Yada yada from Justikanz

Procrastination

2009-04-02T13:24:00.002+08:00

I am a procrastinating king...

Been putting off a lot of plans...

1) Re-potting my house plants
2) Clearing my tanks of algae
3) Work...

Especially for work... Sianz~

Living the Singaporean dream?

2009-03-02T10:16:00.003+08:00

Well... Over the weekend, I made an important purchase.

And with that purchase, I finally embarked on living the Singaporean dream... that is, owing the bank lots of money with my first 'C'...

I bought my first car.

Well, it is MY first car... Although I had been driving for many years, the family car was not registered in my name and this new one, will be under my name... And the down payment is a scary number...

So, here I am... a true blue Singaporean... Owning a 'C' and owing the bank lots of money... Yay~ :p

And this is the model I had just purchased...

A rat and a cat

2009-02-27T14:35:00.002+08:00

Sooooo in love eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-h2YxyncyU

Lovely... How I wish humans can be as tolerant...

Even an Oscar I had once kept some time back kept a feeder goldfish as a pet...

Such a delight

2009-02-26T10:36:00.002+08:00

Its nice to see a rainbow...

I think almost the whole of Singapore actually saw this yesterday...

It was a nice sight... especially after a bad day at work...

Its been the longest time since I had updated this blog... Hope I can move my butt to actually update this regularly... :p

Long time no write!

2008-04-16T18:59:00.008+08:00

It has been a LONG LONG time since I write...

First some updates: I think I had sort of settled down for my job... Still wondering if I am really doing the right job, though...

I had reduced the number of tanks I have now... by 1... :p

And I had expanded my terrestrial plant collection! :p

Oh... And I had acute gastric flu last night... Had to go to the toilet like 14, 15 times and became severly dehydrated... Body temperature went up and I can't walk about without feeling my tummy rumbling followed by a need to fun to the toilet to release watery loads again... *Sigh*

Ok... Enough of disgusting updates... I bought this fish like 1 month ago... Check it out... :)

Tateurndina ocellicauda, the rainbow sleeper goby:

OMG...

2007-10-10T13:45:00.000+08:00

OMG... I realised I had not touched this blog for months... :p

Been busy and tired and lazy... A big thank you for friends who keep reminding me I still have a blog... :p

I guess I better try to revive it... :p

Recently, my sister had her wedding... Think I can post some pics here... The rest on my tanks and such?... I can fill in later bah... :p

Burnt out...

2007-07-01T19:11:00.000+08:00

Recently, I had been vert unproductive at work... Desperately needing a break... Which fortunately, I am able to arrange, though not with the best arrangement... But I will be off from work fro 1-3 days a week this month...

Really sian... Somemore having some personal problems... And July is 'National Go Up Month'... :P Where everything is going up, up up... Want to use retail therapy also cannot...

Aquarama 2007 - Part 1 - Behind the Scenes

2007-06-03T14:08:00.000+08:00

The last weekend was fun!... :p Not just the fact that I finally can rest better but it was time for the once in 2 years exhibition, Aquarama, to finally happen. :)

As a moderator of AQ, I can go there during the trade days as a member of the press. :)

And so, I managed to capture some pictures before the general public join in the fun...

Queueing up for the registration

Upon entering the exhibition hall... All peace and quiet...

Photographers getting ready to work...

And the behind-the-screens people making sure the place is proper for the weekend...

Ok... that's all for the moment... I will post the pictures of the fish, exhibition stalls and the tanks in the subsequent posts... :)

Thanks for reading!

Pictures of Singapore Botanical Gardens - Part 4 (Final)

2007-06-01T11:22:00.000+08:00

The final installment of my last SBG trip... :p

And so we started the long way back to the carpark… :p

Where we say ‘someone’ cycling…And on the swing…

Hee…

And we saw people learning how to draw...

The old gentleman is the teacher, I think…

Nice man-made stream as we walk to the carpark…

Wish I have a garden big enough for a stream like that! :p

Some last pictures… We saw pitchers along the way down the stream…

Haha… Now I really wonder if I should get pitcher plants! Haha… :p

Lastly, I find this cute…

Flowers with whiskers! Hee… :p
Thanks for viewing! :)

Pictures of Singapore Botanical Gardens - Part 3

2007-05-30T11:46:00.000+08:00

Decided to continue with the SBG pics first before I post the Aquarama ones... :p

So, to continue from here... As we walked on, we eventually reached the Visitors’ Center… I tell you, I had NEVER been to this part of SBG before… :p So, imagine my delight to find orchids on display and for sale…

I was wondering if ther are judging the plants for a competition or bidding for the plants... :p

This is beautiful…

But this is the most beautiful orchid I had ever seen!...

I wanted to buy it, it is love at first sight! Haha… LOL! But the price scared me away… Hee… :p Then my mum says that if I am unable to get it to flower again once the present flowers died away, I should not bother to get new orchids… Let alone such an expensive one… Kekeke... Bless my mum for her foresight on my capability! LOL!

Anyway, there were also lots of jewel orchids on sale too… Another attempt to buy… But I decided to give them a miss… :p

Until my work schedule allows me to spend time on my plants, that is! Hee…

To be continued in a final installment... :) Thanks for reading!

Pictures of Singapore Botanical Gardens - Part 2

2007-05-29T11:46:00.000+08:00

Dilemma... Aquarama pics or SBG pics... :p

Since I started the SBG pics, I might as well post the SBG ones first...

And so, continuing from here, we walked on… till we reached the famous S$5 dollar tree…

In case you really don't know, no, not that it costs S$5 lah… Check the back of the S$5 note if you still don’t know… :p

And so walk on, we did… to see beautiful flowers along the way… such as this...

And Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’, our National Flower. :)

Some ginger flowers

The beautiful yellow orchids, the ‘Dancing flowers’These seem easy to grow… :p Hmm… Perhaps I should try them at home…

We were also at the Cacti Gardens (or whatever the name… Cannot recall now :p)...

Nice aloe vera looking plant…

The quest for knowledge…

There are parts 3 and 4... Then it will be Aquarama pics... Or maybe I can alternate between the 2... :p

Updates...

2007-05-25T09:43:00.000+08:00

1) Aquarama is ok... Not as good as the previous years... But still ok... It was fun seeing the moderators again... And I still need to process the pictures! :p

2) I need a longer break!

3) The Town Council people and the contractor still had not send me the apology letters... Think they need another call...

4) I need a longer break!

5) I need more readership! And comments!

6) I need a longer break!

Anyway, check this out... http://pleaseparkproperly.blogspot.com/2007/05/sgg6472l.html

Seriously... I wonder how it can happen... *roll eyes*

Pictures of Singapore Botanical Gardens - Part 1

2007-05-23T15:09:00.000+08:00

Oops... Almost forgotten about this... :p

Aquarama is coming again... The once-in-2-years event is one of the, if not the, biggest fish show in the Asia Pacific region... And AQ will be documenting it on its first day, which is a trade day... Cos we have trade passes... Hee... :p And I can finally take a day's leave without feeling guilty of having important work not done... :p

So, before I get caught up with Aquarama pics, let me post up the almost forgotten photos I took when I was at the Singapore Botanica Gardens (SBG) as reported here... :p

Here goes...

To re-cap... Well, on the request of my mum, I brought her and my dad to the SBG. The weather was good and I need a break too and so off we went… We only managed to spend 2 hours there... But we had not walked together like that for a long time. My parents had not been there for like 20 years and the 2hr walk in SBG brought back memories for them…

But they did comment that the park looked different and was sad that some familiar features like the black swans (actually, was told they had been relocated to teh Bt Timah side, which was too far for us to walkto just to see them) and the plant clock were gone… I tell you, the weather is nice, not much sun, but it is DAMN humid… Haha… LOL! Man, this kind of walk is not for me… :p

We started our walk from the Visitors’ Carpark at the Taman Serasi Foodcourt. Where we saw tissue culture at work… :)

Kind of fun to see the bottles being swirled non-stop…

Outside the center, we saw lots of large pieces of driftwood there… And beautifully hand crafted…

Wish I have a tank big enough for them… Haha…

Next, we reach the first pond… Where the terrapins were happily swimming around…

A lonely fellow following us… :p

A trio fighting… :p

No real swans for me to take pictures of… The 2 white ones we saw at the other end of the pond mysteriously disappeared when we reached there… So, here are some substitutes… Heh… :p

Geese? Swans?

