meagre savings generously so I can have the best of everything she could afford - roasted chicken drumsticks from John Keells and pineapple gateaux from Devon's (a big deal back then), clothes, shoes, visits to the salon and allowances to spend. We even had many animal rescue operations and projects together.

Although I have grown older to about 1.5 times her size in dimensions, she still looks to me like one of her own children and who can complain?! It is really surprising considering I have mass murdered and decapitated most of her dolls, destroyed her story books with scribbles and such, smashed her toys, shattered her social image with public tantrums and even beaten her up, to name some of the gruesome things that Shu junior-the-terror was better known for.

Happy Birthday, Akki and it goes without saying that you are immensely loved!

Speaking of sisters, my parents announced that we have a new baby sister (scroll to the next image). They keep adopting stray animals and children, possibly to fill the void we have left. She is adorable and my parents can't stop talking about her whenever I call them.

Pini Junior suffers from ADHD and has managed to destroy a lot of furniture during the few weeks she has been there

Settling In

When we were born, all we had in our possession were a few jigsaw puzzle pieces and the board it came in. As we get older, we find the missing pieces here and there in places where life takes us and this puzzle slowly takes shape. Travelling sort of helps with this project. Experiencing something new or realising something new or noticing a new change in you after you've travelled is the equivalent of having found a yet another piece of the puzzle that you are meant to complete. This might also be why there are Westerners travelling far (physically or intellectually) to the East of the globe to find missing pieces to their puzzles and the Easterners go to the West to find some of theirs.

Who's in the mood for puzzles?

It is not often that we (the quieter people) talk to random strangers. If you think about it, the start of a conversation with a stranger has the potential to change the course of your life (for good or bad)! On a less extreme scale, my unplanned chat with a stranger in a taxi stand yesterday saved me $5, reduced our would-be carbon footprint by about half, got me to my destination fast and very comfortably too.

A few months ago, I was collecting a couple of winter clothes for my trip (my friends from cold places laugh at me when I say I find 18 degrees Celcius unbearable. Give me 30 degrees and I'll be more than happy) when I saw a promotional advertisement from National Geographic. They were giving away a free fleece jacket with a new magazine subscription! I was sold within seconds, mostly owing to my unhealthy dependency on fleece blankets which make me feel warm and safe....from what could only be deduced as Yetis. I found someone else to dump the magazines on because I was not too keen on them. I just wanted my fleece.

Then the folks at Natgeo got mixed up with addresses (to my relief, my jacket came to my mailbox just 2 days before flying off!). In addition to where it was intended to go, I ended up getting an extra copy of the magazine. On asking for reasons why this happened, I got the following reply:

The reason why you also received a copy of the magazine was because previously the account was registered with your mailing address. We changed the mailing address later but by then a copy of the magazine had already been dispatched to your address and it couldn’t be intercepted.

Please rest assured that the situation is resolved right now. [Assured? Are you kidding me? I got a free copy! And I was not complaining.. Hahaha and Thank You for that!] If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us quoting the above membership number. 

Anyway, on reading this free copy that got offloaded on me by chance, I learnt that reading it was a lot of fun and informative (unlike how I felt about the same thing over 10 years ago). I was so amused by an article called Big Bird by Olivia Judson on cassowaries that I forgot I was in the train today and actually started to miss the zoo.

I found this awesome track playing on radio this morning. It's such a feel-good song, by Sara Bareilles with her powerhouse of a voice.

I'm really awake, September!

Greetings, fellow blog fans and stalkers.

It is 2:24am and I can't seem to roll back to sleep. It's been day 4 since got back from a short but surreal trip in France and I am still suffering from the adverse effects of jet lag and mild hallucinations. I decided not to wait till I have blogged about that trip. I frankly miss blogging on mundane things and I am a little disappointed that lately, I have been going at an average rate of two posts a month (not for lack of trying, though). So I'll save that post for later when I have the leisure of completing the herculean task of rounding up ALL the thoughts and memories and photos of that week.

My musical tastes this week have shifted to Opera. I can't seem to get tired of Casta Diva.

Hopefully, this post will trigger more posts this month.

Long live bloggers!

