Ubin Volunteers

Sightings today~

2008-05-28T00:12:00.010+08:00

It was raining and thunder was heard in the distance as we started our guided tour this morning. Today we were fortunate to have guides Faridah, Alan, Bari and Mark to help out.
Jacky, KC Auyeong and myself waited for a group that failed to turn up until 9.45am, 105 minutes late! The tide rose as we waited for them.

The management had agreed earlier on that in future, we would not wait for any groups that is late for more than 30 minutes. And their payment would not be returned to them.

The sun start to shine over Chek Jawa as the groups walked down and Faridah's group was lucky to spot a beautiful rainbow over the forest of CJ.

Today we had some great finds!
Jacky found a Keyhole Sand Dollar at the northern sandbar! I've worked here for 4 years and this is the first time I'm seeing it. Cool right?

Anyway, I'm guessing you've heard enough of my story of the day. =)
So let us now enjoy the photos taken by volunteer KC Auyeong.

Other than the Sand dollars, they found a tiger moonsnail too. Cool right? Hope someone took photos to share.

Till then~.....

Otter Sightings

2008-04-07T09:50:00.003+08:00

4th April - Rangers Mark & Bari saw otters at Sensory Trail area! Here's their recount of the sighting.

"This morning, at around 8.30am, Mark Lim spotted some otters( est. 5 ) at the pond along Jln Ubin(opp House 363B). Mark Lim called me (Paul Parusuraman) to witness the sighting. We could not take shots of the otters as they were moving around pretty fast. The second sighting was witnessed at the mangroves adjacent the sluice gate area.(Sensory trail - boat berthing point ). We heard calls from within the mangroves before two large otters(est. 1 metre) swam past the sluice gate about 10 metres away before diving down. All this activity lasted about an hour. The below pic was the best we could take due to the otters' rapid movements."

Actually for the last few weeks, a few of us, Mark, Paul, Lioe, volunteers, visitors and security guards have spotted the Otters at Chek Jawa, Jelutong and now even Jln Ubin. The security guards at CJ reported seeing the otters swim near to the floating pontoon on quiet days during high tides.

Personally I think the sightings are normally

1) highest tide of the day (like in this case of 4th April)

2) early morning; low tide before or after rain.

Next time, do log your sightings at the Information Kiosks sightings book if you do see them yeh~

13th March Thurs

2008-03-14T17:05:00.002+08:00

On the 13th March, we had our first very early CJ public walk at 8am. Having to pull ourselves out of bed so early in the morning had it rewards too.
A few of us felt more refreshed having to come out before dawn breaks. The others were just surprised at what Chek Jawa had in store for us...

Today, Terry, Leykun were asked to guide a group each while Jane, Jacky, Xiuli hunter seek.
Alyce, Wenpin and I were waiting to guide 3 groups who were late. While Wenpin helped to hunter seek, I slowly head to the floating pontoon to stand guard there.

Along the footpath to the boardwalk, the Calophyllum soulattri was flowering. Beautiful white and yellow flowers donned the tree.

As I walked along the boardwalk, a male jungle fowl appeared at the rocky shores with his 2 female counterparts. Can you spot the female in this photo? They were undisturbed by me and just walked slowly along the rocks.

The tide was still receding when I reached the beginning of the floating pontoon. There were about 10 other visitors there by then. As I looked around for things for them to see, there were about 8 other female / juvenile jungle fowls walking on the rocks behind the boardwalk shelter! This is the 4th time this year I've seen junglefowls in a group at CJ during a guided tour day. What a good year! How true when we often jokes that the jungle fowls only come out to party when we are not surveying them.

8.45am.
As some of the visitors marvelled at the wonderful sight of the fowls. Another surprise beholded us - Out on the seagrass about 80 metres away, there were 5 figures running inland. These figures looked unmistakening familiar and I yelled to the hunter seeker.... "OTTERS!"......These smooth coated otters which appeared larger than the small clawed otters were running inland. Those who ran faster stopped a while appearing to wait for the slower ones. They were heading to RDC area and even hanged around the entrance to RDC before disappearing into the forest.

That's a good 45 minutes that the hunter seekers went down before we spotted them. The otters could had been hanging around the seagrass lagoon during that period. Or came in from the sea from the northern sandbar. A visitor took a video clip while Jacky and Jane took photos. Although the photos were taken too far away, one could see the shape of the otters on the video and photo.

Come think of it. Next time we should follow their trail and take some photos of their footprints also.

What a day! Now everyone is looking forward to morning walks. And dont forget to credit the great work of the hunter seekers...they found a 20cm long sole fish, seahares, horseshoe crab and other common finds. Great work!

24th Jan

2008-01-24T17:25:00.000+08:00

Quiet weekday in Ubin when we had to wait for at least 30minutes to get a boat. Everything was peaceful till lunch time at Ah Lian's restaurant.