Found this at the pond edge.. the flowers look nice…

Ok... That's all for now... Adding photos in Blogspot is quite troublesome... So, add others later... MAYBE after the Aquarama pics... Hee...

Thanks for reading...

Aquatic wild life in Singapore

2007-05-22T09:37:00.001+08:00

How many of us keep thinking that there are NO wild life in Singapore?

Apparently, most of us are either taking things for granted or did not open up our eyes to see them or just believe what most people say...

As we prepare to 'welcome' the integrated resort (IR) cum casino on Sentosa, we see a group of volunteers frantically trying to record and save as much of the aquatic wild life as possible along the coast of Sentosa where the IR will be built.

Please refer to the following websites for more information:

http://wildfilms.blogspot.com/

http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/

http://www.wildsingapore.com.sg/wildfilms/blog/

The following Youtube video shows the local aquatic wildlife we don't normally see... And which will very likely be gone with the wind...

1 girl = 14 super stars... :p

2007-05-20T16:59:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIiF8omi0B0

If you can see the video, here it is...

Damn funny... But she is nto so good with Jacky Cheung... :p The second last one is a China star... Guess we will not be familiar... Hee...

Town Council and Contractor replies...

2007-05-16T14:18:00.000+08:00

Regarding the paint over my plant complains, the Town Council replied... the officer apologised and is willing to issue an official apology via the mail... I am looking forward to it...

She mentioned, she will also get the contractor to do so...

The contractor, however, called me early in the morning to discuss about this matter... Apparently, the person on the phone, who seems to be the boss or a manager there, was very pissed of with the painter and was apologizing profusely over the phone and even telling me that he want the painter to actually replace all my plants so that he can understand his mistake and go through the pain to find replacements! I told him it is not a feasible solution as some plants are hard to find and some are gifts and some have sentimental values as we grow them from seeds or from small cuttings etc... And I definitely do NOT have the space to double my plant colelction overnight! And I also certainly do not want to make the painter pissed off such that he may come my place to seek 'revenge'!...

Well, after some time over the phone (my poor handphone bill... :p), he agreed on the formal apology via mail but he insisted he will try to get the guy to do some form of compensation...

Oh well... I just hope all will turn well...

And I certainly look forward to some time off work to do a MAJOR clean up! My poor plants... *Sigh*... :/

Paint my plants... NOT!

2007-05-14T11:45:00.000+08:00

The Town Council people FINALLY got the contractors to paint the charred walls and ceilings... BUT they left out the portion that was directly outside my flat that was also affected by the smoke created by the fire... So, my mum called and asked them to re-paint our corridor as well... And the Town Council people says ok... They will get the contractors to do it...

And they did NOT tell us WHEN they will be there... So, imagine, my shock and anger when I returned home late one evening and found the ceiling and walls of my corridor re-painted a fresh coat of paint AND specks of paint ALL OVER my shoes, shoe rack, plant leaves etc!!! They stupid painters painted OVER my chilli plant, snapped a LOGN branch off, splashed paint ALL OVER my beautiful pandan plant and my orchids, mint etc etc!...

And they trampled on my Wandering Jew too!... I was angry and VERY upset!!

I called the Town Council the next day and the officer said she NEEDS to take a look at the place the next day before answering my complaint. And despite telling her no one will be at home, she went with the contractor to my place... She then gave me a call, apologised and said that they can use tinner to remove the paint from the plants but the plants will die... *duh!*... And asked me what do I want from them!!!...

Arrgh!!... I was too busy on Friday, the day she called me to reply her and over the weekend I gave it a thought... Should I ask for an official apology AND compensation??

All these could be avoided IF they had given us at least a day's notice BEFORE they come, paint and all... Now all my precious plants are destroyed... :(

Fire fire...

2007-04-23T13:53:00.000+08:00

A unit 1 floor below my flat caught fire and the black smoke made my corridor so very the black now...

The inside of my flat was covered with black dust everywhere... And I had to keep mopping the floor...

Luckily, most of my plants are not tall enough to be affected... Only the chilli plant kena... But the plants still looks ok... Maybe it will go into a shock phase soon... Sigh...

Interesting blog...

2007-04-09T11:50:00.000+08:00

About little people...

http://little-people.blogspot.com/

:p

Now I would want a few of these for my terrariums... Heh heh...

Accident again...

2007-04-08T00:21:00.000+08:00

Ya... Second time... But this time I was the car in front... Some car bumped into me when I was moving off after being forced to jam break on the PIE... Car kena some scratch and paint cracks... Will have to check the price and report to the person who bumped into my car... *Sian*...

Water Bears

2007-04-04T17:55:00.000+08:00

All thanks to me back reading one of the blogs I read daily now... :p

The Duck was mentioning the water bear in one of his earlier blog entries. If you had seen the video, you will fall in love with the microscopic fauna... :p

So cuuutttttteeeeee..... :p

See http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun00/mmbear.html for more information on the water bear. I think it is not so good to post pictures directly from the web. :p So, click to see the water bear! :)

Ok... I admit, I have nothing better to blog... Haha... But this is good information... Since when you know there is such a creature known as the water bear? :p Unless you study them in the first place lah... *duh*... :p

I will post the SBG pictures later. :)

Tour of 'Rural' Singapore...Part 3 (Final)

2007-04-04T09:46:00.000+08:00

A continuation from here

As we leave the dragonfruit farm, it was WAY past lunch time liao and we still had not had lunch... So, we stopped over at Bollywood Veggies and had lunch there...

We had some unique dishes such as papaya chicken, aloe vera tofu, banana curry, fried mani leave with eggs... Then we had a tour of Ms Singh's BIG plot of farmland... What I liked about visiting her place is the fact that you can see a lot of stuff you can hardly see in Singapore...

These are a few examples...

Starfruits!

Lady's fingers
Longan flowers developing into fruits (the developed fruits were too high up...)

Others include padi, gingers, lemongrass, lime, jasmine, dill, pandan, cocoa, coffee, jambu, guava, various species of bananas and various other vegetables...

There were other stuff too, of course...

By now, we were quite exhausted... And HOT!! The sun was working that day and so we decided to wrap up the day by going to the Thomson nurseries... We managed to get some stuff for CNY there (We were there in early Feb). :)

My family were thrilled by Far East Flora's cold room... LOL! It was a cool relieve from the day's trip! :p

Given a choice, they would not leave there till dinner time!

Parting shots:

Lavender plants in pots

Colourful chillies for the next New Year?

Wonder if they are edible...

That's all for the Rural Singapore Tour... Coming soon will be pictures of SBG! :)

Thanks for reading! :)

Tour of 'Rural' Singapore...Part 2

2007-04-03T14:02:00.000+08:00

A continuation from here.

After leaving Choa Chu Kang, we made our way to Lim Chu Kang, where we stop by at Teo's Aquatic Plant farm.

We were greeted by the chicken shit smell, which my sister just cannot stand initially! :p But by the time we returned to the car, they had totally forgotten about the smell... :p

My parents felt that the staff at Teo's were very friendly and they were fasinated by the water sprinkling around and the packing of the plants... No more pictures as I had been to this place so many times, I don't even think about taking pictures there! :p

After that, we proceeded to my sister's favourite stop (the only stop if she has a say! :p)

Hay's Goat Farm

Plenty of goats there... Spent money helping the Hays feed their lifestock... :p

We were also treated to a 'show' there... Keke... Which my sis loudly asked me to take a picture of... :p

Next, we went to the Dragon Fruit Farm right next door...

Dragon fruit 'trees'...

Dragon Fruit flowers

Green developing fruits

Ripe dragon fruits! :)

There were other stuff too... These are honeydew plants!!

There were quite a bit of stuff for sale... We bought dragon fruit drinks and pots of stevia and mint from them in the end...

There was pots of nice flowers on sale too...

But couldn't buy... I was running low on cash and car space... LOL!... :p

There will be part 3... ;)

Steamy weekend...

2007-04-03T13:46:00.000+08:00

And the case of the missing card reader...

Over the past weekend, my parents asked to be brought to the Singapore Botanical Gardens (SBG)... They said they had not been there for 20 years (or more) and would like to go look see since they will be free that day...

And so, with my sister refusing to budge out of her bed on a beautiful cooling Sunday morning, I drove my parents to SBG...