The Perseids Meteor Shower

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” 

― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

It's Sunday and I woke up from five hours of sleep around 6 pm, had a lunch of chive dumplings with soya sauce and shredded ginger and sat down to blog about the turn of events that led to this hazy moment. There were copious amounts of caffeine, a hash brown, packed sandwiches, chips, stray cats, the calming sounds of waves, brightly lit oil tankers on the horizon, people camping out and fishing, chilling shivers from the sea breeze, badly used public toilets, a rain shower at dawn, lots of walking, mild food poisoning...

...and the best of all, SHOOTING STARS!

It is the season of the Perseids meteor shower! And I caught it with Ryuu last night at East Coast Park. Singapore is not particularly famous for star gazing due to light pollution but we were pretty lucky to have clear skies without the moon. We managed to spot clusters of stars (none of which we recognised from the constellations on our star map, except for Orion's belt, because it was too dark to read and we forgot to take a torch!) and 4-6 pretty meteors, including a fireball that streaked across the sky in slow motion. Fireballs are bright meteors that come really close to the Earth's atmosphere and appear brighter than Venus. Star gazing brings me much joy. It is comparable to catching a special effects movie with good front row seats on the largest screen ever built, humbled by the fact that I am so insignificant on a celestial scale.

It's at times like these I really feel blessed having adventurous friends who accompany me without so much as a protest to all kinds of places, amid small inconveniences to do fun things like camping at zoos and catching meteor showers. I like to think that I am capable of going wherever I please to experience whatever I fancy regardless of having company or not, but having the same experience in good company makes it much more memorable and that is always appreciated.

This map shows all of Singapore. Put on a map of the world, Singapore is like a microscopic wart. We got from point A to B to watch the meteor shower in under 2 hours.

Every August, the Earth passes through the debris left behind from the comet Swift-Tuttle, forming the Perseids meteor shower. It's favourite among meteor shower fans as it promises a good show of meteors and fireballs (estimated 60 meteors an hour at its peak!) and increases the odds of spotting meteors even for people living in places with bright city-lights like Singapore. As a bonus, the event this year coincided with a dark phase of the moon.

For star gazers, the meteors would appear to originate from the constellation of Perseus

Bother, it's work tomorrow. The star charms collected over the weekend should help me get through this week.

Office Pro

My boss has an interesting personality. He is funny and full of wise sayings (the most notable one being "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one"). One of the perks of working in an all-male-except-Shu team is that I am constantly amused by the swear words and associated phrases flying around, strewn in very creative combinations. That and the absence of female hormones (except mine) affecting judgements and team dynamics makes it a conducive environment for working 60 hours a week.

Lately, my boss has discovered a new productivity tool: Shuri.

He's great at talking and I'm better at writing so he's been conveniently handing over the team's job of drafting diplomatic emails to me. Not just diplomatic ones, but also emails sent out with specific outcomes in mind. My boss is eternally snowed under his work and taking off some of the burden of grammar and organising thoughts in writing, which a lot of technical people deeply dislike, makes his work life more productive. And since I get a small high out of writing (pretty much anything), I'm mostly okay with the arrangement... except for the slight fear that he's becoming overly dependent on me to be his voice and that people might start to notice my alpha-male-type boss starting to sound like a thoughtful woman in his emails!

He also says that it is not so much what you ask, but how you ask that makes all the difference. Without the body language factor, written communication often leads to misunderstandings in tone.

Following an explosive reaction to an email...
Boss: Shu, please draft an email for me. I just forwarded you the email.
Shu: Ok, so what do you want to tell him?
Boss: Tell him to fuck off and tell him I know my job and I don't want him to remind me.... in diplomatic words, please.
Shu: .....

Another scenario...
Boss: Shu, ok this email has a lot of history, I have forwarded you all the emails to read up and understand the background. Let me know when you've caught up.
Shu: Done.
Boss: This is how I want to structure the email... (goes on the explain the details in length). Did you get all that? You look a bit lost....
Shu: Um... that's a lot of information.
Boss: You look lost most of the time, but when I see what you've done afterwards, I realise that you understand things pretty well.
Shu: Gee. Thanks.

Men are usually terrified of reactions coming from women because they don't know what to expect sometimes:
Boss: Shu, I need your help on this one. This email is going out to a woman. We can't afford to piss her off. Please see if anything is even remotely offensive in this draft.
Shu: O_O

It's funny how one letter can change the meaning of a sentence and trigger the imagination of a hyper-active mind. The other day, I received an out-of-office-reply which read as follows:

Thank you for your massage. I have limited access to emails and will respond when I get back on 29th July. 

