3 ticks followed me home
As things turned out, we didn't go to Essex or any of the places I mentioned.
Being the lazy types we thought we should start out somewhere closer to London.
First destination - the
London Wetland Centre. Xi, Fidel and I met up there with Ray and a new friend, Kiat. A good place for bird photography, but if you're a naturalist then this mightn't be the sort of place you're looking for. They say it's natural surroundings and all - well, to a certain extent it is, but to me it feels of artificialness. It's set out more like an open-range bird-zoo than anything else, with the centre organised into different themes of wetland habitats, and fences and gates to mark the borders (which have no practical value, since the birds can fly anywhere as they please). A bit commercialised, really. 40 hectares set in the heart of London (kinda). There're ducks... lots of 'em, and many 'imported' or non-native. Geese, too. Nothing much of anything else... in the line of bigger shorebirds, there was only the Grey heron. Might need to go there at different seasons and more often... the checklist holds a number of uncommon and interesting birds, so frequenting that place might bring out some rewards.
That took us half a day, though I wouldn't have minded if we stayed there the entire day. We headed to Richmond, where after about two hours walking about along the Thames looking for the famous Richmond deer herds, we discovered that we weren't even in Richmond Park. We walked a lot. A little bit uphill too, and circling inside
Richmond Park following a map that gets even SAF officers lost. Useless English maps. We asked people where the deer were, or where the main pond was. Nobody knew. So we walked on. The gang was tired, hungry and the non-photographers were bored. We
almost wanted to give up... until... "Is that what I think it is?" - in the woods slightly off the road, there was a shape... which looked like the head of a deer. Hah! There were more... an entire herd of Red deer, and another herd of Fallow deer east of them. Stalking deer in the grasslands, ticks swarming up my trousers and onto my legs. It's a new experience; so different from shooting birds.
It was fun. Staying in the field makes me happy. Anywhere outdoors where there's green makes me happy. :)
Red deer
talfryn v7
Yeah, it's actually version 7. Some missing versions in between which were never published are in my local drive, full of broken codes and dead ends. I gave up last Sunday after being stuck at some annoying javascript lines of codes... I got too confused. So I turned to studying. Somehow I came out of my geek mode yesterday and so today I spend half the day coming up with v7, which is what you see now. I love the new
photo gallery, but I'm still not satisfied with the homepage. Tools this time = notepad + Flash. Haven't really used Flash for anything before but it's turning out to be quite nice. And as usual, comments would be appreciated. :)
Harrods Horse Cart at Emperor's Gate
I never knew that Harrods still uses horse carts for deliveries. I heard the unmistakable hoofsteps of horses outside and so I opened my window to look. There they were - two Friesian horses with their characteristic high-step gaits, pulling a Harrods carriage.
Old Knightsbridge stories told of horses being held in stables beneath the store, but I didn't know they still exist. Searches on the net revealed that indeed, they still do, with deliveries being made "daily to local hotels and palaces within an approximate four mile radius of the store working mornings and afternoons up to 5 hours a day driven by the Head Coachman."
Innocence, compassion and justice are such strange forces
"If she is guilty I feel for her, that a tragic mistake and tragic act has done so much damage to her young life. If she is innocent, my feelings for her are redoubled." ~ PM John Howard
I don't think even the war in Iraq has generated this much interest and media attention.
For Australia, at least.
It began as a little article in the papers about a woman caught smuggling marijuana into Bali last year. It was nothing new, nothing too exciting. There were dozens of such reported cases every now and then. It was almost forgotten... the tsunami disaster struck, there were the end-of-the-wars anniversary celebrations, there were stories about hostages being held in the Middle East, and many other events occurred throughout the world since. But still the case was not forgotten. Somehow... Corby was different. She had the face of innocence, and the quiet confidence displayed by a person who knew she did no wrong. She lasted eight months behind bars while her case was heard in court, remaining strong only because she knew she did nothing illegal. Or at least, that's what we believe. That's what an entire nation believes. The truth of the case might never be discovered. She had a weak legal team defending her, they said. The prosecutors didn't have to do anything much either. The drugs were found in her bag and that was that. The court rejected the evidence of a few witnesses - friends and relatives, a professor of criminology who had interviewed her, a baggage handler, and an inmate relaying bits of a conversation he had overheard about two prisoners claiming that there was a third party involved - reasoning that they "they cannot prove the defendant is not the owner of the evidence".