I never imagined that the parking facilities are so 'advanced' for a park... :p And so many people too... I like the parking charges... Only $0.02 per minute... Quite cool...

Anyway, it was a LONG walk thereafter... We walked from the Orchard emtrance ALMOST to the Bt Timah side... It had rained earlier in the morning, so it was cool, but it was DAMN humid, thus the steamy thingie... My tee was totally wet after we were back to the Taman Serasi Food Garden... And I had to bring along my DSLR too...

Anyway, I almost bought an S$80 orchid... SOooooo beautiful, the flowers... But then my mum reminded me of what a horrible orchid gardener I am and saved me the S$80... :p

I'll show pictures... But I somehow cannot find my card reader!... And thus cannot download the pictures from my CF card... It is not to be found anyway... Not in my office, not in my bags, not in my room, not around the house... Strange... This is a case of the mysterious missing card reader!... Seems like I have to buy meself another one... What a waste of money... Especially now when the road tax and the car insurance bill just reached me... My whole of May's pay will be going to these payments!...

So, till I get the new card reader!... :p I'll show the pictures of the flowers at SBG then... :) Maybe I should post the second part of my last rural Singapore tour first... :)

Thanks for reading...

Sick again...

2007-03-27T11:52:00.000+08:00

I think I am not getting enough sleep... I was caught in the rain over the weekend and was going to hospital to visit a friend and now I am down with flu... On MC for 2 days... Blow nose until bleeding inside liao... *Sian*...

Still have work to finish up...

Had been falling sick regularly since I started working at the University... Think I need a break to relax...

I know what I want now...

2007-03-11T13:15:00.000+08:00

Yup, I know what I want now. :)

Recently, I had not been active in AQ... Sian... :/

Should I...

2007-03-05T11:06:00.000+08:00

stay or leave?

Tour of 'Rural' Singapore...Part 1

2007-02-22T23:07:00.000+08:00

Very stressed up by work... I need to do something to de-stress...

Cecilia, thanks for visiting... I am going to post some peektures anyway, but this post is for you... :p

After the trip to the farms and nurseries I posted earlier, I brought my family out for another tour of 'rural' Singapore before CNY...

We started at Qian Hu Fish Farm at Choa Chu Kang... where try as I might, they refused to have their legs sucked by the garras... :p

In the end I sneaked up on a stranger and asked for her to volunteer her legs for this photo...
My family enjoyed this first stop, which my mum termed 'an aquatic zoo'... They were also fasinated and cannot understand that the small red and white shrimps (Crystal Red Shrimps, CRS) that can never grow big cost so much, even complaining why would anyone pay more for white when red is much better... Hee...

And they thoroughly enjoyed the bigger fishies...

My parents say this fellow looked like a very sad old man...

And luckily the price stopped them from thinking about buying these palm-sized goldies for CNY!! :p

And the tortoises were ignored... :p

After the trip to the 'aquatic zoo' , I brought them to the orchird nurseries further down the road, where they were amazed by the colours of the orchids and they found the slipper orchids pretty amusing... Too bad it was the first Sunday of the month and thus, a lot of the flowering orchirds were at the Singapore Botanical Gardens instead...

But still, they were still fasinated by the myriad of colours and patterns of the orchids available...

I think this is my favourite orchid, based on its 'dalmation' pattern!

I ended up getting a small pot of jewel orchids （宝石兰） similar to the above pot (which was not for sale), which are flowering now at home...

Nice flowering tilly (air plant)!!

I have to stop posting here and continue another time... Blogger has a problem with loading pictures and the process is very tiring, if one is to load a lot of pictures, like in this case... :/ So, I have to split the posting of this tour to at least 3 parts...

And very very tired now... Stil got loads to do tomorrow... So, I guess I better go sleep now...

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-02-19T20:48:00.000+08:00

May all be happy this new year! :)

祝：

万事如意。心想事成。

Updates...

2007-01-31T15:15:00.000+08:00

Have been coughing non-stop… think this is what they call the 百日咳…

Anyway, I am a little stressed out… I am really afraid I am not able to perform and disappoint people… Oh well… See how lah…

Last week, I brought some work back home and only to stare at the papers and either switch on the tv or go out and dun return till almost midnight… :p I am bad… :p Maybe I am really stressed out by work and so I dun really wanna do it over the weekend…

Anyway, last Sunday, I took the opportunity of my parents not working and brought them out for an outing. I told them I will bring them to some places they had never been to before and without telling them much, drove them out…

Luckily, they enjoyed the trip and we are looking at going again this coming Sunday…

I brought them to Teo’s Plant Farm and showed them what an aquatic plant farm looks like and show them the Lim Chu Kang area whilst driving there… Then I brought them to Hay’s Farm, where my parents actually enjoyed looking at the goats and we brought back 5 bottles of goat’s milk and a pineapple. Organic one, ok… We then go to the dragon fruit plantation/farm next door, where we ended up buying dragon fruit drinks for CNY and a pot of ‘Sweet Chrysanthemum Leaves’. The plant is a small stemmed plant which has very sweet tasting leaves. The aunty taught us to use the leaves for brewing tea and cooking sweet soups and desserts. Very sweet indeed!...

After the dragon fruit farm, we went to Bollywood Veggies. We had a very unique lunch there, with papaya chicken and aloe vera tofu as part of the lunch menu… We took a tour of the BIG farm there and saw quite a bit of stuff that we will really not see in urban Singapore.

We then proceed to Choa Chu Kang where we visited Qian Hu Fish Farm, Woon Leng Orchids and Song Orchids. The weather was good and they enjoyed themselves. By the time we went home, we had 1 carton of drinks, 1 pot of plant, 1 big pineapple, 1 carton of goat’s milk and 1 big bag of snacks…

For this coming Sunday, I think I will plan to start earlier and include places like the Jurong Frog Farm (which I have no idea exactly where it is), Farm Mart and the Thompson nurseries. Want to include the Pasir Ris farms, but they are really too far away… :p

Sure end up buying a lot of things one...

Everyone has their own problems...

2007-01-26T09:08:00.000+08:00

And I am bogged down by mine too... Very sian cos CNY nearing, yet problems keep popping up... I really do feel like giving up... Cos it is affecting me quite badly... Sigh...

It's time to post pictures...

2007-01-22T22:48:00.000+08:00

I think I got Photobucket going right now... :p Time to post pictures of my tanks and my plants... :)

CNY is coming soon... All the music and the red based decorations... Time to spend (a lot more) money and start buying loh!... Hee...

Crazy about orchids...

2007-01-21T00:15:00.000+08:00

Hee... Second trip to the orchid farm at CCK area today... All thanks to Phillipe...

The first trip I bought 3 pots of jewel orchids... Today, I came back with a pot of budding Vanda 'Mimi' something... Theflowers are very sweet smelling, something like narcissus... And I also got myself a smaller pot of orchids, dunno the name of the species, though...

Spending more and more money... And this time not on fishie stuff anymore... LOL!...

Better control myself... But hor, with all the stress building up due to work, this little bit of retail therapy on my hobbies seem to make me feel better... :p

Anyway, now my corridor garden project seems to be near completion... Now I need to think of whether to work on the cabinet on the corridor and convert it to a vivarium/terrarium for more, especially emersed aquatic, plants... Am just afraid it will be messy or attract ants/cockroaches or receive complaints form nosey neighbours...

I feel burnt out...

2007-01-19T00:05:00.000+08:00

Uh huh... And I am doubting my own capabilities... Will I disappoint? Or am I already a disappointment?

I seem to have had several mistakes in these 4 months plus...

And I seriously need to take a break...

Work work work...

2007-01-15T23:22:00.000+08:00

Work work work...

Work work work...

Work work work...

I left office at 9pm today... Hope before the end of Jan things will be better... At least the aircon's on this time... Hee... Made me recall the ad for Jack Neo's newest film when Fann Wong asked to have her department's aircon switched on for OT work... :p

Anyway... I wanna take a break before CNY... My room needs picking up, man... So many things and so little time... :p

I can do a garage sale on office stationery alone! :p

I am coughing to death...

2007-01-13T23:59:00.000+08:00

*Cough!* *Cough!*... *Sigh*...

Coughing non-stop... No matter what I eat/drink or avoid eating/drinking... Think I am having both the heaty cough and the cold cough... as in the Chinese medicine type of coughs...