Glory days have come - Part II

Public transport in Sri Lanka is (or used to be) plagued with sexually repressed predators who lay in wait to feel up unsuspecting women in crowded buses and trains. They take their chances - at the risk of getting beaten up, humiliated in public or worse reprimanded by the authorities (which rarely happens though) - in hopes of getting away with an anti-climatic sexual experience at the expense of hurting another human being. My thoughts often get tangled in twists trying to understand the psychology behind such acts.

Singapore, thankfully, is a more civilised and safe society. The general attitude is that you cant take what is not yours to take and if you do, there will be serious consequences. It also appears to be a fairly open and indifferent society, where consensual sex is not viewed as something taboo, evil or sinful (unless it is a case of being unfaithful). The government has strategically made it legal for sex workers to carry out "the world's oldest profession" as safely as possible under the law. I found this rather shocking when I first arrived here, but my opinions on the matter have since changed. The bigger picture is that when safe and legal sexual services are available freely for those who need it and it comes without a society's damnation, a lot of innocent and unwilling women and children will be safe from sexual harassment. It won't solve all the problems in that category out there, but it will certainly help.

That bit of serious talk was the build up to relate a rather amusing story. My mother who hails from a family of cops is the polar opposite of my dad and me. Her sense of self preservation and diplomacy is quite numb compared to ours. Where we would stop to analyse the most peaceful and dignified solution, her first reaction to injustice is spontaneous action involving verbal abuse and even violence. And that's a good thing sometimes, which I admire with envy because I find it hard to fly into a fit of rage even when my life depends on it. Once a sexual predator (half her age) did the grave mistake of trying to touch her in a bus. In the events that followed, he was badly beaten up by her and kicked out of the bus. He didn't even stop to pick up the ring he was wearing, which he dropped in the scuffle. She is my hero for this and for many other battles she has gladly fought for me!

I hope I have not turned off potential tourists from visiting the beautiful and culturally rich country that is Sri Lanka. It is definitely a place worth visiting and with appropriate precautions, it can be a pleasant experience.

Singapore has banned chewing gum (except in rare cases where a doctor can prescribe it as a dental aid). Eating chewing gum in public can even carry a fine. It may seem rather extreme but with a "remarkably clean city" reputation to maintain, it does not come as a big surprise. I miss chewing gum and the other day while putting up some posters at work, I caught myself looking longingly at a wad of blu tack.

Lately, my clothes have been shouting out telling me that I'm getting bigger and that my metabolism is not as fast as it once used to be. As I found out playing on Dance Central, it is so much harder to lose fifty kilocalories than to gain it by eating something nice. Also fat does not accumulate evenly like a nice layer of blubber in whales and seals, instead, it collects unevenly in places that are hard to miss. Maybe that's a good warning sign. I don't think whales and seals ever realise it is time to do something about obesity. Then again, they lead active lifestyles, unlike me.

Speaking of fatties, some time ago, I watched a Japanese animated movie called My Neighbour Totoro with English dubs. Ryuu and I had initial doubts over whether I'll be able to appreciate Japanese animation, which is strikingly different in its art, style, dialogue and feel from the English ones I am more accustomed to and the intended audience being children. The story felt a bit slow initially but it picked up once the background was established. I enjoyed it for its thoughtfulness and the story being portrayed from the refreshing point of view of a child, which also felt vaguely familiar.

Totoro turns out to be a cute and enormously loved character in Japan and a lot of us didn't know this until the re-released movie of 2006

And speaking of more fatties, we end this post with an honourable mention of the Suzuran High website that Ryuu, who is self-taught in Kanji, single handedly designed and came up with (I had to say honourable mention of the site and not Ryuu, or she might bite my head off). She passionately maintains and moderates the site voluntarily and in a little over an year, the forum for fans of the Crows and Worst series of manga has grown to have about 450 registered members from all over the world (not forgetting the unregistered lurkers) who have collectively posted over 9000 posts! I think that's really impressive.

Glory days have come - Part I

Katy Kat asked me if I had a blogger's block the other day. I think the question itself pushed me to attempt to break out of it. So this blog consists of bits and pieces which were typed out and saved on my phone while commuting, emailed to self later and then copied and edited on Blogger. My struggles with work life balance led to what I suspect a temporary mental aversion to blogging. To make matters worse, my computer started acting up - the keyboard in particular. It works on some days and not on others, with no explainable patterns. A keyboard is like a pen to any blogger. So the frustration of not having a pen when you want to write something down badly (assuming in both cases that no phones were available) is understandable.