It's amazing how it came to be like this. It's just like in the movies. Reporters and film crews even tried to set up the courtroom into a film set. Prime Minister John Howard came in to intervene. Ministers... and more heavy hands played in.
When the verdict was announced, the whole country stopped what they were doing, their faces glued to the television. In pubs, department stores, schools, offices, homes, airports... pandemonium broke out as people weeped, cursed, or simply shook their heads in disbelief. They had believed that their fellow citizen would be coming home... but no. The judge had declared her guilty and she was sentenced to 20 years in jail. The prosecution wanted more... they wanted a life sentence. Aussies lost faith in the Indonesian justice system, branding them racist and corrupt. Relations between the two nations had been strained... somewhat. People call in to the radio encouraging a tourism boycott of Indonesia. Politicians received hordes of hate mail asking why couldn't they have done more. How brittle 'diplomatic' ties can be, how futile diplomats' years of efforts can be rendered with just a simple verdict.
But why Corby? What about the other convicted smugglers serving time overseas, or those two who're on death row in Vietnam and Singapore? Their cases are just as desperate, just as injustified and tragic. For most of them anyway; the areas are all grey.
It's one of those stories, like they say, that "seem to go on forever". We'll never know what actually happened.
It's 32 °C today
It was around 22 °C yesterday and it's gonna be 19 °C tomorrow.
Yewch. *sweat* IT'S BLOODY HOT! In my room with the windows open and the mini-fan turned on and I'm still perspiring.
And to think I'm from the tropics.
Bring out the caffeine!
And so it begins...
I mean, revision really begins...
Well, kinda, minus the fun bits here and there...
Hmm...
23 days-ish to the first paper. It doesn't feel like studying. My Ecology texts read like bedtime reading. Notes were written out a long time ago, so now it's just read, read, read and absorb. I didn't know how much I had actually absorbed from reading until I attempted some of the past-year papers. *g* This feels so good. I actually know how to answer them. Resource Management too... it's so direct. And Parasitism isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's not all protists and
small, small wormy parasites. There's quite a fair bit on insects, and I like that. This entomologist dude, a visiting lecturer from the London Zoo/Institute of Zoology taught us some really interesting stuff. A pity our lectures have ended... I wouldn't have minded more lectures on the bees and the ants, or the termites, or insect predators. Now I understand why a worker ant can beat a soldier termite in one-on-one combat. Eusocial insects are cool; I might consider branching into entomology a bit. Ornithology seems a bit out of reach here as a student in central London. And there aren't herpetologists 'cos there're no lizards around.
I've just realised how really lucky I am. I'm now driven by passion... I'm doing something I actually love. I look at most other biologists around me and they seem to be studying more out of the sake of studying and the sake of education. Many pick their module options by elimination, rather than preference. Grades are what drives them - those
firsts and
seconds. Better not speak too soon though. Till the papers have ended shall I review my academic situation. Yeah, I never was any good at grades, never was one of those intellectual types. Sometimes I do feel quite out of place in Imperial... grades was not what brought me here. It was the things I had achieved through doings not of an academic nature. I may not be striving here but I'll try my best. :P
The species question
This question pops up again and again during my Molecular Ecology revision. It talks of determining the molecular identify of koalas and petrels, and more case studies about animals being ascribed to a new species or one being redefined as not a species, but a subspecies. And so on and so forth.
Just now in the email, someone from the Oriental Birding group sent through a list detailing new common names and taxanomic changes in Asian birds, following the lead from Rasmussen & Anderton (2005).