Marc Creamades (hornbill project) and Mark Lim was shouting at me. "Adelle! Come quickly!"

Abandoning my food and running over, I was just in time to spot 3 otters swimming in the waters!
The tide was high and they were swimming and surfacing and disappearing into the waters quickly. They were swimming away, around the corner of Jelutong campsite.

This is the second time I spotted otters. The first time was around Christmas 07 at Chek Jawa when my guided group and I saw 2 otters running across the northern sandbar towards the sea through Margie Hall's binoculous.

Encounters like these often happens when I do not have a camera good enough to zoom that far. Although we did'nt managed to take any photos, it is always heart warming to know that this small island is home to many wonderful animals that were once so abundance in numbers.

22nd January

2008-01-22T22:33:00.000+08:00

Today's the first session of our forest patrol to patrol the forest and watch out for potential hazard and wildlife traps. Despite being a weekday activity, we managed to get 8 volunteers and 6 staff to help out.

After a briefing by Choon Beng, we were divided into 2 groups and ferried by the pickup and landrover to our destination.

9.30am
Some of us armed ourselves with makeshift hiking sticks to complete our patrolling look.

Other than patrolling the deep forest, we took time to enjoy the nature.

There were countless cotton stainers seeking shade under the Sea hibiscus leaves. These cotton stainers are adults but it seems that the mating season's not here yet as we did'nt spot any that's in action.

Knema globularia (Seashore nutmeg tree) is fruiting in the forest too. The shape of the leaves resembles that of a durian but does'nt have a copper underside like the latter.
These fruits are eaten by the hornbills that helps to disperse the seeds.

Snake found along the roadside....No idea what's the name but will find out. He's alive and motionless until we touched it. Opps..

With Angie in the group, how can we forgo of a chance to ask her more about plants? She's always happy to share her knowledge with us.

Walked pass a hole filled with fresh water reflecting the greens from the foliage of the nearby trees. Someone tasted it and confirmed that its indeed fresh water. =)

The other team that patrol the other area did'nt have time to enjoy nature as they found 3 traps - 1 wild boar trap and 2 smaller traps.

Brenda and James was the ones who found the wildboar trap. Along with How, Joyce and Robert Heigermoser, the five of them successfully dismantled the trap. Heros of the man man!

After a morning of work, nothing beats lunch and coffee at the local restaurant...

During lunch, we tried the fruits of the cocoa tree. There is a unforgetable fragrance emitted from the pulp that no other perfumes could match. We were advised not to have too many as it is known to cause a floating sensation.

3.30pm - CJ walk
The sun continued to shine bright and fearlessly. Despite being told that there were only 2 guided groups from Ngee Ann Poly expected, Robert Heigermoser, KS Wong, Teck Chye, KC Hah, KC Auyong, Angie, Alyce, decided to stay on braving the weather hoping to find pleasant surprises in CJ. Alan joined us and lead one of the group later on.

Last January we lost our carpet anemones, sea cucumber, common seastars to the flood that caused a drop in sanility.
One year later, most of the animals are recovering.

Carpet Anemone are recovering in the seagrass lagoon and coral rubble area. Although they are not as abundance as before, we are still glad to see them recovering.

Sandfish Sea Cucumber

Blue spotted Nudibranch found at the coral rubbles. Hope there's enough sponges growing for this guy to feed on.

Adult horseshoe crab found in the sandbar area

And Common Sea stars~ Am so glad to find one which looks healthy. Think Ron found another 2 near the area the first one was spotted.

We thought our day could'nt be any better when we were heading home.
Alyce spotted a pair of hornbills near the Ubin main jetty. Then to our surprise, a few more pairs flew down. We were counting and realised that for the first time, 15 hornbills were partying at the same area!
Pardon me for the lousy photo but somehow if you look, you would see that there are 8 hornbills here. There were a few more pairs around that area and flew down occaionally.
The rest of the volunteers could testify that there were 15 hornbills. Cool man!

First Weekend Walk of the Year at Chek Jawa

2008-01-20T23:35:00.000+08:00

Have not blogged on this blog for quite a while, so when Adelle asked me to help out, I gladly took it up :)

I've already put up an entry on my other blog actually, so will just highlight some of the special finds and also those that I did not talk about in my other blog.

One of the first few plants that caught my attention was the fruiting rattan above. Came a few weeks ago and it was flowering like nobody's business. So, this is how the fruits look like!

Yet another plant that caught my eye was this sea almond tree. Seems like it's getting ready to shed its leaves, as all of them had turned orange or red. Well, you don't need to go to the temperature countries to see colourful leaves, you know?

There were plenty of sand dollars on the sand bar, and the visitors were delighted to make personal contacts with nature.

