NLB: Garden Walk

The Garden Walk is held by volunteers at the National Library twice every month, on the first and third Saturdays, respectively. It's free of charge and starts at 4pm, all you need to do is show up at the information counter on the first floor and they'll let you know where to stand to wait.

 

The building itself isn't terribly difficult to find and only a short walk from the Bugis MRT station, so location shouldn't be a problem for anyone. However, watch the sky closely before you head out. The walk isn't covered at all and umbrellas are not provided, so if it does start pouring much of the walk will essentially be canceled, the guides will only point things out from inside the building. This was the problem on our trip, as we were lucky enough to have a storm begin only about 15 minutes before we were to head out.

We're going to be pretty honest here and say if you really have nothing to do it's worth the trip just for a day out, but you probably shouldn't go out of your way to make it. The volunteers are obviously very interested in what they're doing and very helpful, but don't expect to see many actually interesting plants or flowers, as most of what you will see can be found outside any government building in the Garden City.

The walk itself takes place both in and around the library building itself, as the 10th floor has a garden space open to the public. Unfortunately, this is an outdoor garden and is also not covered.

 (eventually our party decided to brave the rain)

Though the tour guide was very knowledgeable, we ended up getting bored after only a little while and wandering around to take some photos ourselves. Many of the plants were interesting enough, but we were disappointed at the lack of flowers.

(sour orange tree)

 (banana plant, though there was only one tiny little pre-banana about an inch long)

 

(swiss cheese plant! this one was very cool, there are natural holes in the leaves!)

 (close up)

 (we're not sure what this one is called, but the dual colored leaves were quite pretty)

After we finished doing the rounds on the upper floor we spent a little while exploring the plants outside the building, but overall there weren't many as interesting as those higher up.

(except this one, which somehow looks like each section should be a different plant)

 (the prettiest plant of the whole tour was a potted orchid in the lobby)

Overall, we're glad to have made the trip to see the National Library building if nothing else, but it's probably not something we'd bother taking our friends or family to. The tours run pretty frequently so if you're at a loss for how to spend an hour and a half of your Saturday by all means go for the tour- just don't forget your umbrella.

 

(pris was pretty excited to put her photography skills to work though)

NLB: NOISE - Bearfruit Illustration Showcase

I was pleasantly surprised to come across NOISE - Bearfruit Illustration Showcase when we stopped by the National Library this weekend. Featuring works of creativity from over 20 local talents, the exhibition runs until 27 March Sunday and is worth stopping by to admire.

I've picked out a couple of my favorites from the showcase to share with you. As they say, a picture paints a thousand words, so I'll let these images speak for themselves.

Chase Your Dreams! by Albert Hardy Tanulama
"What if there's a new competition for the new Chinese Zodiac?"

The Forgotten Tea Party by Paula Pang
(Probably one of my favorites out of the entire exhibition!)

Untitled by Hazel Tan
Medium: Table and Plate

Awakening (close up) by Ang Wei Tyng

Top: Cupcakes by Ame
Bottom: Rabbits by... I forgot to take the artist's name for this, sorry

(...yup, that's a toilet seat cover. The seat itself was decorated, too. I want this for my bathroom.)

(I want this rubbish bin, too. Done by the same artist as above!)

Steampunk Tapestry by Huiying and Ashley
(Really love the detail on this one, and the washed look too. Yeah, my biasedness towards steampunk is showing.)

A view of the right wall of the exhibition, which is completely covered with doodles of all kinds.

(And last but not least, one of the artworks from mentor Mas of Wanton Doodle. The Illustration Showcase was formed out of a partnership between Noise Singapore and Bear Fruit Academy.)

Once again, this event runs until 9pm on the 27th of March 2011, Sunday. Art lovers can find this exhibition on the 7th floor (Promenade) of the National Library Building, at 100 Victoria Street (within walking distance of the Bugis MRT station). Admission is free and no registration is required. For further information, visit Noise Singapore or Bear Fruit Academy!

The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His...Foot?

Alright, I admit it. The last two posts (and this one, sorry) have been total cop outs.

In my defense, what started off as a little bug has been hanging around now for well over a month, and even being prescribed antibiotics for pneumonia and a plethora of other pills hasn't cleared it up completely, but it's definitely getting better.

We've been staying in for the most part lately to give myself a chance to recover, so there isn't much exciting news to pass along. We do have a few things planned though, and you can expect to see some awesome flowers and some origami pretty soon!

But for now, I'll take the chance to introduce you to the wonderful world of strange Singaporean health assortments.

Enter foot reflexology.

 (pure evil lurks underneath this pretty facade)

This definitely isn't something unheard of, although I can't say I've ever heard it taken seriously before I moved to Singapore. But in a place where you can be prescribed antlers and bugs as remedies for arthritis, this is pretty much just the tip of the iceberg.

You can find foot reflexology paths in nearly any park-like area. If you are planning a trip to East Coast Park you might find a few nicer ones there, but the pictures today are just from one of the local paths near our flat in Tampines.