In the day time, my cough have phlegm.... the yellow type... And it seems to get better with the cooling stuff and water... But in the night, the phlegm disappears and there's a lot of clear fluid... And it seems to get worse with the cooling stuff...

I will try ginger at night from tomorrow... Hopefully, the coughing will cease shortly... It is bad for my throat and I can't talk leh... :(

Need to rest badly... Going to sleep till as last as possible tomorrow... Only got tomorrow to get enough sleep... Next week will be busy again!... :/

Broke my record...

2007-01-12T00:47:00.000+08:00

I never worked so late... Left office at 10pm... And it was still pouring...

And I took 6 cab trips today... Another record... 4 of it was due to a VERY silly reason... Dun ask!...

Arrgh!!... Anyway, I started to notice back stabbing wounds... Hmm!... :(

I WANT A GOOD REST/SLEEP!

I wonder...

2007-01-09T21:58:00.000+08:00

Ya... I wonder...

Well, I shall let things rest... For the moment...

But I will always be wondering this...

So so sick...

2007-01-08T23:03:00.000+08:00

Ya... I almost cannot breathe... Have to open my mouth and breathe... Sian... So busy today... So, got another MC for tomorrow and since my boss told me to rest, I will just sleep in tomorrow...

I sure hope I will get better soon! There are SO many things to do this week!... *Sigh*...

There is something wrong with my Photobucket account... Always cannot upload pics... And I have so many pics I want to share... :/

Jewels!

2007-01-07T22:07:00.000+08:00

I went out with some AQ members to an orchid farm this morning... Thanks, Mr Ng and Mr Sng, for driving and organising! :p Or was it a nursery? Nah... Think there's no difference lah... :p

I had never seen so many jewel orchids before... In fact, my first time seeing them on sale (besides those on sale at Singapore Garden Festival, that is... :p)... And I bought 3 pots of different jewels... They are now residing in my 'A River Runs Through It' vivarium in office... I hope they will do well... Then I will have an excuse to go back and get more! LOL!... I would want a bamboo orchid and more jewel orchids... And the vanilla orchid looks cool!... Hee...

Anyway, while I was enjoying the outing, I find today's weather is BAD... It is SO HOT!... I feel more sick tonight... *Sigh*... Obtained an MC for tomorrow, but cannot exercise it... Monday morning got meetings and there's something important in the afternoon... I will try to rest, though... Can't breathe... And my head... It is aching so0 badly... I need to sleep... :p

Starting to get sick now...

2007-01-07T00:51:00.000+08:00

Kena throat infection... I think it is a combination of the work stress and not enough sleep... My throat is in pain... and I dun feel like talking... And I feel a fever coming...

And I cannot take MC on Monday cos Monday will be BUSY... *Sigh*... Damn sian...

And to make it worse... I had to wake up early to work and wake up early to go for an excursion...

But I will ENJOY the excursion... :p We are going to some orchid nurseries... Yah... I am starting to keep orchids and airplants... :p Show pictures later... Having problems uploading them to Photobucket...

The gathering with my ex-colleagues was fun... As usual. :p I am damn lucky to meet some very nice colleagues and can acknowledge them as not just colleagues, or ex-colleagues, but as good friends. :) Thanks, HA, SF, CT and EH! :) We should have this regularly...

I wonder...

2007-01-05T10:10:00.002+08:00

If anyone is still reading this blog as I had neglected it for months... :/

Anyway... I can always use this as a venue for me to vent my thoughts and frustrations... :p With or without an audience...

Work is TERRIBLE... I think I am over worked... Burnt out would be a good word to use... I am so tired, always feeling giddy, headaches, cannot sleep well and my back is killing me due to a slipped disc... The past few days/couple of weeks is just driving me nuts... So many things to do and so little time... And emails are still pouring in... And there are tonnes of stupid people who dun read emails but email you when they encounter problems BECAUSE they dun read their emails... Really feel like holding their heads and knocking them on a wall or a table...

Then that day that stupid air con stopped working and killed my tanks and mood...

*Sigh*... Pissed off now... :p

Luckily, tonight's meeting some ex-colleagues to makan and talk nonsense... Should feel better after that before plunging back to work tomorrow... Yes, a Saturday... *Sigh*...

No air con!!!

2007-01-03T09:02:00.000+08:00

There's no air con at work and from the heat of things... I was in office last evening, and found the office hot. Yes, it actually is hot. I think the aircon had been of several days already.

So... My tanks are all heated up and drying out... and my crickets all died... The air was too hot and humid for them and they could not take it...

Now I cannot take it!... And I had barely sat here for an hour!...

Update...

2007-01-02T16:24:00.000+08:00

Hmm... An update...

I now have 12 tanks!! Breakdown:

Living Room/Balcony
1 x 4ft planted display tank
1 x 2.5ft Sultan Fish tank - working on a plant filter for it soon

Bedroom
1 x 2ft planted tank for Endlers' Livebearers
1 x 2ft vivarium
1 x 2ft terrarium for hermit crabs
1 x 1.5ft planted tank
1 x 1.5ft paludarium (upgrading work in progress)
1 x 20cm dry terrarium for airplants

Office
1 x 2ft vivarium
1 x 9" terrarium
1 x 18cm vivarium
1 x 1.5ft tall terrarium

And I am thinking about sneaking 1 fishtank and a couple more terrariums for office... :p

I think I am CRAZY!...

Pics will be posted later... ;)

Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-01T18:32:00.000+08:00

Happy 2007!!!

And with the new year, I am hoping to revive this blog!! :p

Time for me to post stuff again...

But, unfortunately, I left my card reader in office and dun have the use of the car today... :/ So, I will post the New Year's Eve countdown pics either tomorrow or on the 3rd!...

Anyway... I spent New Year's Day cleaning up and tidying my corridor 'garden'... It looks horrible now as the new plants have yet to settle down. Hopefully, in a few day's time, things will look better. :)

And I am going to work on my tanks and to start a dry terrarium for my airplants and set up a plant filter for my Sultan Fish tank later... :)

Happy new year! and Selemat Hari Raya! Soon it will be Chinese New Year!

Had a car accident...

2006-11-12T00:48:00.000+08:00

I had a car accident earlier in the day... And I am still very much in shock now... Never knew the impact can be like that... Cannot sleep now... Shaky...

Bye bye haze...

2006-10-26T22:02:00.000+08:00

It was really bad at PSI about 130...

Now that the rains are here, I hope it is time to say 'Bye bye haze...' I REALLY hope the haze will not come back...

Stressed out...

2006-10-17T18:08:00.000+08:00

I am darn stressed out by work, man...

I had stomach flu last week... But now I think it might be IBS triggered by work...

And my naughty colleagues were jokingly mentioning maybe they can bet how long I can tahan and stay with them... This so reminds me of when me and my ex-colleagues were joking about betting on this guy who was employed to work for an almost impossible boss... He survived and is doing quite well... despite almost being drowned in work...

I think I must look up to him...

ENDURE!!!...

Update...

2006-10-08T03:18:00.000+08:00

Hmm... Had been extremely busy recently and so did not do any updates...

Managed to get 2 strawberry hermits (should be Coenobita perlatus) a month back... :p They are gorgeous... Took some pics but a little blurred and no time to re-take or edit them... Cannot post...

Vincent very kindly passed me a HUGE load of crypts... Which eventually started melting in my tank... My arm kena crypt poisoning and was red and itchy while I try to clean off the melted leaves and trimming the roots. They are all not roughly placed near their eventual planted areas to let them accustom to the water conditions there... Originally wanted to do a charity sale with any excess plants... But with the melting, the plants will grow smaller when they grow back and I can then squeeze the plants to fill my tank... There goes the charity sale... :/

I am trying to get more furniture into my office... I want to increase my table top space so I can display some of my collectibles... And then I want to start at least 1 new tank there... Want to make my office more homely and friendly... especially when I have visitors... Now it looks bare and cold... And I need the filing cabinets in asap... My papers and files are all over my table! :p

I still have some algae problems!... Arrgh!...

The haze is driving me crazy... PSI was 80 on Mid-Autumn Festival night, 130 next morning and now is is 140!!... My eyes sting and there is increased 'load' in my nostrils... and my throat is getting dry easily... I feel uncomfortable and hot... I tell you, when my boss returns from his business trip, he is going to be more pissed off than usual with this weather!... *Sigh*...