The hairy sea hares were in season too! We saw lots of them as well almost exactly about one year ago. Could this mean that they follow a yearly reproduction cycle?

And yes! We do have seahorses in Singapore! They are usually very well-camouflaged though, and it takes really sharp eyes sometimes to spot them.

And here's a juvenile cake sea star...

...and its underside. The mouth is in the middle, and it has lots of little tube feet in the five grooves radiating out from the centre.

We also found a flower crab covered with algae and several goose barnacles. The two back legs of the flower crab are paddle-shaped, which allow it to swim around.

Lunar New Year is coming, and coincidentally we also saw one of the "New Year fish" - the rabbitfish. Called 'peh toh' in Hokkien, the rabbitfish breeds around this time, and the Chinese simply love its roe.

There were a few brittle stars too. This one tried to burrow into the sand, but fortunately, we managed to take a good look of it before it disappeared totally.

After the intertidal walk, we went to the rescue tank at House No. 1 to take a look at some of the fishes they rescued recently from one of the restaurants. The 3 in the middle are kite butterflyfish, and if you look carefully, you will find a copperbanded butterflyfish at the top-right corner.

They even have 2 blue ring angelfish!

Soon, it's time to go, but even at the entrance to Chek Jawa Wetlands, we had the privilege to spot a flying dragon! Also called the gilding lizard, it can spread out folds of skin attached its ribs and uses them like "wings" to glide from one tree to another.

All in all, it's been a good trip. Hopefully all the visitors enjoyed the trip as much as the guides do! :)

19th Jan - Orientation

2008-01-19T23:00:00.000+08:00

Conducted a orientation for new volunteers today to know more about the island and discuss volunteering opportunities. Was supposed to have 13 pax coming but some could'nt make it last minute.

When I was on the bumboat, I just couldnt resist the beautiful fluffy clouds that form a horizon over Ubin. Was imagining how it would felt if I could touch the clouds. Haha...

As we found out that everyone was not in a rush to end at 3pm today, we decided to end our orientation at 5pm instead.

Here's the great company for the day....

and here's some souvenir from CJ.....Bites from vicious mosquitoes along the mangrove boardwalk...

We then had lunch at Sisters' Restaurant before heading to Ketam Bike Park, visit the large Ficus casiramea (collared fig).

It started drizzling at 4pm and we went to visit Uncle Leong Kiat at his "Why you so like that" stall.
He made us some tea with Singapore Holly leaves mixed with another weed he gathered.
Here we are, eager to learn about the great uses of the herbs that he sells.

The day ended and some of us hitched a ride from Wenpin who forgot to place parking coupons and got summoned $30. Poor thing! Next time just park at Civil Service Club lah...

Looking forward to tmw's Chek Jawa walk. This week is the mark of the 1 year anniversary since the massive death at CJ on 18th January. Hope there would be pleasant surprises.
=)

10th, 11th Oct

2007-10-11T19:17:00.000+08:00

10th Oct
We had our jungle fowl survey in the morning. Weather was fine and as usual, my group only heard the crowing of the males and did'nt sight any jungle fowl.

We spotted some interesting stuff while moving from point to point.

Looks like a cockaroach but if you look closer, you'll spot the cute eyes. Got to find out the name of this beetle

At first I thought that its just a fly but after our colleague shot it (with camera of course) it turns out to be a cute beetle. Got to find out the name too.

Here's a baby cobra. It has white bands on its sides. We almost stepped on it while moving through the forest.

Skeleton of a reptile along the sensory trail

11th Oct

I have'nt recovered from my flu and fever today and was planning to leave the island at 3pm when there was a sighting of a python in ST by villagers. Rumour was going around that it was a big one and had just ate a wild boar. Could'nt resist when I saw the rest of my colleague heading to ST with their cameras & so I went...

This is what we spotted in one of the fresh water pond.

It appears to have eaten something big and cant move much although there were so many curious villagers and staff looking at it. Talk about being in the limelight...

If you enlarge this photo, you can see its head on the right. It must have taken a while to ingest the last victim with such a small head. The part where it was blarging appears to be afloat. Perhaps it was really a wild boar inside. Yesterday when we were doing the survey metres from this spot, we heard load abrupt scream from a wild boar but no sound of any moving thru the bushes like we normally do. Or perhaps it ate the jungle fowl that we could'nt spot yesterday...

Robert estimate it to be about 5m. That means almost half of it is submerged in water.

ST guides, do keep a look out for this python during your next guided tour.

Cheers,
Adelle

The Unknown

2007-10-04T22:43:00.000+08:00

I'm always giving answers and explaination. Let's see what happens when I asks questions...

Why did an insect want to be close to lightning by resting on a lightning warning signboard??

Why are there paw prints on a glass which is 8 feet above ground at House No 1?

Is this a commonly seen toad? Why is there a toad stationed at CJ IK and plays dead when we harrass it?