The concept is pretty simple. It is believed that specific areas on the foot (and pretty much everywhere else on the body, for that matter) correspond with certain organs and the like inside your body. By applying pressure and certain techniques, you can supposedly correct ailments within yourself.

(we think the Tampines Town Counsel might have swiped this one from Pasir Ris, where it says it was originally meant)

Sounds pretty nice, right? Take a nice stroll over some nice pretty little path and you can fix anything from your eyes to your...duodenum to your...rectum. Alright, don't ask me, I didn't make the sign.

Unfortunately, it's not all that easy. As it turns out, the rocks are sharp. Not "I'm going to tear your feet up" sharp but definitely "You're going to feel this in the morning and regret it" sharp. 

 (and people do this willingly!)

Make sure you hold onto that handy little bar and try not to wince too much, Singapore's a crowded place and we don't want the locals laughing too much as you hop around and try not to cry.

Alright, alright, I exaggerate. But only a little. I'll reserve my final judgment for after I see if this manages to beat modern medicine in curing this cold once and for all.

(c'mon now, the post was about feet. you had to expect it sometime)

This Was Not A Fun Post To Make

This blog post is about pests.

It will have pictures of bugs and creepy crawlies.

The back-button is at the top-left.

And now that you've gotten your fair warning... To be honest, I'm not even sure why I'm blogging about this topic since it's such a common thing to me, but I guess what's common to me might be news to others, so. If you're a local reading, sorry to bore you. If you're an expat living in or visiting Singapore and you're reading this, and you haven't had the opportunity to come across these lovely creatures yet, I'd like to introduce you to...

THE COMMON COCKROACH

...it seriously is really common here. The common cockroach in Singapore can grow to as large as the size of an adult thumb, and they are near impossible to kill. You can smack them with newspaper or bugspray them and the little buggers just either reanimate, respawn, or come right back. Even better, a lot of them are apparently psychic and they'll run straight at you - instead of away from you - if you try to attack them directly.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a non-blurry picture
of a cockroach that's running toward you while you're simultaneously
running backwards away from it

Not only are roaches invincible, they're everywhere too. You'll find them scuttling between the shadows, hiding in the drains, feasting in the garbage bins, hanging from the ceiling; they even ride the bus to work with you and fly into your hair. More than once I've witnessed full-grown cockroaches creeping along the windows or poles of the public buses while riding the commute to work, and the latter happened to me only a mere week ago. (I got rid of it by doing a impromptu three second rain dance on the sidewalk and then just stared after it as it continued to lazily fly away.)

As disgusting as I've made it sound though, be rest assured that a large majority of the public buses (and Singapore in general!) are roach-free, and while they do fly roaches normally prefer to creep along flat surfaces than take to the air. Most places are regularly fumigated every couple months too, keeping the roach population in check (although the only downside to that is having to pick your way through the hundred of dead bodies carpeting the floor the next morning).

And next up is...

COMMON HOUSE LIZARD

Often found on the ceilings of bathrooms, in the corners of room ceilings, under the lights on the wall and behind the automatic kettle on the kitchen counter, the common house lizard reaches various sizes depending on how stable its diet of flies is and is also very likely the source of that weird chittering noise you hear above your head while sitting on the john. Nearly transparent, they move in short, zig-zaggish bursts of speed and may or may not drop down on you from above instead of running in the opposite direction while being chased. Young lizards can be as tiny as the first joint of your thumb and well-fed adults can reach the size of an outstretched hand (from the tip of the middle finger to the base of the palm).

They're always hiding somewhere. Always.

Some of my personal notes on house lizards: hosing them with hot water from the showerhead will not melt them through the shower stall drain, and fishing their partially liquefied bodies out after is not a pleasant task at all. Also, the tail stays alive for up to ten minutes after dropping off the body and it will somehow continue wriggling menacingly towards you even long after the lizard itself has run away.

And last but not least...

STRAY CATS

You heard me. These fuzzy little cuties are considered pests in Singapore, mostly because of the noise they make during heat and during fights, and even though the Singapore Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) have taken measures to stop them from breeding via neutering, they somehow keep multiplying. You'll find at least one cat in the void deck of every HDB building there is in Singapore. And despite numerous signs telling the general public not to feed the strays, people still do because face it, cats are cute. (I haven't really heard of anyone getting fined for doing so though, seems like most people close an eye to it.)

You can tell if a stray cat's been fixed by looking at its ears. After it's been picked up by the SPCA, the cat in question will be dewormed, vaccinated against rabies and common diseases, and neutered before being returned to where it was found, with one small difference - a little slice of one of its ears removed. It sounds painful, but it's done while the cat is under anesthesia (with a hot metal wire, very quick and efficient) and it doesn't affect the cat's hearing at all. It's also very common for most stray cats here to have a kink in their tail or two, but not to worry because this is actually a genetic defect, and not a result of abuse during kittenhood as I had previously thought. (According to Michelle, all the cats in Ohio, USA have long straight tails. Now that was unusual to me!)

And that ends the post on pests for now. Have a kitty.