I have to delete some scientific names from my mind... they no longer exist.
First on the list - the Cattle egret. Jane shall be disappointed to hear this, I'm sure. We always made fun of its name:
Bulbulcus ibis ("Bulbul kiss ibis"). It's now
Bulbulcus coromandus. The Changeable hawk-eagle's no longer a subspecies, but a species in its own right. Ditto for the Drongo Cuckoo, Large-tailed nightjar, Crimson sunbird, Black-headed munia, Hill myna, and Greater racket-tailed drongo. The same goes for the Black-tailed godwit, but that's still being debated it seems.
Birds which were given entirely new identifications are the Pacific swallow, no longer
Hirundo tahitica but
H. domicola, Laced woodpecker (
Picus vittatus >
P. viridanus), and Purple-throated sunbird (
Nectarinia sperata >
Leptocoma brasiliana).
I don't understand what's happening to the crows. The former Large-billed crow, Eastern jungle crow, and Indian jungle crow are now collectively known simply as the Large-billed crow, but the binomial of each are allotted a subspecies name.
Birds don't care. Even if they knew, they wouldn't make a fuss out of their change in status anyway. Those which were half are now a whole. And those whole which are now halves, or one-thirds... well... at least when it comes to conservation, their whole species mightn't have been that critically endangered after all.
Oh, and something else. Yesterday in the library, I found out that the Striated heron (previously known as the Little heron, and before I started birding, was known as the Green heron), is called the Mangrove heron in the UK. Thank goodness for scientific names.
Butorides striatus... that simple!
Night shoot (series 2): Traffic
I admit I've got no right to shame Marvin twice on my blog in two days, so I did it at the
BioTestament instead. After all, it's something that all biologists can identify with.
In other news:
I am pleased to say that after consultation with the Senior Tutor and the Chair of the Board of Examiners we are able to allow you to proceed with your Ecology degree without taking a field course this summer.
So sayeth the Director of Teaching. I gave Viv a fright last night when I suddenly whooped in joy upon receiving the message. w00t!~!
XiYu and I went to the
Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum this arvo, in the hopes of catching this free talk on locusts. It turned out to be some botanist rattling on about nettles. Bah, they changed the schedules. Anyway, took some pics. There's a really cool pic of some reptiles stuck in their jars, but I thought it might be wiser to post some neutral subjects. Here are some pretty harmless echinoderms.
There are no sandflies in SE Asia
... according to the US army.
I was digging up some online papers for my parasitology project when I came upon this article. It's a US military document, consolidating info pertaining to parasites and their arthropod vectors during military deployments. Chapter 7 is on sandflies.
From the
Guide to Entomological Surveillance during Contingency Operations:
Geographic distribution and habitat
Sand flies occur mainly in the tropics and subtropics, with a few species ranging into temperate zones of the northern (to 500N) and southern (to 400S) hemispheres. Distribution is limited to areas that have temperatures above 15.60C for at least 3 months of the year. There are no sand flies in New Zealand or on Pacific Islands. Human-biting sand flies in the Old World [geographical term referrring to the Eastern Hemisphere including Africa, Europe, Asia and Australasia] are distributed mostly in the subtropics, with a few human-biters south of the Sahara and none in Southeast Asia. In the New World, they are limited mainly to the tropics.
I had to read the last few lines a few times to make sure I understood it correctly. There are no human-biting sandflies in Southeast Asia? Whadda? I don't know what to say. American ignorance? Or entomologist-consultants with extremely limited knowledge? Obviously, their troops who have been to SE Asia have never been bitten by sandflies before.
Either that, or when Americans talk about sandflies, they mean a different kind of fly.
So there we biologists were, happily sitting in a
Square during lunchtime and I was on the phone with my mom.
Along came Marvin and rather loudly (to nobody in particular) he exclaimed, "Screw your boobies!"
And with that, his rating in my mom's books dropped back to zero.
And my mom said he shouldn't dye his hair red. It's so yesterday. He should try green and purple... they go well together.