I am starting a KP (Kiam Pui - lose weight) mission... Normal carbo loading for breakfast, low carb for lunch and as little (almost nil) cab for dinner as possible! But with so many wedding lunches/dinners these weeks (2 this weekend, 2 next weekend and some planned in Nov and Dec), my KP plan might be disrupted...

And I am developing a craving for chocolates!!... Godiva's chocolatelixiar is SOooooo nice!! Can't stop at 1!! But it is bloody expensive... :p

And I need to sleep... :p I want to take leave to sleep... But very very busy at work... cannot take leave... :/

Ok, that'll be all for the updates... Will try to do pictures the next time... :p

Time to sleep... Need to wake up early tomorrow...

Arrgh!... Algae!...

2006-09-21T22:05:00.000+08:00

My tanks are plagued with algae problems!...

1) My 4 footer has this perpectual problem with hair algae... These algae will hide among the mosses and pelia that had somehow grown in between the crypts and tenellus... In the end, a lot of the tenellus were pulled out and most of the mosses and pelia were dumped... But there were still clumps of the hair algae among the crypts... Unseen and well hidden... But when you reach within the thick crypt growth, you can pull out a big clump... :/

Now, there's even a beginning of BBA algae on some nana leaves...

2) My 2 foot vivarium is enjoying good growth, but in the water portion, there begin to have a corner that started to be covered by BGA. I JUST discovered another portion at the mosses that start to have BGA! To make things worse, the other parts of the parts are covered by brown algae... :(

3) My 2 foot planted tank also has this irritating short, fuzzy, smelly hair algae that just won't go away!... They started sticking on to my APP and now migrated to my spiky moss and glosso... No matter how often you remove them, they will appear!...

Arrgh!... How to get rid of them???

Sometimes I get so fed up and upset, I wish I have the heart to decommission everything... *Sigh*...

Hmm...

2006-09-19T21:23:00.000+08:00

Caught 'My Sassy Neighbour'... It is funny why people (err... men, I think... :p)would cry shame on a neighbour's porn star daughter and then pay good money to watch her 'in action'...

I know the above applies to men... But this can be extrapoltaed to other episodes in life... And it applies to all, men and women, young and old, straight and gay, husbands and wives, lovers and friends etc... Why so?? Why would you enjoy something, yet dispise the person/event that made you enjoyed whatever you were enjoying??

Like the aunties who secretly love watching the naked guy opposite their falt every morning, yet complain and make noise and even call newspapers when they got sick of the same naked guy... :p Hey, why then would they ONLY complain AFTER the guy got naked infront of them for several months? Haha... :p

Oh, I was reading up Parking Idiots... Damn funny when you see some of the parking idiots... I mean, yes, we sometimes have problems parking within the lot (yes, dun laugh, are you SURE you NEVER had a parking problem? :p), but we will adjust and make sure we park properly what... How can you leave your car in those horrible parking positions featured in the blog!... Anyway, they deserved to have photos of their cars and the lousy (and inconsiderate) parking published in the blog... Keep that up! :)

Ok lah, had not posted in a LONG time... Just want to write some thing... :p Hope you enjoyed this piece... ;)

Oh, leave some comments on the comment box at the side bar leh... Say hello lah... :)

I am nervous...

2006-09-10T22:40:00.000+08:00

I guess sometimes it might be good to not know your boss or colleagues before joining a new company... :p

You will be so afraid of not living to their expectations... You will be nervous and kinda stressed... :p

I mean if they were complete strangers, I would care less and work at my own speed... Now I am so afraid they would disappointed... :/

Ah, the little perils of life... :o

Finally!...

2006-08-27T04:54:00.000+08:00

1) After 3 years 3 months and 5 days, I ended my relationship with my company... It was a learning journey and sometimes it was hard and sometimes it was fun. I sure learnt a lot!... I sincerely thank all those whom I had learnt from and, well... wish all the best to them!...

2) After almost a month, I finally posted something! Haha... I am going to have 6 days of being jobless again... I better make FULL use of these 6 days to clean up my room! Too many things now... It now looks and feels like a storeroom or a warehouse!...

3) I caught a cockroach... But please don't ask me how or where... It is disgusting!...

Happy National Day!

2006-08-09T13:50:00.000+08:00

Singapore is 41 today! :)

And typical Singaporean businesses are doing the Singapore thing... :p

Was at Marina Square for makan last night... And managed to catch the fireworks... Yay!!

But going back to the MRT station was a horrible experience...

There was SOooooo many people, the aircon in Citylink Mall was not able to cope and the air was warm, humid and smelly there!

Decommissioning a planted tank...

2006-08-08T18:30:00.000+08:00

What is worse than decommissioning a planted tank?

1) A VERY well established planted tank using soil as the substrate.

2) A planted tank with a well established population of cherry shrimps...

I have to decommission my office planted tank as I was moving on... Whilst the plants were there, the shrimps can still be seen but not too many can be seen... I was thinking maybe 20-50...

When the plants were removed and the time had arrived to remove the shrimps, you will then realised that the 20-50 shrimps are just representing like 200 shrimps... *faintz*

No, I don't think I have 200 shrimps... I am not sure... But they are everywhere and no matter how many you caught, there will be some still swimming and foraging... And it doesn't help that the mulm is everywhere...

You want to give up and you will see 1 or 2 more swimming nearby in the open and you will be tempted to catch them... Caught them and you will see another 1 or 2 more... The cycle repeats...

I *finally* gave up after a while... I am glad I did not invest in CRS for the office tank... Else, heart pain siah... :/

Recovering from the other blog... Bad Singaporean behaviours...

2006-08-07T00:11:00.000+08:00

I had always wanted to continue writing on this topic... But I had been darn lazy to do anything except packing and reading up on certain things... Due mostly to an upcoming trip to Shopping Paradise and a new job... Heh heh...

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Posted on Monday, February 06, 2006

What is it with Singaporeans?

Hmm...

I had been a scorn for the longest time... And it must be the behaviour of my fellow Singaporeans that made me so...

Why is it that we REFUSED to squeeze a little more so more people can go home as early as we wanted to? The bus that I took to go home after work is often SO crowded, the poor fellas at a couple of bus stops down the road could not get up the bus. BUT, if you look carefully, there are PLENTY of spaces for those standing in the bus to squeeze further. Even with the bus captain urging them to move in and squeeze more, the people just ignored the guy, kept on talking amongst themselves and pretending the bus is moving and not at the bus stop trying to get more of those poor fellows to board the bus.

Same thing with the MRT trains. Hellooo... There are NO ghosts inside... Move in! Don't stand at the doors! We DON'T need so many guards at the door! As if you are in the Amazing Race and you will need to RUN out when the door opens when the train reaches your stop! What's worse, they give you the irritated look if you 1) Try to move in, 2) Try to get out and 3) Ask them to move in... *Duh!*...

Also, what is it with some people REFUSING to give up their seats to pregnant women? The worst people, from what I had witnessed, strangely, seem to BE other women! They ignore the poor pregnant lady and some will even pretend to sleep!... Guys, on the other hand, normally will give their seats up...

Oh, and children, teenagers and NS boys are the worst as well... Especially NS boys! Come on, didn't your instructors ever tell you that MPs CAN book you for sitting down and NOT giving up your seats? Bet you don't know that, huh?!...

Oh, and there are people who REFUSE to sit down... They stand BY the seat and BLOCK others from reaching it.. Irritating!...

These are just the beginning... There are those who carry gold with them everywhere they go to. The gold is so precious, it warrans a seat of its own, no matter how many people are standing around... I once stood next to an aunty, asking her to let me have that seat and she ignored me! I complained loudly and she was so embarrased, she looked at the other direction throughout the WHOLE journey as I refused to go anywhere BUT stand next to her through out my whole journey. I think she missed her stop! Haha... Ok, I admit, I was bad tempered and childish... But at least I felt good that bitch missed her stop and felt embasrrased! Hah!...

Also, shame on those who eat OPENLY on trains and buses... There was once 2 NTU/NIE girls who tabao HOT COFFEE and drink them like nobody's business on the train... I was so ashamed as I was also from NTU... Someone chided them and asked them to stop. They did, but one of the girls started making fun of the guy when he walked away... Wah piangz! You are in the wrong first and you still dared to complain and scold the person who told you off!...

Ok, better stop here and continue another day, else this will be like non-stop!... :p

Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2006

Disgusting...

Yucks!... I thought the people staying at my block were disgusting but seems that disgusting people are everywhere...