In my search for a solution, I read up and tried various fixtures. Frustrations aside, one learns new tech-related things going through a crisis like this. The "one before the last" attempt was to restore the computer to factory settings. That didn't make the problem go away completely, but it seems to have improved the situation by extending the time that the keyboard remains functional. The last attempt is of course to replace this computer which I bought over 2.5 years ago with a new one, but this is not an option for another 6-10 weeks.

Sometimes when I can't recall dates of special events in my life (like the purchase of a new computer, for example), I often search my blog. Just now while referring back, I found this amusing line in a post I made in January 2011: 

No Shuri, you CAN'T have the X-box Kinect. But your glory days with Dance Central will come, be patient now.

Shuri is immensely patient. She waited two years to make it happen. Perhaps I'll blog about my secret dancing sessions on another day.

My boss gave me some chocolates after his return from his home town in South Africa. He tells me that the ripe Marula fruit in the wild attracts a lot of wildlife. When the fruit is overly ripe, it has a slightly elevated alcohol level making some of its consumers (like the monkeys) slightly tipsy!

Earlier this month, Katy and I went to a two-day camp organised by the Singapore Zoo. It was a lot of fun! We spotted nocturnal animals during a night walk (I learnt that Katy has well developed vision for spotting animals even in low light conditions! And projecting these observations skills of hers a little further, I don't think her kids will ever get away with any sneaky business without their mama knowing!), got VIP tours of the animal hospital and central kitchen and got to sleep inside sleeping bags. The zoo feels like an entirely different place after all the visitors have left and it closes for the night.

There were also awkward ice-breakers and an alpha male participant who volunteered to take the lead ALL the time. At times we were happy to sit back and observe him with amusement and at times I wanted to hit him over the head. 

This was the list distributed to the camp participants. Katy and I pondered a lot on what "1 set of undergarment" meant. Did it mean a two-pieced set for the girls? Then, what about the boys? Or was it one piece, like the confusing term "a pair of shorts" which actually means one piece? And do they still call them "undergarments" these days?

 

This is what "undergarments" initially brought to mind. I can't fathom why women of the 1960's wore cone bras, except maybe for self defence. I'm happy about the evolutionary path that underwear has taken since. Well, somewhat. It would be good if it can stop evolving right about now.

   

Our packed bags, waiting in swollen anticipation to go to the camp

A little frog used to for educating purposes which was duly returned to its resting place afterwards

 

The Animal Hospital. (left) X-ray room and (right) Operating Theatre 

 

Large food store feeding a majority of the 10,000+ specimens distributed at the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the River Safari

Food in various forms, catering to specialised diets. These are carrots and yams to be boiled.

The sleepover at the zoo included watching "Despicable Me" just before bedtime. It was an excellent choice for a movie! After a restless night sleeping in noisy, unfamiliar sleeping bags and with back pains from sleeping on safari beds, the next day, we left the zoo feeling extremely thrilled about the wild experience that Wildlife Reserves Singapore gave us.

Cake and other random bits

It's July! We turned late twenty last week.

Growing up is not all bad, actually. The turbulence of the younger years seems to have subsided. The workings of the world makes more sense.

Some extremely thoughtful presents given by Shu's dear friends. Thanks guys, for these and the cake! 

A beautiful Royal Python introduced to us by one of the Keepers after zoo duty last Sunday

A photo taken at Harbourfront, Singapore. 

And finally, a one of Pitbull's songs guaranteed to lift the spirits:

June ends

The haze situation is stable for now. Ginger was gone for a week and I thought the worst. Then, day before yesterday, I was never happier to see two orange paws sticking out of my neighbour's shoe rack.

Singapore enjoyed non-hazardous air all of last week. The Indonesian government has been taking measures to control the situation, mostly in response to pressure from the international community. Singapore, meanwhile, is busy implementing emergency preparedness measures in schools, hospitals, offices, etc, in case the haze comes back. Often, we lack the drive to take preventative measures (which we perceive as taking up more of our time, effort and costs) and instead focus on tackling immediate problems as and when they arise. Taking shortcuts can cost much more sometimes.