Haha, it's so funny. I don't really know what's so funny, but it's funny. My mom can be so funny.
Ps. Sorry Sook Sook, I don't mean to embarrass you. You like it, right? We know you do.
There's a Bank Holiday Monday after this weekend, and parasitologists get Tuesday and Wednesday off as well. So that makes a grand total of five consecutive free days for me.
I wanna go somewhere. For a day or two, at least.
Current choices are:
- Tollesbury Wick Marshes Reserve (recall Jonathan Smith's visit to Sungei Buloh - he's the reserve manager for that Reserve, in Essex, 1 hour NE of London) - just thought it would be a good time to go, since the days have been clear lately and the weather's quite warm. Normal nature stuff - birding, say hi to livestock, trekking and avoiding sheep ticks.
- The Eden Project in Cornwall - I've always wanted to go there, ever since I had that dream of becoming an ecologist when I was young. That's where the world's largest greenhouse is, and there're also two giant conservatories and more...
- Lake District - need I say more? One of the most beautiful scenic regions in the UK... in Cumbria near Scotland.
Am forming a travelgroup now... not sure where we're going yet... but drop me a note if you're interested. :)
Every now and then I have these annoying bouts of the web-tweaker's symptom. I have this constant itch to do something to some website. Since I'm no longer managing the SingSoc webby and I've yet to officially take of the Fencing Club one, and the APYEN site has been stolen and Proact International's simply has too much content for me to work on, I guess it's back to talfryn? Better get over this quick, before the exams draw even nearer.
I stink. I smell of BBQ smoke and kebabs. This year's Seniors' Farewell Party brings back memories (recall the 22nd exco-organised
SFP of last year). It was good, I must say. Kudos 23rd comm! Though this year's graduating seniors seem to have somewhat diminished in number. Sigh... next year'll be our turn... and I've no idea where I'll end up after that. Sigh...
If you think I'm crazy, you're right, I probably am.
I knew I wasn't supposed to and I knew I shouldn't, but I did.
I went to watch SW3 again. Only Star Wars fans will understand, like Justin. He wants to watch it again too. Yi Feng was also there, but him being the quiet him I don't know what he thinks. Anyway that's better than Marv who called Yoda 'Yoga' and didn't know it was wrong.
But hey - it's Friday. Had a full day today, and I was told some pretty disheartening news during my final-year options briefing so...
Our Senior Tutor said that as an Ecology student, I
must attend the final-year field trip which takes place during the summer holidays, which I had decided a week ago that I wouldn't attend, for various sound and justified reasons.
I cited from the final-year handbook. It only says I
should attend, not
must. And I would be able to complete that year by fulling enough units if I went for all four ecology options. I gave him my reasons. Then he said he understands my situation as an overseas student, and I was to email him about the issue and he'd discuss it with his staff. I don't care... I'm gonna argue my way outta this one. Even without going for the field trip, there are fully legitimate ways of completing this specialist degree.
Hyde Park (series 3)
I guess it's time for more pics?
This Grey squirrel carried the nut between its teeth for as long as I tailed it... as it down a tree trunk and across the grassy plains and up another trunk. It paused for a while in this position, before leaping off the tree into the dense foliage unknown. Grey squirrels have been squeezing the native Red squirrel out of existence on the British mainland ever since arriving from America in the 18th century. Their second yearly breeding season comes in mid-June-ish. Bad timing; I'll miss the little squirrelings. But... enough of Greys. I would dearly love to see a Red, though my luck's run out since last year's Brownsea trip.
Those Orange ads
I'm sure UK cinema-goers have always looked forward to those witty ads that're shown before the movie.
The new
Darth Vader one is really cool. There's a link to more Orange ads at the bottom right of that page.
The saga is complete
I have succumbed. I gave in to impatience.
Well, what to do? When everyone is turning to the dark side.