Look what I'd found when I was visiting a friend...

I do not understand how some people can be so disgusting, irresponsible and unhygenic... Why is there a need to spit on the lift walls? What had happened to those hygenic tips we learnt during the SARS period? Do we need something like SARS to occur again to remind us?

Haiz...

Cutest cat ever? :p

2006-07-28T11:01:00.000+08:00

Ok, we had seen cute cat pictures from the Internet and some might be altered/photoshoped etc... But check this cutie out... :p

Not cute? Check it trying to beg me for more food...

Now, I seriously think it is DARN CUTE doing the tongue... Hahahaha... :p

Funny ads from Thailand...

2006-07-24T15:21:00.000+08:00

The land of a thousand smiles seems also to be the land of a thousand innovative ideas... :p

Check this and this out... :)

Funny...

Disgusting looking Discus...

2006-07-23T22:16:00.000+08:00

What a pity!! I was looking for pretty discus to put in my 4 footer and remembered a particular shop having some pretty strains previously...

And guess what I saw?

Hope you guys can see properly... I was not allowed to take photos and so have to sneak a few quick shots with my handphone... :p

Disgusting, right? The discus shape is gone, with the tail section 'shrunk' into the spine area and the dorsal and anal fins over grown to the tail fin area... The chest of the fish were deformed and pushed out and up towards the 'chin' of the fish...

I asked the owner what's the matter with these fish and he say these beauties are new strains and are VERY popular... And incidentally, they are VERY expensive too...

He was saying the normal shaped discus were no longer popular as 'everyone has them' and so he was not selling them and choose to concentrate selling these ugly monsters...

I was disappointed indeed... He was totally reluctant to bring in any normal shaped discus for selling, even if I had expressed strong interest in buying... Recommending me to go to other shops instead...

These horrible ugly looking discus look really bad and distasteful... And who knows what difficulties they have when feeding or swimming or breeding... They are just like the blood parrot fish... NEVER buy them... Strongly NOT recommended!!

Another world record??

2006-07-23T22:03:00.000+08:00

Hmm... Was walking along Smith Street at Chinatown and then saw this...

I think they are trying to break another world record... The World's Tallest Ice Kacang? :p

And the cooks that were preparing the ice kacang were busy selling it...

Frankly, I am not keen... Not just the $3 per bowl price but also the fact that the ice was melting and the floor was thoroughly wet from the melting ice and it looked pretty disgusting... :p No thank you! Heh heh...

Another look at the monster iced dessert before I leave... :p

Arrgh!!...

2006-07-17T13:43:00.000+08:00

Arrgh!!... I need to pay S$300 to replace the IC lost with my wallet!! Grr...

And my tanks are algae infested!!... Arrgh!!...

Want to sell some Endlers and some aquatic equipment/stuff I am not using liao... Need to cover some cost!!...

Recovering from the other blog... Some Dilbert comics

2006-07-09T22:32:00.000+08:00

I like Dilbert... :p

Check this out, it is the official Dilbert website... and this, Scott Adam's blog...

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Posted on Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Keeping uranus warm... :p

Heh heh... Uranus... what a name... :p

Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2006

Your purpose in life...

Hmm... Every pondered?

Arrgh!!...

2006-07-09T22:18:00.000+08:00

I recently lost my wallet... :(

I was hopping mad about that! The wallet was a gift and with the wallet I lost my credit cards, debit card, atm card, ezlink card, identity card, some cash and a Singapore Big Sweep ticket! Arrgh!!...

I was feeling so hopeless... I don't know how to start the search, who to call etc... Called 100 for some bank numbers and start calling them... I HATE their system... Press so many numbers and why must they make you listen to all their menu options before a 'Report lost card' option? :/... Isn't that more important?? Luckily, the receptionists were friendly and helpful...

And another thing... Do you know HOW DIFFICULT it is to find a police station in Singapore when you need to?? Sheesh... And where is the Kg Glam Police Station???

And not to mention, I have to find some time to go to ICA to make a new IC... And pay for it... I wonder how much it is to replace the IC for the 2nd time... *Sigh*...

What I do for a living...

2006-07-05T22:11:00.000+08:00

Ya, and I mean besides sitting around a PC... :p

First, this is me...

The equipment I use...

The stuff I did...

My legs... Haha...

Heh heh...

Recovering from the other blog... Lonely @ Orchard

2006-06-30T14:25:00.000+08:00

I am on MC today... and thus staying at home... and feeling lonely... So, dug this post out from my other blog, which I am closing down...

Oh, btw, the AXS machine, which took me a LONG time to find, is removed... :/ Now, I REALLY don't know where to find an AXS machine at Orchard Road...

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Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006

I was searching high and low for an AXS machine on Orchard Road... I wonder why it is so difficult to find the machine when you need it... :p

Anyway, as I was walking along, I managed to discover some lonely souls on the busy Orchard Road. So ironical to find lonely people on Orchard Road... Reminds me of Taiwanese group Dong Li Huo Che's song 'Zhong Xiao Gong Lu Zou Jiu Bian'...

A lonely magician...

A lonely musician/street performer...

A lonely girl seeking donations...

And a lonely me walking along the Road, seraching for this!

Managed to FINALLY find it and there is a LOOOOOONG queue for it! Sheesh... Can't they afford more machines on Orchard Road?? Come on!... Anyway, if you are interested, I found it here:

Local productions...

2006-06-28T11:52:00.000+08:00

In celebration of the launch of local filmaker Royston Tan's new movie, 4.30, let's see some local productions... :p

Local Ah Bengs... Taken from Royston Tan's famous movie, 15...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWJEwZZLrEA

Dunno whether these are from the movie, but all on Bengs rapping...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCJrtEJj1cQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpuXKh6aBIQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORhi7TWMZC8

The following confirm not Royston Tan's work... But it is definitely local... Moral of the movie? Never fight an aunty... Poor security guard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlDqDFWW5rs

Ok, enough of boh liao-ing... :p

Recovering from the other blog... I love ABBA

2006-06-27T12:29:00.000+08:00

And I love my MP3 player as well... :p Though it had hang twice in 4 months and the LCD screen cracked for no reason... In the end, I spent another $180+ more to have it exchanged for a new player (which took then more than a month to do so! Don't get me started on this...)...

Altogether, my Zen Vision:M cost me almost S$800 liao! I could have bought an iPod... *duh*... Anyway, I like the fact that I can display my photos on it lah... And it is local product..."~

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Posted on Thursday, February 09, 2006

Woot!... Never realised I LOVE ABBA SO MUCH! Haha...

Actually, I think I love almost all songs from the 70s and 80s... :p

And I love my MP3 player... Actually, it gave me some problems... I had to reset twice... But generally, it is great... I can use it to view pics and videos... And of course use it to share pics that I had taken. :)

It saved me from the irritating insurance agents that lined the MRT station waiting to pound on my, the poor commuters rushing to go home for dinner... The business-hungry agents will turn away when they see I have earphones on. Heh heh... Save them the touble of being rejected. Saved me the trouble of rejecting them. :p

More cats from Metta Cattery

2006-06-25T17:30:00.000+08:00

More pictures taken from Metta Cattery! :)

If you love cats, please do your part to help. :) Sponsor the cats... :) They need help with vaccination and feeding. :) Also, there are some cats for adoption! :) The kitten is SOooooo cute... :p

Evil...

2006-06-23T21:36:00.000+08:00

This is evil... Haha... Trust the Japanese to think of such pranks...

World Juggling Day 2006...

2006-06-23T01:43:00.000+08:00

World Juggling Day 2006 happened on 17th June... Google for more details on juggling... :)

A group of juggling enthusiasts gathered between the Esplanade and CityLink Mall and did some serious juggling! :) They attracted quite a lot of curious onlookers and tourists walking past. I saw a lot of people taking photos... :)

Here's some bad quality pictures... LOL...

Some of the juggling tools...

The jugglers...

And my balls! LOL... I meant my juggling balls... :p

Thanks for viewing! :)

Some stuff I missed out...

2006-06-22T17:15:00.000+08:00

Was reading my blog to see if anything needs to be edited... Realised I never posted the picture the guys helped me take for the ADA competition 2006...

Here it goes...

Realm of the Fairies... Nice? :p

Anyway, I re-scaped it... Ok, not much of a re-scape... I just added CO2 and A LOT of plants... And shifted some plants around... :p

Here is how it looks like 2 weeks ago...