Why are there so many big brittle stars on the northern sandbar in CJ? (there were at least 20 of them in one spot) Why did'nt they hide in the rocky shores and coral rubble area? Are they taking over the space of the common sea star?

Why are there so much seaweed in the seagrass lagoon??

What kind of flower crabs are these??

Have a great day ahead people~
Cheers

CJ Get-together

2007-08-27T11:52:00.000+08:00

In celebration of the successful launch of CJ, what could be more appropriate than a bbq at House 1 itself~
So last Saturday, 25th Aug we came togother and had a good time. Consultants, contractors, partners, volunteers and staff who contributed to the new chapter of Chek Jawa were invited to this cosy & private get-together....

Here's some photos taken by our dear November....the rest of the photos can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/micamonkey/tags/ubinbbq/
Thanks November~ For capturing CJ's beauty in the photos. Love the photos you took.

Our GOH - Dr Leong giving address as the sun begin to set. Heartfelt appreciation to our COO - for his precious time to grace this event even thou he had to attend WOMAD at Fort Canning later that evening.

The group photo

Our BBQ men - Adelle's hubby (Matthew) & helper
The fire was quite strong and some food got burnt. Hope no one had tummy upset from eating the food.

Romantic dinner with (frm Left) Ria, Vilma, Dr Hsu, Celine & Angie

My house dog- Yuki & 'someone'. Brought her along but I was running around to get things done. Felt so guilty as she end up being baby-sitted by many kind guests. Hope she did'nt inconvenience anyone.
Can anyone can ID who these legs belong too?

Annoucement of free boat rides for the 7th Month Wayang Show... Today & Tmw evening (27th;28th Aug).
Anyone coming to watch the traditional wayang?

Ulu Gombak Trip!

2007-08-22T23:08:00.000+08:00

Hooray! Am finally able to blog after months of my drowned camera and hours of trying to log in to blog.

Went to Ulu Gombak last weekend with a group of volunteers, colleagues and friends. Its my first time to Malaysia on a trip like this and I've truely enjoyed myself. Programme, food, accomodation and company was great and here's some moments captured.

DAY 1 (FRIM)

Our first stop after crossing the second causeway....Luan Keng strongly recommended the food here and it turns out great!

4 hours away from our first stop and everyone is making themselves comfortable in the bus.

As you can see....someone is covering his head to feel comfortable. William, I think it won't work as well as my comfi pillow. =)

Finally reach FRIM and and after a quick beehoon break, we were ushered into the briefing room by a staff about the research centre's work.

Next up....hike to the Canopy Walk~!

Beauties discovered along the way....

Finally reached the canopy walk after the hike up. I thought my legs were going to fall apart by the time I reached there. Wake up call to start doing more exercises. Phew~

First time walking on a canopy walk (other than ttw) and was surprised at the material used! Metal ladders, ropes, nets.

At the end of the walk...we took a break by a stream.

Visit to the insect collection and arboretum

That's Yixiong our colleague from BC. He's great in identifying insects and birds. Thank God for him..

Here's Gary (in grey) our Malaysia coordinator for this trip explaining about the dipteropcarp arboretum

Along the way. Puisan pointed out a car. Said the red design looks like my hair in the wind. Wonder if I should be happy to hear it from an artist. Nice car anyway. The rest were checking out the car after that.

We had tea in Malay Teahouse which was supposed to be launched nexted month. Nice cosy place. The products were by-products of trees in FRIM and I bought some fragrance soap. The tea were too expensive to buy at RM$40 onwards per tin of 30 sachets. They served us Cat's Whiskers tea which tasted like Chinese Tea. Nice.

DAY 2 (Batu Caves, Orang Asli Museum, Orang Asli village, Orang Asli Talk, BBQ)

I slept very well on day 1 although there were complains of tamil band in the temple jamming till 5am and fireworks being let out in the middle of the forest where our accomodation was. The thick mattress, cool night weather and tired legs helped keep me asleep thru the night.

We had a little walk soon after breakfast. It was a nice walk, discovering old research houses, water streams, flowering ginger and leeches! No one was attacked by the leeches as KS Wong was fast to spot them on the ladies' pants before they could get down to feeding.

Batu caves next....we had to climb up 272 steps to get there.
Gary's child joined us in the walk.

Briefing at the caves.

Helmets next....

No photos are allowed in the caves but we learned a little about the rock formations and got our shoes soles thickened by guano....

Sigium spotted a viper in the bushes along the stairs. It was'nt moving much thou.

Lunch served on banana leaves.

Visit to the Orang Asli museum

Wong pointing to a tribe with his surname.
'Che Wong' tribe had 3 new members - Mr Wong Tuan Wah, Mr Wong Kum Sang and Wong Ley Kun~ hee

Some of the exhibits. I was amazed at the fish cages. Have only seen metal ones made by Ubin villagers and did'nt know about those made by plant products.