I went to watch
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith today with Wing-kit and Anna, though I wasn't supposed to watch it today. It might not be my last time watching it though... I am that big a SW fan, but just stopping short of becoming a SW geek. Welcome back to the business, Mr Lucas. It was
muy bien! Much, much better than the previous two episodes. Yoda is so cute, that cool little green whill.
And in an ironic decision, I've vowed that from now on my character in the Star Wars Combine, an online SW simulation game, will take on an inactive role. I've played that game for almost four years now, and made lots of friends there, but I think it's time to let go. All the newbies coming in and saturating the factions... I can't keep up with the pace anymore. There *are* better things to do in life.
(For the record, I haven't touched World of Warcraft for 23 days now. My druid's still a level 31.)
The Biological Testament
Announcing a
new blog... the Imperial biologists' new obsession. Also, note the new layout to the blog link menu on the left. Blogging spreads! Now more biologists are becoming infecting with
Blogaepharidae!
It’s been a while since I had days like these. Had lunch with the Singaporean biologists – all three generations – at Kulu Kulu Sushi. Went around getting a card and cake for Wing-kit. Celebrated his birthday at college. Went to watch
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the cinemas; it’s a funny sort of random bizarre movie, but isn’t exactly the kind to be watched on the big screen. Haven’t read the book yet, but knew about the number 42. Popped into the pet shop at High St Ken and got some more gravel and fake plants (the real ones keep dying and de-chlorophylling) for my goldfish (yes, they’re still well and alive). And now I gotta work – just a bit – on a write-up for my malaria practical. And yes, I had another day off today. And yes too, it’s a half-day tomorrow. Genetists, you have my sympathy.
Round 1 revision for the Ecology module’s finito. 33 days to exams.
Parasitological advice for women
Prof Sinden: "Go find a kitten and play with it, get infected with
Toxoplasma NOW, and develop a resistance."
Toxoplasma gondii is the protozoan parasite which causes toxoplasmosis. This disease occurs more commonly than you think, with some 60 million people in America being infected every year. Only thing is that more often than not, the body's immune system works quite efficiently in suppressing it, and healthy people who are infected don't even notice the flu-like symptoms. But it can cause complications for pregnant women and the unborn child, and that's where the Prof's words fit in.
To get infected is simple. Either play with a cat (according to Prof Sinden, every kitten in Britain is infected), or eat undercooked meat, or drink contaminated water. It might actually do you some good.
Koroshiya
I think
Ichi the Killer's the most violent movie I have seen... violent and gory but humourous in a dark way. Masochistic, psychopathic, and wholly sadistic. Took me three sittings to finish the film; all at one go's a bit too much for me to take. :P Then I just watched it again after finding out that thanks to a subtitle option that was unknown to me before, I needn't suffer the task of going through it all in Japanese. But whoa! It's one kind of a film... only the Japs are able to come up with this kind of stuff. Cool. Twists your mind. Makes you squirm. Trailer's
here... heheh. For the fainthearted, you have been forewarned!
(Ps. Ta, Jedi!)
www.savetoby.comWhat kind of nonsense is this?!
It's time to put away our lab coats...
The last practical for the academic year. The malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium. Poor infected mice with their tails cut off and dripping blood.
Anopheles and
Aedes mozzies. Dissections. Guts spilling out. Masses of unwanted eggs. The hunt for the salivary glands. Hours squinting down the microsope. Hands stinking of latex gloves.
It was gross, disgusting and fun. And the camera was there, as usual, to take nifty pictures to be used in lab reports.
Green phasmids (teeny weeny ones)
Good 'ole XiYu came round during the arvo with a tank of her three adorable stick insects. Did a photoshoot... in the kitchen. Horrible lighting, so horrible pics. Might wanna do another shoot, hopefully, with a better light source. *g* I owe ya one Xiyunicus. Maybe a cornish pasty from the SAFCafe?
Stick insects make such great pets. I wish I had one or two... if only they were sold in Singapore. And even if so, heck, if my mom allows, it'll be a miracle. I remember the giant stick insects I played with during my Aussie days... those reddish-brown ones that float about vertically when they 'fly'. (And fyi, the Aussie titan stick insect grows to a massive 30+cm - how cool is that?)