The plants are growing very well and fast! The moss is going to take over the tank... The T5HO is causing the glosso to grow real low, which is good... :) And it is also making the Hygrophila difformis to spread itself out at the bottom, creating an unexpected nice effect... :)

Oh, And I FINALLY get my APP to grow nicely! Yay...

:p

Shall I rename the tank? LOL...

Oh, a gal friend just commented on why she keep hearing complain that I always do not have money to spend... She syas I spend too much on fish... And that is solely based on what she ha read here... Imagine what she will think when I now revealed that Bukit Noid Baru (BNB) cost more about $150 to create... And how much did I spend on the Realms of the Fairies? Better not know! LOL... (Psst... The CO2 system (split between this and BNB) set me back close to $300 liao...)

Now I need to gather the stuff I am no longer using and try to arrange for a garage sale!... Trying to recover some costs! LOL...

I drew a house...

2006-06-22T15:12:00.000+08:00

[URL=http://drawahouse.com/houses/show.asp?houseID=376032&houseHash=2d55222955a14e5540294504c42ee494]
[IMG]http://drawahouse.com/houses/2006/6/22/376032_t.gif[/IMG]
Click here to view my house[/URL]

Ya... I drew a house...

And this is the comments given after the site 'analysed' my house...

'Based on your drawing and the 10 answers you gave this is a summary of your personality:

Your house tells the world that you ought to be a leader. You are a freedom lover and a strong person. You are shy and reserved. If you've drawn a cross on each of windows, you always want to live alone. You are very tidy person. There's nothing wrong with that because you're pretty popular among friends. Your life is always full of changes.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You see the world as it is, not as you believe it should be.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. We also see that you are sensuous, sexual, and privately passionate. You don't think much about yourself.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmm... I am sexual... Woot!... Haha... But this thing is quite accurate... LOL!...

Try it, Draw a House!... :)

Mumblings...

2006-06-14T23:41:00.000+08:00

Someone mentioned on Aquatic Quotient that he is building a fish room... That thread put ideas into my head... I also want to have a fish room when I have my own place... Why not since I already had 2 planted tanks, 2 vivariums and 1 dry terrarium in my room now! And I am always thinking and drawing new scapes when I am idling... Hee... :p

It does not help when my colleague invited us to her new place for housewarming and she was telling us she sealed off her 4th floor... That reminded me of the idea above as I thought I could had converted that extra space into a fish room! Haha... Of course, my dear colleagues guessed right away what I had in mind if that sealed spaces was mine! Haha...

Then, a Mr Ng (hee... :p) showed us his dream-come-true and I just could not stop drooling! Haha... It is like a dream come true for me too if that place is mine! Haha... I AM GOING TO BUILD A FISH ROOM! Haha... And I need to seriously budget for that and start saving! Ho ho ho ho...

I got a new tank to replace the leaking tank... It is an Ocean Free tank and it is taller than the old 1.5ft... Looks good to me... But I made some mistakes when transferring the stuff and broke the canister filter and obtained a swollen ankle in the process!

Bought a new filter ($55!!) to replace the broken one... :o I am going to do something about the big crack... Sim tiah about the $$ spent for no reason! Haha...

The old scape was Noid's Hill, the new one I am naming Bukit Noid Baru (or should it be Bukit Baru Noid?? Hmm...) or New Noid's Hill... But hor, I realised I forgot to follow the construction of the old Noid's Hill... And Bukit Noid Baru is not as tall as I wanted it to be... I am trying to prop it up but everytime I do that the tank water will be cloudy due to the dusty substrate being stirred up... Think the new scape will take another 1-2 weeks to be finally done... :
This is the proposed Bukit Noid Baru scape...

Tank sprouted a leak...

2006-06-11T01:15:00.000+08:00

:/

This tank sprouted a leak... *Sigh*... Tomorrow I will have to get a new tank and transfer all the animals, plants, water and soil to the new tank...

Damn sian ah!... That is A LOT of work! And I only have a few hours to work with... I am fainting... Wonder if I can employ other people to do it for me... :/

Mandai Orchird Garden - Animals and all other things...

2006-06-10T22:45:00.000+08:00

Final installment of the MOG series. :)

Some animals...

Robin... Nice bird, supposed to be common but I think now rarely seen...

Grasshopper... This fella is HUGE... Eww...

Caterpillar... On a ginger flower? :p

Koi!...

And all other things...

Pineapple! :)

This is a rather common aquatic plant (Echinodoras sp.). It looks stunning emersed. Good for gardens and ponds. :)

Mandai Orchird Garden - Part 3

2006-06-10T00:34:00.000+08:00

Well, there are more than orchids in MOG... :)

But sadly, most of them are small and not noticed...

Enjoy them... :)

And because I was there for my sister's ROM...

Next installment would be anything but flowers... :)

Thanks for viewing... :)

More pictures from Mandai Orchid Garden...

2006-05-31T22:56:00.000+08:00

I am so sorry for being late... Not in the mood and a little lazy... :p

More flowers...

Mandai Orchid Garden

2006-05-17T15:19:00.000+08:00

I was there for my sister's ROM ceremony...

And I took some pictures of the flowers there...

Enjoy... :)

First the orchids, afterall, it is the Mandai ORCHIRD Garden... :)

More flowers in next installment... :)

My first bird...

2006-05-13T14:45:00.000+08:00

Heh heh... I also tried to take a bird pic... :p

This is my first bird... I don't remember seeing it before... Quite nice with the black and white contrast. :)

Pardon the poor quality of the pic... :p

Post note: This is a Magpie Robin, Copsychus saularis, used to be a common bird in Singapore. You can read this for more infomation on this bird.

Recovering from the other blog... Meow...

2006-05-10T10:21:00.000+08:00

I love cats! Haha... And I hope I can take some photos of more cats. I still have some pictures taken using the handphone of the cats from Metta Cattery, where I had been donating $60 a month for sponsoring of 2 cats.

Show your support for Ms Lee and Metta Cattery, visit http://www.mettacats.org and see how you can help her and her cats! :)

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Posted on Friday, 31st March 2006

Cute cat? I wanna take more pics of cats... :p

'*Hmm!* Why you take my pic?'

'Hng! Dun take lah...'

Hee... :p I love cats... :)

Recovering from the other blog... Jurong Point, the new Little India? :p

2006-05-08T22:48:00.000+08:00

Jurong Point is 11 years old this year liao... Wah... It has been so long eh?... Have you been to Jurong Point recently? :p

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Posted on Wednesday, 15th March 2006

Jurong Point, the new Little India! How's that as a slogan? :P

Nowadays, with the construction work in Jurong area and the dorms being build around Jurong, apparently, bus companies begin to dump Indian foreign workers at Jurong Point for their R&R day!...

Now, on a weekend, you will see hundreds of Indian workers congregating outside Boon Lay MRT station and Jurong Point like they would be at Serangoon Road. It is a little scary... Especially for the younger ladies who need to walk around there...

Ok, I better dun say too much, later I kena from the 'garmen' for no reason...

Some pics of the new Little India... :p

I wonder if you can see the stuff at night... :/

Another bird by Mervin

2006-05-08T15:05:00.000+08:00

The previous bird is a Black-naped Oriole, Oriolus chinensis.

This is another bird taken by Mervin, the Thick-billed Pigeon, Treron curvirostra.

Have you seen a pigeon so beautiful? :) This is a male. The female looks like this:

Mervin shoots birds... :p The Spotted Wood Owl, Strix seloputo, was posted on my other blog, http://ikanz.blogspot.com previously. I am shifting it over here. :)

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Sunday, 12th March 2006

This is a Spotted Wood Owl...

The photos were taken by Mervin, check his post on Aquatic Quotient

He supposedly took bird pics using a 500mm macro lens... Know how big the lens is? Check this link out. In case you cannot see the pic, here is another view...

I wonder how he does it! Ahh... The love of a hobby, or person, sure can drive a man do stuff! :p

Anyway, another shot of the owl...

Aww... Isn't it cute?? :) :p
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2006-05-05T14:03:00.000+08:00

I love the pictures taken by some of the AQ members. One of them is Mervin. He shoots birds. :)

This is one of his latest pics he posted on the forum.

So cute, right? Like the bird is angry that Mervin is shooting its butt! :p

Would you believe...