I have a very small but surely growing collection of books. So whenever, I need a book fix and I feel too lazy to hit the library, I end up re-reading my favourite books. It's kind of like how I tend to order the same things at restaurants, despite resolutions to be more adventurous in trying out new things, because I know for a fact that it is going to taste great. So I picked up Quiet again and it's been really hard to let the book down.

The book also got me in trouble TWICE today.

Scene #1: This morning, I honestly missed a text message from my colleague, who was in the next carriage, saying "Good Morning Shu, I just saw you step into the train." because I was wrapped up in the book. And she said she didn't walk over to me to say hello because she saw that I was very engrossed. She is thoughtful like that. Had I seen the message, I would have been forced to go socialise with her instead getting some valuable reading time so I was glad about the way things turned out [Shu, you are going to hell!]. It is possible she thought that I saw her message and chose to ignore it.

Scene#2: Evening time, again in the train after we've (she's) talked a lot and I've listened more, she asked casually what I am reading. I told her it's an interesting Psychology book and pulled out the book to show it to her without much thought and shortly after that, I regretted showing it. It read "Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking". I should have been more careful. I hope she didn't feel like it was a metaphorical slap in her face because I thought I saw her blush. I felt terrible. I'd rather she assumed I was a forelorn introvert reading a self-help book to gain self confidence than take it the wrong way.

I try not to over-use labels, but it's impossible not to, in this case. Sure, there are exceptions; introversion and extroversion lie on a spectrum rather than being two fixed states and some people are harder to pick out as they have mastered qualities and skills that don't come naturally to them. But the more I understand the psychology behind this phenomenon and observe social situations, it appears that the majority of introverts and extroverts are as unmistakable as males and females of a particular species.

My colleague is a nice extrovert who is very thoughtful, kind, smart and has a big conscience (but she will stop being nice to me if she found out I was using her as a case study on my blog!). Being happily married to her college sweetheart who she admits is an introvert, she seems to know well how to draw us out of our shell in a pleasant and non-threatening way. The most successful couples I have met are pairings of the opposite type, provided that they each have a good understanding of their partners' strengths and limitations. My parents are such a couple. Though not the most romantic couple on Earth, they do make a good team that can work in synergy. They celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary two days ago, and *gasp*, Shu and her sister forgot to wish them, until they reminded us! We assume they know that we love them very much regardless of temporary flashes of memory impairment.

Here's a timeless tune that's always a hit at weddings:

The Haze-o-calypse

The end of June has plagued Singapore with "The Haze", affecting the air quality of every breathing living thing here. It has caught international attention and put the tiny island of Singapore back on the map. There seems to be a temporary improvement in the quality of air but we are not out of the blue yet even as I write this post. I do hope the situation does not worsen again because I like to have a fighting chance to achieve my future dreams and ambitions, and that too, in good health.

                                                Singapore's experience of the haze of 2013

Last Friday when air pollution levels hit the highest record of 401 PSI (borderline hazardous levels are capped at 300 PSI), it felt like the end of the world was here. There was much panic and fear around, not knowing when or if the levels will go down or continue to rise. While monitoring hourly PSI levels on the internet and smelling smoke everywhere, I kept imagining that we were going to be another statistic like the survivors of Chernobyl. My parents were worried sick and kept asking me to fly back home to Sri Lanka escape the haze of Singapore.

Today is a significant improvement from Friday the 21st of June, when PSI levels hit 401 (screen shot taken from www.nea.gov.sg/psi)

The outdoors are filled with people in face masks. The parks are empty as we have been advised to keep strenuous physical activity outdoors to a minimum. The indoors offer some security but when the situation was at its worst last week, we woke up in houses filled with smoke and worked in offices (without our masks on) where the smell of burning wood still got through the central air conditioning systems. People we hardly knew made small talk of the haze in buses and trains. Some time last week, stores everywhere ran out of face masks. When a store received new stocks of face masks, people queued up and it sold out in minutes like hotcakes. People even rushed to buy air purifiers and there just weren't enough stocks in the stores to fulfill the demand. 

Ordinary paper masks offer no protection from the hazardous particles in the air but it was a few days before the general population got access to special N95 type masks. Plenty of people in vulnerable states like the elderly, children, pregnant mothers and those with existing respiratory problems were using the ordinary face masks until they found effective N95 masks. Business, including in construction sectors, went on as usual and low income construction workers continued to work outside when PSI levels soared past 300.