First pic was taken at ISO 640, hence the grains; a typical old-school pet handbook photo. If the insect in the second pic looks kinda funny, you're right... it's handicapped! More about its adventures on
Xi's blog entry. Or you can read all about
how it all began.
Full day at college tomorrow; we've got some practical on malaria in the arvo. Methinks Imperial lecturers love malaria... had to do quite a fair bit of research on malaria in the first year, and now they're re-dosing us with malarial bits. Prof Bob Sinden must have been strutting his weight about in the Bio Dept.
For those at Emperor's Gate
Just a little something...
Photo 1Photo 2Photo 3
Night shoot (series 1): The Natural History Museum
The chilly night weather doesn't stop crazy people. And you'll know if you're crazy when you go shooting full gear + tripod during the hours prior to midnight. And there's actually someone else as crazy as you. Photography can be so fun... I love the sound of the shutter, so the lack of nature subjects to shoot doesn't stop me from tottling around with my baby. Raymond and I didn't venture too far... just to the
Natural History Museum and the V&A Museum, in front of which we did some colourful traffic shots.
Case of the mystery duck solved
After birding in Singapore for a while, you'll get to know which are local species and which are not. And when you see something which isn't supposed to be found in Singapore, you check up the other fieldguides (Birds of Thailand, Birds of Asia), and usually, you'll find it. Or you look around the birding mailing lists and see if anyone has asked about it before.
But not this duck. I knew it was a shelduck of some sort, but after digging up all the regional fieldguides and surfing countless numbers of Asian or Oriental online bird databases, I could't find this being mentioned anywhere.
A simple email to the expert, in this case long-time 'mentor' Keith Hillier, revealed its identity:
"Its Radjah Shelduck. There's a pair of them which wander all round the area. I've seen them in Stevens Rd and flying up and down the Bt Timah canal. They're not a local species - somebody must have brought them in from Papua N G and released them here about 10 yeras ago. A few years ago there were 5 of them, but 3 have flown elsewhere. Now there is just this pair [at the Botanic Gardens]. Superficially male and female look identical, but if you see them together you will notice that the male has a slightly wider breast band. They roost up in tress - I saw them once in White House Park about 15 m up an Albizia."
Aha...
so desu. If you wanna see this Papua New Guinean and its mate, go to the Botanic Gardens' Eco-lake. They're always there.
"You're still Young Boy..."
Snapsnots from Lu's humble birthday. Just in case he forgets, since we *did* wake him up at 12am to get him to celebrate his birthday with us.
Here, Charl presents him with his cake... while he's still in bed! And Lu opens his present - a set of Creative Inspire T3000 Speakers - while hoping it isn't the rice cooker Lionel said it was (note the jealous onlooking Yishan).
And here's when Lu gives the imaginary Fidel a kiss for
his present. And gives Marvin a real smug hug.
Tanjyobi omedeto, Lu-kun!
A few nights ago...
Me:
mm-mmm? Viv:
mmm.She didn't even have to look up to see what I was referring to. She
knew. And off went the lights. That's how it's been... and "mmm"s do take the form of some of our other questions and answers where no words are said (and it's not always things of common sense).
How different next year shall be, after a whole academic year of living together with the friends I find I'm closest to. Viv and I may have had our differences, but we always came to an understanding, and we've had our fun times, our adventures and our share of ups and downs. And that bond forged between roommates is special... like I always say and will always believe, being someone's roommate is a privilege. There's still a special connection between me and my Sydney ex-roommates... living in the same room, you get to understand a person on a totally different, much deeper level, as she in return helps you understand and discover more of yourself. Boy, you could write up whole essays on "My Roommate and I".