Visit to a orang asli group 5 minutes walk from our accomodation. The village headman was not around as he did not expect us but we still managed to give out the items we brought for the kids. The kampong is quite similar to Ubin ones and there are villagers driving Proton Saga cars.

Shopping time~ There was a stall set up setting items made by orang asli. All proceeds goes to the artist and the middle lady is helping them to sell. We were all swarming to the stall to pick up souveniers and books which were very reasonably prized for the excellent craftsmanship. Most comes a note saying where it comes from, who made it, what is used to made it etc. Really useful and informative. We dun just buy but learn more about the orang asli.

Talk about orang asli - an eye opener for a city dweller like me.

BBQ!

Lovely Rosalind helping to BBQ for the hungry group.

We made some new friends too. Like this puppy who was supposed to station at the security guard post.

And a nose flute expert who's an orang asli himself.

And here's Lioe trying to master the art... BTW, Lioe's one of the big spender at the stall.

DAY 3 (Klang Gates)

Final day. We are climbing up Klang gates which consist of quartz. I enjoyed this hike the most as the scenery was simply breath taking...

After descending from klang gates, a strange looking grasshopper was attracted to William (volunteer from CNR) and we took the chance to take photos.

Others....

Our accomodation area. Great for birdwatching and getting inspiration for drawing.

Our room for the 2 nights...

Here's a reason why you should bring your spouse for the next trip.

1) Free massage when you are tired.

2) As a leg rest when you are reading a book.

Hope to see more people signing up for future trips! Till then~

In loving memory of 2 Ubin Villagers

2007-04-23T11:01:00.000+08:00

Hi,
many who've been to the Sensory Trail would by-pass a kampong house with neat carpet grass and a bountiful vegetable garden in its backyard. It is one of my favorite house in Ubin and the owner Uncle Chew stays alone in this house after his wife passed away years back.

Once a week, his children would return to spend time with their father and help him with the house chores. Uncle Chew often walk around the village slowly, with a straigthen pose that even some teenagers lack. His smiles greets me in a distance as I walk pass the coffee shop where he sits and enjoys his morning coffee. Without fail, he always smile and sincerely call to me "Lai! Jia KoPi!"; asking me to join him for coffee.

On Friday when I return to Ubin, there was a different atmosphere when I walked pass the coffee shop where Uncle Chew usually sits. I did'nt suspected anything till I got to the office where colleague Mark Lim breaks the news - Uncle Chew passed away on Wednesday, 18th April.

He complained of pain in his adominal area and was admitted to hospital where an operation was performed. It's said that his intestines had 'entangled' and there was some complexity. He fell into a coma and woke up before passing away. At the funeral wake, we heard from his daughter how much Uncle Chew loves his house in Ubin. When he woke up from his coma, he was telling all the nurses about his nice house, delicious home-grown tapioca and his garden. He even invited the nurses to visit the island- when you love a place or someone, you won't stop talking to others about it.

Here's a photo of Uncle Chew I took last August. His smiles will forever be remembered by many who've been blessed by him in different ways. He should be 80 this year.

=============================================================

This morning, we noticed many bicycle shops were closed. Mr Yeo's (the family selling the Chek Jawa book) front door was fenced up with a rope. We later found out from 'Ah Lian' that senior Uncle Yeo passed away on Sunday 22nd April. Many would remember the sight of this uncle with his wife sitting outside their house, chatting and facing their lush 'landscape' by the sea.
To me, they were a icon of long-lasting marriage; a couple who've braved a few decades together and spend quality time together even at old age.

Here's a photo of Senior Uncle Yeo. We'll remember this uncle who have stayed in Chek Jawa with his family for most of his life.

For those who would like to pay last respect to senior Uncle Yeo or make contributions at his wake, do drop me an sms. I am checking the details and will reply to you as soon as possible.

Regular Visitor to the Volunteer Hub

2007-03-01T20:09:00.000+08:00

Many asked us how's our new office when they visit. Love it since its nearer to the jetty and 'town' where food is. My new seat has a good fengshui as well, allowing me to look out of the window occasionally and spot who's at the door of the office.

We have a regular visitor often spotted and here's him in action.

Mr Hornbill (oriental pied hornbill).....standing on the Jelutong tree outside our office.

More photos of him.....he was standing on the tree for at least 10 minutes, moving his head looking at the surroundings, cleaning his beak on the branches, making gentle noise like communicating to someone / something.....

Finally when I moved away after taking at least 20 photos of him, he did something funny (Lioe spotted him from another angle).

Flew and knock on the hornbill photo on the wall mural outside the hub.

Now you know why the photo of the hornbill at the IK exhibition hall is scatched and this tile chipped......