One type of N95 mask

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil - besides countries like Malaysia, Nigeria and Thailand - supplying the global demand for palm oil. Palm oil is an essential ingredient in a lot of things we use and can't do without now. Every year during the dry season, Indonesia (our neighbour) burns a large area of their palm oil plantations, preparing the land for the next round of the oil palm crop. It's far easier and cheaper to set fire and let it burn away the area than clean up debris with hired labour, plus the charred remains make the soil fertile. 

The problem is that these fires are often illegal and uncontrolled, spreading into natural forests, destroying everything in its path. A lot of the time, these regular activities go unnoticed and ignored on an international level because it's just another nagging ear sore caused by scientists or a conservationist group. And many people maintain the attitude "if it doesn't affect me or my loved ones directly, why should I care?". But this year it changed in Singapore. It noticeably affected people past international borders. The government became actively engaged because the haze was adversely affecting the health of its people and the country's economy. 

This image shows the source of the smoke - fires originating in the oil plantations of Sumatra in Indonesia

Either we have an incredible ability to forget and move on with crisis situations or we may have become numb to media coverage and cries on environmental pollution. I can vouch for that because we here in Singapore are going on about life as usual, while taking recommended preventative measures to get past this haze. Maybe we don't want to add up the math of the climate crisis happening in other parts of the world or analyse deeper into what lessons this haze can teach us. After all, the governments of Singapore and Indonesia are taking measures to improve air quality in the area, protect the people and bring culprits of this haze to justice. We don't know yet what diseases and long term effects on health this extended exposure will bring. Perhaps, being resilient creatures of years of evolutionary success, we may not be affected much. But for now, the general attitude is "We feel fine and therefore don't particularly feel motivated to change our lifestyles or become more environmentally friendly".

What about the animals, plants and their habitats that are getting destroyed by the fires? What of the animals that live outdoors and have no protection whatsoever from what they breathe in? No one can afford to care because the truth is, no matter what, it is a game of priorities and survival of the fittest. This incident should really be a wake up call or it will be a wasted lesson on us all. This is a snapshot of the fate that we are bringing upon ourselves and the planet at large with the lifestyles and desires we have acquired over the years. Conscientious people can take small measures to stall the untimely death of the planet, but the real power lies with the governments. We are well past the point where measures like optimistic recycling efforts of a few individuals will reverse the situation (but that doesn't mean we should stop trying!). Only international environmental policies and tough measures to control consumerism taken by proactive governments with good leadership can offer a glimmer of hope.

But otherwise, our future generations are pretty much doomed.

Midway through 2013

It's 33 degrees Celsius in sunny Singapore!

Today I met a whiny cab driver on my way to work early on a Sunday morning. I don't know the nature of his issues, but he was far, far away from things like contentment, gratitude or hope. He grumbled all the way about his general dissatisfaction of external circumstances that he could not change. What we don't realise after we've worked ourselves to such a state of mind, is that we also bring down everyone else around us. It becomes far more easier to complain and wallow in self pity than to kick oneself and take control. I tried, mostly in vain, to give him a bit of perspective, to help him see beyond his convictions to conditions of those who are far worse. It's hard to convince people who think that the grass is greener on the other side, or in his case, that he was living in the worst country in the world.

I wonder if this image would have helped

I stumbled on a terrific website called diagram.ly to draw process flow charts. I went from being a "noob" to an "expert" in half an hour, thanks to its little video tutorial in the help section. It doesn't require any installation, it's very user-friendly and it's free! All it takes is dragging and dropping shapes and arrows, giving some colour, typing the text and saving to a file format of choice. I had a minor heart attack midway into the assignment wondering how I'll edit the flow chart later after I've closed the browser. Thankfully, they had it covered too.

Here's further proof that flow charts of any type now no longer require expert services. It's not the best example for a flow chart, but if I post work files here, I may get fired.

Look at that! My whole life in a simple flow chart.

There and back again

Last month, I went home to see the parents for five days. I contemplated on crossing off an exotic destination from my list of new countries to visit. But then I had a startling reminder that my remaining time with the family, realistically speaking, is limited to x number of moments and that pretty much settled where I wanted to be for my holiday.