The same goes for housemates. We enrich one another's lives. As much as I know I'm gonna miss Viv, I shall also miss Marvin, and it's difficult to imagine living away from him now that he knows so much (and also quirky Fidel, to whom I don't usually say much but he knows everything nonetheless). :P
I was invited to dinner with my potential housemates today... coursemate Xiao, Bernard, Terry and a few other HK guys. High chance I shall be hopping from Emperor's Gate to Queen's Gate. Single room, nearer college, but higher rent and I gotta share the bathroom with four guys. But well, they're all really open people, and it's a very friendly and warm household. And it sounds rather fun. I might actually look forward to living with them.
I'm holding on tight to this term, the way I've held on tight to last year's last term. The memories, I mean. It's memories which hold.
Hyde Park (series 2)
The weather's earning Brownie points today; the sun's all out. Geared up for another shoot at Hyde Park after today's lectures (about nasty nematode wormy parasites that live in your gut or eye or leg).
Am quite pleased with today. Sighted a lifer, the
Great-crested grebe. If this were the breeding season, there'd be spectacular displays of courtship rituals, but too bad, I suppose I'll have to wait. This individual was forever diving and disappearing into the depths of the lake, playing hide-and-seek.
I reckon after observing ducks and geese for a while, you'll get to learn their habits. Their behavioural patterns and types of calls... and from that, you'll be able to predict their next major move. There was a flock of vivdly-coloured Canada geese behind me, and they were attracting all the attention. Crowds of kids were feeding them bread, and nobody paid any heed to these two
Greylag geese. They're brown, they're common, they've got ugly orange bills that don't quite match the rest of their plumage. But they were honking out, and they were behaving in a way which was different from their usual graceful flows and neck-dips. So I hung around, and waited. Sure enough, they took off after a while... these were the best shots I could muster. The composition could be improved some but otherwise they're not bad, if I may say so myself.
I'm done for the week. Nine hours of lectures and that's it for Week One. If the weather's good tomorrow I might do another shoot.
Hyde Park (series 1)
I take back my word there there's no nature to be found in London. There is, but mostly only in the parks. An afternoon at Hyde Park yielded a few good shots of the common animals - ducks and the geese, gulls, coots and moorhens, squirrels and pet dogs. Raymond went as well; he wanted to try out some infrared techniques. The sky was cloudy, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Photoshooting in London's annoying. Ray called the lighting 'disgusting'.
I'll split up my pics, and post only a few at a go since I've a feeling if I post them all now, I'll have exhausted all my nature pics for the term (and that's no fun ey?). Here're the first... birds in flight:
Black-headed gull
Rock pigeon
I'm struggling to keep up the nature shots on this site. But now that I'm in London, I find that extremely difficult. So here's something different, albeit not entirely original - water droplets on a disc.
I don't know why, but this term feels so exciting. Not that Parasitism and Other Life Strategies is that exciting a module, but there's something else about this term which makes me feel all bubbly and chirpy and fresh. Even while there's something misty about these times, I simply feel so
excited. For some reason I can't fathom.
My mom asked me if I had decided. I said I'd check up some other Star Alliance airlines' fares first... and find cheaper rates.
A few hours later, I received this SMS from her:
daddy said "if u wanna come back then come back.... dont take any other airline!" *grin* I'm really spoilt. Is 12 days at home worth it? I need the miles yeah, but I need the time to study too. I know I won't be able to concentrate in Singapore.
My parents (finally) taught me how to play mahjong last night. It was fun! Even my sis caught on to it quick, though I think I might have to relearn some of the terms if I'm to play with my friends, Cantonese not being a very common dialect among us. :P
The flight was ok, bumpy, and half-full of Aussies on their way to London. The guy in the next seat was holding on to a copy of
North Shore Properties, so I asked if he was from Sydney. Coolies, yeah, he was from Waitara. Watched
Spanglish which was really
muy bien... and
National Treasure. Slept the rest of the way.
-----------------------------------------------------
Dinner at Nandos with Marv and Qi-jie. Tried staying awake for as long as I could afterwards at Kai's place but succumbed to a little shut-eye as the clock struck past 9.