2006-05-01T15:40:00.000+08:00

that there are people prowling on the net and then offer their services at every opportunity?

This fella posted a comment to my previous post:

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2:54 PM

Somemore I think it's from USA... *Duh*... Anyway, this would be a good start to change my blog to cover more than my hobby... :p Arrgh!... I need to bring the stuff from the other blog over and I am too lazy to do it... :/

Consolidating...

2006-04-25T17:06:00.000+08:00

Ok... was sick and tied up with some personal matters...

Did a little re-arrangement of my room and a started scaping the vivarium. Some of the more desired plants are not doing as well as expected... Started to re-scape my 4-footer too... Busy busy busy... :p

In the meantime, I will still actively looking for a qualified electrician to have 2 new powerheads installed as I am getting a new tank in. Something happened to my friend's place and unfortunately, he is unable to help me take care of the tank until I got the electrician in and I have to do another round of re-arrangings to my room... :p

I am closing my other blog http://ikanz.blogspot.com and will be shifting the contents over to this blog so as to 1) keep all data and 2) consolidate effort... As such, this blog will cease to be an aquatic blog... :p Which is good... means I can post whatever I want... :p

I just hope I will post more often...

Getting ready for ADA2006 competition...

2006-04-10T15:20:00.000+08:00

Many many thanks to Justin (Ranmasatome) , Vincent (Valice) and Benny (Benny), I finally took some good pictures of the 2ft tank to try for 150th-250th position of ADA2006... :p

We started work at ~7pm and the whole thing ended at 12.30am!... By the time I sent them home and started cleaning my room, it was 1.30am!...

But I certainly think it was worthed it...

Let me see if I can get the photos of the shoot uploaded soon...

The actual tank pic will need some time... I need to do some colour adjustments... : To make it look nicer and more natural... ;p

Update

2006-04-05T23:47:00.000+08:00

Gotten lazy... :p

Re-planted the new 2ft tank...

And will get the tank ready for ADA 2006 competition... Heh... At least can get a free book and see where I rank... Haha... :p

Cannot have new fish tank...

2006-03-16T13:13:00.000+08:00

Well, found out the new desk is weak (supported only on one end!!) and being inside a lab, no animals would be allowed... It was not stated but I think I better dun take the risk... :/

Some updates... My vivarium had been torn down, and left sitting on a chair... waiting for a 2ft cabinet to arrive. I am re-vamping the vivarium... But unfortunately, I cannot get an electrician in until the cabinet is here and the cabinet is taking a very long time... :/ Some of the plants I had bought previously had died off... probably from lack of proper lighting...

Oh, I managed to take out 1 paddletailed newt... The other one was hiding and now it went missing... Dunno died or not... :/

My gobies were dying... So, I decided to let them join my Endler's Livebearers... Just hope they will like the algae to graze and dun snack on the Endler fries! :/

Ok lah... That's all for the moment... May I show you this flower... It is a flower of the aquatic plant, Blyxa japonica (shown below). Flower stalks were seen underwater and suddenly, the plant floated up and it flowers... Think the fish and shrimps could have caused the plant to float. The flower stalk would had died off underwater...

Endler's Livebearer

2006-03-10T01:32:00.000+08:00

I just added 120 Endler's Livebearers to the new tank... Eh... Luckily, the tank does not look overcrowded!! :p There are 48 females, 39 males and 33 fries... And serveral of the females look pregnant! *Yikes!*...

1 of the Endler's Livebearer male... Nice? :) The females are plain silver... 1 of my females have ablue patch on the dorsal fin! I hope she has more babies... The fish from her might look better... :)

1 pair of these fish can cost anything from $9 to $40 at the shops, depending on the colours... Should I consider selling some of the pairs? :)

New excuse for a new tank... :p

2006-03-08T17:38:00.000+08:00

With more work commitment, I am expected to spend more than half the time at another location... Which means a new desk, which is empty now... :p

With me seeking to decommission a 18cm tank at home to consolidate the fish tanks in my room, I think I just found the PERFECT excuse to start a new tank... Haha... At the new desk! :p

Now... Should it be a moss tank? And what fish should I try? Can it handle a group of Endlers? Hmm... My Endler's (with wild guppy coloration) just spawned and I have no space for them... And I just brought back 120 Orange-Chest Endlers, for my new 2ft tank, from a friend who looked after the original 4 pairs just a couple of months ago... *Faintz*... Now suddenly I have too many fish! :p

Fish tank affecting Feng Shui?

2006-03-07T17:23:00.000+08:00

Do you think fish tanks can really affect a room's Feng Shui?

Since I filled the new 2ft tank with water and shifted the vivarium (temporarily) to the foot of my bed, I had not been sleeping well... And I seem to be plagued with troubles... Hmm...

I think it might be the temporary position of the vivarium tank, rather than the new tank... I always have tanks where the 2ft sits... The vivarium, however, is a different story... It does create a reflection of the bed from where it is sitting now... I hope the cabinets arrive soon... Then I can shift the vivarium... Hopefully I can get a better sleep thereafter! And less troubles! :p

Cherry Shrimps

2006-03-05T16:09:00.000+08:00

I got new cherry shrimps for my new tank...

They look gorgeous, eh?... :p

My new 2ft tank

2006-02-28T22:24:00.000+08:00

Over the past few weeks, I slowly set up this new tank.

It is 24" x 16" x 18" tall. Currently, it is filtered by a Eden501 and a HOT filter, which most likely I will remove once the cycling is done.

Plants inside include Blyxa japonica, Lobelia cardinalis, Hottonia palustris, Limnophila sessiflora, Pogostemon helferi, Ranunculus papulentus, Echinodoras tenellus and Elatine triandra.

Now it only has some cherry shrimps to help the cycling. I will add more cherry shrimps later and then add a couple of Bristlenoses and some Endler's Livebearers, which will be the main inhabitants.

The sole fish

2006-02-26T23:34:00.000+08:00

Saw this fish on sale at a market stall... It is sold as a freshwater fish... No idea how much it is. I didn't bother to ask...

But as I visit Turf City this evening, I realised its friends were not as lucky! A lot of sole are now in sale, but as seafood! And they are much bigger than the one above...

Saw them at Unique Seafood Market.

Known as the France Turbot...

They sure looked funny...

Yamato shrimp

2006-02-25T03:28:00.000+08:00

This is the famous Yamato Shrimp. Also known as Amano Shrimp, after the famous Mr Takashi Amano (my idol), who introduced the used of this shrimp for algae control. With the introduction of the shrimp, along comes other ornamental shrimps, mostly also for algae control, for the hobby.

This is not the best picture... If I can find a better pic, I will upload it. :) This one, by
the way, is a berried female. That means she is carrying eggs. :)

The eggs will hatch in freshwater but the larvae will only survive in brackish or salt water. There are some reports of minimal survival in freshwater, though... But I am not that interested in breeding them... Besides, now we are pampered with more colourful and smaller ornamental, algae control shrimps that can breed in freshwater! Why bother? :p

I am starting to be busy... But I also managed to take some time to consolidate some tanks and the process start 2 new tanks. I will probably start updating them soon!... :p

Skink

2006-02-19T12:28:00.000+08:00

This is a skink. Apparently, a common creature here. A friend caught it in a carpark. I tell you, I had NEVER seen these beautiful animals. I had this for about 1-2 months and gave it up to another friend as I had not had the time to take care of it...

Oh, it shit a lot too! Haha...

Horned snail

2006-02-17T00:32:00.000+08:00

Cute little snail... :)

Eats green spot and brown algae VERY effectively. Problem is they lay sesame like eggs which stick to almost everything and difficult to scrape off. The eggs will hatch but the larvae will die as they need brackish or salt water to grow.

Black tetra

2006-02-15T00:21:00.000+08:00

The black skirt or black widow or black tetra...

Looks gorgeous when young... But when adult size (~3"), the black colouration is less obvious and they become quite aggreesive... They are greedy feeders also. Oh, they spawn easily... Spawning almost monthly... But they had not done so after my re-scape... :/

Clown killie

2006-02-12T19:39:00.000+08:00

This is a clown killifish. The males looks very pretty, with their tail displaying red and yellow...

Females are smaller and their tails are just plain transparent...

Pardon this pic for being a little blur... :p

Cherry Barb

2006-02-11T23:15:00.000+08:00

This is a male cherry barb. They can get VERY red. Females are yellowish orange in colour.

Very pretty fish.