I was told there was also going to be a family wedding we'd be attending. Crowds, making conversations and finding a dress! Bother. Thankfully, my helpful elder sister with a sophisticated sense of fashion came to the rescue (what will I ever do without her!). So I was saved the trouble and trauma of hunting for a perfect dress. More on that later.

The long weekend also found me celebrating Vesak with a large population of Buddhists in the country. By "celebrations", I mean doing things like visiting the temples, making Vesak lanterns with my adopted brother, driving in town with family and neighbours to watch creative displays of colourful lanterns and finally, eating from dansal.

Dansal are stalls set up by groups of volunteers offering food and drinks to anyone and everyone passing by (no questions asked) free of charge in the spirit of the occasion. Food ranges from good full course meals to ice cream and the queues can be pretty long for ones famed at having delicious meals. It's not really about fighting the crowds to get a free meal. The idea is for one party to organise, spend, cook and offer food with generous thoughts to others, while the receivers leave behind any pride and in turn enjoy the meal and offer their gratitude and appreciation for the other party's efforts. These days they have to operate on government licenses to ensure that food provided meets health and hygiene standards. Revisiting traditions and the culture back home with the family brought much me joy.

The Dalada Maligawa - an iconic palace turned temple in my hometown that attracts thousands of devotees and tourists every year

A recent addition to the main shrine 

The start of a large project that eventually took us a whole day to complete. My brother had already made the "skeletons" of the lanterns out of bamboo sticks when I arrived home, but there was much cutting and pasting to do!

The lantern slowly takes shape with coloured paper

The largest lantern of the lot. They look their best at night, when the light from inside the lantern radiates through translucent paper.

We had a total of four lanterns. My brother did the hard work of pulling electrical cables over the trees in the garden and fixing the lights and lanterns. I was his helpful aid.

Vesak lanterns can take various shapes, sizes, colours and designs. It takes considerable skill and time to make artistic ones like the one above (a photo which I borrowed from http://vesaksrilanka.blogspot.com/). Ours were of course amateur attempts. 

In addition to being able to show off his new driving license, my brother had a new member in his fleet of vehicles (the other being a bicycle). I also had enough time to look at all the plants my Dad and brother had planted, eat some of the fruits fresh off the trees and visit my favourite river.

A curious looking "three-wheeler". Its ability to squeeze through small spaces makes it an efficient mode of transport during traffic hours in Sri Lanka. We drove to the nearest playground where he gave me a crash course on driving it and I raced to my heart's content (mostly in circles), only having to dodge a few grazing cows and their dung piles.

Kitty - another privileged member of the family

Homegrown bananas and (a little harder to spot) Kitty about to do a death-defying stunt from the roof to the ground

I never miss the 3-minute walk down to the river whenever I visit home. This is where I spent a good deal of time growing up. It may explain my hydrophilic tendencies.

Reminiscing the past...

The wedding turned out a lot better than I imagined. I could tell my parents were filled with warm, parental pride to have atleast one of their offspring present at this social event. I believe they miss us very much. Social awkwardness aside, seeing them happy made me happy. It was actually fun to meet up with the cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces and nephews and others after what seemed like ages. Thankfully, I didn't meet any nosy and pushy relatives who tried to convince me to let my parents arrange a husband for me (I even went prepared with some sharp comebacks that these situations require, but it's a shame I didn't get to exercise any of those lines!).

The awkward/ simple Shu was transformed into an elegant lady with the help of her sister's choice of attire and a professional makeup artist. Photos that surfaced a few weeks later on Facebook, proved to be a hit (going by the positive comments). Initially, when the photos turned up and drew a bit of attention, I felt like a slug that crawled ignorantly out from under a rock only to be stunned by the flashing photos of the slug paparazzi. I was even told off by a couple of close friends when I gave due credit to the lighting technicians, the photographer, his sophisticated camera and the make up artist for tastefully enhancing my features. But I learned quickly to graciously thank everyone else for their compliments.

And just like that, it was time to leave back to Singapore.

The scenic drive from my hometown in Kandy to the Airport (took us nearly 3.5hours, the same time it takes me to fly from Singapore to Sri Lanka, actually) through mountainous terrain. In the background is the "Bible Rock" overlooking Kadugannawa

More lanterns on the roadsides!

Why, look at the time! It's almost time to start getting ready for work *nervous laugh*