Yay... am back at Emperor's Gate, to embrace a new term. Our last term staying here. I had better make this a good one. A good start so far... hee...
'cept for my sinused nose. Spring is definitely here; my sneezes tell me so.
Flying off tomorrow morning. Seven weeks have gone past...
tempus celeruis radio fugit. Just. Like. That.
Still counting; 16th parting. Whether my 17th parting will be in June or September, we'll see. Got a couple of weeks' stuvac later on. Comtemplating.
So what have I been doing? Nothing productive, nothing much. Just enjoyed the days. Mugged a bit - 3/4 of my Ecology module's down. Gamed a lot.
Helluva lot, but haven't touched any games in the last 10 days. Trips to nature places, the cinemas, and theatres. Nights out. Should treasure such times while I'm still a student, and with no pressure to find work or whatsoever.
Dinner with ZF last night... it was a short meet, but it was sweet. Then managed to catch Ridley Scott's
Kingdom of Heaven, newly-released. It wasn't that bad, though not as
muy bien as expected.
Gladiator is still the best.
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Finally tied up some loose ends. Really loose, fraying ends.
Ilium fuit, mihi cura futuri, and the future's so uncertain.
Dinosaurian missing link
Source: Robert Lee Hotz,
SMH, 6 May 2005 Falcarius utahensis represents an intermediate stage between the carnivorous and herbivorous forms. Extract:
"Guided by a blackmarket fossil dealer, American researchers have found an ancient killing field where as many as a million dinosaur bones from a previously unknown species are embedded in less than a hectare of primordial mudstone.
The mass graveyard in Utah preserves specimens of a 130 million-year-old species caught in the act of evolving into vegetarians.
Blending the runner's stance and 13-centimetre claws of a predator with the blunt teeth and pot belly of a grazer, the agile whip-tailed dinosaur was an intermediate form in a shift from a carnivorous to a vegetarian diet.
Thousands of these curious animals died en masse at the site in a mysterious calamity during an epoch when flowers first bloomed and the ancestor of all modern mammals was a furry dormouse that cowered in the shrubbery.
The new species "is a missing link in the history of dinosaurs," said Scott Sampson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Utah Museum of Natural History.
"It is half raptor and half herbivore," he said. "It gives us amazing documentation of an evolutionary shift."
Just one more...
My last outing before heading back to London; something different from our dinner-bludge-movie routine.
Putting aside our initial plan of tackling Bukit Timah, we went to Kent Ridge Park with the simple intention of wanting to try out the newish canopy walk. Kent Ridge did not disappoint... we stayed there for hours. Four bounding and extremely friendly White-crested laughingthrushes (lifers!) greeted us at the end of the canopy walkway, and Greater racquet-tailed drongoes were aplenty in the forest next to the trail. While I shot away at the birds and cursed the poor lighting under the closed canopy, the boys (
ahem... arh... guys) entertained themselves with termites and ants, staging intrusions into the two inverts' camps. Got a couple of actiony shots. Termites vs Weaver ants... lol... guess who won. Size doesn't matter (it never did). Lingered around the peaktop steps till noon, when we then went in search of the legendary alligator at the pond. I swear it's but a monitor lizard.
Had more 'local food'. Kena kept gettin' voyeured. Heh... thanks guys, that was an enjoyable day.
Ain't he a beauty? White-crested laughingthrush
This particular individual hopped right up to us, and tilted his head this way and that. I don't suppose they see humans a lot... he was a curious fellow.
Greater racquet-tailed drongo. It's not a good shot, and a passerby might mistake this for a young crow, but its upright posture, red eyes and elongated tail shafts make it unmistakable.
Outnumbered! A termite being dragged down in the fight... by Weaver ants. Those ants' jaws pack a vicious bite. Took videos for this, and they're even cooler. It's almost like the Discovery Channel.
Ps.
Ta Jed and Jingye for being the ever-so-willing porters. I'd give tips but then again I don't tip spies!