Last weekend, a ranger reported that a hornbill was standing on the display panels INSIDE the Volunteers' Hub after he came back from the toilet. The hornbill panicked upon seeing him and flew towards and knock the glass panal of the office before flying off.... Ouch!

Perhaps he really liked our office too. Or perhaps he saw his reflection on the glass / the photo of the hornbill on the new exhibits of Biodiversity in Singapore.

Do look out for this regular visitor if you are around the Volunteer Hub.

Cheers!

CJ

2007-03-01T19:45:00.000+08:00

So sorry for not updateing the blog! Moving house and my new SD card can't be read on the card reader so can't upload photos. No photos how can?

Here are some of the things still spotted on CJ after the fateful 18th January walk...

No carpet anemones that's as colourful as before but we are still thrilled by the little surprises..

Peacock anemones....as radiant as before

Caught a puffer fish while hunter seeking on the sand bar. He was trapped beside a pool of water beside the sand bar. First time seeing one on CJ thou.

Catfish.....did'nt spotted this species before. There were at least 10 of them in pools at the coral rubble

Snapping shrimp...

Horseshoe crab.... and shell of a noble volute. Think we lost all the noble volutes. I still can remember the stench when I overturned a few of them checking for survivors.

Ron and Kaifen....what did they found that made them so happy??

Rock star!!! Finally got a star. Ron was hunter seeking looking for a knobbly and I told him if he can find us a rock star we would be more than happy. And with his magic hands, he got one within 5 minutes. So glad we did'nt lost all the stars.... Hooray!

Seems like CJ is not as bad as it seems but it really needs time to recover. Wait for my good news yeh...
=)

18th January

2007-01-18T22:45:00.000+08:00

Dear all close to our hearts, we had a public walk today. We thought its going to be the usual walk just that its been raining for the past few weeks.

From a distance.... CJ looks a little grey.

When walking on the muddy areas, this is what we saw. Thousands of the ball sea cucumbers lying on the flats. The smell that choked my sensitive nose still lingers around. What actually happened??!

Hunter seekers never have to put a tag at the carpet anemone. Today they painstakingly found one on the normal route to tag.

My heart almost died when I saw the look on the rest of my old 'aunties' and 'uncles' of CJ.

Patrick was losing his filter feets. He looks very sad and is in pain. I wanted to offer him comfort but I can't bear to hurt him further.

Why is this happening? We are not sure. Definitely not the boardwalk because major works on ground is completed.
But we do know that increase in rainfall brings abundance fresh water into the sea and changes the salt content in water. Last walk, the carpets were already looking a little unwell. We really didnt expect to see this today. However not all the residents were looking unwell. The hermit, fiddler crabs, drills, periwrinkles, mudskippers, fishes, sand dollars, sea slaters were still very much active.

I understood from a villager who stayed in CJ area that this had happened before when it rained non-stop for many weeks. However, after the rain stopped, everything starts to get back to normal eventually.

There's nothing we can do now. I can't stop the rain. Neither can u. The change in climate worldwide is affecting the lives of many. Just that perhaps as Singaporeans we are protected from the harsh changes that this sight in our beloved CJ is simply unbearable. Are we getting a little light on effects of global warming? Today's walk pained 50 Singaporeans' hearts; I hope I can sleep tonight.

Guess we can only pray that the rain would stop here and also in our neighbours' land. Cross our fingers that everything would return to normal very very soon. We will see if we can find a 'doctor' to diagnose CJ's illness.

Hang in there CJ !!
Nurse back your health and warm our hearts once again!

Newbies @ CJ

2007-01-04T23:13:00.000+08:00

It was raining at CJ today. After we drop of our group and were waiting at hut for the rest of the groups, 2 newbies were still reading the CJ guide book despite fighting their sleepiness ...

Yes, they are the 'newbies'! 2 puppies found at House No 1 area. The weather is making them fall asleep. Babies do sleep so often. Looks like they are slighty more than 1 month old.

Don't they look adorable?

Look at the "Please hug me" look. Anyone interested to adopt them?

We've dropped 1 of the puppy at SPCA with hopes that someone would adopt her and provide a loving home. Living in Ubin is too rough a life for these little ones. We believed there are more puppies around and we hope to find them homes before they get put to sleep.

Singapore Garden Festival (SGF)

2006-12-17T12:32:00.000+08:00

SGF is finally here after 2 years of organizing, involving more than 500 volunteers, over 125,000 plants were brought in to create the dazzling garden and floral masterpieces by participants ranging from more than 20 countries.

How, Jacky, Robert, Ali, Tan, Haron, Ahamad, Bari and myself are helping out on some days during this festival and hope to see you there as well!

Here are some of the photos I took on 2 occasions.

On the 13th Dec, during familiarisation. Here's some of the completed pieces.

On the 16th Dec, I saw Annie, Alyce, Ron, Sigium, Angie and Khiew at the festival.

Here's Alyce and Ann at the Community in Bloom booth. Get some hands-on guessing of plant in the box. Cool. Perhaps we can do something like this for CJ?

My photos does'nt do justice to the beauty of the masterpieces over there so it's best for you to visit. More details on the festival and programmes can be found here.

http://www.singaporegardenfestival.com/

A little extra info : It would take one more than 2 hours to complete exploring level 4 and 6 so try to be there early. After the festival you can even go shopping! Many of the shops at Suntec and Citylink open till midnight on weekends before Christmas and many offer discounts between 8pm - 12pm. That explains why I reached home near midnight yesterday. Hee.

Anyway, Adelle still have some tickets for the 21st Dec so if you are interested to visit, just let her know yeh~

Out on the Boardwalk

2006-12-02T15:19:00.000+08:00

On 30 Nov 06 Choon Beng and friends from NParks gave the Chek Jawa Committee and Chek Jawa volunteers and friends a briefing and tour of the Chek Jawa Boardwalk.

Choon Beng gives an overview of the route. The boardwalk hugs the coast, with a bit sticking out at the Southern sand bar and a loop into the mangroves. It looks very exciting.

There was also a presentation about the educational panels and features that would be installed in House No. 1 (which is to be the Chek Jawa Visitor Centre). After some discussion of that, we went to have a look for ourselves...

Wow, House No. 1 sure looks wonderful! It's just like the way I remember it, chimney and all, but everything a lot cleaner. Joseph Lai points out some features to Yuet Tin.

Inside, it's amazing. Here is the lovely fireplace with the equally lovely Vilma. House No. 1 is considered a Heritage Building and thus restoration was a serious business with everything done carefully to preserve it.

Upstairs, it's just as nice: Joe and Vilma say.

We shortly realise (pun intended) that while the ceiling height might be OK for standard Singaporeans (like Siva on the right)--others might have to watch their heads.

The jetty has been totally repaired and is now safe for walking around. We are assured the railings and concrete will soon weather and the jetty will look less like a police jetty after some time :-)

These are the old signs that refer to the old jetty and the old state of House No. 1.

But it was still tricky to get on and off the boat for the ride to the boardwalk at high tide.

What a glorious view! The boardwalks will allow visitors to enjoy Chek Jawa even at high tide.

And see some things we don't see at low tide. A silvery swarm of fishes! A jellyfish was also spotted. If we stay on long enough, who knows, we might spot the dugong!

There is the boardwalk, hugging the coast.

Siva and Toddycats went on the first boat trip and are already exploring the boardwalk.

Here's the part of the boardwalk that follows our usual low tide route for the intertidal walk. Chek Jawa sure looks different at high tide!

We venture out to the part of the boardwalk that sticks out onto the sand flat, now well covered by the high tide. This part floats so it goes up and down with the tide (and the waves too!). This will allow a closer view of the marine life on the bottom as the tide falls.

While some are seriously discussing the panels which will allow viewing of underwater life even at high tide; Subaraj (top right corner) is checking out the birds. "Why are you looking at a hole when there's a gorgeous view?" he later asks the group. A pair of White-bellied fish eagles swooped above our heads throughout the trip.

After the exhilirating tour, we all pile back into the boat for the trip back to House No. 1.

What a glorious view from the boardwalk! The beacon at high tide with Tekong in the background. And serious weather heading in our direction!

Thanks Choon Beng and gang for a great introduction to the boardwalk. We can't wait for it to be ready.

18th Nov

2006-11-24T00:26:00.000+08:00

Hooray! the bus is here. Ubin volunteers let's hop on~

Happy volunteers on the bus in aircon...

Hike to the rangers station from dropoff point.

Briefing by Ali...See how everyone giggle when he show off a plant root with his name attached. The Tongkat Ali! I just noticed Terry looks a little confused. Perhaps someone should enlighten him if he is still wondering what it is used for. =)

Some of the interesting inflorescence and flowers we spotted along the trail.

Ali explaining and Helen listening attentively. Helen's husband, Mr Kwek who works in Underwater World could'nt join us as he is overseas. We took good care of your wife. Guess volunteers all do get taken care of by either the staff or co-volunteers as well as we can.

Angie with her Bino.....Argh....forgot to bring a bino myself

On the TTW.

And we spotted a Flying Lemur after the TTW. Anyone got a shot of it to share with the rest? Mine is'nt ideal to show off...

End of walk.
What's next??

Makan again!

We went to Casuarina Prata for dinner...Jack, Ali and Terry with the delicious curry fishhead.

Then to Yishun Safra. For....

Bowling! Terry, Chayhoon, Alyce, Ali, Jack and myself went for 2 games after dinner. The lady who asked everyone out for bowling scored the lowest and the drain was very clean at the end of day. (Aka won't ask u all out for bowling again next time. We play pool or billard next time okie?)

Merry Christmas!
Wow, can't believe how long our day was. Really enjoyed myself although I suffered from body ache for the next 2 days. That's why so late then blog. Excuse right? hee...

18th Nov

2006-11-24T00:10:00.000+08:00

Other photos...

Jeremy having a little problem fitting into the harness...

A rare guest to keep us company while we wait for the bus and watch some climb trees...does'nt it reminds us of someone we know?? someone gentle and cuddly, who hunter seeks well... someone like CH?? =)

May holding it in the correct way. Do not pull its ears ok? Be gentle to animals...

Loved this shot. Leykun in blue, from left, Alyce, May, KahChine, ChayHoon and the thorn among the roses Ron. And Rosalind! She's hanging from the tree in the background! Wow...

18th Nov

2006-11-23T23:21:00.000+08:00

It's Volunteer Recognition Day again! This time a little different as it's a combined one with SBWR & CNR.

Here's some of my favourite shots of the day! Do share yours if you have taken some great photos, especially the group photos =)

The 5 volunteers who've volunteered in 3 diff places faithfully for the past years. At the centre, 4th from the left is our Nparks CEO Mr Ng Lang and our Conservation Division Director Mr Wong Tuan Wah on the extreme right.

What's a celebration without food? Here's November & Chayhoon. Look, we are using washable plates instead of disposables. Save the environment & won't fly away with strong wind yeh!

Next.....

Tree climbing activity incorporated by colleagues including Ben & Clayton. Here's brave Ros trying to conquer the rain tree... Must fill up indemnity form one hor. Don't play play although the equipments should be able to take a few of Adelle on one end. Safty first!

Up she goes.....That man on the left, is not a taking off signal man. He's Lioe, our 'new' colleague in Ubin (transfered from Biodiversity Centre). Maybe we can have this activity in Ubin one day?

4th Nov ST

2006-11-06T22:34:00.000+08:00

Look at the crowd! Today is Roots & Shoots Day with Dr Jane Goodall hosted by SAS. They are waiting for her arrival.

While waiting, let's see what it says on the shirt.

Here she is!

At the mapboard being briefed by 2 SAS students.

30 minutes later.... Guided tour on the Sensory Trail with visually handicapped friends

Dr Jane Goodall on the Sensory Trail blindfolded and guided thru the ST.

Look at all the cameras at her!...wow...

anyone remembered the name of the toy monkey?? Touched by millions of prople around the world, Dr Jane Goodall brings him around with her and allows everyone to touch him. He is blindfolded too. Sweet.

Fragrance of the Pandan.

Familar faces. =)

Launch (2)

2006-11-06T21:42:00.000+08:00

That's why we have cold water in the fridge... Kaifen and Jason did the magic.

The rest of everyone. Resource room was'nt big enough for a group photo.

Dr Chua and Uncle Tay taking photos and video.

The mural of hornbill and the activities in Ubin on the wall. Even the village children are here for our 'house warming'.

Almost all the guest are gone except these two energetic ones...

You get what I mean when I say they are energetic?

Launch of Volunteers' Hub (1)

2006-11-06T21:14:00.000+08:00

The launch day finally. Now everyone's smiling...

From L, we have Segar, Jacky, Mohana, Melisa and GanKhing part of the team helping out.

Arrival of GOH, Miss Grace Fu along with our NParks CEO and HSBC CEO.

Hiding in the resource room after the GOH left the site, we toast to each other

Evelyn and Jacky are all ready to drink

From L, Jane, Terry and Wong. Thanks for your help Jane and Terry! Did an excellent job at Changi Point Ferry Terminal. They ushered the guests to the boats and even chat with our colleagues and bosses. Really glad to have you both around on such a important event!

26th 27th Oct

2006-10-29T11:21:00.000+08:00

Preparation work for Saturday's launch of Ubin-HSBC volunteers' hub

Helen Kwek is working with some coconut leaves...

To make some grasshoppers and put with some colourful foliage and petals. Nice! This pot is going to the meeting room table to brighten up the place.

In the hub, we have Vasugi, a new volunteer helping to arrange the books.

And also all the staff are working hard even in the drizzle...

In the old office, work is going on too. Thank you Mohana, Evelyn and Vasugi for helping with the volunteers' notice board yeh~. Mohana and Vasugi for running errands for me over 3 days, Evelyn for her valuable creative inputs.

Terry and Jane, also new volunteers, helping out after the Sensory Trail walk.

The workers cooked up a feast for Deepavali celebration, inviting the staff, the contractors for the hub.

At 9pm on 27th Oct, look who is still working....

Really appreciate all the volunteers for their help these few days. Also thank you KS Wong for helping out in the hub, touching up the things that we might miss out. Kudos to all the volunteers!